THE THIRD BIENNIAL

La Conner, Washington Thursday, May 20 • Friday, May 21 • Saturday, May 22 • 2004 This year's festival pays tribute to Skagit River Poetry Festival founding board member Frank Hull (1918-2003) whose tireless contributions embodied the heart and spirit of all that is best in life and art

2 WELCOME to the third biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival

The mission of the Skagit River Poetry Project, a cooperative between seven school districts, the community college and art groups in our county, says it all: Students at the heart . It is bringing poets and students together in the classroom that drives the project. The festival in May is only the culminating public feast after many months of serving up poetry in our classsrooms. We are excited to be able to bring you a wonderful slate of talent.

• There is a hill to climb to reach the Methodist Church, Oddfellows Hall, the History Museum and Mosman Hall. The shortest way to get up the hill is to take the steps from South First Street (see map). You’ll find a sturdy bench midway for you to catch your breath, as there are 67 steps. The longer, more gradual ascent would be to use South Second Street on either side of town.

• Will-call tickets, ticket sales and the Information Desk are at Maple Center.

• Please see accompanying map for site performance locations, as well as food options and parking spaces. Wheelchair accessible sites and handicapped parking areas are marked with a star on the map. You may want to purchase food at the local grocery for a picnic lunch to enjoy next to the waterfront.

• Please do not use flash photography during the sessions.

• All events start on time. Capacities of the sites vary. We encourage you to have a second choice should you find your first selection full.

COVER : Philip McCracken, Poems , 1966, cedar and mixed media. Collection of Leeds and Wendy Gulick. Photo courtesy of the Kevin Kelley.

3 FOOD OPTIONS

1. Marina Bistro & Bar ...... breakfast, lunch and dinner 2. Courtyard Café ...... espresso and ice cream 3. La Conner Café ...... breakfast and lunch 4. Contos Greek & Italian Restaurant ...... lunch and dinner 5. La Conner Garden Restaurant ...... Caribbean flavors, lunch and dinner 6. La Conner Brewing Company ...... pizza, salad, handcrafted beers 7. Whiskers Café ...... family dining 8. Palmer’s “On the Waterfront” Restaurant & Pub ...... fine dining, reservations recommended 9. Kerstin’s Northwest Fine Cuisine ...... lunch & dinner with Northwest flavor, reservations recommended 10. La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib House ...... fine dining, reservations recommended 11. Big Daddy’s ...... ice cream 12. La Conner Pub ...... burgers and seafood (open late) 13. Jerky’s Gyros/Legends Salmon Bar 14. Calico Cupboard ...... breakfast and lunch 15. Nell Thorn Restaurant and Pub ...... gourmet dining, reservations recommended 16. Bee Bee’s ...... “no menu” Mexican food 17. The Next Chapter: bookstore and coffeehouse ...... espresso, soup, sandwiches & light entrees 18. Café Culture ...... espresso and art

Maple Hall / Maple Center Information Center Methodist Church Museum of Northwest Art

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5 PANEL & WORKSHOP OFFERINGS Please note: With the exception of the lunch hour, there are only fifteen minutes between sessions. Allow enough time to get to the next event.

Friday Morning -- Students: Sampler Four poets reading at each of two sites ...... Friday session 1 & 4 Stories, Myths & Poems World voices from a renowned storyteller .Friday sessions 2, 3 & 5; Saturday sessions 3 & 5 Fiddling with Poetry (Workshop) K. Waldman – Alaska’s Fiddling Poet ...... Friday session 2 Reconciling Work & the Creative Life Balancing the two lives of the poet .Friday sessions 2 & 5; Saturday session 6 Stop, Look and Listen Developing the gift of awareness ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 2 Fado Concert (Fate’s song) Portuguese ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 3 The Birds and the Beasts (Panel/Workshop) Writing nature poetry ...... Friday session 2 Creating a Poem (Workshop) ...... Friday session 2 Po-Jacking (Workshop) The art of hijacking a poem to make it your own ...... Friday session 2 Playing with Words Discovering the joy of language ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 6 Poetry and the Visual Arts (Panel/Workshop) Combining art and poetry ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 2 Finding Your Own Voice Hallmark cards don’t have it ...... Friday session 2 Poetry Clinic (Workshop) Bring your poems, consult a poet ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 3 Cultural Legacies How important are your roots? ...... Friday session 2; Saturday session 6 Poetry & Performance Combining music and poetry in performance ...... Friday sessions 2 & 3; Saturday session 7 Getting a Poem Started (Workshop) ...... Friday session 3 Spanish Workshop Poetry writing in Spanish ...... Friday session 3 Fiddling with Poetry Alaska’s Fiddling Poet performs ...... Friday sessions 3 & 5; Saturday sessions 2 & 5 The Spoken Word (Panel/Workshop) How to read a poem ...... Friday session 3; Saturday session 3 Poets and Poems for Writers What should we read to help write? ...... Friday session 3 Poetry and Healing The healing power of poetry ...... Friday session 3; Saturday session 3 Poetry and Politics What is the role of poetry during war, social upheaval and political dissatisfaction? ...... Friday session 3 & 5; Saturday session 6 Sound Poetry (Workshop) Word ...... Friday session 3 Poetry Clinic: The Poet Doctor is In (Workshop) Bring a poem, consult a poet, Dr. Peter Pereira ...Friday session 3 Questions and Answers with Billy Collins from Sailing Alone Around the Room (pre-selected students) ...... Friday session 3

6 General Public Some of the sessions listed above are repeated during the rest of the festival.

Music and Poetry Combining music with the words ...... Friday session 5 Beauty and Violence The paradox of beauty and violence in poetry ...... Friday session 6 Humor in Poetry The seriousness of humor ...... Friday session 6 O Taste and See Poet A. Braden reads food poems in an intimate dining experience (Reservations required at Nell Thorn Restaurant) ...... Friday session 7 Evening Readings Three poets close the evening on Friday ...... Friday session 9 Morning Poems Greet Saturday morning with Kurtis Lamkin’s poetry and music ...... Saturday session 1 Presenting Poetry To an audience; to a publisher ...... Saturday session 2 Mysteries of Translation Poetry bridges cultures ...... Saturday session 2 Readings: Nature as Muse Poets share poems of the natural world ...... Saturday session 2 Interview with a Poet Tod Marshall interviews Jimmy Santiago Baca ...... Saturday session 2 Tools of the Trade (Workshop) Nuts and bolts of poetry ...... Saturday session 2 Readings: Poems of Love and Loss Poets share poems of love and loss ...... Saturday session 2 Poetry Happens The role of accident in poetry ...... Saturday session 3 Generations Family history and poetry ...... Saturday session 3 Readings: Other Cultures; Other Worlds We learn from others ...... Saturday session 3 Poetry and Prisons Taking down the walls ...... Saturday session 4 Put the Words to Music A demonstration ...... Saturday session 4 Other Cultures; Other Worlds The influence of travel in poetry ...... Saturday session 4 Lyricism and Poetry The singing line ...... Saturday session 4 The Authentic Voice Poetry of the heart and mind ...... Saturday session 4 Readings: Sense of Place, Place of Sense Poets share poems of where they feel at home ...... Saturday session 4 Sampler Three poets reading in Maple Hall ...... Saturday session 5 Reading The Robert Sund Poets’ House Trust presents a program with poet Holly Hughes ...... Saturday session 5 Readings: Poets for Peace Poets share poetry against the certainty of war ...... Saturday session 5 Sense of Place, Place of Sense Did you come down where you were meant to be? ...... Saturday session 6 Importance of Myth How myth informs our lives ...... Saturday session 6 Formative Poetry and Poets Poems that inspired ...... Saturday session 6 Conversations with Three Poets What Does Your Poetry Do For You? ...... Saturday session 7 Poetry and Practice / Poetry and Meditation Quieting the mind ...... Saturday session 7 The Immigrant’s Table Poet M. L. Sanelli reads food poems in an intimate dining experience (Reservations required at Nell Thorn Restaurant) ...... Saturday session 8 Closing Ceremony Four poets close the evening and the festival ...... Saturday session 9

Schedule for Thursday, May 20, 2004 in the La Conner Middle School Multi-purpose Room 7:00 pm - Nicholas Hoffman Jazz 7:30 pm - Billy Collins Reading La Conner Middle School

7 Maple Maple Center Maple Center Garden Janet Huston Skagit Co. LC Retirement FRIDAY Hall Lower Level upper Level Club Gallery Hist. Museum Center Capacity 276 35-40 40 100 60 60 30 Sampler 1 Session 1 B. Collins 8:30-9:30 P. Goedicke StuDEntS J. Hirshfield onLy S. Sundiata

Stories, Myths Fiddling with Reconciling Stop, Look and Fado Concert the Birds Creating a Poem Session 2 and Poems Poetry Work and the Listen S. Marreiros and the Beasts (Workshop) 9:45-10:45 W. Hornyak (Workshop) Creative Life (Workshop) Quartet J. Bertolino I. Wendt StuDEntS K. Waldman P. Goedicke L. Ferra J. Green onLy L. McCarriston S. Green J. Hirshfield J. Millar Poetry and Getting a Poem Spanish Fiddling with Stories, Myths the Spoken Session 3 Performance Started Workshop Poetry and Poems Word 11:00-12:00 K. Lamkin (Workshop) J. Baca K. Waldman W. Hornyak S. Green StuDEntS S. Sundiata A. Derry R. Rose onLy M. L. Sanelli

12:00-12:45 Music Mount Baker Middle School Jazz Ensemble • Brown Bag Lunch Sampler 2 Session 4 D. Laux 12:45-1:45 C. Barks StuDEntS L. McCarriston onLy J. Baca

General Public Stories, Myths Readings Poetry and Music and Poetry Fiddling with and Poems E. Austen Politics S. Marreiros Poetry Session 5 W. Hornyak J. Bertolino G. Burgess K. Waldman 2:00-3:00 S. Roxborough J. Roche R. Salisbury

Kelley Johnson Readings and Larry Fuller T. Marshall Session 6 (Jazz vocalist) C. Martinez 3:15-4:15 M. L. Sanelli

Dinner Hour Kelley Johnson and Larry Fuller Session 7 (Jazz vocalist) 6:00-7:00

Sara Marreiros Session 8 Quartet 7:00-7:30 Evening Readings J. Baca Session 9 K. Lamkin 7:30-9:00 H. McHugh

8 Lin McJunkin Methodist Museum of Sacred Heart Nell Next Chapter Next Chapter Oddfellows Glass Gallery Church NW Art Mosman Hall Thorn Mezzanine upstairs 30 100 180 30 15 30 40 40-60 Sampler 2 J. Baca L. McCarriston C. Barks B. Collins

Po-Jacking Playing with Poetry and Finding your Poetry Clinic Cultural Poetry and (Workshop) Words the Visual Arts own Voice (Workshop) Legacies Performance E. Austen D. Laux M. DeFrees C. Barks M. L. Sanelli G. Burgess D. Dinsmore P. Pereira A. Derry A. Braden C. Martinez K. Lamkin S. Roxborough T. Marshall R. Rose R. Salisbury

Poets & Poems Poetry and Poetry and Sound Poetry Poetry Clinic: Questions & Readings for Writers Healing Politics (Workshop) the Poet Doctor Answers with G. Burgess L. Ferra J. Bertolino E. Austen D. Dinsmore is In (Workshop) B. Collins M. DeFrees I. Wendt A. Braden T. McNulty S. Roxborough P. Pereira (Selected J. Green J. Roche S. Rich Students)

Sampler 1 J. Hirshfield P. Goedicke D. Laux S. Sundiata

Reconciling Readings Readings Readings Work and the D. Dinsmore A. Derry L. Ferra Creative Life P. Pereira S. Green T. McNulty T. Marshall I. Wendt J. Millar R. Rose C. Martinez S. Rich Readings Beauty and Humor in Poetry S. Rich Violence M. DeFrees J. Roche J. Green T. McNulty R. Salisbury D. Laux J. Millar L. McCarriston

o taste and See (Reservations Required) A. Braden (16)

9 Maple Maple Center Maple Center Café Garden Janet Huston Skagit Co. SATURDAY Hall Lower Level upper Level Culture Club Gallery Hist. Museum Capacity 276 35-40 40 15 100 60 60 Books from Session 1 Small Press 8:00-9:00 Publishers Presenting Books from Mysteries of Fiddling with Readings: Poems Small Press translation Poetry nature as Muse Session 2 M. L. Sanelli Publishers J. Hirshfield K. Waldman E. Austen 9:30-10:30 R. Salisbury T. McNulty S. Rich S. Roxborough

11:00-12:30 Music Phillip Nakano & Friends -- Drum centered jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms Books from Poetry Happens Fado Concert Stories, Myths Small Press P. Goedicke S. Marreiros and Poems Session 3 Publishers H. McHugh Quartet W. Hornyak 10:45-11:45 J. Millar

1:00-3:00 Music The Vince Fejeran Band -- Jazz Poetry and Books from Put the other Cultures; Concert Prisons Small Press Words to Music other Worlds M. Freeman Session 4 J. Baca Publishers D. Dinsmore S. Rich T. Opland 12:30-1:30 J. Bertolino K. Waldman R. Rose J. Roche S. Roxborough

Sampler Books from Fiddling with J. Baca Small Press Poetry Session 5 H. McHugh Publishers K. Waldman 1:45-2:45 K. Lamkin

3:30-5:30 Music Never Too Late -- Originals & songs from the 60’s to the present Sense of Place, Books from Importance Concert Place of Sense Small Press of Myth M. Freeman Session 6 S. Green Publishers C. Barks T. Opland 3:00-4:00 J. Millar P. Goedicke R. Rose W. Hornyak

Poetry and Books from Readings Concert Performance Small Press J. Bertolino M. Freeman Session 7 K. Lamkin Publishers D. Dinsmore T. Opland 4:15-5:15 S. Sundiata L. Ferra

Dinner Hour

Session 8 6:30-7:30

Session 9 Closing Ceremony 7:30-9:30

10 LC Retirement LC Seafood Methodist Middle School Museum of Nell Next Chapter Next Chapter Center Banquet Room Church Multipurpose Rm NW Art Thorn Mezzanine upstairs 30 60 100 400 180 15 30 40 Morning Poems K. Lamkin

Interview Stop, Look Poetry and the tools of the Readings: Poetry with Poet and Listen Visual Arts trade of Love & Loss J. Baca A. Derry A. Braden (Workshop) M. DeFrees T. Marshall C. Martinez L. Ferra J. Green S. Green J. Roche D. Laux

Poetry and Generations the Spoken Poetry Clinic Readings: Healing L. McCarriston Word (Workshop) other Cultures, A. Braden M. L. Sanelli E. Austen S. Green other Worlds G. Burgess I. Wendt D. Dinsmore J. Green P. Pereira C. Martinez J. Roche R. Rose

Lyricism and The Authentic Readings: Readings Poetry Voice Sense of Place, A. Derry L. Ferra M. DeFrees Place of Sense P. Pereira J. Green S. Green G. Burgess R. Salisbury S. Sundiata J. Millar I. Wendt Stories, Myths Reading Readings: and Poems H. Hughes Poets for Peace W. Hornyak T. Marshall C. Martinez S. Rich

Reconciling Poetry and Formative Poetry Playing with Cultural Legacies Work and the Politics and Poets Words K. Lamkin Creative Life A. Derry J. Bertolino E. Austen L. McCarriston M. DeFrees G. Burgess D. Laux H. McHugh I. Wendt T. McNulty T. Marshall R. Salisbury P. Pereira S. Roxborough Conversations Poetry and Paired Reading with three Poets Practice / Poetry A. Braden D. Laux and Meditation P. Goedicke P. Pereira C. Barks S. Green J. Hirshfield T. McNulty

Music Immigrant's table Mike Freeman & (Reservations Tania Opland Required) M. L. Sanelli (16)

Closing Ceremony: S. Sundiata J. Hirshfield L. McCarriston C. Barks 11 FESTIVAL POETS

Elizabeth Austen’s poems have appeared in the anthology Poets Against the War, the South African journal Carapace , Pontoon: An Anthology of Washington State Poets, and the Seattle Review , among others. She produces literary programming for KUOW, 94.9, public radio, and teaches at Richard Hugo House in Seattle. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Elizabeth was a 2003 Jack Straw Writer and is an alumna of Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island.

Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His awards and honors include the Wallace Stevens Chair at Yale, the National Endowment Poetry Award, Vogelstein Foundation Award, National Hispanic Heritage Award, Berkeley Regents Award, Pushcart Prize, Southwest Book Award, American Book Award, and the International Prize. Baca has two new books coming out March 2004: a collection of short stories, The Importance of a Piece of Paper (Grove/Atlantic); and Winter Poems Along the Rio Grande (New Directions). His other titles include: A Place to Stand; Healing Earthquakes; C-Train & Thirteen Mexicans ; Black Mesa Poems; Martin & Meditations on the South Valley; and Immigrants in Our Own Land . Movie scripts and productions include Bound by Honor (Blood In, Blood Out), Hollywood Pictures/Disney, and The Lone Wolf – The Story of Pancho Gonzalez, HBO Productions.

Coleman Barks has for 28 years collaborated with various Persian scholars to bring over into American English the poetry of the 13th Century mystic, Jelaluddin Rumi. The work has resulted in 18 volumes, culminating in the best-selling Essential Rumi (HarperCollins, 1995), two hour-long appearances on Bill Moyer’s PBS specials, and inclusion in the prestigious Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Barks taught poetry and creative writing in various universities for 34 years. He has published six volumes of his own poetry, most recently Tentmaking and Club: Granddaughter Poems (Maypop, 2001). Barks is now retired Professor Emeritus of English from the University of Georgia in Athens. The Rumi translations have sold over half a million copies worldwide. He received the Juliet Hollister Award (2004) for his work in the interfaith area. He has two sons and four grandchildren, who also live in Athens, Georgia.

James Bertolino’s poetry has been appearing internationally in books, magazines and anthologies for almost 40 years. His work has been recognized by the Book-of-the-Month Club Poetry Fellowship, the Discovery Award, a Hart Crane publication award, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two Quarterly Review of Literature book awards and other regional and national prizes. Nine volumes and fourteen chapbooks of his poetry and prose have been published by such presses as Copper Canyon, Carnegie Mellon, New Rivers, Ithaca House and the QRL Award Series. Two of his out-of-print books have been reprinted by the Connecticut College Contemporary American Poetry Archive. He holds an MFA from Cornell University and has taught creative writing at Cornell, Washington State, University of Cincinnati, Willamette University and, currently, Western Washington University. Such magazines as , Poetry , Notre Dame Review , Indiana Review , Partisan Review , Florida Quarterly , Beloit Poetry Journal , Raven Chronicles , StringTown and Crab Creek Review have printed his poems. Recent anthologies include Poets Against the War (The Nation Books) and Under A Silver Sky: Pacific Northwest Poetry ( Evergreen State College). His latest volume is Pocket Animals: 60 Poems , published in 2002 by Egress Studio Press.

Allen Braden was the fourth and last generation to work his family farm in White Swan, Washington, where they raised cattle, hay, grain and hundreds of barn cats. He earned a B.A. from Central Washington University and M.A. and M.F.A. degrees from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, home of Merv Griffin’s casino riverboats, boudin sausage, Cajun zydeco music, the nutria rat and the Fur Queen. Braden has

12 published in The Virginia Quarterly Review, Seneca Review, Southern Review, Georgia Review, Threepenny Review, Shenandoah, North American Review, Bellingham Review , Poetry Northwest and The New Republic. He has been published online by Poetry Daily, Literary Salt, Arhutus, Brevity and Switched-on Gutenberg. His essay “Richard Hugo’s Marginal West,” appears in a recent issue of North Dakota Quarterly. Founder of The Gallery Reading Series, he teaches poetry and interdisciplinary writing at Tacoma Community College and lives in Puyallup, Washington.

Gloria Burgess fuses memory and presence into her poetry and performances. Her most recent book of poetry, The Open Door , celebrates her deep connection to African-American oral traditions and the rhythmic, evocative power of language. Her CD Journey of the Rose features selected poems performed by Gloria and original music written and performed by her husband and collaborator. She has also written Hold Fast to Dreams: Pass It On! , a picture book for children of all ages about her father’s turning-point relationship with writer William Faulkner. A Poetry Fellow with Cave Canem, her poetry has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and in a PBS film on social activism and the arts. Gloria Burgess is an Affiliate Professor at the , where she teaches leadership, creativity, and cross-cultural studies. One of the few poets who integrates poetry, music, and personal development, Gloria is known for her inspirational keynotes and seminars, which lift up and honor the human spirit.

Billy Collins has published seven collections of poetry, including Questions About Angels ; The Art of Drowning , Picnic, Lightning , Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes , Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems , and Nine Horses . In the book he edited, Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry , Collins beckons readers to return to poetry with an anthology of poems that exposes the richness and diversity of the genre. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker , The Paris Review , and The American Scholar . Included among the honors Billy Collins has received are fellowships from the Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has also been awarded the Oscar BlumenthalPrize, the Bess Hokin Prize, the Frederick Bock Prize, and the Levinson Prize—all awarded by Poetry magazine. He has been a writer-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College, and served as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. He is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College, City University of New York, where he has taught for the past 30 years. In June 2001, Billy Collins was appointed Poet Laureate (2001- 2003).

Madeline DeFrees retired from the University of Massachusetts in 1985 after teaching more than 30 years, chiefly in Northwest colleges and universities. She took summer courses from Karl Shapiro, Robert Fitzgerald, and John Berryman. She is the author of two prose non-fiction books, seven poetry collections, and two chapbooks. BLUE DUSK, her New & Selected Poems, won a Washington Book Award and the Lenore Marshall Award for 2002. Earlier, her work was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She lives and writes in Seattle.

Alice Derry was born in Oregon and raised in Washington and Montana. She teaches at Peninsula College in Port Angeles on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where she has co-directed the Foothills Writers’ Series since 1980. Derry has three collections of poetry: Stages of Twilight (Breitenbush, 1986), which won the King County Publication Award, chosen by Raymond Carver; Clearwater (Blue Begonia Press, 1997); and Strangers to Their Courage (Louisiana State University Press, 2001). Li-Young Lee writes of Strangers: “This book...asks us to surrender our simplistic ideas about race and prejudice, memory and forgetfulness, and begin to uncover a new paradigm for ‘human.’” Derry also has three chapbooks: Getting Used to the Body (Sagittarius Press 1989), Not As You Once Imagined (Trask House, 1993), and translations from the German poet Rainer Rilke (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2002).

13 Danika Dinsmore is an award-winning writer, spoken word artist and educator. She holds an MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and an Advanced Certificate in Screenwriting from the University of Washington. Her work has been widely published in North America, most recently in the anthology, A Silver Sky: Poetry and Place in the Pacific Northwest (Evergreen State College). Her own publications include three books of poetry and a spoken word CD. A fourth book of poetry, Her Red Book , is forthcoming in 2004 from en theos press in Seattle. Her awards include a grant from the King County Arts Commission to develop a curriculum guide for teaching poetry, the 1999 Washington Poets Association Award for Performance Poetry and the “Best Fresh Voice” screenwriting award at the 2003 Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto. Her short screenplays Angel Cat and Stick Up are currently in post- production with O’Neill - Mulligan Films in Vancouver. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes and facilitates creative writing workshops for writers of all levels and backgrounds. For a complete bio, please visit her website at: www.allovertheroad.org

Lorraine Ferra , a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, is a visiting poet in schools throughout the country. Her poems, prose, and translations of Portuguese poetry have appeared in magazines for many years. She is the author of Eating Bread, a collection of eighteen poems, and A Crow Doesn’t Need A Shadow: A Guide To Writing Poetry From Nature. She lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

Patricia Goedicke is the author of 12 books of poetry, the most recent of which, As Earth Begins to End, was recognized by the American Library Association as one of the top ten poetry books published in the year 2000. She teaches poetry writing in the Creative Writing Department of the University of Montana, where she has been named one of its “Distinguished Scholars.” She is the recipient of many awards for her poetry, among them a Rockefeller Residency at its Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio. Recent and forthcoming work may be seen in The Hudson Review, The Yale Review, The Denver Quarterly, Gettysburg Review, and Volt, etc.

Joseph Green’s poems have appeared in literary magazines all over the Unite States, as well as in Ireland and Germany, and have been collected in His Inadequate Vocabulary (1986), Deluxe Motel (1991), Greatest Hits: 1975—2000, and The End o/ Forgiveness, which won the Floating Bridge Press Poetry Chapbook Award for 2001. He was PEN Northwest’s Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writer for 2000, in residence at the Dutch Henry Homestead in Oregon’s Rogue River Canyon, and in 2002 he held a residency at Fundación Valparaiso, in Mojacar, Spain. He lives in Longview, Washington, and teaches English at Lower Columbia College.

Samuel Green is co-publisher, with his wife, Sally, of the award-winning Brooding Heron Press, which issues fine, letterpressed editions of poetry. Green is the author of nine poetry collections, including Vertebrae: Poems 1978-1994 (Eastern Washington University, 1994) and The Only Time We Have (Grey Spider Press, 2002). Poems have appeared in Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Yellow Silk, and Southern Poetry Review, among hundreds of others. A veteran of the PITS program, he has taught in schools throughout Washington State since the mid-70s, as well as in various colleges in Wyoming and Utah. He is currently Distinguished Visiting Northwest Writer at Seattle University winter quarters. He lives the rest of the year on a small island in the San Juans.

Jane Hirshfield’s Given Sugar, Given Salt was a finalist for the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award, and winner of the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. She has four additional collections: The Lives of the Heart; The October Palace; Of Gravity and Angels; and Alaya , as well as a book of essays about poetry, Nine Gates . Many extraordinary honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. Her poems appear regularly in The New Yorker, The Nation, The American Poetry Review and others. She has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Cincinnati, and Bennington.

14 Will Hornyak came to storytelling through newspaper reporting. He has lived in Peru and Argentina and has traveled throughout South America. He found a love for spoken language by reading aloud the poems of Neruda, Vallejo, Hernandez and others while learning Spanish. He was a carpenter for 12 years, performing and developing a repertoire of stories during that time and studying mythology, performance and ritual. He teaches and tells stories throughout the Northwest and lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a short walk from the Willamette River.

Holly Hughes has spent the last twenty-five summers working on boats in Alaska in a variety of capacities, from deckhand/cook on a salmon’s gillnetter to skipper of a sixty-five-foot schooner. She spends her winters in Washington, where she teaches writing classes at Edmonds Community College and served for eight years as advisor to the award-winning literary/art journal, Between the Lines . A finalist for the Arts & Letters Prize 2003 , her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Midwest Quarterly, The Duckabush Journal, Explorations, Pontoon, Salt in Our Veins , and The Hedgebrook Journal, among others. Her essays have appeared in Crosscurrents and an anthology, Steady as She Goes: Women’s Adventures at Sea . She lives in a log cabin built in the 1930’s in Indianola, Washington.

Kurtis Lamkin is a poet from Philadelphia who plays the kora, a twenty-one string West African harp/lute. He has performed his poems internationally, most recently at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in Waterloo, New Jersey, the Guggenheim Museum in , and at the Skagit River Poetry Festival in Washington State. Queen of Carolina, his latest recording, features kora poems that focus upon work and growth primarily in the South. Lamkin’s previous recording, a CD entitled “ El Shabazz,” is a collection of kora-poems dedicated to Malcolm X and the Million Man March. His animated poem “The Foxes Manifesto,” based upon the 1976 Soweto Rebellion, aired for two years on PBS. He was also featured on the latest Bill Moyers PBS special on poetry, Fooling With Words . His poem, “The Bombardment of Charleston Harbor” was recently commissioned by The Gibbes Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Lamkin’s poetry has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines including Fooling With Words (William Morrow & Company), Code Magazine , and Crazy Horse .

Dorianne Laux is the author of three collections of poetry from BOA Editions: Awake (1990), introduced by ; What We Carry (1994), finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Smoke (2000). She is also co-author, with Kim Addonizio, of The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry (W.W. Norton, 1997). Recent work has appeared in The Best American Poetry , The American Poetry Review, Shenandoah , Ploughshares , Barrow Street and Five Points . Among her awards are a Pushcart Prize for poetry, two fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Laux is an Associate Professor and works in the University of Oregon’s Creative Writing Program.

Tod Marshall was born in Buffalo, NY. He earned an MFA degree from Eastern Washington University, and a PhD from the University of Kansas. His first collection of poetry, Dare Say , was the winner of the University of Georgia’s Contemporary Poetry Series. He has also published a collection of his interviews with contemporary poets, Range of the Possible . In 2003, he was selected as the Wilson Visiting Poet at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, a distinction previously given to poets Gwendolyn Brooks, Gary Snyder, Stephen Spender, and Galway Kinnell. His work is widely published. He lives in Spokane, Washington, and teaches at Gonzaga University.

Carlos Martinez is a native New Yorker and a long-time resident of the Seattle area. A 2001 graduate of the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA in Creative Writing Program, he is presently a Lecturer teaching creative writing and literature at Western Washington University. He has published in 4th Street , Jeopardy , Poets West

15 and Crab Creek Review , Firefly , Yawp and the Black Bear Review , among others. His work has been included in several anthologies, including Pontoon #5, a publication of Floating Bridge Press, and in An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind: Poets on 9/11 , winner of the 2002 Josephine Miles Pen Oakland Award for Literature.

Linda McCarriston is the author of three acclaimed collections of poetry: Talking Soft Dutch (Texas Tech, 1984) ; Eva-Mary (Triquarterly/Northwestern Univ., 1991) ; and Little River: New & Selected Poems (Salmon Poetry, 2001). She holds dual Irish/U.S.A. citizenship. She has received two NEA Creative Writing Fellowships, as well as a host of other prizes. She teaches at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Heather McHugh was born on the West Coast, educated back in the East, and returned west to teach at the University of Washington, where she has been Milliman Writer-In-Residence since 1984. Her latest book is Eyeshot ( Wesleyan University Press, 2003). Previous collections include The Father of the Predicaments and translations from Euripides and . She and her husband, Nikolai Popov, spend half of each year in Maine.

Tim McNulty is a poet, naturalist and nature writer. His books of poetry include Pawtracks (Copper Canyon), In Blue Mountain Dusk (Pleasure Boat) and Reflected Light (Tangram). McNulty draws much of his inspiration from the natural world and his poems echo the sounds, sights and textures of the Pacific Northwest. His award-winning books on nature include The Art of Nature, Washington’s Wild Rivers, Olympic National Park, A Natural History and Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park . He lives with his wife and daughter in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains.

Joseph Millar grew up in Western Pennsylvania and received an MA from Johns Hopkins in 1970. He spent the next twenty-five years in the SF Bay Area working at a variety of jobs from telephone repairman to commercial fisherman. His poems have appeared in recent issues of such magazines as Shenandoah, DoubleTake, New Letters, TriQuarterly, Ploughshares and Manoa, and have won him fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts, Montalvo Center for the Arts, and from Oregon Literary Arts. His first book, Overtime , from Eastern Washington University Press, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. In 1997 he gave up his job as a telephone installation foreman and moved to western Oregon where he teaches at Oregon State University.

Peter Pereira is a family physician in Seattle and a founding editor of Floating Bridge Press. He won a 1997 “Discovery”/ The Nation Award, and recent writing honors from Artist Trust, King County Arts Commission, and Seattle Arts Commission. His chapbook, The Lost Twin , was published by Grey Spider in 2000. He won the 2002 Hayden Carruth Award for his book Saying the World , which was published by Copper Canyon in 2003. New poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Journal of the American Medical Association.

Susan Rich is the winner of the PEN West Poetry Award and the Peace Corps Writers Poetry Award for The Cartographer’s Tongue: Poems of the World, (White Pine Press). She has worked as a staff person for Amnesty International, an electoral supervisor in Bosnia, and a human rights trainer in Gaza. Rich lived in the Republic of Niger, West Africa, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, later moving to South Africa to teach at the University of Cape Town on a Fulbright Fellowship. Her poems appear in the United States and internationally in places such as: Christian Science Monitor, Harvard Magazine, Poet Lore, Prism International, Seattle Review and Witness. She lives in Seattle, Washington, and teaches at Highline Community College. Rich can be reached through her website at www.susanrich.net.

16 Judith Roche is the author of two collections of poetry, Myrrh/ My Life As A Screamer and Ghosts. She edited an anthology, First Fish, First People, Salmon Tales of the North Pacific Rim, which won an American Book Award. She has taught poetry throughout the Northwest in schools, including University of Washington, Extension and Antioch, and as an artist in residence in schools and prisons. She has written the text for several public art installations in collaboration with visual artists. She has received grants from the Seattle Arts Commission, King County Arts Commission and Artist Trust and is Literary Arts Director for One Reel, an arts and events producing organization in Seattle.

Rachel Rose’s work has been published in various journals in the United States and Canada, including Poetry, Verse, The Seattle Review, The Malahat Review, and The Journal of the American Medical Association . Her first book of poetry, Giving My Body to Science , (McGill/Queen’s University Press) was a finalist for The Gerald Lampert Award, The Pat Lowther Award, and the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal. It also won the Quebec Writers’ Federation A.M. Klein Poetry award for 2000. She has two poems, “What We Heard About the Japanese” and “What the Japanese Perhaps Heard,” published in The Best American Poetry 2001 . She is a dual U.S./Canadian citizen, and she’s recently returned to Vancouver after living for many years in Montreal, Seattle, and Japan.

Stephen Roxborough (aka roxword and Rox.) was born in New York to a Canadian father and American mother. He was raised in the Midwest, and grew up in Vancouver, B.C. He won Canadian and British swimming titles and represented Canada on the national team. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, rode his ten-speed from Cape Spear, Newfoundland to Victoria, and washed dishes with aliens in Las Vegas. His spoken word cd, spiritual demons, is for sale at Amazon.com and cdbaby.com. He is a board member and Northwest Regional V.P. for the Washington Poets Association, as well as Head Poet for Madrona School for the Arts on Guemes Island. An award-winning performance poet, Roxborough was nominated for a 2003 Pushcart Prize. He currently contemplates American culture in Anacortes, Washington.

Ralph Salisbury , who was born in 1926 on an Iowa farm , is a Professor-Emeritus at the University of Oregon, Eugene. He has published seven books of poems. In selecting his book Rainbows of Stone, (University of Arizona , 2000), as a finalist for an Oregon Book Award, Maxine Kumin wrote, “This is a poet dedicated to keeping his heritage alive. His book deserves a broad audience.” His distinctions include a Chapelbrook in poetry and a Rockefeller Bellagio Award in fiction. He has published two books of short stories, with The Last Rattlesnake Throw, ( University of Oklahoma, 1998 ), as the most recent.

Mary Lou Sanelli’s latest poetry collection is The Immigrant’s Tale (Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press, NYC, 2002). Other titles include Women in the Garden (Pleasure Boat Studio), Close at Hand (High Plains Press), Long Streaks of Flashing Daylight (Blue Begonia Press) and Lineage (Empty Bowl Press). Her new collection, Craving Water: Poems of Ordinary Life is forthcoming in the fall of 2004. Her poem have been published widely in journals including The Seattle Review, Calyx, Crab Creek Review, Pontoon, and An Anthology of Western Women Writers (Houghton Mifflin, 2002-2004).Her essays have been aired as commentary on Weekend Edition, National Public Radio, KUOW, Northwest Public Radio and published in Northwest Palate Magazine, Northwest Woman Magazine and The Seattle Times. She is also a feature writer for the Seattle Times Her column, “A Writer’s Notebook,” appears monthly in the Port Townsend Leader . She is heard monthly on KONP-AM. Honorariums include an Artist Trust GAP Award, a Jack Straw Writer’s Award, the Seattle Bumbershoot Festival, the Skagit River Poetry Festival, the Seattle Poetry Festival, and a recent writing residency in Costa Rica. She coordinates Port Townsend’s Sunday At One Poetry Festival, now in its 18th year, and is artistic director of the Moving Arts Dance Company. She presents her work throughout the country.

17 Poet Sekou Sundiata writes for both print and performance as well as music and theater. He has recorded and performed with a wide variety of artists, including Craig Harris, David Murray, Vernon Reid and Ani DiFranco. Sundiata wrote and performed in the highly acclaimed performance theater work, “The Circle Unbroken Is A Hard Bop,” and his music theater work, “The Mystery of Love,” was presented by New Voices/New Visions at Aaron Davis Hall and later produced by the American Music Theater Festival. He has received a BESSIE Award and two AUDELCO Awards, and has been a Sundance Institute Screenwriting Fellow, a Revson Fellow, and the first Writer-in-Residence at University. Sundiata teaches writing and poetry at Eugene Lang College. His most recent concert performances include the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, the Fringe Festival, the IAM Black Music Conference, the African American Museum Project, and at the Smithsonian Institution. Sundiata has released two CDs: the GRAMMY- nominated The Blue Oneness of Dreams, (Mouth Almighty/Mercury) and longstoryshort , (Righteous Babe Records). “UDU,” a music theater work that he wrote (composed by Craig Harris) was presented by the Festival of Art and Ideas at Yale University and by the Walker Arts Center and Penumbra Theater in Minneapolis. Sundiata’s one-person performance work, blessing the boats , opened at Aaron Davis Hall is New York in 2002, and is currently on national tour throughout 03-05.

Ken Waldman is an 18-year Alaska resident who currently lives in Anchorage. He has published poems and stories in a variety of national journals, and is the author of two full-length collections, Nome Poems and To Live On This Earth. Waldman is also an accomplished fiddler. Performing throughout North America as Alaska’s Fiddling Poet, he combines archaic Appalachian fiddle tunes, and tunes he’s composed in that style, with poems and stories about his Alaskan experiences. His three CDs, A Week in Eek, Burnt Down House and Music Party , mix poetry with old time fiddle and banjo.

Ingrid Wendt is the author of four books of poems, two anthologies, a book-length teaching guide, numerous articles and reviews, and more than 200 poems in literary journals and anthologies. She has taught American literature and poetry writing for more than 30 years at all educational levels, including the MFA program of Antioch University Los Angeles; at teacher-training institutes throughout the United States and in Germany; and in hundreds of public school classrooms, grades K-12, in the States and abroad. Honors include the Oregon Book Award, the Carolyn Kizer Award, the D.H. Lawrence Award, several pushcart nominations, and a Fulbright professorship to Germany. Her most recent book, The Angle of Sharpest Ascending (WordTech Editions/Word Press), received the 2003 Yellowglen Prize. With her husband, poet and writer Ralph Salisbury, she lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she is a member of The Motet Singers—an a cappella women’s ensemble of 10, which has just released its second CD.

Lin McJunkin Glass Gallery Middle School Multipurpose Room

18 FESTIVAL MUSICIANS

Thursday Night The Billy Collins reading will feature the music of Nicholas Hoffman , a native of Chicago’s south side, a guitarist primarily influenced by saxophonists. Nicholas has three recordings out, with Nicholas performing in the company of some of the finest Northwest and international jazz players, including Joey DeFrancesco and Hadley Caliman.

Friday Seattle singer Kelley Johnson ranks high internationally among the new generation of jazz singers. She won first place in the 2002 International Jazzconnect Vocal Jazz Competition and has been awarded the “Best Northwest Singer” honors from Earshot Jazz. She is currently an instructor at Cornish College of the Arts and Musicworks Northwest. Jazz legend Mark Murphy says of Johnson, “Good news for jazz vocal fans. Listen to her sureness of pitch, imaginative song selection, and her ability to lyricize.” Look for the release of Kelley’s second album, Music is Magic . Fado singer Sara Marreiros hails from Victoria, B.C., but grew up spending time in her father’s village in Portugal. There she heard the sounds of fado (fate) music, which is Portugal’s equivalent of deep soul or blues music, a folk music mixed with both African rhythms and urban sophistication. She has performed at the Vancouver Folk Festival and across Canada on CBC live. Fado often sets the words of Portuguese poets to music, and Sara will offer up translations of the saudade (yearning) of fado’s rich, lyrical soul. The 18 piece Mt. Baker Middle School Jazz Ensemble is comprised of 8th grade students in their first year of jazz studies. The Ensemble has been invited to perform in the Folklife Festival for the 2nd consecutive year. The Mount Baker bands are in the process of producing their 4th annual CD.

Saturday Tania Opland and Mike Freeman split their time between Ireland, England and the U.S. Their music draws heavily on the folk experiences of cultures around the world and is rich with percussion, strings and songs in many languages. The duo is anchored in Mike’s polyrhythms and Tania’s pure vocals and soulful instrumentations. They have recorded individually and together, and their work is highly prized on both sides of the Atlantic. Cellist John Friesen will be performing Saturday night with poet Coleman Barks. He has performed in New York, Washington, D.C., Moscow, Montreal, Tokyo and elsewhere and has released three solo recordings: Sotto Voce, Soul, and Suites 1,2 & 3 by J.S. Bach . Friesen has studied at Julliard and USC, where he completed his doctorate degree under cellist, Lynn Harrell. Besides his active performing and recording, Dr. Friesen is an assistant professor of cello at Western Washington University.

Saturday Outdoor Music Located next to the LaConner Tavern on First Street 11:00-12:30 Phil Nakano and Friends —Drum centered jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms from a long time Skagit County resident with experience in some of the hottest bands to come out of Northwest Washington. 1:00-3:00 The Vince Fejeran Band —Jazz from the band director at Skagit Valley College performing with some of the area’s best jazz musicians. 3:30-5:30 Never Too Late —A four piece band from Bellingham with roots in Rock, R&B, Blues and . Featuring originals and songs from the 60’s to the present, Never Too Late is a dance band for the young at heart.

19 SPECIAL EVENTS

Holly Hughes The Robert Sund Poets’ House Trust has sponsored poet Holly Hughes for a Sund Memorial Reading at La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib Restaurant in the Banquet Room on Saturday session 5, 1:45 – 2:45 pm.

Allen Braden reads food poems from O Taste and See in an intimate dining experience Friday session 7, 6:00 – 7:00 pm. Make reservations at Nell Thorn Restaurant (360.466.4261).

Mary Lou Sanelli reads poems from her book The Immigrant’s Table in an intimate dining experience, Saturday session 8, 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Make reservations at Nell Thorn Restaurant (360.466.4261).

After Hours Reading Michael Hood reads poetry Friday night at 9:30 pm at the Pub at Nell Thorn Restaurant (360.466.4261).

Museum of Northwest Art Mark My Word : Text, code and literary allusion . MoNA’s current exhibition features the work of 27 visual artists who use the marks of language as artistic device, including painters, printmakers, glass and book artists. The exhibition is produced in conjunction with the Skagit River Poetry Festival.

La Conner Retirement Center Next Chapter Bookstore Janet Huston Gallery

20 OTHER FEATURES

The following Small Press Publishers are selling their books and broadsides Saturday 8:00 am to 5:30 pm at Maple Center, lower level: Black Heron Press ...... Jerome Gold, Seattle Brooding Heron Press ...... Sam Green and Sally Green, Waldron Island Copper Canyon Press ...... Joseph Bednarik, Port Townsend Floating Bridge Press ...... Peter Pereira, Seattle Grey Spider Press ...... Chris Stern and Jules Faye, Sedro Woolley Sage Hill Press ...... Thomas Caraway, Spokane Wood Works ...... Paul Hunter, Seattle

Next Chapter Bookstore John & Sharon Connell will be selling books by participating poets at Maple Hall and La Conner Middle School as well as their bookstore, The Next Chapter, across from Maple Hall.

Festival Anthologies and Poster Staying in Touch, our Student Anthology and The Sound Close In , from all 2004 participating poets and our Festival Poster may be purchased at The Next Chapter or the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner; Watermark Book Company in Anacortes; and Snow Goose Books in Stanwood.

Mosman Hall Garden Club Odd Fellows

21 A special thank you to our mentor, James Haba, director of the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in New Jersey.

THE SKAGIT RIVER POETRY PROJECT BOARD

Directors Tim Bruce Kathy Shoop

Board Members Sue Bergman Chris Borgen Laurel Browning Beth Clothier John and Sharon Connell Steven Dolmatz Chris Elliott Barbara Hawkings Pat Hawley Annie Holloman Anne McCracken Molly McNulty Kris Molesworth Nancy Scagliotti Janine Sward Kathy Willins

A Special Thanks to Joanne Carrigan, Business Manager Dave Cram, Business Manager Phyllis Ennes, Book Binding Coordinator, Anthology Editor Susie Gaudette, Volunteer Coordination Assistant Scott Gorman, Program Assistant Samuel Green, Anthology Editor Susana Guzman, Illustrator Georgia Johnson, Caterer Lyle Johnson, Site Coordinator Jo Linnel, Teacher Training Coordination Assistant

And Especially to the generous host families for housing the regional poets; all of the enthusiastic project teachers and our many priceless volunteers.

22 The Skagit River Poetry Festival is made possible by generous grants from:

Benefactors

The Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, Concrete, Conway, La Conner, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley School Districts of Skagit County

Anacortes Arts Festival

The Breneman-Jaech Family Foundation

Museum of Northwest Art

The Paul Allen Foundation

Pemco

Philip McCracken, artist

Skagit County Best Place

The Swinomish Tribe

The Town of La Conner

Washington State Arts Commission

23 More than 500 students from the 7 Skagit County school districts wrote poems on plastic banners hung in rainbow fashion from the Rainbow Bridge during the 2002 Skagit River Poetry Festival.

Installation artist Sharon Clasen Kortuem designed and installed the project.

Photo by Ryan Hiller