Boooooooks!

Love books? Want books? The Friends of the Seattle Public Library invite you to indulge at the Public Huge Book Sale 2019, Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17, in the Exhibition Hall at the Seattle Center.

Over 100,000 items will be for sale, with over 50 categories of nonfiction, including art, cookbooks, crafts, gardening, history, music, performing arts, pets, nature, and travel. The fiction section includes science fiction, graphic novel, classics, and short stories. (Poetry isn’t mentioned in the description, but hey, you KNOW there will be poetry!) The children’s selection covers every reading level plus several special categories such as folk & fairy tales, history, and nature. Over 15 languages are represented in the foreign languages section, plus there will be a vast selection of DVDs, CDs, audio books, and records. Whew. Purchases benefit the Library. More on Facebook.

Sunday in Seattle

The brilliant bookstore, Open Books in Seattle, is the place for poetry books, readings, and workshops in the Northwest. Their calendar of events is action packed. See for yourself on Sunday, March 3, 2019, at 5:00pm, as Open Books hosts the launch of Gravity Assist by Martha Silano. Martha will be joined by poets Kelli Russell Agodon, Rick Barot, and Molly Tenenbaum. Go!

call for proposals

Would you like to present a poetry reading, workshop, installation, or other activity to a poetry-friendly audience? Then it’s time to make a proposal for the 2019 Poets in the Park.

The free annual event, to be held Saturday, July 20, 2019, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, at Anderson Park in Redmond will also include a no-commission book fair, vendors, craft activities, open-mic readings, and free ice cream, so mark your calendar.

If you have an activity to propose, please contact Michael Dylan Welch at WelchM@aol.com as soon as possible. Readings should feature groups, organizations, journals, or anthologies, but if you have other unique ideas, those are welcome too.

Clover, today!

Clover: A Literary Rag celebrates Sweet 16 today as a selection of contributors to volume 16 share their words. Featured authors are Luther Allen, James Bertolino, Jennifer Bullis, Nancy Canyon, Susan Chase-Foster, Michael Daley, Victoria Doerper, Paul Hunter, Andrew Shattuck McBride, C.J. Prince, Betty Scott, Gary Wade, and Bob Zaslow.

Join in the celebration at 4:00pm at Village Books in Bellingham. It’s free, and copies of Clover will be available for purchase and signing.

Poetry Out Loud

Once again, it’s Poetry Out Loud season and that means students from over 65 high schools around Washington State have been learning, memorizing, and performing poems. The seven regional finals are now over and the top 13 students will move on to the state final on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 1:00pm at Tacoma Arts Live / Theatre on the Square, 915 Broadway, in Tacoma. Produced by ArtsWA, the event is free and open to the public.

The top student from the state final will receive a cash prize of $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, (with a chaperone) to represent Washington State in the National Finals, April 29 – May 1, 2019. The state winner’s school also receives $500 for the purchase of poetry books. The runner-up in the state competition receives $100, with $200 for his or her school library. Additionally, $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends are awarded to the winners at the National Finals.

Click for information on Poetry Out Loud in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon.

Millay music

In honor of the 127th anniversary of the birth of Edna St. Vincent Millay, we note that three of her poems (probably others as well), “God’s World,” “Wraith,” and “Afternoon on a Hill,” have been particularly inspiring to composers. Read and listen:

God’s World

• Read the poem.
• Soprano Patrice Michaels sings Eric Ewazen’s composition, accompanied by Elizabeth Buccheri on piano, from the album “American Songs”
• Julia Broxholm performs Eric Ewazen’s composition accompanied by Russell Miller on piano, from the album “The Soul Fox”

Wraith

• Read the poem.
• Patrice Michaels sings Eric Ewazen’s composition
• Stephanie Tingler performs Ewazen’s composition, accompanied by Martha Thomas on piano, from the album “American Art Songs & Their Poetry”

Afternoon on a Hill

• Read the poem.
• Patrice Michaels sings Eric Ewazen’s composition
• The Hastings College Choir performs Eric Barnum’s composition, conducted by Fritz Mountford, with Ruth Moore on piano
• The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists perform Stephen Paulus’s composition, with artistic director Matthew Culloton, from the album “Splendid Jewel”
• Mary MacGowan performs her own composition for voice and dulcimer in a traditional folk Scots/British Isles Style

The three pieces are also recorded without the vocals on “Winter – Music of Eric Ewazen and David Snow” featuring Chris Gekker on trumpet and Ted Guerrant on piano.

Eric Ewazen originally composed the three Millay songs for soprano Jody Dall’Armi, who premiered them in 1990. Ten years later, Ewazen create the trumpet and piano version for Chris Gekker, and also later composed “Three Lyrics for Trumpet and Marimba performed by Eric Berlin and Eduardo Leandro.”

Enjoy!

. . . . .
photo by Arnold Genthe

on poetry

“…poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings.”
W.H. Auden
(February 21, 1907 – September 29, 1973)

. . . . .
photo
quote from “New Year Letter”

SpeakEasy 23: Poetry & Democracy

Inspired by the Poetry Coalition programming for March 2019, the theme for SpeakEasy 23 is Poetry & Democracy.

The free event, on Saturday, March 2, 2019, 7:00pm, at the Mount Baker Theatre Encore Room in Bellingham, Washington, will feature a special guest appearance by Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna along with a selection of strong and relevant poetry from Luther Allen, Anita K. Boyle, Sarah Brownsberger, Nancy Canyon, Linda Conroy, Roger Gilman, Rick Hermann, Lois Holub, Paul Hunter, Georgia Johnson, Peter Messinger, Jeffrey Morgan, Kevin Murphy, Tim Pilgrim, Rena Priest, CJ Prince, Janette Rosebrook, Jim Schmotzer, Carla Shafer, Carey Taylor, Gary Wade, and Leslie Wharton. You are invited to join the audience for a meaningful evening of words.

Information on Other Mind Press or on Facebook.

residencies!

Seattle City of Literature has announced that applications are open for three City of Literature residencies: Kraków, Poland; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Tartu, Estonia. Deadlines are coming right up, so read all about it and apply!

knock one out of the park

It’s February. There’s snow on the ground. That must mean it’s time for Spring Training. And if we’re talking baseball (not a subject you find here very often!), then we need to mention Baseball Bard, a not-for-profit membership organization of poets who write about baseball.

If you love baseball, have a look at the published poems (the Hall of Fame is a good place to start). If you love baseball and you write baseball poems, join up and submit.