words from Whidbey

Listen to Whidbey Island resident David Whyte read “Everlasting” from The Bell and The Blackbird. (More audio and video here.)

Then read a little bit about the poet…

and an interview with Lois P. Jones in Los Angeles Review of Books…

and consider attending An Evening with David Whyte on Friday, December 13, 2019, at Seattle’s Center for Spiritual Living. (There’s also a weekend option.)

orcas in Seattle, tonight!

Hear scientists and writers discuss the fate of the endangered Southern Resident orcas and read from the anthology, For Love of Orcas (Wandering Aengus Press, 2019), tonight, Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 7:00pm, at Hugo House. Featured readers include Sarah DeWeerdt, Bob Friel, Paula MacKay, Brenda Miller, and Adrienne Ross Scanlon. The reading and talk, which is free and open to the public, will be moderated by anthology co-editor and poet Jill McCabe Johnson. Details and participant bios at Hugo House.

Veterans Day

Public Law No: 114-240, approved October 7, 2016, by both Houses of Congress, states:

The President shall issue each year a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe two minutes of silence on Veterans Day in honor of the service and sacrifice of veterans throughout the history of the Nation, beginning at —
(1) 3:11 p.m. Atlantic standard time;
(2) 2:11 p.m. eastern standard time;
(3) 1:11 p.m. central standard time;
(4) 12:11 p.m. mountain standard time;
(5) 11:11 a.m. Pacific standard time;
(6) 10:11 a.m. Alaska standard time; and
(7) 9:11 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian standard time.

Take a couple of minutes today to salute your ghosts and heroes. Read a poem of war or of peace. Begin a poem. Say thanks.

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J.I. Kleinberg photo, Arlington National Cemetery

Sunday in bed

Every Sunday since May 26, 2019, we’ve been getting up early to welcome the winning poems from the 2019 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. Alas, this year’s collection is now complete. You can scroll back, post by post, or visit the Winners page to revisit this year’s, and every year’s, winning poems.

But what to do with your Sunday morning? Maybe it’s time to take a page from Samuel Clemens or Eileen Myles and just spend Sunday in bed, reading, napping, eating, and writing poems.

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One River, a Thousand Voices

You may not know that in addition to serving as Washington State Poet Laureate (and other concurrent professional and personal responsibilities), Claudia Castro Luna is completing a two-year stint as Designer in Residence at Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts. Her SVC residency culminates with an ambitious project: a poem and illustrated book, One River, a Thousand Voices, that celebrates the Columbia River’s energy, beauty, and power, and honors the resilience of Native peoples who for millennia have lived along its banks.

Claudia’s goal is to place this artist’s book in all 67 Library Districts and all 27 tribal libraries in Washington State. To support that goal, which includes a signed, hardcover, accordion-fold edition as well as paperback and recorded editions, she has initiated a Kickstarter campaign. Read all about it and support it if you can.

featured!

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, whose workshop, Self-Portrait, Selfie, and Snap Poems, will be offered in Bellingham on Saturday, December 7, 2019, was the featured poet on Poetry Daily this past Sunday. Read her poem Miss Sahar Listens to Fairuz Sing “The Bees’ Path” and then visit the Workshops page to read the description of her workshop. There are still a few spaces available!

on poetry

“This mortality thing is bad news.”
Madeline Gins
(November 7, 1941 – January 8, 2014)

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