Day of Remembrance
February 15, 2019
Award winning poet Mia Ayumi Malhotra will be a special guest at Western Washington University in Bellingham on the Day of Remembrance. She will read from her new book, Isako Isako (Alice James, 2018), which speaks to the generational impact of the Japanese American internment.
“Isako Isako is a powerful testament to poetry’s capacity for alchemizing history, memoir, and the lyric: the poems here intimately address the landscapes of war and the reverberations of violence through bodies and bloodlines. Malhotra’s visionary debut collection spans generations, countries, and loves, weaving the story of a mother survivor with reflections on the limits and reaches of memory. Sandalwood cities, desert gardens, dragon skin, and peach pits emerge from a shadowed past, details that ‘elude / even as they’re remembered.’” Brynn Saito, author of Power Made Us Swoon
This special event is free and will be held at 4:30pm on campus in Old Main 483.
weather permitting…
February 12, 2019
With so much surprising winter weather and so many cancellations, plans for Sunday in Bellingham has to carry a caveat: weather permitting.
Should the season allow, Bruna Press & Archive, in Bellingham, will offer an afternoon session on Sunday, February 17, 2019, Noon to 3:30pm. DO IT YOURSELF: Zines + Artist Made Publications is a series of workshops and conversations by four local artists, publishers, and community organizers centered around their methods and practices of independent publishing. Each participant — Rosie Lockie, Andrew Molitor, Cullen Beckhorn, and Bailey Cheney — will speak for 30 minutes, sharing their work and perspectives with attendees.
The same evening, Bruna will also host Coast Salish Concepts of Time + Space, the next in its ongoing series of monthly full moon gatherings that explore and introduce seasonal moons, the gathering of foods, and some of the ideas and values that sustain First Nations Coast Salish peoples. The gathering is led by Lummi Elder, William John, X’welwelat’se.
Keep an eye on the website or Facebook page, or follow Bruna Press on Twitter for updates on events… and weather.
Joshua Beckman at WWU
February 9, 2019
Poet Joshua Beckman will discuss two of his two recent books, Three Talks and The Lives of the Poems (Wave Books, 2018), on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at 6:00pm, at Western Washington University (Bond Hall, room 105), as part of the Bagley Wright Lecture Series on Poetry. The event is free.
Joshua Beckman is the author of many other books, including The Inside of an Apple, Take It, Shake, Your Time Has Come, and two collaborations with Matthew Rohrer: Nice Hat. Thanks. and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is editor-in-chief at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Micrograms, by Jorge Carrera Andrade, 5 Meters of Poems (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2010) by Carlos Oquendo de Amat, and Poker (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2008) by Tomaž Šalamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry
in Translation Award. He also co-edited Supplication: Selected Poems of John Wieners (Wave Books, 2015). He lives in Seattle and New York.
Poem Booth time again!
January 18, 2019
The Bellingham Poem Booth, currently displaying “Dear Em” by Danny Canham, invites Whatcom County residents to submit poems for the next quarter’s display.
The deadline is midnight on February 5, 2019.
See the submission guidelines here and stop by the Downtown Community Co-op to see the Poem Booth in person.
book birthing
January 5, 2019
Norman L Green and Threshold Documents have supported the poetry community in immeasurable ways, including, among many other things, co-editing and printing Clover: A Literary Rag, and the annual chapbooks and anthologies for the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest.
Norman has midwifed innumerable books, and on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, he will be the guest speaker at the monthly dinner meeting of Whatcom Writers & Publishers at Nicki’s Bella Marina in Bellingham. Show him some love. The details are here. RSVPs are required.
strong voices
January 2, 2019
You’re invited to look and listen as a group of poets offer their words to accompany the Women Empowering Women exhibit at Allied Arts in Bellingham on Sunday, January 6, 2019, at 4:00pm. Featured poets include Nancy Canyon, Lois Holub, Jessica Lee, Maria McLeod, Rainbow Medicine-Walker, Dayna Patterson, Carla Shafer, Kami Westhoff, and Leslie Wharton.
The opening reception for the exhibit will be held during Gallery Walk, Friday, January 4, 6:00-8:00pm. The participating artists (Francie Allen, Mary Jane Davis, Patti Fairbanks, LaVera Langeman, Erin Libby, and Leslie Wharton) will also host a film and fundraiser for the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival on Thursday, January 17, 6:00-8:00pm, and a Tea Party in honor of the Women’s March on Saturday, January 19, at 2:00pm. The exhibit will remain on view through Saturday, January 26, 2019.
Tonight: peaceful poetry
December 5, 2018
Come spend an hour honoring some of Whatcom County’s talented young writers as winners of the 2018 Youth Peace Poetry Contest read their poems. Presented by the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center and Village Books, the reading starts at 6:30pm in the Village Books Readings Gallery in Bellingham. Luther Allen emcees.
