tonight in Anacortes

Here’s some good news: Pelican Bay Books, in Anacortes, launches a new season of in-person poetry readings tonight, Friday, September 30, 2022, at 7:00pm. Bill Ransom (author of Finding True North & Critter, nominated for National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) and Jill McCabe Johnson (author of Revolutions We’d Hoped We’d Outgrown and Diary of the One Swelling Sea, winner of the Nautilus Book Silver Award in Poetry) will read as part of The Madrona Project 2022-2023 Poetry Series. Singer-songwriter Steven Dolmatz will perform his original folk and bluegrass music. The series is co-curated by Michael Daley and Georgia Johnson, who bring a specially selected mix of literary and musical arts together in the heart of Anacortes.

next time you’re in Victoria

Little Ross Bay Beach sits on the southern shore of Victoria, BC, overlooking the Salish Sea. In honor of Yvonne Blomer’s term as Victoria’s fourth Poet Laureate (2015-2018), her poem “Our One Blue Bowl” has been carved into Vancouver Island granite and installed there. Next time you’re in Victoria, enjoy the poetry and the view.

this evening, online

Pongo Poetry Project is a Seattle-based non-profit dedicated to helping youth heal and find voice through poetry. This evening, Wednesday, September 28, 2022, at 7:00pm Pacific, the Poetry Foundation will host poet Ross Gay as the guest of honor in an online event that will include a reading by Ross Gay, plus the voices of youth writers and stories from Pongo’s 27-year history.

The event is free, but registration is required and donations are encouraged. In addition the reading itself, at 6:30pm there will be a virtual reception and Q&A with Ross. Tickets are required for the virtual reception and all ticket proceeds will support Pongo Poetry Project programming.

more to read

Looking for something to read? Here are some more suggestions:

• Action Books – Action Books’ Micro-Reviews of Poetry in Translation (Part I)
• CBC – 48 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2022
• Columbia News – Here Are the Latinx Poets to Read Now
• Reader’s Digest – 9 Poets who will make you see poetry differently
• Washington Independent Review of Books – On Poetry: September 2022

Feel free to add your must-read poetry titles in the Comments.

registration is open

Poetry Out Loud is a wonderful, nationwide poetry recitation program for students in grades 9-12. Students select and memorize poems from the Poetry Out Loud print or online anthology, then compete on the school/local level. Winners advance to State competitions, and those winners compete in the National finals in Washington, DC. “Homeschooled students may participate by competing in a contest at a local school (at the school’s discretion) or with other local homeschooled students.” See the Rules & Eligibility guidelines.

The Registration deadline is Friday, November 18, 2022. For more information, contact your school or the Poetry Out Loud state contact:

• Alaska
• Idaho
• Montana
• Nevada
• Oregon
• Washington
• Wyoming

See the complete list of Poetry Out Loud State Contacts for states outside the Cascadia bioregion.

need some inspiration?

If your poetry needs a little juice, Two Sylvias Press invites you to try out The WEEKLY MUSE, a paid subscription to help you become a stronger poet as you improve your writing and your writing life. The Muse will deliver weekly prompts and writing exercises to help you write new poems, helpful tips and weekly suggestions on where to send your poems, best practices in submitting your manuscript, literary news and facts, exclusive interviews with poets, free giveaways, community, support, and more!

“The WEEKLY MUSE is *not* curated info, but ORIGINAL content created each week just for you to help poets wherever they are on their journey — from beginning writer to published author to writing instructor!”

Here’s a sample from August 21, 2022.

Try it out: you can subscribe for a year or a month and if it doesn’t work out, you can cancel at any time!

Live in Bellingham

While it’s nice to be able to attend poetry readings from afar, it’s very exciting to have the calendar filling up with local, in-person events. This week, in Bellingham, Washington, Village Books is presenting two worthwhile poetry readings among their many goings-on:

On Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 5:00pm, Sati Mookherjee will present her debut collection, Eye (Ravenna Press), in a reading at the Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher courtyard. The outdoor event is free, but seating is limited and pre-registration is highly recommended.

Later in the week, on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at 7:00pm, Village Books will present celebrated poet and author Michael Daley reading from his brand-new poetry collection, Reinhabited (DOS Madres Press), as well as his new novel, Telémachus (Pleasure Boat Studio). The event, in the Village Books Readings Gallery in Fairhaven, is also free, with advance reservations suggested.

Visit the Calendar for more events throughout Cascadia.

Fall Convergence

You are invited to participate in the University of Washington | Bothell MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics Fall Convergence, conducted online on Saturday, October 1, 2022, and Monday, October 3, 2022. Organized by Amaranth Borsuk and Ching-In Chen, the event will feature a series of presentations on Saturday plus a virtual session with MFA faculty and alumni at the Paterson Poetry Festival on Monday. Click here for the complete description, schedule, faculty bios, and registration link for this free event.

award, reading, conversation

Every two years, The Seattle Foundation at the University of Washington awards the Maxine Cushing Gray Endowed Libraries Visiting Writers Fellowship to “an established prose writer, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist or critic, who is a writer of sustained achievement and whose intent is serious and talent noteworthy with roots in the Pacific Northwest.” The award is named in honor of Maxine Cushing Gray, who was a prominent Northwest critic and editor.

Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest was named the 2022 Maxine Cushing Grey Distinguished Writers Fellow, and on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 6:00pm, she will present an online reading to be followed by a conversation with UW Tacoma professor Danica Miller, with an opportunity for audience questions afterward.

Mark your calendar and Register to participate in this free event.

. . . . .
Thanks to Peter Messinger for the heads up!

long list

The National Book Foundation has announced the long lists for the 2022 National Book Awards. The ten poets and titles in poetry are:

• Rio Cortez, Golden Ax (Penguin Random House)
• Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Look at This Blue (Coffee House Press)
• Jay Hopler, Still Life (McSweeney’s)
• John Keene, Punks: New & Selected Poems (Song Cave)
• Sharon Olds, Balladz (Penguin Random House / Knopf)
• Roger Reeves, Best Barbarian (WW Norton)
• Sherry Shenoda, Mummy Eaters (University of Nebraska Press)
• Quincy Troupe, Duende (Seven Stories Press)
• Shelley Wong, As She Appears (YesYes Books)
• Jenny Xie, The Rupture Tense (Graywolf Press)

The finalists will be announced on October 4, and the winners will be announced at the 73rd National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on November 16, 2022.

If these books aren’t already on your list, add them now!