MICHELE BOMBARDIER will be our feature on Nov 21st! Michele is an award-winning poet and author and is Bainbridge's inaugural poet laureate. www.michelebombardier.com

*Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbridge Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

This poetry reading and workshop with poet Michele Bombardier and facilitated by Araceli Cruz will include discussion, Q&A, and writing prompts for participants to write their own poems to loved ones.

Find out about the festival here: https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/dia-de-los-muertos-community-celebrations/

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) 550 Winslow Way E.

Guest speaker Brittney Corrigan will be joining us for an evening of poetry!

Brittney Corrigan is the author of five poetry collections: Daughters, Breaking, Navigation, 40 Weeks and most recently, Solastalgia, a collection of poems about climate change, extinction, and the Anthropocene Age (JackLeg Press, 2023). Brittney was raised in Colorado and has lived in Portland, Oregon for the past three decades, where she is an alumna and employee of Reed College. Her debut short story collection, The Ghost Town Collectives, is forthcoming from Middle Creek Publishing in October, 2024. For more information, visit www.brittneycorrigan.com.

Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbridge Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

DETAILS: Island Theatre Presents First Class at the Bainbridge Public Library

“Theodore Roethke and Bloedel Reserve: A Poet’s Place” will be accompanied by an Island Theatre playreading of First Class by the late poet and Roethke student David Wagoner at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 28, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 29, at the Bainbridge Public Library; both readings are free, with donations welcome. Set in one of Roethke’s legendary poetry workshops, the 75-minute production features Island Theatre founder Steve Stolee as Theodore Roethke.

"This is a poetry workshop, God help us,” begins First Class. In his introduction to the play, David Wagoner wrote: “Most of the teaching methods of artists in all categories have gone unrecorded. We know very little about what great painters and great composers, for instance, said to their pupils. In First Class I've tried to re-create the atmosphere of one of Roethke's poetry workshops, working mostly from my memories of him and a number of examples of the kinds of poems and opinions he admired, some of the near rituals he used both on students and himself, some of his unique spirit, and some of the hectic ways Time and Place would leap over each other for him as if he were in charge of both."

In the process, the audience is swept into not only the exhilarating milieu of Roethke’s classroom, but also the terrible landscape of the mental illness that clouded most of his life.

"Theodore Roethke and Bloedel Reserve: A Poet’s Place” is made possible through by a grant from the Bainbridge Community Foundation and funding from the City of Bainbridge Island. Other Bainbridge Island Poet Laureate Program support comes from the Bainbridge Public Library and Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN).

SUMMER SUNDAY READINGS 3-4:30 pm The Garden, Wilderbee Farm & Meadery 223 Cook Avenue Extension Port Townsend, Washington

Poetry Lineup: Rick Barot Melissa Kwasny Spencer Reece

*Seating is limited. Come early, or bring a camp chair or picnic blanket and a couple friends. Spread out on the lawn and enjoy. Free public event and free parking. Donations are welcome.

DETAILS: Island Theatre Presents First Class at the Bainbridge Public Library

“Theodore Roethke and Bloedel Reserve: A Poet’s Place” will be accompanied by an Island Theatre playreading of First Class by the late poet and Roethke student David Wagoner at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 28, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 29, at the Bainbridge Public Library; both readings are free, with donations welcome. Set in one of Roethke’s legendary poetry workshops, the 75-minute production features Island Theatre founder Steve Stolee as Theodore Roethke.

"This is a poetry workshop, God help us,” begins First Class. In his introduction to the play, David Wagoner wrote: “Most of the teaching methods of artists in all categories have gone unrecorded. We know very little about what great painters and great composers, for instance, said to their pupils. In First Class I've tried to re-create the atmosphere of one of Roethke's poetry workshops, working mostly from my memories of him and a number of examples of the kinds of poems and opinions he admired, some of the near rituals he used both on students and himself, some of his unique spirit, and some of the hectic ways Time and Place would leap over each other for him as if he were in charge of both."

In the process, the audience is swept into not only the exhilarating milieu of Roethke’s classroom, but also the terrible landscape of the mental illness that clouded most of his life.

"Theodore Roethke and Bloedel Reserve: A Poet’s Place” is made possible through by a grant from the Bainbridge Community Foundation and funding from the City of Bainbridge Island. Other Bainbridge Island Poet Laureate Program support comes from the Bainbridge Public Library and Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN).

Anna Odessa Linzer: Season Unleashed

Season Unleashed is a new collection of poems by American Book Award-winning novelist and poet Anna Odessa Linzer. Anna evokes the dramatic yet subtle beauty of the Salish Sea. A Northwest native, her poems reveal a keen awareness born of the familiarity of paths and beaches she walks daily. Memories surface, braiding her heritage with life on the Suquamish Port Madison Indian Reservation, her years on Shaw Island, in the rainforest along the Hoh River, and in the isolation of Dabob Bay. These poems and prose passages are a kaleidoscope of seasons unleashed. A long-distance, cold-water swimmer, Anna glides through the seasons in the cool blue-green waters she calls home, inviting us to join her in her powerful, deep immersion.

Anna will give a reading featuring poems from this new collection, Season Unleashed, published by Empty Bowl Press. Following the reading, she will be in conversation with Holly Hughes, poet, publisher, and Anna’s longtime friend. A reception will be held before the talk, starting at 6:00 PM, with a book signing after the event.

Purchase tickets here: https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/anna-odessa-linzer-season-unleashed/

GUEST BIO

Anna Odessa Linzer has always lived along the Salish Sea. Her deep connection with the Pacific Northwest is reflected in both her poems and her fiction. Her novel Ghost Dancing (Picador/St. Martin’s Press) received an American Book Award in 1999. Her novels Blind Virgil, Dancing on Water, and A River Story were produced as the handbound, limited-edition Home Waters by fine-arts publisher Marquand Books. A River Story was adapted and performed as a two-person play, and her poems have been featured in gallery and museum installations as well as on wine bottles. She has also worked on environmental protection and restoration issues, including founding one of the first land trusts in Washington State.

*Photo and info courtesey of Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Guest speakers Nancy Miller Gomez and Emily Ransdell will be joining us for an evening of poetry!

Nancy Miller Gomez is the author of Inconsolable Objects (YesYes Books) and the chapbook Punishment (Rattle chapbook series). Her poems appear in Best American Poetry and other journals. She lives in Santa Cruz, CA where she co-founded a program to teach poetry for incarcerated men and women.

Emily Ransdell is the author of One Finch Singing. Her poems appear in Poetry Northwest, Terrain and many others. She lives in Camas, WA and teaches at the Hoffman Center for the Arts.

Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbrdige Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

"This poetry workshop is for poets of any stage and background who want to explore the complexity, queerness, and surreality of nature and ecology through poetry. Even if you’re new to nature writing or poetry, this course welcomes you!

In this workshop, we will consider the question of what eco-poetry (also known as natural poetry) is and can be, especially in the current temper of our times, by reading a sampling of contemporary writers of a variety of backgrounds and styles. We’ll look at the ways those writers use specific techniques of poetry and lyricality to engage with the natural world, ecology, and place.

We’ll talk about how to represent the strange wildness inherent in nature and how it can help us connect with the wildness inherent in ourselves. Then we’ll write (with the option to share!) some of our own eco-poems through on-site interactive writing prompts that will get us out into Bloedel Reserve."

WHERE: This event is held indoors at the Japanese Guest House and will involve time outdoors as well. Bloedel Reserve, 7571 NE Dolphin Dr, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

WHEN: Wednesday, September 4, 12:30 PM–4 PM

COST: $15 Purchase tickets here

SUMMER SUNDAY READINGS 3-4:30 pm The Garden, Wilderbee Farm & Meadery 223 Cook Avenue Extension Port Townsend, Washington

Poetry Lineup: Luther Hughes Erin Malone Arianne True

*Seating is limited. Come early, or bring a camp chair or picnic blanket and a couple friends. Spread out on the lawn and enjoy. Free public event and free parking. Donations are welcome.

Hosted by our poet laureat, Michele Bombardier, with our guest poet: Nigerian American poet, Uche Nduka, is the author of eight books of poetry, the most recent of which is Bainbridge Island Notebook. A winner of the Nigerian Authors' Poetry Prize, he lectures and reads all over the world and teaches at CUNY Queens College. Uche lives in NYC and likes to summer on Bainbridge with his family.

Join us for our third Thursday Poetry Reading and Open Mic series at the Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Ave. N. Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

Sign-up opens at 6:45pm, reading begins at 7 sharp. Wine, tea, and cookies will be served. *All are welcome, ages 14+

SUMMER SUNDAY READINGS 3-4:30 pm The Garden, Wilderbee Farm & Meadery 223 Cook Avenue Extension Port Townsend, Washington

Poetry Lineup: Rae Armantrout Heather McHugh Kay Ryan

*Seating is limited. Come early, or bring a camp chair or picnic blanket and a couple friends. Spread out on the lawn and enjoy. Free public event and free parking. Donations are welcome.

Guest speaker Sati Mookherjee is the author of Eye (Ravenna Press) and Ways of Being (Albiso Award winner, MoonPath Press). A third collection, Deś, is forthcoming in 2025 (Pulley Press). Her collaborations with contemporary classical composers have been performed or recorded by ensemble and solo musicians and she has been awarded an Artist Trust/ Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award. Sati serves on the Board of Directors of the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival. satimookherjee.com

Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbrdige Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

S. Salazar (she/her) is a mixed Puerto Rican author who's been published in Harper Palate, The Acentos Review, Booth Journal, Poet Lore, and elsewhere. She's an MFA candidate currently juggling multiple manuscripts that explore generational trauma, identity, LAtinx heritage, diaspora, and mental health. Her debut poetry collection Raíces, Relics, and Other Ghosts (Kelsay Books, 2023) examines topics of disconnection and reconnection to her Puerto Rican roots through trial and error, genealogical exploration, and the search for long-separated familia. When she isn't writing, she can be found hiking with loved ones, talking to her parrot, Gizmo, and gushing over every dog she sees.

Monday, July 1st 5-8pm at The Sister's Restaurant, 2804 Grand Avenue, Everett, WA 98201

SUMMER SUNDAY READINGS 3-4:30 pm The Garden, Wilderbee Farm & Meadery 223 Cook Avenue Extension Port Townsend, Washington

Poetry Lineup: Tanya Holtland Anna Odessa Linzer Cedar Sigo

*Seating is limited. Come early, or bring a camp chair or picnic blanket and a couple friends. Spread out on the lawn and enjoy. Free public event and free parking. Donations are welcome.

Guest speaker Jory Mickelson is the award-winning author of All This Divide and two other books of poetry, Wilderness/Kingdom and Picturing. They are an educator, storyteller, and speaker who lives in Bellingham, WA.

Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbrdige Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

Guest speaker Deborah Bacharach will be joining us for May's open mic! Deborah is the author of Shake & Tremor and After I Stop Lying. Her work has been published in Cimmaron Review, New Letters, and The Writer’s Chronicle among many others.

Sign up to read opens at 6:45pm. Ages 14+

*Cookies, courtesy of T & C, wine, and tea will be served.

*Hosted by our poet laureate and Bainbridge Public Library. Event held at Bainbrdige Public Library at 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

In partnership with Eagle Harbor Books, BIMA celebrates the latest publications of acclaimed writers Sasha LaPointe and Tayi Tibble in a reading with audience Q&A moderated by island writer B.L. Crook.

More info here: https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/curated-conversations-sasha-lapointe-tayi-tibble/

You are invited to join us as we commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the forced removal of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island. This year’s theme is “Teach the Children.”

LOCATION: Exclusion Memorial, 4195 Eagle Harbor Drive NE, Bainbridge Island

More info here: https://bijaema.org/event/commemoration-of-the-82nd-anniversary-of-the-exclusion/

THE EVENT: Join us at BIMA to be empowered by poetry from: Roberto Ascalon, award-winning Seattle slam artist, Bainbridge Poet Laureate Michele Bombardier, student poets and more. We will be raising funds through tickets and a silent auction of student art!

OUR CAUSE: To support the Maternal Center of Excellence, a maternal hospital that is addressing the incredibly high maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone and is teaching the next generation of healthcare professionals.

https://sites.google.com/view/bainbridgeyouthpihe/partners-in-poetry-2024?authuser=0

Join us at the Bainbridge Public Library for our monthly Open Mic event! Hosted by our own poet laureate, Michele Bombardier, with guest speaker Linda Bierds!

Linda Bierds has published ten books of poetry. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poetry, and Best American Poetry. Her awards include recognition from the NEA, The Guggenheim Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

• Wine, tea, and cookies will be served.

• Sign up at 6:45. Please keep readings to four minutes or less.* All arer welcome to this free event, ages 14+.

Location: Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Ave N Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

“Harjo’s poetry is celebrated for its insightful attention to the spiritual and natural worlds. In lines that can be deceptively simple or strikingly complex, she often explores the persistence of myth in contemporary experience.” – The Washington Post

We’re excited to partner with Seattle Arts and Lectures to present Joy Harjo, an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022, the first Native American to receive the honor, and she is the winner of Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry.

Harjo has written ten books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years, several plays and children’s books, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior.

Register here: https://www.humanities.org/event/joy-harjo/

Presented by Washington Humanioties. Co-presented with Seattle Arts and Lectures.

Join us for an evening of poetry with guest reader Kevin Craft and our very own poet laureate, Michele Bombardier! Sign up opens at 6:45pm, ages 14+. Wine, cookies, and warm beverages served.

"Award-winning poet Kevin Craft is the author of three books of poetry. He directs the Written Arts Program at Everett Community College and has been the faculty director of the UW’s Writers in Rome Program. Kevin has earned numerous fellowships and awards and served as the editor of Poetry Northwest for many years. He is serves as Executive Editor of Poetry NW Editions.”

Location: Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

VALENTINE’S DAY

14 Poets + 28 Love Poems

Wednesday, February 14, 7pm

The Chapel, Fort Worden Way Port Townsend, Washington

A Valentine’s Day poetry extravaganza with fourteen poets + twenty-eight love poems. Sweets for the sweet. Admission by donation, $10 suggested or whatever you can offer. Free parking.

More information here: https://poetrysalishsea.com/poss_events.html