Village Books lineup

Next weekend — Saturday, December 8, and Sunday, December 9, 2018 — would be a good time to do your holiday book shopping at Village Books in Bellingham. On Saturday at 7:00pm, Luci Shaw will read from Eye of the Beholder (Paraclete Poetry), a career-culminating collection of poems written in the last two years. On Sunday at 4:00pm, Clem Starck will read from Cathedrals & Parking Lots (Empty Bowl) — “the work of a lifetime” with poems “based on actual experiences….in the cadences of everyday speech.”

Come listen to these fine poets (and bring your shopping list).

on poetry

“You can make anything by writing.”
C.S. Lewis
(November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963)

tonight at Greene’s Corner

Listen in as the every-Wednesday poetry series at Greene’s Corner in Bellingham features the hard-working, bountifully-creative Anita K. Boyle.

Proprietor of Egress Studio Press, Anita is an accomplished poet and artist who creates handmade books, collage, paintings, prints, and fine works in many other media. Currently, her artwork is on view at Fourth Corner Frames as part of “Rising,” a group exhibit of work by 13 women who have been meeting and supporting each other’s creativity for many years.

She has three books of poetry, including Bamboo Equals Loon, The Drenched, and What the Alder Told Me. Another book is forthcoming from MoonPath Press in 2019.

Music begins at 7:00pm, with several sets of poetry to follow. JP Falcon Grady will emcee.

Reasons to go to… Madrid

A couple of years ago, we published a guest post by poet Jeremy Voigt, who shared his experience as part of the Unamuno Reading Series at Desperate Literature bookshop in Madrid.

In May/June 2019, Desperate Literature will host Madrid’s first English-language poetry festival, bringing over 50 poets and scholars to the city. There will be a week of readings and lectures from poets and non-fiction writers as well as a collaboration with the Latinx Writers Caucus to launch the García Lorca prize for an emerging Latinx author.

Learn more about The Unamuno Author Festival 2019 and see the impressive list of attending poets, including Jeremy Voigt.

Poet Laureate in Bellingham

Washington’s Poet Laureate, Claudia Castro Luna, will visit Western Washington University for a reading of her poetry on Monday, December 3, 2018, at 4:00pm, in Academic West 210. Sponsored by Western’s English Department, the reading is free and open to the public. Additional details here.

If you ask*

2018 Merit Award
By Jackie Lomas, grade 12

If you ask me
I’ll tell you about the life in the hood,
To kneel beside you and watch you die
I’ll tell about trees and how my life is a fallen leaf
I am evil without a heart.
I’ll tell you about an argument that made me alone
A cold war, blood red mornings and a love no one knows,
You ask me I’ll tell about poor man’s vow to silence,
a girl’s broken heart that led to her brothers grave I’ll tell
you about a child’s scar that never fades seventeen-year-
old boys’ father never returns from work a baby born not
knowing whether to go left or right
we are all connected by our hearts and souls,
So, if you ask me I’ll tell you about life
And it ends.
If you ask me I’ll tell you about a family broken home
I’ll tell you about the dark times in my Mind
If you ask I’ll tell you about a friend who died,
about a girl who got bullied and committed suicide
If you ask I’ll tell you about the abandoned child
If you ask I’ll tell you about the girl who got raped
If you ask I’ll tell you about the mother who ran away.
If you ask me I’ll tell you.

. . . . .
*Copyright 2018 by Jackie Lomas. Broadside illustrated by Megan Carroll.

three percent

The New York Times has released its list of 100 Notable Books of 2018. Three volumes of poetry are included:

• Brown: Poems by Kevin Young
• The Odyssey by Homer
• Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith

Catch up with the complete list here.

next Friday in Anacortes

Enjoy a congenial evening in Anacortes at The Annual Celebration of the Poetry and Music of Robert Sund on Friday, November 30, 2018, 7:00pm, at Pelican Bay Books. Featured poets Georgia Johnson, Chip Hughes, Jeff Langlow, Jane Alynn, Michael Daley, and Costa Lavigne-Thomas, will be joined by musicians Jeff Winston and Brad Killion.

Thanksgiving

looking ahead

We’ve mentioned the Poetry Coalition several times before. Now the Academy of American Poets has announced the theme for the Coalition’s third year of programming to take place nationwide throughout March 2019. Programs in 11 cities will explore the theme “What Is It, Then, Between Us?: Poetry & Democracy.”

The question “What is it, then, between us?” is an excerpt from the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman. In addition to Whitman being recognized as a poet whose work forged a new kind of American poetry, which both expresses democratic ideals and contains painful truths about our country’s origin, throughout 2019, many libraries, museums, schools, and cultural organizations will be marking the 200th anniversary of Whitman’s birth, which took place on May 31, 1819.

These are culturally important conversations. Local programming related to the theme is encouraged. Watch for more information on events in the region and follow developments at #PoetryCoalition and @Poetsorg.