Barry Lopez on tour
March 12, 2019
While Barry Lopez is not strictly a poet, his poetic musings on the environment are profound and inspiring. Lopez is touring Cascadia with his new memoir, Horizon. He will be at The Old Church in Portland on Tuesday, March 19, at the Seattle Public Library on Thursday, March 21, and Village Books in Bellingham on Friday, March 22, 2019.
read
March 11, 2019
If you are still uncertain what to read next, have a browse through FIVE BOOKS. The site asks experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and to explain their selection in an interview. At least two new interviews are published each week and more that a thousand interviews and five thousand book recommendations are archived and searchable.
Boooooooks!
February 28, 2019
Love books? Want books? The Friends of the Seattle Public Library invite you to indulge at the Public Huge Book Sale 2019, Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17, in the Exhibition Hall at the Seattle Center.
Over 100,000 items will be for sale, with over 50 categories of nonfiction, including art, cookbooks, crafts, gardening, history, music, performing arts, pets, nature, and travel. The fiction section includes science fiction, graphic novel, classics, and short stories. (Poetry isn’t mentioned in the description, but hey, you KNOW there will be poetry!) The children’s selection covers every reading level plus several special categories such as folk & fairy tales, history, and nature. Over 15 languages are represented in the foreign languages section, plus there will be a vast selection of DVDs, CDs, audio books, and records. Whew. Purchases benefit the Library. More on Facebook.
a reminder
February 3, 2019
If you care about poetry, and if you’re anywhere near Seattle, or planning a trip to Seattle, here’s a reminder: Open Books. It’s what’s on the shelves, it’s what’s on the walls, it’s who’s on staff, it’s the poetry-packed schedule of readings and workshops. Sometimes it’s even who you run into while you’re browsing.
Open Books is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, and Sunday, 12-4. And if you’re not anywhere near, they’ll ship you the poetry you require. Stop by and say thank you.
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art by Gabrielle Bates
new titles
January 25, 2019
No sooner have the best-of lists gone away than the must-read lists begin. In case you don’t already have enough on your nightstand, have a look:
- Book Riot – 50 Must-Read Poetry Collections of 2019
- CBC – 20 works of Canadian poetry to check out in spring 2019
- The Millions – Must-Read Poetry: January 2019
- National Council of Teachers of English – 2019 Notable Poetry Books
- NPR – “I Reject Walls”: A 2019 Poetry Preview
- Nicholas Nichols – Lit Forthcoming Poetry Collections 2019
award season
January 24, 2019
The National Book Critics Circle has announced its 31 finalists in six categories — autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry — for the outstanding books of 2018. The finalists in poetry are:
- Terrance Hayes, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin (Penguin Books)
- Ada Limón, The Carrying (Milkweed)
- Erika Meitner, Holy Moly Carry Me (BOA Editions)
- Diane Seuss, Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (Graywolf Press)
- Adam Zagajewski, Asymmetry. Translated by Clare Cavanagh (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Terrance Hayes was also listed as a finalist in the Criticism category, for To Float in the Space Between: A Life and Work in Conversation with the Life and Work of Etheridge Knight (Wave).
The National Book Critics Circle Awards, begun in 1974 and considered among the most prestigious in American letters, are the sole prizes bestowed by a jury of working critics and book-review editors. The awards will be presented on March 14, 2019 at a free public event held at the New School in New York City. See the complete list of finalists in all categories here.
Attention Whatcom teens!
January 22, 2019
Whatcom County teens in grades 6-12 are invited to enter their original poetry for inclusion in A Forest of Words 2019, a teen poetry anthology, which will be distributed to area schools and libraries. Accepted poets receive a copy of the book (and bragging rights!) if their work is accepted for publication. A panel of library staff and area teens select poems based on originality, creativity, and craft.
The deadline is Friday, March 15, 2019.
(And of course, don’t forget to submit your poem to the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest, which is open for submissions during the month of March from poets of all ages .)
