watch for it…
June 27, 2017
We have it on good authority that Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall is working on a series of readings for Washington 129.
We’ll post them here when dates are confirmed, but meanwhile, check out the review of Washington 129 by Dennis Held in The Spokesman-Review.
Congratulations!
June 14, 2017
The Poetry Department extends congratulations to Tracy K. Smith, who has been named the 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, for 2017-2018. Smith will take up her duties in the fall, opening the Library of Congress annual literary season in September with a reading of her work at the Coolidge Auditorium.
Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and a professor at Princeton University, succeeds Juan Felipe Herrera as Poet Laureate. She joins a long line of distinguished poets who have served in the position, including Herrera, Charles Wright, Natasha Trethewey, Philip Levine, W.S. Merwin, Kay Ryan, Charles Simic, Donald Hall, Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass and Rita Dove.
Tracy Smith is the author of three books of poetry, including Life on Mars (2011), winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; Duende (2007), winner of the 2006 James Laughlin Award and the 2008 Essence Literary Award; and The Body’s Question (2003), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Smith is also the author of a memoir, Ordinary Light (2015), a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in nonfiction and selected as a notable book by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
For her poetry, Smith has received a Rona Jaffe Writers Award and a Whiting Award. In 2014, the Academy of American Poets awarded her with the Academy Fellowship, given to one poet each year to recognize distinguished poetic achievement. In 2015, she won the 16th annual Robert Creeley Award and in 2016 was awarded Columbia University’s Medal for Excellence.
In the Pulitzer Prize citation for Life on Mars, judges lauded its “bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.” Toi Derricotte, poet and Academy of American Poets chancellor, said “the surfaces of a Tracy K. Smith poem are beautiful and serene, but underneath, there is always a sense of an unknown vastness. Her poems take the risk of inviting us to imagine, as the poet does, what it is to travel in another person’s shoes.”
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Photo credit: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
a hard act to follow
May 19, 2017
Applications are now being accepted for Washington State’s next poet laureate. The poet laureate serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry — including Washington’s legacy of poetry — through public readings, workshops, and presentations in communities throughout the state. The new laureate will serve from February 1, 2018, to January 31, 2020. Washington joined several other states in appointing an official state poet laureate in 2007.
The position is sponsored by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and Humanities Washington, with the support of Governor Jay Inslee. Current laureate Tod Marshall has driven thousands of miles and held hundreds of poetry workshops and readings across Washington State since February 2016. Marshall, a Washington State Book Award-winning poet and Gonzaga professor, is in the second year of his two-year term. A list of his upcoming events is available via Humanities Washington’s website and the state poet laureate’s blog.
Applications are due July 31, 2017. Read more about the position and download the guidelines at ArtsWA.
Today!
April 30, 2017
You are invited to join Washington Poet Laureate Tod Marshall and poets Luther Allen, Jim Bertolino, Michael Daley, J.I. Kleinberg, and Nancy Pagh as they present selections from Washington 129, today at 2:00pm at the Anacortes Public Library. Washington state Poetry Out Loud champ Addi Garner will also recite and read a poem.
As a bonus, today is the last official day of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, so allow some extra time for flower viewing.
Friday in Auburn
April 22, 2017
Here come the poets laureate! Northwest Renaissance Poets presents an evening of poetry with an illustrious lineup: current Washington State poet laureate Tod Marshall, former Washington poets laureate Elizabeth Austen and Sam Green, Auburn poet laureate Marjorie Rommel, and youth poet Summer Barnett. Poets on the Ave, 7:00pm, Friday, April 28, 2017, at the Auburn Avenue Theatre, will include readings, refreshments and more in this wrap-up event for National Poetry Month.
Launch party
April 7, 2017
The public is cordially invited to a special reading to celebrate National Poetry Month and the launch of State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall’s state-wide poetry anthology, WA129, which includes a poet for each year of Washington statehood.
The event will feature live music from The Bushwick Book Club of Seattle. Light refreshments will be served. Readings and recitations from anthology contributors, Tod Marshall, and special guests.
Thursday, April 13, 2017, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
The State Reception Room, 3rd floor, Legislative Building
State Capitol Campus, Olympia
The event is free and open to the public but RSVPs are requested at Humanities Washington.
More on Facebook and Washington 129.
WA129 is a project of the Washington State Poet Laureate Program, funded by Humanities Washington and the Washington State Arts Commission. The anthology is designed and published by Sage Hill Press, Spokane.
around the corner
March 26, 2017
National Poetry Month and National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) begin on Saturday, April 1, 2017. You can anticipate an extra serving of readings, book signings and other poetic events. Here are a few other items of interest:
- Get daily prompts at NaPoWriMo.
- Two Sylvias Press invites you to celebrate National Poetry month with 30 prompts delivered directly to your inbox each day, PLUS you can also have one of your 30 poems critiqued by the editors of Two Sylvias Press, Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy.
- April is also National Letterwriting Month. Check out the event lineup at Write_On.
- At Writers Digest, Robert Lee Brewer once again offers up the Poem-A-Day Challenge.
- Thirty Thirty Poetry posts a prompt a day for the month of April.
- The Academy of American Poets has a nice list of 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month.
In addition to the usual weekly events… poetrynight, Poetry Laboratory, Easy Speak Seattle (2nd and 4th Monday), Vancouver Poetry Slam, Seattle Poetry Slam, Write Time Poetry, Rain City Slam, Broken Mic, Watermark Writers’ Workshop, Everett Poetry Night, Olympia People’s Mic, The Salem Poetry Project, Planet Earth Poetry, Portland Poetry Slam (every other Sunday)
…and the many scheduled appearances of Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall and Oregon Poet Laureate Elizabeth Woody
…here are a few of the National Poetry Month events that are showing up on Cascadia calendars (Washington state unless otherwise indicated):
1 and 2 – Manzanita, OR – PoetryFest 2017 – at the Hoffman Center for the Arts
1 – Port Townsend – Poetry reading with Gary Lilley and Matthew Nienow – 7pm – at Writers’ Workshoppe and Imprint Books
1 – Seattle – Reading with Tom Aslin and Michael Spence – 7:00pm – at Open Books
3 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
3 – Portland, OR – Free Range Poetry presents open mic plus featured readers – 6:30pm – at Multnomah County Library, Northwest Reading Room
4 – Seattle – Reading with Jenny Johnson and JM Miller – 7:00pm – at Open Books
4 – Springfield, OR – Springfield Library Foundation presents a reading by poets Elizabeth Woody, Joe Wilkins, and A. Molotkov – 7:00pm – at Springfield Public Library
5 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
5 – Bellingham – Mary Pneuman reads from her collection of poems, Nature of Things – 7:00pm – at Village Books
5 – Duvall – Duvall Poetry presents Jenessa Hope, Ginna Luck, and Kara Simon – 7:00pm – at Duvall Library
5 – Seattle – Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series presents Alice Notley – 7:30pm – at McCaw Hall
6 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
7 – Corvallis, OR – A reading by poet and nonfiction writer Ellen Bass – 7:30pm – at Oregon State University, Valley Library Rotunda
7 – Seattle – Literary Series: Anis Mojgani, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and Rick Barot – 7:30pm – at Fred Wildlife Refuge
8 – Bellingham – SpeakEasy 19: Poems of Darkness, Poems of Light – 7:00pm – Mount Baker Theatre, Encore Room
8 – Ellensburg – Inland Poetry presents “Edna’s Second April,” a poetry prowl – all day – in downtown Ellensburg
8 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – in the lobby of the Inn at Lynden
9 – Edison – National Poetry Month Group Reading with Georgia Johnson and Jessico Gigot – 5:00pm – at i.e.gallery
9 – Portland, OR – The Studio Series: Poetry Reading and Open Mic – 7:00pm – at Stonehenge Studios
10 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
10 – Seattle – Hugo House Ask the Oracle with Jordan Scott, Doug Nufer, & Megan Snyder-Camp – 7:30pm – at Hotel Sorrento in the Fireside Room
10 – Seattle – Easy Speak Wedgwood presents featured poet Erin Fristad plus open mic – open mic at 8 (signup prior), featured performer around 8:40 – at Wedgwood Ale House
11 – Redmond – Joannie Stangeland facilitates this month’s Poetry and Prose Circle – 6:30pm – at Redmond Regional Library
12 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
12 – Milwaukie, OR – The Milwaukie Poetry Series, held second Wednesdays Sept-June, features Lois Rosen – 7:00pm – at the Pond House
12 – Tacoma – Poetry Book Club – 7:00pm – at King’s Books
13 – Bellingham – Poet Rick Hermann reads from his new collection, Nooksack: Poems and Prose – 7:00pm – at Village Books
13 – Olympia – Celebrate a New Washington Poetry Anthology: Washington 129 – 5:00pm – Washington State Capitol
13 – Port Townsend – Northwind Reading Series presents An Evening with TWO SYLVIAS PRESS: Natasha Moni and Molly Tenenbaum – 7:00pm – at Northwind Arts Center
13 – Seattle – It’s About Time Writers Reading Series (every second Thursday) with featured readers and open mic – 6:00pm – at the Ballard Branch Seattle Public Library
13 – Vancouver – Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic featuring April Bullard and Ian Frederick Caton – 7:00pm – at Angst Gallery
14 – Portland, OR – John Beer and Gabe Urza: Faculty Reading – 6:30pm – Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 294
14 – Seattle – Book Launch: Molly Tenenbaum’s Mytheria – 7:00pm – at Open Books
14 – Tacoma – Distinguished Writer Series with featured poet Rick Barot and open mic – 7:00pm – at King’s Books
15 – Kirkland – Robert Lashley – 3rd Saturday Workshop & Reading – workshop 4:30pm, reading/open mic 6:15pm – at BookTree
15 – Manzanita, OR – The Manzanita Writers’ Series presents a workshop taught by John Sibley Williams – Publishing Your Chapbook: for poetry chapbooks, books of short stories/essays – 10:00am – at the Hoffman Center for the Arts
15 – Port Townsend – Priscilla Long leads a one-day workshop, Becoming a More Effective Creator – 10:00am-4:00pm – at The Writers’ Workshoppe
15 – Seattle – Book launch for Vancouver poet, composer, musician Leanne Dunic’s new book of short prose pieces, To Love the Coming End – 3:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
15 – Seattle – Reading by poet Gabriel Jesiolowski and C. Davida Ingram – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
16 – Bellingham – Daniel Edward Moore reads poems from Confessions of a Pentcostal Buddhist – 4:00pm – at Village Books
17-23 – Spokane – Get Lit! Festival
18 – Eugene, OR – Poets Deborah Akers and Darlene Pagán read – 6:00pm – at Eugene Public Library
18 – Seattle – Word Works: Terrance Hayes – 7:00pm – at Washington Hall
18 – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku meeting – 6:00pm – at King’s Books
19 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
19 – Olympia – Olympia Poetry Network third-Wednesday reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:30pm – at Traditions Fair Trade
19 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series, featuring Terrance Hayes and Jane Wong – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Company
19 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
20 – Anchorage, AK – Reading & Craft Talk Series presents Julie LeMay, An Alchemy of Words: Mystery and Clarity in a Poem – 7:00pm – at Indigo Tea Lounge
20 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
20 – Portland, OR – Third-Thursday Comma series presents Melissa Madenski and Christine Colasurdo – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
20 – Redmond – SoulFood Poetry Night presents readers from Two Sylvias Press: Jeannine Hall Gailey, Natasha Kochicheril Moni, Michael Schmeltzer, and Molly Tenenbaum – 7:00pm – at SoulFood Coffee House
21 – Seattle – Book Launch: Jason Whitmarsh’s The Histories – 7:00pm – at Open Books
22 – Everywhere – Earth Day
22 – Bellingham – Susan J. Erickson reads poems from Lauren Bacall Shares a Limousine – 7:00pm – at Village Books
22 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – in the lobby of the Inn at Lynden
22 – Seattle – Lena Khalaf Tuffaha celebrates publication of her first full-length collection, Water & Salt – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
23 – Bellingham – Sandra Noel reads poems from Into the Green – 4:00pm – at Village Books
23 – Langley – Poetry Month Celebration with Matt Gano: TWO events: Poetry workshop 1:00-3:00pm, Special reading and interview 7:30pm – at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
23 – Seattle – Reading & Conversation with Katie Ford – 6:00pm – at Open Books
24 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
24 – Bellingham – Open Mic with Laurel Leigh, 7:00pm – at Village Books
24 – Seattle – Poetry on Buses Launch Party – 6:30pm – at Moore Theatre
27 – Everywhere – Poem in Your Pocket Day
27 – Anchorage, AK – Savor the Rising Words broadside invitational reading – 7:00pm – at Great Harvest Bread Co.
27 – Port Townsend – Northwind Reading Series presents Sibyl James and Judith Roche – 7:00pm – at Northwind Arts Center
27 – Portland, OR – Verselandia! the annual citywide youth poetry slam – 7:00pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
28 – Redmond – RASP: Redmond Association of Spokenword featured poet plus open mic – 7:00pm – at at VALA Eastside in Redmond Town Center
28 – Seattle – Reading with Kristiana Kahakauwila, Lauren K. Alleyne & Jamaica Baldwin – 7:00pm – at Hugo House
29 – Nationwide – Independent Bookstore Day (check your local indie store for scheduled events and author appearances)
29 – Seattle – A reading by poets Gary Lemons and Felicia Gonzalez – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
30 – Seattle – African-American Writers’ Alliance Reading – 4:30pm – at Open Books
Check the lineup for the rest of the year on the CALENDAR page. Updated (almost) daily!
If you’d care to share your Cascadia-region National Poetry Month event (open to the public and not on this list), leave a Comment.
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Poster artwork by Maira Kalman
