Astoria writer Jennifer Nightingale’s poem about her mother’s coat was originally conceived for the Hoffman Center’s “Trash Tales” program.

Dayle Olson attended a reception to celebrate the publication of her poetry in The Salal Review, the literary magazine of the Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington, after three years of unsuccessful submissions.

But the deadline loomed for offerings to The North Coast Squid, the literary magazine of the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita.

“I came home that evening feeling affirmed as a poet,” said Olson, who lives overlooking the Columbia River in Cathlamet, Washington. “Later, I awoke from a sound sleep to a magnificent moon shining on the river, and ‘Strawberry Moon’ nearly wrote itself. Some poems feel like a gift when they arrive, and that’s how I felt about this poem.”

Olson’s “Strawberry Moon,” which she called “literally, a brand new, baby poem … born on a lucky night,” was selected for the magazine.

Its ninth edition features 39 writers and 28 artists. The call for submissions noted that editors hoped selections would highlight the “beauty, spirit and eccentricity of the Oregon Coast.”

Of this group, eight writers and three artists represent the North Coast. Writers are Olson, Jennifer Nightingale, Jim Dott, John Ciminello, Logan Garner, Martha Johnson, Lauren Mallett and Warrenton High School student Jessica Newton. The artists are Dayna Collins, Rick Crawford, and Judith Altruda, whose work features Shoalwater Bay painter Eugene Landry.

‘Honor’The North Coast Squid was launched in 2012 in conjunction with the North Coast Citizen newspaper.

It has been taken over by the Hoffman Center’s writing program and is published every two years. Writing selections were curated by three Oregon talents. Anis Mojgani, the state’s poet laureate, judged poetry; Natalie Serber, author of the collection “Shout Her Lovely Name,” judged memoirs and nonfiction; and Callum Angus, a writer and editor, judged fiction.

Nightingale, the author of a 2019 Northwest coming-of-age novel titled “Alberta and the Spark,” said she was honored to be included in the magazine.

“I wrote a poem called ‘I Couldn’t Let Go,’” she said. “It was about a blue leather coat that had belonged to my mother. She had loved this coat and it was tangible, and after she died I kept it in my closet for years.”

For Dott, who is active in the Clatsop County theater community, it allowed him to keep up a consistent record: his work has been published in every edition of the magazine.

This year, judges selected “Skunk Cabbage,” one of three poems he submitted. “It’s always an honor to have a poem selected,” he said. “I think the Squid staff does a great job of getting excellent judges.”

Art on saleTwo events are planned to celebrate the publication. A dozen contributing writers, including Nightingale, Dott and Newton, selected in a random drawing because of time limitations, will read from their work during a program at the Hoffman Center at 7 p.m. Friday.

Because of space considerations, the event isn’t open to the public to attend, but people may view it through a video livestream. A link is on the Hoffman Center’s webpage. An in-person public event featuring contributors is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday.

The 28 original art pieces published in the Squid will be on display for sale at the gallery during November, from noon to 4 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Copies of the magazine are available at the Hoffman Center, Salty Siren Books and Lucy’s Books in Astoria, Beach Books in Seaside, Cannon Beach Book Co. and the Cannon Beach Gallery.

The North Coast Squid

Ninth edition now available

A reading from contributors, viewable online, will be held at 7 p.m. Friday; an in-person event will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Hoffman Center, 594 Laneda Ave., Manzanita

www.hoffmanarts.org