Congratulations!

Congratulations to Western Washington University and the Whatcom County Library System, which have been selected to serve as the host site for the 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Naomi Shihab Nye.

May Hill Arbuthnot (1884-1969) was born in Mason City, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1922, receiving her master’s degree in 1924 from Columbia University. Along with educator William Scott Gray, she created and wrote the Curriculum Foundation Readers for children — better known as the “Dick and Jane” series. The annual lecture series was created in her honor.

The lecture will be held in the spring of 2018 and will be announced here as soon as a date is confirmed.

Read the announcement here.

last chance for early bird

This is a guest post by Amberly Baker.

Have you made any fun plans for summer? Are you looking to spend time in one of the most beautiful regions of the country? This year, do something inspiring and fulfilling, and engage with a huge community of writers at the Chuckanut Writers Conference on Friday and Saturday, June 23-24, 2017, at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington.

An annual craft-centered writing conference, Chuckanut is an amazing opportunity for all writers, whether you’re local or visiting, have published three novels or are writing on napkins in rare quiet moments. The conference offers a weekend of breakout sessions and keynote addresses, taught by some of the finest writers our area has to offer. For an additional fee, attendees can register for pre-conference master classes, agent pitch sessions, marketing consultations and editing consultations. You can find the full line up on the website.

And today, Monday, May 22, is the last day for Early Bird Registration! If you register today, you’ll receive the $239 rate, a savings of forty dollars. You can register online, by phone, or by mail; for more information, visit the registration information section of our website, here. But don’t wait, this deal is good through today only!

I am so excited to share this amazing opportunity with you. This conference is a great experience, one that draws attendees back year after year. Tara Fort, an attendee of last year’s conference, said, “Perfect amount of speakers, sessions, and attendees. I feel inspired and not overwhelmed. I am looking forward to 2017!” We are too. We’ll see you at the conference!

. . . . .
Amberly Baker is a student in Western Washington University’s Creative Writing program, and works at a small bookstore. When she is not reading or writing, she enjoys playing Animal Crossing, knitting, and is obsessed with her cats.

Awards ceremony!

Mark your calendar and please plan to join the 2017 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest winning poets and their fans for the annual awards ceremony. Held at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal at 7:00pm next Thursday, May 18, 2017, this once again promises to be a heart-warming, celebratory event. Admission is free. Kevin Murphy will emcee. The winning poets will read their poems, a chapbook of the 2017 winning poems will be available for purchase and all of this year’s submitted poems will be on display along with samples of the beautiful poetry placards that will be placed in Whatcom Transportation Authority buses later this summer.

See the list of winners and watch for the winning poems in this space each Sunday over the coming months.

calling Whatcom County poets

Residents of Whatcom County are invited to submit a poem to be displayed in the Poem Booth at the downtown Bellingham Co-op. Runner up poems will be posted on the Poem Booth blog. The deadline is Friday, May 19, 2017, by midnight. See the Call for Submissions for complete guidelines… and visit the Poem Booth the next time you’re at the Co-op.

Reading!

Village Books (Bellingham) is pleased to present a National Poetry Month reading by Rick Hermann. He will read from his latest book, Nooksack: Poems & Prose, on Thursday, April 13, 2017, at 7:00pm in the Readings Gallery.

Nooksack is a River, a People, a Spirit of Place. It is shadow and cloud, glacier and bay. In this realm, even the stones have spirits. Bellingham author Rick Hermann employs close-listening and observation to shape a notably original perspective in this new book of poetry and prose. Evoking the un-knowable mysteries as well as discovering the apparent solidity of the sensate world, these writings come also from his own life experience, describing possible worlds accessible through these rabbit holes. As readers, we discover in each moment “an arid sense of optimism,” irony and humor, and an abiding predisposition to survive.

Rick Hermann is the author of two previous books: The Bright World of Dandelion Court and Parkinson’s Dreams About Me: My Dance With the Shaking Palsy. He moved to Whatcom County in 1987 with his wife Lee Willis, where they raised their son, Eli Hermann, in the city of subdued excitement.

darkness and light in Bellingham

In this time of post-truth and false news
SpeakEasy 19: Poems of Darkness / Poems of Light
presents an evening of heartfelt words of clarity and wisdom.
Saturday, April 8, 2017, 7:00pm
Mount Baker Theatre Encore Room, Bellingham
Admission is free.

Poets
Tanner Abernathy ▪ Luther Allen ▪ Jim Bertolino ▪
Barbara Bloom ▪ Nancy Canyon ▪ Susan Chase-Foster ▪
Thom Davis ▪ Victoria Doerper ▪ Jaiden Dokken ▪
R.L. Elke ▪ Paul Fisher ▪ Mary Elizabeth Gillilan ▪
Steve Hood ▪ David Imburgia ▪ Alexander Joseph ▪
J.I. Kleinberg ▪ Shannon P. Laws ▪ Rob Lewis ▪
Andrew Shattuck McBride ▪ Carol McMillan ▪
Rainbow Wohali Medicine-Walker ▪ Rachel Mehl ▪
Peter Edward Messinger ▪ Kate Miller ▪ Jim Milstead ▪
Donald Mitchell ▪ Kevin Murphy ▪ Timothy Pilgrim ▪
C.J. Prince ▪ John James Reid ▪ Paul Sarvasy ▪
Jim Schmotzer ▪ Luci Shaw ▪ Aaron Silverberg ▪
Sheila Sondik ▪ Candace Lee Street ▪ Stan Tag ▪
Gary Wade ▪ Andrea Weiser ▪ Leslie Wharton ▪
Richard Widerkehr

SpeakEasy is an occasional reading series produced in Bellingham, Washington, by Luther Allen, author of The View from Lummi Island and co-editor of Noisy Water: Poetry from Whatcom County, Washington.

Fear and Loathing in Bellingham

Take a trip with the Chuckanut Writers Conference at a special screening of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at the Pickford Film Center on Thursday, April 20, 2017.

The reception starts at 6:30pm, so bust out your aviators and Hawaiian shirts and join CWC for a night of special Hunter S. Thompson-themed writing prompts, activities, and refreshments, and escape into the wild world of this cult classic. Make sure to sign up for the raffle for your chance to win a special Fear and Loathing gift pack!

Admission is $10.75 general, $7.50 for Pickford members, and $8.00 for students.

Details on Facebook.