Saturday evening outdoors

The ever-popular Kevin Murphy will perform on the Garden Stage at the Firehouse Arts and Events Center in Fairhaven (Bellingham) tomorrow, Saturday, July 30, 2022, at 5:30pm. Kevin Murphy is the author of A Beautiful Chaos Demands Energy and has released two poetry CDs, Between Onions and Oxygen and The Bird of Pure Midnight. He is the “poet-in-residence” of the Chuckanut Radio Hour, and was the winner of a Bellingham Mayor’s Art Award in 2017. Kevin has been performing his comical, surrealistic, dramatic work, often accompanying himself on guitar or percussion, for over 40 years. Join him in this convivial outdoor setting, and afterwards, stroll on down to the Village Green where there will be live music by Free Harmony from 7:45-8:45pm followed by an outdoor screening of “Dirty Dancing” at dusk.

new zine in town

Shannon P. Laws, aka Chickadee Productions, has just announced the launch of a new zine: Corridor. Taking its name from the I-5 corridor that runs north-south through much of Cascadia, the zine is now open for submissions for the inaugural issue. Read all about it here.

On a slightly related note (the connection is Bellingham and the Corridor Collective), artist Jeni Cottrell has coordinated a rotating weekly display of poetry at the seven Little Free Libraries in Fairhaven for National Poetry Month. Stroll the South Side Poetry Trail to see what’s up.

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.

this evening in Bellingham

You’re invited to join Christen Mattix this evening, Monday, December 3, 2018, as she reads prose poetry from her book, Skein: The Heartbreaks and Triumphs of a Long Distance Knitter, which explores her three-year, half-mile, blue-line knitting meditation/sculpture/installation. The reading begins at 6:30pm at Cooper Lanza Gallery in Bellingham.

Wednesday in Bellingham

Bring it, poets! Wednesday, June 13, 2018 (and the second Wednesday of every month), the Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater invites you to read your original writing (all forms welcome) for up to (but no longer than) 7 minutes. The summer location is the atrium at Lovitt Restaurant, 1114 Harris Avenue in Fairhaven. Sign up to read between 6:30 and 6:45pm. Readings begin at 6:50pm.

sidewalk poetry in Bellingham

Mark your calendar for the first Sunday of the month at 5:00pm, as a series of summer sidewalk readings present the voices of Bellingham poets. If you show up at 1507 Larrabee, in Fairhaven, look for the book box and that’s where the the readings will be held.

June 3 ~ Shannon P. Laws
July 1 ~ Donna Rushing
August 5 ~ Jim Bertolino & Anita K. Boyle
September 2 ~ Nancy Canyon

See you there!

winter Clover

Mary Gillilan and Norman Green launched Clover, A Literary Rag in the summer of 2010 with the writing of contributors from the Independent Writers’ Studio — 17 in all. Thirteen editions later Clover has published a total of 234 writers — about half from Washington State, around 40 from Whatcom County, and 11 from international locations.

To see and hear what Clover has become, attend the reading for Volume 14 at Village Books in Fairhaven on Sunday, February 11, 2018, at 4:00pm. Featured contributors are Luther Allen, Janet Bergstrom, James Bertolino, Susan Chase-Foster, David Drummond, John Green, Frances Howard-Snyder, Paul Hunter, Andrew Shattuck McBride, Janet Oakley, Raul Sanchez, Harvey Schwartz, Karen VandeBossche, and Betty Scott. The reading is free and copies of Clover will be available for purchase.

(Submissions for Volume 15 are open until April 30, 2018.)

tonight in Bellingham

Poet Rob Lewis will be reading from his new collection, The Silence of Vanishing Things, this evening at 7:00pm at Village Books.

the sound of Clover

When Clover, A Literary Rag, launched as a literary journal in 2010, there was no way to predict that it would become more substantial and more respected with each issue in print. Now, with thirteen volumes and a Mayor’s Arts Award under its belt, the Bellingham-based journal of international fine writing will celebrate art as written word at a reading from Volume 13.

Hear a selection of writers, including Susan Chase-Foster, Luther Allen, Christine Kendall, Gary McWilliams, Abbe Rolnick, Garrett Sanford, Laurel Leigh, Jennifer Bullis, Caitlin Thomson, Jim Bertolino, Carla Shafer, and Paul Hunter, in an engaging afternoon of readings on Sunday, September 10, 2017, at 4:00pm, at Village Books in Fairhaven. The reading is free and copies of Clover will be available for purchase.

(And by the way, submissions for Volume 14 are open until September 30, 2017.)

find some poems

In conjunction with Poetry Camp (Bellingham, Washington, October 1, 2016), poet Robyn Hood Black will lead a one-hour Found Poem Makerspace Activity on Friday, September 30, 7:00-8:00pm, at Village Books in Fairhaven.

In this step-by-step, all-ages workshop, each participant will be able to create a piece like the art found on Robyn’s artsyletters Etsy shop. Participants’ pieces will be matted and ready to frame. (The cost of materials in each packet would be about $6, but packets are being provided free to 50 participants thanks to Robyn, with a contribution from Pomelo Books.) Participants will be encouraged to read their found poems aloud and talk about their pieces. No sign-up; just show up.