what to read now

As November winds down, we wrap up the what to read now recommendations with a new selection from all over:

• Book Culture – Our Most-Anticipated New Books for November 2023
• BookTrust – Top poetry books to help children celebrate the natural world
• Electric Lit – 10 Daring Bilingual Poetry Collections
• The Guardian – The best recent poetry – review roundup
• Literary Hub – Ghosts, Specters, and Hauntings: 7 New Poetry Books to Read in November
• The Millions – Must-Read Poetry: Fall 2023
• NPR – 3 new poetry collections taking the pulse of the times
• Read Poetry – 5 Unforgettable November 2023 Poetry Releases
• Washington Independent Review of Books – On Poetry: New collections to make life more lyrical

In December, we’ll highlight the annual best-of lists, plus suggest some books and chapbooks by Cascadia-region poets published in 2023. (And if you’re one of those poets, leave a comment on this post with your name, book title, and publisher, and we’ll include it on the list!)

ALSO…if you’re a Cascadia poet and you have a poetry reading coming up in the next 12 months, please 1) check the Calendar page to make sure it’s not already listed and, if not, 2) leave a comment including a link to a web page where readers can find more information about your event (the calendar includes limited details, so we require a valid link). Thanks! (The calendar is updated almost daily.)

today

If you’re seeing this post, you probably already know that today, November 28, 2023, is GivingTuesday. Your email and social media are crowded with messages reminding you that today’s the day.

But what is GivingTuesday anyway? GivingTuesday was born in 2012 and incubated at the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in New York City. It is now an independent nonprofit and a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. While many nonprofits cut to the chase and simply ask for money, GivingTuesday emphasizes that giving can take the shape of your time, your labor, your kindness, and much more.

If you are thinking of making a donation to a worthwhile cause, we hope you will take a moment to show your appreciation for the nonprofit organizations in your community and your world that support poetry, writing, and literacy.

on poetry

“We can learn a lot from a child’s ways of seeing: a votive flame, a newly minted coin, a sea bird over sand, rained-on peonies in a loved one’s hands, a brick of salt rime on a rugged coast, sagebrush blowing silver in red dust, everything seen for the first time. In my avocation as a poet, the freshness of sensory impressions — even language itself as a site of value and pleasure — is integral to ars poetica, the art of poetry, derived from the Greek word, poiesis, ‘to make.'”
Karen An-hwei Lee
(b. November 27, 1973)

. . . . .
quote

go for the scenery, stay for the poetry

If Thorp, Washington, isn’t on your radar, this could be the perfect time to explore this census-designated place on the I-90 corridor in Kittitas County. There are plenty of trails along the way, plus some serious hiking, and food and culture to enjoy in Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ellensburg. And then there’s the old Thorp fire house, now enjoying a new life as PUNCH Projects.

On Saturday, December 2, 2023, at 2:00pm, PUNCH Projects will present a poetry reading, panel discussion, Q & A, and book signing with three stellar poets: Thom Caraway, the author of What the Sky Lacks, and editor of the literary journal Rock & Sling; Maya Jewell Zeller, author of out takes/glove box, recent winner of the New American Poetry Prize, selected by Eduardo Corral; and Tim Greenup, poet, musician, and author of Crisis Mode.

Go!

this evening in Anacortes…

Just a last-minute reminder that the Madrona Poetry Series continues this evening, Saturday, November 25, 2023, at 7:00pm, at Pelican Bay Books in Anacortes with featured readers Robert Michael Pyle and Abigail Prout. Join them for an evening of books, butterflies, poetry, and music.

a film to watch for

Since we like to keep track of the traffic on the poetry-film highway, here’s an early notice of a brand-new documentary. Between Silence and Sin, produced and directed by Diana Nicolae, “explores the life and work of dissident Romanian poet Ana Blandiana, an artist threatened, censored, and banned by the Communist dictatorship.” The film debuted this month at the prestigious IDFA documentary film festival in Amsterdam and will likely make its way to festivals and art houses in the coming months. Find out more here and read a poem by Ana Blandiana.

Thanks.

every Tuesday

Your Tuesday evenings can be a little more interesting, thanks to Cobalt Poets. Every Tuesday, at 7:30pm Pacific, you can Zoom in to Virtual Cobalt to hear a featured reader and open mic, thanks to prolific poet and poetry wrangler Rick Lupert, who has been producing the series since 2003!

You might want to start next Tuesday, November 28, 2023, as poet, publisher, and friend, Lana Hechtman Ayers takes the mic.

The readings are free, but Lupert produces on online broadside for each one available for purchase to support the featured reader. Find the calendar of upcoming readings and Zoom links here and there’s also a Cobalt Poets group on Facebook.

poetry rocks!

A few months ago, we highlighted some public-art poetry, including the massive stoneworks of Portland, Oregon, artist Adam Kuby. Adding to that collection of weighty words are 15 boulder-poems in Tucson, Arizona, by Ofelia Zepeda (photo above). Written in Tohono O’odham, English, or both, the stones are part of a one-mile road improvement project and have been in place for more than a dozen years. More about the project here.

Meanwhile, the City of Malibu, California, has just unveiled two poetry stones at Malibu’s Legacy Park. Each of the city’s poets laureate will eventually have a poetry stone in the park to mark their laureateship. They are fully engaged with the process, selecting the stone and the poem to be etched on its surface. Read all about it in the Malibu Times.

Attention: Central WA poets

Ellensburg Poet Laureate Marie Marchand invites Central Washington poets to submit their work to the Walking Chapbook Project, a temporary public art installation on the theme of UNITY. Selected poems will be featured on storefront windows in downtown Ellensburg during National Poetry Month 2024. Entries should be family-friendly and inspire hope and positivity.

See the complete guidelines here and read more about the project in the Daily Record. The submission deadline is Sunday, December 31, 2023.