on view: 2021 plaques

The planter beds in front of the Bellingham Public Library (210 Central Avenue) are decked in their spring finery, thanks to the Birchwood Garden Club. This is a great time to take a short poetry stroll and view the ten Walk Award plaques for the 2021 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. And while you’re there, stop in and see the recently remodeled library! (The 2022 plaques will probably be put in place sometime this summer.)

. . . . .
top: poem by Ty Colson
bottom: poem by Peyton Eberhardt

Whatcom WRITES – times two

Like many communities, Whatcom County, Washington, has an everybody-reads-the-same-book program each year. This year’s Whatcom READS title is Greenwood by Michael Christie.

In addition to discussion groups and author events, Whatcom WRITES invites writers to respond to a theme from the book and publishes a volume of selected work. The theme for 2022 is interconnectedness and Whatcom WRITES will present two readings from the collection, one in person and one online.

The in-person reading will be Sunday, February 20, 2022, at 2:00pm, at Village Books in Fairhaven. Covid protocols are in place and pre-registration is required.

The online reading will be Sunday, February 27, 2022, at 2:00pm. Advance registration is required.

Watch the Whatcom READS site for information about additional author events with Michael Christie in March.

Congratulations BTV Bellingham!

Congratulations to BTV Bellingham, which earned three national awards on September 23, 2021, for videos featuring Bellingham Public Library and one award for a Public Service Announcement from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.

The Sue C. Boynton Poetry Walk video, featuring Librarian Suzanne Carlson-Prandini and young poet Haley Van Ness, to highlight National Poetry Month in April, won an Award of Distinction in the Library category.

The Library Curbside Service Behind the Scenes video produced in February, also featuring the Van Ness family and the sustained collaboration of Bellingham Public Library staff to keep materials circulating during the COVID-19 pandemic, won two Awards of Honor in the Library and Editing categories.

“The talented staff at BTV and the quality of their content are a true service to Bellingham, keeping our locals informed and raising the profile of our City alongside communities throughout the country,” said Annette Bagley, Head of Community Relations for Bellingham Public Library.

BTV Bellingham is operated by the City of Bellingham to provide information about publicly funded government and educational institutions through high quality video services delivered via the internet and cable television. It can be viewed live 24/7 on the City of Bellingham website, as well as on Comcast Cable TV channels 10 and 321 in greater Bellingham.

Special thanks to BTV and to the Bellingham Public Library for a long tradition of supporting community poetry in Whatcom County!

See also BTV videos of 2021 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest winners Margaux Barber, Barbara Bloom, Marie Eaton, David M. Laws, Jory Mickelson, Janette Rosebrook, and Genevieve Whelan, with one more, by Lynn Geri, to come!

Sunday in Fairhaven

Join poet Kevin Murphy and singer-songwriter Louis Ledford on Sunday, September 5, 2021, starting at 5:30pm, for poems and music in the lovely sycamore garden area outside the Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris Avenue, in Fairhaven (Bellingham). Donations accepted. The Firehouse Cafe closes at 5:30pm, but if you arrive a little early, you can grab a snack or beverage to enjoy during the performance.

Cirque in Bellingham

Cirque Press and Cirque Journal come to Bellingham tomorrow, Friday, August 20, 2021, 7:00pm Pacific, for a real, in-person reading (and a no-host bar) at the Mount Baker Theatre Encore Room.

Mount Baker Theatre requires masks and either a Proof of Vaccination or evidence of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event.

The reading will also be available on Zoom (code 1111).

Cirque Press authors Jerry McDonnell and Dave Rowan will read from Out There in the Out There and Loggers Don’t Make Love, respectively, followed by readings from Cirque, Volume 11, No. 2, featuring Luther Allen, Kristina Boratino, Linda Conroy, Jenifer Fernandez, Sandra Kleven, David M. Laws, John Morgan, Corbin Muck, David Rowan, Alan Weltzien, and others.

Now on: Children’s Literature Conference

We’ve mentioned the Western Washington University Children’s Literature Conference before. Now in its 18th year and typically attracting more than 600 participants, the Conference has assumed a new shape for 2021 to contend with travel and gathering restrictions.

It begins with a free, month-long virtual exhibit of work by the writers and illustrators of children’s literature. With a theme of Art as Protest / Art in the Time of COVID, the collection is varied and rich, offering a look into the creative range of the 20-plus exhibitors. It will remain on view through Sunday, February 28, 2021.

The exhibit also invites written and visual responses from the community. These will be displayed online. To submit work (or a link to existing work), complete the Community Exhibit Submission form.

On Saturday, February 27, the CLC will offer morning and afternoon conversations around themes and ideas that emerge from the Virtual Exhibit. There will be no formal presentations. Everyone is welcome; registration is free but required.

Dress Poetry

Back in early February, when it seemed like a gallery exhibit was entirely feasible, we posted a call for poems about dresses. In the intervening months, somehow, many dresses have emerged from their layers of tissue paper, shaken out their wrinkles, and offered themselves as poetry touch points.

Though the Allied Arts gallery in downtown Bellingham is not open for business-as-usual, there are dresses and poems in the window through June 27, 2020, and you can also read the poems and see photos of the dresses (and some of the poets and their muses) on the Allied Arts gallery page.

Special thanks to curator/poet Leslie Wharton.

Chuckanut Writers Conference

If you’ve always wanted to attend the Chuckanut Writers Conference but just couldn’t swing it geographically, here comes your opportunity! CWC 2020 will be held online, Monday, June 22, 2020, through Thursday, June 25, with a faculty reading on the 26th and master classes on the 27th. See the complete schedule, faculty profiles, and registration information at CWC 2020.

interview

In case you missed it, The Common has published “Poetry-Making as Empathy Play: An Interview with Oliver de la Paz,” in which the poet reflects on his most recent book, The Boy in the Labyrinth (University of Akron Press, 2019).

Previously a Bellingham resident, Oliver de la Paz teaches at the College of the Holy Cross and in the Low-Residency MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University. He will be participating in several events at next week’s AWP Conference in San Antonio.

P.S.: Today, February 27, is his birthday and we wish him the best.

be an early bird

The tenth annual Chuckanut Writers Conference will be held at Whatcom Community College (plus a few outlier events) on Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, 2020. The 2020 conference faculty is now posted online, master classes (June 25) are listed, and registration is open, with early-bird rates through May 25.