|
|
About PoetsWestPoetsWest, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, links the poet with readers and listeners in the broader democratic community. Although poets write their poems in solitude, they do take pride in their craft and usually want to share their poems with an audience. PoetsWest coordinates a variety of reading venues, provides a network for poets and poetry, and produces a weekly radio program of poetry, stories and music from the studios of KSER 90.7 FM in Everett, Washington. Along the way, PoetsWest learned a few things about what the gift of poetry means to the community and how the poet connects to that community and to the larger world. These days one often hears that "poetry is a hot item," but it seems to us that poetry has been thriving around the country for a long time, probably going back to the days of the Beat poets. We expect that as long as poetry finds its way into the hearts and minds of the reader (or listener), the audience for poetry will be there. That audience might be the regulars hanging out at the local bookstore or one guy driving an eighteen-wheeler across a lonely stretch of I-90 in the middle of the night. PoetsWest is served by an advisory board of experienced poets and teachers. J. Glenn Evans has written a novel, Broker Jim, and three books of poetry, Window In The Sky, Seattle Poems and Buffalo Tracks. His poems appear in the Poets Table Anthology (SCW Publications, 2002) and in diverse other publications. Under his real name, Jack R. Evans, he has authored several local community histories and two biographies. Click on books for a list of his publications, including a history of Seattle's famous Pike Place Market. J. Glenn Evans was awarded the 1999 Faith Beamer Cooke Award by Washington Poets Association in recognition of service to the poetry community of Washington and the 2003 Seattle Free Lances Award for literary achievement. He is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. He is past president of Seattle Free Lances, a member of the Washington Poets Association, past president of the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild and of AKCHO (Association of King County Historical Organization), co-founder of Poets Table, and member of the Academy of American Poets. Barbara Evans, editor of Poets Table Anthology, writes and/or edits much of the web content, and does whatever else needs to be done. She is co-recipient of the 1999 Faith Beamer Cooke Award by Washington Poets Association in recognition of service to the poetry community of Washington. Nancy Dahlberg is from Chicago and has a BFA in studio art from the University of Chicago and an MA in creative writing from the University of Houston. Her poems are widely published, Poets Table Anthology, A Collection of Poetry by Northwest Poets. She has served on the editorial board of Northwest Review and is a board member of the Washington Poets Association and PoetsWest. She also is a member of the Poets Table group. Nancy lives in Ballard and is a political activist with Radical Women. Richard P. Gibbons, newspaper and magazine editor, has produced articles for New Republic, stories for Ellery Queen, songs recorded by Tom Paxton, and has co-written and illustrated a volume of Mexican folk tales. In earlier days he has been a pinball hustler, infantryman, steelworker, hard rock miner, gandy dancer, survey chainman, schoolteacher, legislative secretary, home insulator, and conservation specialist. Jack Straw Studios has recorded his epic verse, Prairie, based on his grandfather's stories of growing up on the Illinois frontier. Sasquatch Song was featured at Write on the Beach writer's conference at Ocean Shores. Murray Gordon is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and remembers swastikas flying from rowhouses pre-Pearl Harbor. "To the Beat Generation. Poetry, jazz. To crossing the country. To Seattle. To write. Right here. Right now. Graduated from UW Extension Poetry Writing Course." On board of PoetsWest and co-founder of Poets Table. Published in Interfaith Council of WA, Poets Table Anthology, PoetsWest, Point No Point, Raven Chronicles, and Sakya News. Karen Havnaer is a graduate of Pacific University. She studied with Nelson Bentley, Laura Jensen and at the University of Iowa. Her poems have appeared in major Northwest periodicals, including Raven Chronicles (South Sound Edition, where she was an editor for two years.) Her plays have appeared at the Pierce County (now South Sound) Playwrights Festival and Mae West Fest. She is working on a book about Bill Bichsel, a socially active Jesuit. She also serves on the board of the Washington Poets Association, the South Sound Playwright's Festival, Guadalupe Land Trust, and the ACLU/Bill of Rights Committee. Michael Magee is a poet, freelance writer, reviewer of film and drama, and playwright whose plays, A Night In Reading Gaol With Oscar Wilde and Shank's Mare, have been produced in England and America. His chapbooks include A Trip To Jerusalem, Ireland's Eye and Duo with Chris Antcliffe. He lived for two years in Nottingham, England, has read his work on BBC Radio, worked with Billy Smart's Circus in London, and appeared at Shakespeare and Company, Paris. His art reviews have appeared in several Northwest community newspapers and his poems are widely published, including the Poets Table Anthology, A Collection of Poetry by Northwest Poets. Michael is also on the board of Puget Sound Poetry Connection. Jean Musser is a poet and playwright. Born in Akron, Ohio, she moved to the Northwest shortly after graduating from Smith. She has master's degrees in History and Counseling and, as Jean Batie, was the art critic for The Seattle Times during the late sixties. She was the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and studied at the Jung Institute in Zurich. She is a former editor of The Raven Chronicles (winner of Seattle's 1998 Bumbershoot award for "Best Literary Magazine). Her poetry is widely published and she is one of thirty poets in the Puget Sound area whose poems are sandblasted on the Promenade at Point Defiance Park. Sarah Singer is the author of three books of poetry: After the Beginning, Of Love and Shoes, and The Gathering. She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and educated at New York University. She has had a long and distinguished career in poetry circles; president of the Seattle branch of The National League of American Pen Women from 1992 to 1994; executive director of the Reading Series for The Poetry Society of America from 1979 to 1983; consulting editor from 1976 to 1981 for Poet Lore; and vice-president of The Poetry Society of America from 1974 to 1978. Leonard Tews, a retired biology professor and poet, is a board member of PoetsWest with an active role in its activities. His poetry has been published in Fox Cry, PoetsWest, Point Counter Point, Seattle Art Museum's Program Guide and Member News, Bellowing Ark, and in the Wisconsin Academy. Pieter Zilinsky, a native of New York City, was a teacher for three decades before moving to the Northwest. He works as a translator, interpreter and editor, and has collaborated in developing museum youth programs. He is affiliated with PoetsWest, Poets Table, Eleventh Hour Productions, ArtsWest, and is a former board member of the Washington Poets Association. Contact us: PoetsWest Return to PoetsWest Home Page |