Robert Sund appreciation

A couple of months ago, we mentioned the new book, A Flutter of Birds Passing through Heaven: a Tribute to Robert Sund, edited by Allen Frost and Paul Piper. This week, Frost and Piper and other contributors to the tribute volume will be reading at Village Books in Fairhaven (Bellingham). Mark your calendar for Thursday, July 14, 2016, 7:00pm, and join in an appreciation of this Pacific Northwest legend. The reading is free and copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Monday night is poetrynight

It’s Monday, June 6, 2016, so that means it’s poetrynight night and Paul S. Piper features. Paul will be reading poetry from three past books, plus new poems from a book due out in late June or July. That book is entitled and Light and will be published by Good Deed Rain Press.

Join the audience and join in the open mic at the Bellingham Public Library. Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:45pm. Poetry begins at 8:00pm sharp!

a tribute to Robert Sund

A Flutter of Birds Passing through Heaven: a Tribute to Robert Sund, edited by Allen Frost and Paul Piper, has just been published and is available from Amazon for $20. Local bookstores will stock it soon.

This book, a tribute to the Skagit poet Robert Sund, contains poetry, reminiscences, art, anecdotes, essays, photographs and more from over 35 contributors, and includes work by such luminaries as Robert Bly, Gary Snyder and our own Jim Bertolino.

Robert Sund was considered to be the informal poet laureate of Washington State for a number of years, and was truly a great poet of place. Keep an ear out (and watch the Calendar) for readings that will accompany the launch.

Read a review of A Flutter of Birds in the New York Journal of Books.

let it flow!

Flying Trout Press invites you to a free poetry cabaret and book launch on Saturday, April 30, 2016, 7:00pm, at the Mount Baker Theatre (Encore Room), in Bellingham, Washington. In addition to Timothy Pilgrim, reading from his brand-new book of poems, Mapping Water, readers will include Flying Trout poets Paul S. Piper, Chuck Luckmann and Georgia Johnson. There will be a cash bar and plenty of festivity to wrap up National Poetry Month.

temporary poetry walk

In honor of National Poetry Month and the 25th anniversary of the San Juan County Land Bank, a series of unique, temporary installations of nature-inspired poetry mark the route along trails through some of San Juan Island’s most inspiring natural settings — Limekiln and Deadman Bay Preserves, Lime Kiln Point State Park and American Camp.

The poetry, on display for the month of April only, includes work by Kelli Russell Agodon, Humberto Ak’abal, Wendell Berry, James Bertolino, Sally W. Bryan, Lewis Carroll, Michael Daley, e.e. cummings, Sally Green, Sam Green, Sam Hamill, D. M. Jenkins, Janet Lewis, Howard McCord, Paul Nelson, Mary Oliver, Nancy Pagh, Paul Piper (shown above, with his poem “The Waves”), Leonora Speyer, William E. Stafford, Robert Sund, William Jay Weissinger, Ken Wood and James Wright.

There will be two guided walks: Saturday, April 11, 2015, at 1:00pm, with poet Paul Nelson and SJI National Historical Park Historian, Mike Vouri; Saturday, April 25, at 1:00pm, with poets Sally and Sam Green and Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann. Details on The San Juan County Land Bank website.

Book launch party and readings!

This is a guest post by Chuck Luckmann.

Bellingham Poems

“Poetry is a good way to be in the world,” my friend the poet Emily Warn once said. When I think this way, I’m a better poet and writer: more observant and mindful. When I’m in the world as a poet, nothing is ordinary.

Some poets are born poets; others are made. I’m in the latter category. I’ve worked at becoming a poet, but often in a haphazard way. To help me become a more disciplined writer, in October 2001, I started looking for another poet or two who would be interested in meeting regularly to share drafts.

At first Jason Graham and I met at the Old Town Café, but he took a job in Seattle. Shortly thereafter, in 2002, I met Paul Piper and Tim Pilgrim. We began meeting once or twice a month, at 4:00 PM on Thursdays, at The Black Cat, Nimbus, The Temple Bar, and when the weather was pleasant, on the outdoor decks at La Fiamma and Nicki’s at Squalicum Harbor.

Having to send to Pilgrim and Piper a poem every two weeks was good discipline. Our feedback to each other helped clarify and improve all of our drafts. Every poem went through this collaborative process. We’d meet, drink beer, and collectively try to solve our poetical problems. The writing group has helped me write and revise maybe a 100 poems; I’m sure it was the same for Tim and Paul.

A couple years ago we noticed that we’d written a significant number of poems about Bellingham and its surrounding landscapes. We decided that the collection would make a fine book. We chose 32 poems, and a few days ago, Flying Trout Press published Bellingham Poems.

We’ll be celebrating our poetry group and publication with a party on Saturday, December 6, 2014, from 3:00 – 6:00 PM at Brandywine Kitchen, 1317 Commercial Street, Bellingham. We’ll also be reading at Village Books, 1200 11th Street, at 4:00 PM on Sunday, December 14. Please join us.

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Chuck Luckmann received his M.A. at Western Washington University and currently teaches English at Skagit Valley College.

if it’s Tuesday, this must be poetry…

National Poetry Month may be winding down, but it’s not going out with a whimper. Readings, events and postings continue, and here’s yet another, free, in Bellingham. Poets James Bertolino, Allen Frost and Paul Piper will read at 4:00pm on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in the beautiful Special Collections Research Room of the Western Washington University Library. (Come for the poetry, stay for the view…and the snacks!) See additional details at Western Libraries Heritage Resources. Click for campus parking information.

tonight in Bellingham!

Break out the string, here comes the poetry… SpeakEasy 14: String Theory is a sequence of poems created and read by poets Luther Allen, Sheila Sondik, Allen Frost, Paul Piper and Nancy Pagh — each poem strung to the one before and suggesting the one that follows. Free (donations appreciated) at Village Books at 7:00pm. Plus, the first 40 audience members to be seated receive a free chapbook of the string of poems.

SpeakEasy 14…coming up!

Mark your calendar for Thursday, April 24, 2014, and join five poets for SpeakEasy 14: String Theory. The poets will “string” poems together based on some common element from the preceding poem — theme, topic, word, phrase or style — something that gives birth to the idea within the next poem. Poets Luther Allen, Sheila Sondik, Allen Frost, Paul Piper and Nancy Pagh will read their poems in a round-robin format. The reading, which is free, will be hosted by Village Books at 7:00pm.

Reading: A Pod of Poets

You are invited to a free poetry reading on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 4:00pm, at Western Washington University. “A Pod of Poets” — Bruce Beasley, Ryler Dustin, Allen Frost, Nancy Pagh, Suzanne Paola, Paul Piper, Jeremy Voigt and Misho Wooldridge — will read their own work and the work of others who moved or influenced them.

The reading will be held in the Library Presentation Room (southwest corner, street-level) of the old Wilson Library (just off High Street). Paid parking is available on campus (contact Parking office for assistance if needed 360-650-2945 or parking@wwu.edu).
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photo of Wilson Library