did your poem get bounced?

If you submitted a poem to the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest, this year or any previous year, and it was rejected, now you have a chance to show it off to the world!

Boynton Bouncers returns to the mic at Greene’s Corner in Bellingham on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 6:00pm. Here are the guidelines:

• Rejected-by-Boynton poems from any contest year, 2006-2023, are eligible.
• Poets must read their own poems; if their work has been turned away in multiple years, they may read up to two poems.
• Poets can just show up and read, or, to assure a spot in the lineup, send an email with your name, phone, and poem title(s) to boyntonbouncers@gmail.com.
• The event is free and the public is invited.

Celebrate rejection with some of Whatcom County’s finest poets!

tonight!

This evening, Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at 7:30pm Pacific, join Cobalt Poets online as they present Michael Dylan Welch plus an open reading (that’s you!). Cobalt Poets is a Facebook group organized by Rick Lupert, who is also the mastermind behind Poetry Super Highway. Here’s the event and here’s the Zoom. Bring your Valentine!

something new in Bellingham

There’s a new event in town: PROMPT: An Evening for Poets, Friday, January 13, 2023, 6:00-9:00pm, at the FireHouse Arts & Events Center in Fairhaven. The event is organized by writer, performer and creative coach Tere Harrison, who describes it as “an evening of curiosity and fun with words spoken out loud.”

John S. Green will host an exquisite corpse table to gather one-line contributions to a collective poem for the evening.

To sign up to read, play music, sing, dance, contact Tere Harrison (address at event link above). Spots are 5 minutes. Space is limited.

new open mic

Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, is hosting an open mic night for Washington writers of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Local Author Open Mic happens on the third Monday of each month, except December. So mark your calendar for Monday, November 21, 2022, 7:00pm, and come try out your words on a new audience. Guidelines here.

back to in-person

Here’s some good news: Village Books, in Bellingham, has announced, “Beginning November, 2022, we will begin bringing VB Writes Writing Groups back to In-Person Meetings at Village Books in the Writers Corner.”

VB Writes offers free, drop-in, twice-monthly writing groups on fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and prompts, as well as two 4th-Monday Open Mic Nights — one in Spanish and one in English.

Watch for these and other events on the Village Books calendar.

for your summer calendar

Join the Skagit River Poetry Foundation
for a summer celebration
FREE!
Outdoor Picnic at Pioneer Park
La Conner, Washington
Sunday, July 24, 2022, 2:00-7:00pm
Music
Heron & Crow, Erik Christensen Band, and Deep River Blues Band
Northwest poets plus audience open mic
Burgers, dogs, drinks, and ice cream
Family friendly
Bring a camp chair or blanket

Mark your calendar!
(and while you’re at it: make a note of
the Skagit River Poetry Festival, October 6-9, 2022)

Poetry Picnic

The Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma Creates, Write253, and The Asian Pacific Cultural Center invite you to celebrate poetry and community at a Poetry Picnic on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 11:00am to 3:00pm in South Park, Tacoma, on the grounds of The Asian Pacific Cultural Center.

The free, all-ages event will feature drop-in activities, an open mic, live readings, book sales, book giveaways, letterpress printing, oral history recording booth, the Creative Colloquy book bike, a vegetarian food truck, and more.

LiTFUSE 2022!

Great news from Tieton, Washington, this week: the LiTFUSE faculty lineup for 2022 has been announced, PLUS a new monthly reading series and open mic, Fuel, has been added to LiTFUSE programming.

For LiTFUSE 2022, September 23-25, faculty will feature keynote poet, Kim Addonizio, featured guest, Washington State Poet Laureate, Rena Priest, and additional faculty Brooke Matson, Gabrielle Bates, Robert Lashley, Xavier Cavazos, Aileen Koewn Vaux, Matt Trease, Luther Hughes, Kathryn Hunt, Lyn Coffin, Mathias Svalina, Taneum Bambrick, and Gary Copeland Lilley.

Fuel happens every fourth Wednesday at 7:00pm at the Fueling Station in Tieton. On May 25, you can hear Raúl Sánchez reading from his new book, When There Were No Borders.

Keep an eye on the LiTFUSE website or Facebook page, or get your name on the mailing list for all the latest info.

book launch: tonight!

Poet and interviewer Paul E. Nelson will launch his brand-new book, Haibun de la Serna, this evening, Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at 7:00pm, at C&P Coffee Company in West Seattle and streaming live on Facebook. An open mic will follow. The event is co-produced by PoetryBridge and Goldfish Press.

readings, etc., soon

Denver poet, performer, and novelist Gregory SETH Harris is coming to Cascadia and you have a couple of opportunities to see and hear him.

On Friday, April 15, 2022, BookTree, in Kirkland, will present a live, in-person event (masked/vaxxed, please), beginning at 6:30pm with a 30-minute open mic (sign up between 6 and 6:30pm), followed by SETH Harris performing from his poetic memoir, A Black Odyssey, and from his award-winning satirical novel, The Perfect Stranger. After a short break, there will be an additional open mic until 8:25pm. Seating is very limited; email booktreekirkland1@gmail.com to make sure there is room for you.

On Saturday, April 23, Chuckanut Sandstone Writers presents a free in-person workshop and reading with SETH at St. James Presbyterian Church, 910 14th Street, in Bellingham. Seth’s Performance Poetry Workshop, “Read Like a Pro,” 1:00-3:00pm, will be followed at 4:00pm by a reading and open mic. (Details in graphic, above.) To sign up for the workshop, send an email (subject: SETH the Poet Workshop) to chuckanutsandstone@gmail.com.