Literary Arts of Portland will bring four winners and finalists of the 2007 Oregon Book Awards to the North Bend Public Library on Wednesday. Everyone is invited to this free evening of readings, book signings, and conversation with the authors, starting at 7 p.m.

The authors reading selections from their works include:

• Alison Clement, of Corvallis, winner of Ken Kesey Award for the Novel for “Twenty Questions” (Atria Press). Her first book, “Pretty is as Pretty Does,” was a Discover Great New Writers Book and a BookSense selection.

• Paul Merchant, of Portland, poetry award finalist for “Some Business of Affinity” (Five Seasons Press). He is the author of four books poetry and three books of translations from modern Greek.

• Shannon Riggs, of Salem, children’s literature award winner for “Not in Room 204” (Albert Whitman & Co.). She works as college writing instructor and in various capacities for child abuse prevention.

• Ben Saunders, of Eugene, a non-fiction finalist for “Desiring Donne: Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation” (Harvard University Press). Saunders is a professor of English at the University of Oregon.

There were 125 entries for the 2007 Oregon Book Awards. Seven winners were announced Dec. 2 by poet Naomi Shihab Nye to a sold-out crowd of 500 at the Portland Art Museum.  Special awards were presented to Mark Mizell of Seaside and Kim Stafford of Portland for outstanding contributions to the Oregon literary community.

For a complete list of 2007 Oregon Book Award finalists and winners, those interested can go to the Web site at http://www.literary-arts.org/awards.