another year of Claudia!

Humanities Washington and ArtsWA announced this week that Governor Jay Inslee has extended the term of Claudia Castro Luna, the 2018-2020 Washington State Poet Laureate, to January of 2021. This represents a huge commitment on Claudia’s part, for which poets and poetry lovers across Washington can be grateful. Read the full story.

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Photo by Timothy Aguero

Best of 2019, no. 2

More best-of listings for 2019 books:

• Entropy
• The Guardian
• Library Journal
• The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2019
• Publishers Weekly
• The Times Literary Supplement

time to get away?

Sometimes, as another short gray day dawns, even twinkling holiday decorations aren’t enough to cut through the gloom. When that happens, it’s time to start thinking about getting outta town. A writing retreat may be solution, and looking forward to an upcoming retreat may be just enough to lift you from the doldrums.

This list is not comprehensive. The residencies, retreats, workshops, and other getaways vary widely in locale, cost, activities, competitive entry, expectations, and other variables. Some programs do not yet have dates posted but you can usually get on a mailing list for updates. Dates are 2020, except as noted.

• January – March (various dates) – Manzanillo, Mexico – Vancouver & Victoria Schools of Writing Winter Retreats in Mexico
• January 9-19 – Tepoztlán, México – Under the Volcano
• February 1 – Kingston, Washington – Intensive Poetry Manuscript Workshop & Two Sylvias Press Tour
• 28 February – 1 March – Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand – Kāpiti Writers’ Retreat
• February 28 – March 1 — Astoria, Oregon — the FisherPoets Gathering
• Spring – Orcas Island, Washington – Artsmith residency
• April – November – Austerlitz, New York – The Millay Colony for the Arts
• April 5-11; July 19-25; October 4-10; November 15-21 – Kauai, Hawaii – The Kauaʻi Writing Studio Residency
• April 29 – May 3 – Dolores River valley, Colorado – Writing Round the Trees transformational writing retreat
• May – September – Mineral, Washington – Mineral School residencies
• May 8-15 – Brittany, France – Verse Kraken Writing Retreats
• May 15-16 – Portland, Oregon – PDX Writers Spring Retreat at the Lyle Hotel with Jennifer Springsteen
• May 25 – June 1 – Corfu, Greece – TLC writing retreat with Tammy L. Coia (one of many retreats on her site)
• May 29 – June 7 – Patmos, Greece – Freeing the Written Self: Poetry & Writing Salon on the Isle Of Revelation
• June – October – Blue Mountain Lake, New York – Blue Mountain Center month-long residencies
• June 7-13 – Greensburg, Pennsylvania – Cave Canem’s annual week-long retreat at the University of Pittsburgh
• June 18-21 – Tucson, Arizona – CantoMundo retreat at The University of Arizona Poetry Center
• July 6-12 – Wallowa Lake, Oregon – 33rd Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers
• August – Greenough, Montana – Beargrass Writing Retreat
• August 23-29 – Victoria, BC, Canada – Victoria Summer Writing Retreat
• September 25-27 – Tieton, Washington – LiTFUSE
• October/November – Port Orchard, WA – Northwest Writers’ Weekend
• October 29 – November 1 – Seabeck, Washington – Seabeck Haiku Getaway, sponsored by Haiku Northwest
• November 6-9 – Tahoe City, California – Writing By Writers Manuscript Boot Camp
• December 26-30 – McCormick, South Carolina – The Watering Hole
• Year-round – Saratoga Springs, New York – Yaddo
• Year-round – Lower Piney Creek, Wyoming – The Jentel Artist Residency Program
• Year-round – Lake Forest, Illinois – Ragdale 18- and 25-day residencies

Future opportunities (2020 application deadlines are past):

• February through October – Whidbey Island, Washington – Hedgebrook residencies for writers
• Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California
• Writing Between the Vines offers retreats in California, Oregon, and Canada
• Writing By Writers has future retreats in Oregon, Minnesota, Idaho, and Colorado

Even visiting these websites will make you feel better…

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video poem

With special thanks to Bellingham BTV Channel 10, a number of the 2019 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest winning poets were able to record their poems for broadcast. We’ll be posting links to the YouTube videos in the coming weeks. In the first one, we feature Margaux Barber reading “Bones.”

on poetry

“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.”
Lucy Maud Montgomery
(November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942)

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Thanks

it has begun

Best-of Season is here again. Here’s what we have so far for listings of favorite poetry for 2019:

• Financial Times
• Morning Star
• New York Public Library (note the categories: Kids, Los Mejores Libros para Pequeños, Teens, Adults, Poetry)
• Washington Post