NEWS AND NOTES from PoetsWest

Updated November 4, 2008

Learn Literary Magazine Publishing. Students in the Publications class (Humanities 235) at Edmonds Community College form the editorial staff of the college's award-winning literary magazine, Between the Lines. The class includes an overview of editing, design, printing, and marketing. Class begins on January 6, 2009 and meets 12:30-1:30PM Tuesday/Thursday, with some online instruction as well. The instructor is a published poet with experience in editing and publishing small press books and magazines. For more information, email amanda.laughtland@edcc.edu or call 425.640.1339 ext 7248.

The Nature of Words, Central Oregon's premier literary event, announces 2008 Guest Authors for its annual celebration scheduled for November 5-9, 2008 in Bend, Oregon. Line-up includes Ursula LeGuin, Luis Urrea, Pam Houston, Charles Bowden, Craig Childs, Judith Barrington, and Patricia Smith.

The Nature of Words includes two nights of author readings in Bend's Tower Theatre, two days of writing workshops conducted by the guest authors at the OSU-Cascades Campus, dinner and panel discussion at the High Desert Museum, the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition a wards for young writers, and an open mike session for aspiring writers at the Bend Public Library. For more information, visit www.thenatureofwords.org, email info@thenatureofwords.org or call 541.330.4381.

Beginning November 7, Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) 2008-09 Poetry Season will include Donald Hall, Jane Hirshfield, Yusef Komunyakaa, Simon Armitage, and Naomi Shihab Nye. Also two Special Events showcasing W.S. Merwin and Gary Snyder. (See calendar of events.) All 2008-09 Poetry Season events will take place at 7:30 pm in Benaroya Hall, and will feature readings, moderated audience Q&As, and book signings.
Subscriptions to the five-part Poetry Series ($45-150) are on sale at www.lectures.org or 206.621.2230 x10. Tickets to individual events and to Special Events go on sale September 22. Poetry Series subscribers may purchase tickets to Poetry Special Events ($10-40) now, in advance of the general September 22 date.

Greenbank Farm is excited to announce Washington's newest poetry festival, Brave New Words Poetry at Whidbey's Greenbank Farm. All Day Pass $20 for Adults, $10 for Students. Workshops / Hosted Open Mic / Poets as Artists Exhibition / Renowned Award-winning Poets Perform / Hot New Poets ready to be Discovered / Whidbey Youth Poets Rock / Festival Bookstore / Live Music / Living Wall of Poetry.
Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 10:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Greenbank Farm, corner of State Highway 525 and Wonn Road in Greenbank, 18 miles north of the Clinton Ferry dock on Whidbey Island. http://www.greenbankfarm.com/
Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 18, 2009 a dynamic all-day celebration of poetry. Festival-goers can not only enjoy a day filled with poetry, music and community, they can also take in the expansive water views, miles of beautiful walking trails, the delicious offerings of the Whidbey Pies Cafe, tasting Washington wines at the Farm's Wine Shop and Tasting Room, and the outstanding art and gifts from the adjacent fine art galleries. For more information, contact Victory Lee Schouten, Festival Director 360.331.7099 or mailto:victory@robschoutengallery.com.

The Northwest Author Series, sponsored by the Wilsonville Public Library, Wilsonville Arts & Culture Council & Friends of the Wilsonville Library, picks up in September. See blog for more information about NAS authors at http://northwestauthorseries.wordpress.com/. Hosted by Christina Katz christinakatz@earthlink.net. If you'd like to apply as a presenter for 08/09, please e-mail Christina Katz. Mailing address: Northwest Author Series / PO Box 1354 / Wilsonville OR 97070.

News from the Mukilteo Arts Guild:
Open Mic Night on Wednesdays from 6-8 pm
Whidbey Coffee and Café, 619-4th St., Mukilteo WA
Venue for musicians, bands and performers. Open mike. Free and open to all ages. Contact Steve or Christine Schmalz 425.423.0450 or theartworkshop7@aol.com. Open Mic Night is presented by the Mukilteo Arts Guild and co-sponsored by the City of Mukilteo.

Mukilteo Arts Guild and city of Mukilteo sponsor a number of activities.
Writers Group: A literary salon for writers and open to writers from all genres. Meets on Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. at The Art Building, Upper Level in The Art Workshop Studio, 724 1st Street, Mukilteo WA 98275. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact 425.423.0450.

Nye Beach Writers' Series
The Nye Beach Writers' Series showcases authors of diverse types of writing including fiction, nonfiction, plays, songs, Oregon history, memoir, poetry, essays, and investigative journalism. Readings and performances are appropriate for writers and readers who appreciate good writing and diversity of thought.
Writers On The Edge is offering a summer writing workshop in August for youth aged 7 to 10. Pre-registration is required; class is limited to 12 students. All participants receive full scholarships. Workshop students will perform at the August 16 Nye Beach Writers Series. Workshop details and Writers' Series schedule information are available at www.writersontheedge.org. To receive email notification of upcoming events contact Carla Perry at 541-574-7708, or send an email to info@writersontheedge.org. All donations to Writers On The Edge are fully tax-deductible. Contact: Carla Perry info@writersontheedge.org or 541-574-7708. Mailing address: PO Box 85 / Newport OR 97365.

Willamette Writers monthly meetings are held each First Tuesday during 2008 in the McEntee Room at the Newport Public Library in Newport, Oregon from 7-8:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Writers-on-Writing series is also sponsored by the Newport Public Library and the Sylvia Beach Hotel. Contacts: Sue Lick, 541.867.4692, suelick@casco.net; Dorothy Blackcrow Mack, 541.765.2383, dmack@netportnet.com; www.willamettewriters.com.

The Pongo Teen Writing Project is a therapeutic poetry project that sends teams of trained volunteers into sites such as the state psychiatric hospital and juvenile detention. We particularly seek out teens who have difficulty expressing themselves. Sadly, a consistent theme in the teens' poetry is early childhood trauma, such as abandonment, abuse, and neglect. But, even though the teens often express profound emotional struggles, their writing is also a joyful and healing process. See their web site www.pongoteenwriting.org.

The International Poetry Museum in San Francisco wants to create a facility that will illuminate the universality and diversity of world poetry, with equal emphasis being given to the ancient heritage of folk poetry as well as contemporary international work. Its Poetry Library accepts donations of poems, books and subscriptions to The National Poetry Assoc. 934 Brannan St., San Francisco CA 94911. Check out its web site http://www.internationalpoetrymuseum.org.

The Bathroom Poetry Project wants to increase accessibility to poetry in non-traditional spaces and to provide an alternative publication venue for willing poets (the bathroom). The project is looking for original works to post in public bathrooms and for additional cities. Current project installations in Boulder CO, Chicago, Austin, Raleigh NC (in draft), and in Portland OR. See http://bathroompoet.net/index.html.

Field's End third Tuesday of each month
Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Avenue N, Bainbridge Island
Writers' Roundtable is a monthly free event hosted by Field's End, an affiliate of the nonprofit Bainbridge Public Library. The monthly Roundtable is free and open to writers of all levels and interests. The guest author introduces the topic, and then participants join in a Q & A period followed by group discussion. The evening closes with socializing, coffee, and cookies. For information, go to www.fieldsend.org or 206.842.4162 or contact cindyvandersluis@yahoo.com or 206.780.0752.

Spalding University of Louisville, KY, offers a two-year brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program with concentrations in poetry and five other areas of writing. Each semester begins with a 10-day residency of workshops, lectures, classes, and readings, followed by an at-home semester of individualized study with a faculty mentor by correspondence. Poetry faculty include Molly Peacock, Greg Pape, Rane Arroyo, Barbara Hamby, Debra Kang Dean, Richard Cecil, Maureen Morehaed, and Kathleen Driskell. For more information email mfa@spalding.edu or call 800-896-8941x2423.

THE WAR GOES ON (and so does poetsagainstthewar.org).
Submit your antiwar poetry! Help PAW make a powerful statement for peace, joining with thousands of other poets around the world. Go to http://poetsagainstthewar.org/submitpoem.asp.

Join and support Poets Against the War! Your membership donation of $10 or more can help us publish the web site and continue building a broad-based movement against war. With a donation of $100 or more, you'll get a free PAW T-shirt. Go to http://poetsagainstthewar.org/donate.asp.

Organize a poetry reading against the war! Gather with other poets to make a public statement for peace with your poetry. Announce your reading at http://poetsagainstthewar.org/createreading.asp.

Mountain Writers Series Upcoming Readings & Events