Writing the Land: Todd Creek

Very pleased to share this update from poet/artist Nancy Canyon:

I am thrilled to announce that as of May 1, 2022, I’ve accepted the position of Whatcom Land Trust poet selected by Writing the Land: A Collaboration between Poets and Protected Lands.”

A project of NatureCulture,Writing the Land partners with land trusts across the U.S. Poets visit their adopted properties and then create poems inspired by the land, with an anthology published at year’s end. Through the anthologies, poets help raise awareness of the importance of land conservation.

My adopted land is the Land Trust parcel, Todd Creek, on the Nooksack River. My husband, Ron Pattern, is a steward for this parcel, so I have visited the property numerous times, writing poetry while he planted trees or removed invasive species. I’ve enjoyed the river and rocky beach, the large maples, eagles gliding over, and fish jumping.

Being a poet for the land is a perfect fit for me. It brings me joy to observe nature, detail place in my poems, absorb the aerosols from the woods and negative ions from the water, watch the sky and wildlife, and perhaps eat a picnic next to the river.

In my year of writing poetry at Todd Creek, I will pen three poems for the program and record myself reading a poem for the Writing the Land website. Whatcom Land Trust also has suggested I give a poetry workshop and perhaps read my poems at a pub night fund raiser for Whatcom Land Trust’s upcoming land purchases. Stay tuned for news about these events.

SpeakEasy 27: the responses

SpeakEasy 27: A Spiritual Thread engaged five poets in what turned out to be a nine-month poetic conversation. The resulting series of linked poems was presented in five Zoom readings.

To complete SpeakEasy 27, audience members were invited to submit their own poems inspired by and directly linked to specific ideas or language in the 25-poem series. Round 6, on Sunday, March 28, 2021, at 7:00pm Pacific, will feature response poems by Sarah Brownsberger, Lauren Camp, Nancy Canyon, Bev Darnall, J.I. Kleinberg, Eric Kosarot, Rachel Mehl, Peter Messinger, Jory Mickelson, Don Mitchell, Kevin Murphy, Bethany Reid, Sheila Rosen, Paul Sarvasy, Betty Scott, Carla Shafer, Sheila Sondik, Allie Spikes, and Nik Warren.

Additional information and video of the previous readings is available on the Other Mind Press SpeakEasy 27 page. The reading is free on Zoom (Zoom link available from the participating poets or by sending an email to othermindpress AT gmail.com). Please join us!

Clover, today!

Clover: A Literary Rag celebrates Sweet 16 today as a selection of contributors to volume 16 share their words. Featured authors are Luther Allen, James Bertolino, Jennifer Bullis, Nancy Canyon, Susan Chase-Foster, Michael Daley, Victoria Doerper, Paul Hunter, Andrew Shattuck McBride, C.J. Prince, Betty Scott, Gary Wade, and Bob Zaslow.

Join in the celebration at 4:00pm at Village Books in Bellingham. It’s free, and copies of Clover will be available for purchase and signing.

strong voices

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.

memoir your September

September is Whatcom Memoir Writing Month (WhaMemWriMo) and for the fourth year, Chuckanut Writers and Village Books will offer a series of four memoir workshops. The goal for each writer is 1,666 words a day — 50,000 words (a book’s worth) for the month.

The workshops, taught on successive Thursdays by Cami Ostman, Laura Kalpakian, Nancy Canyon, and Jennifer Wilhoit, can be taken individually or as a series ($25 each or all four for $89). See the full description and registration links on the Village Books WhaMemWriMo page.

Ringed Light on Freshwater Swamp*

2018 Walk Award
By Nancy Canyon

Wooden oars slosh     cutting lazy eddies
through narrow channel           low water
turns swampy              orange flicks and
flashes        sunfish circling murky shoal
fins  wag  to  cacophony  of  insect  buzz
green stalks curl and arch      chirp   plop
frog-kick      dive deep under    mirrored
surface reflects cirrus            streaks of
spilled milk above       rippling tea below
stems refract at water break     black lily
roots twist       gold marbled surface laps
red-winged blackbirds trill     dragonflies
flit past grandpa’s green rowboat.

. . . . .
*Copyright 2018 by Nancy Canyon. Broadside illustrated by Angela Boyle.

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!

Whatcom Women Words and Work

You are invited to attend a free Whatcom Advocates presentation by four artists/poets on Thursday, April 12, 2018, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, at the Whatcom Museum/Old City Hall Rotunda Room.

Sheila Sondik, Anita K. Boyle, Nancy Canyon, and J.I. (Judy) Kleinberg will share their work, processes, and inspiration. For bios and additional information, see the Whatcom Museum event page.

the coolest cats

You are most cordially invited to a reading and release party for Nine Lives Later: a Dead Cat Anthology. Writer/editor Dee Dee Chapman presents this unique collection of poetry and fiction that embraces the unusual motif with sincerity, honest grief, humor, and love. The evening features readings by Jessica Lee, Rena Priest, Duncan Shields, Luther Allen, Malcolm Kenyon, Nancy Canyon, and Dee Dee Chapman.

Let the fur fly. Join the hep cats at Honey Moon in Bellingham, on Thursday, November 30, 2017, at 8:30pm.

Peace Arts Workshops

 
 
Set aside some time on Tuesday, October 24, and Wednesday, October 25, 2017, and participate in one, two, or all three Peace Arts Workshops offered by the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center (WPJC).
 
Transform Your Writing
with poet Betty Scott and songwriter-musician J.P. Falcon Grady
10:00am-Noon, Tuesday, October 24

This workshop will help you explore how the world of peace and justice can be realized through writing. Participants will transform the thought, emotion and images of a free write into a fixed form, perhaps a horoscope, a sonnet, a pantoum, or a revised chorus from a favorite song. Through writing, discussion, and performance examples, participants will look for the gifts that structure and re-visioning provide, then partner with musician J.P. Falcon Grady to enhance their writing with chords and rhythms.

Peace Collage Workshop
with Nancy Canyon
2:00-4:00pm, Tuesday, October 24

Spend the afternoon with Nancy Canyon, author and artist, creating a 6 x 8 inch Peace Collage. Let go of the thinking mind. We’ll work from a space of non-judgment, collecting magazine images that describe the complexities of the concept of peace. The process will feel leisurely and meditative as we cut and move pieces around the matt board, arranging colors and shapes in engaging composition. At the end of class, we’ll share our collages. Magazines and matt board will be provided. Please bring scissors and glue sticks and additional magazines, if you can.

Writing for Peace and Resistance
with Abbe Rolnick
​4:30-6:30pm, Wednesday, October 25

Interactive workshop that highlights storytelling using both fiction and non-fiction techniques to present ideas of justice, resistance, and peace. Core principles of authenticity — original thinking, transformed into meaningful essays or stories.

All three workshops will be held at WPJC, 1220 Bay Street in downtown Bellingham. To register, visit the WPJC Peace Arts Workshops page.