Golden Apple Award

Well, we are taking a school bus down to Intiman Theater in Seattle for the 18th Annual Golden Apple Award Ceremony today. It seems like an appropriate mode of transportation for an award that honors teachers and exceptional school programs! And the Skagit River Poetry Project is honored to be one of the recipients this year. It is pouring down rain and I'm nervous about the dang high heels I'm wearing. I haven't worn heels since my niece's wedding three years ago! Won't do to have a broken leg! Too much to do!
There are lots happening with poetry at the center. Tomorrow, Village Books in Bellingham is hosting a free poetry reading from 7-8:30 with five poets. Should be a an inspiring evening. There is a fund raiser for the Festival after the reading, but I'm told that it's sold out. YAHOO!
More later.

Poetry is Alive and Well

With the holidays passed and 2010 upon us, the Skagit River Poetry Project is fast-forwarding into Festival mode! We have a plethora of poetry events every month for us to savor: Here are some to look forward to:
Village Books in Bellingham is hosting a free "Voices of Place" reading on January 16th with a $25 poet reception fund-raiser afterward. Six area poets will read from their works.
MoNA is partnering with the Project and hosting a Poetry and Valentine Making Party for Adults on February 13th with food and wine. Poets Samuel Green and Lorraine Ferra with guide us through the word-smithing while a visual artist will be on hand to help us make that perfect valentine. Also in February, Cgynus Gallery and Maple Hall in La Conner will be the place to be on February 20th for a Benefit Concert and Art Sale.
MoNA once again will be the site for our Spring MoNA Poetry Series in March. We are still working on the details but it will be a grand evening of poetry and music.
And of course, throughout all these months, we have our poets collaborating with students and teachers in our area schools for week-long residencies. Poetry is alive and well! Happy New Year!

The Holidays always makes me think about family, those living and those lost. I am fortunate to have a sister with whom I am close and a husband who sometimes knows me better than I know myself. Both of my parents died too young. I find that the rituals I engage in at this time have roots in my childhood; the ornaments I put on my tree, the "London Fogs" we drink as we open presents Christmas morning. But the longing I have for my mother and father is strongest at Christmas time. I turn to poetry to help me understand the connection with family and the loss of parents. I was reading Terrance Hayes' poem, Arbor for Butch in this month's APR and remembered how complicated family really is. Although I do not have children of my own, feeling the link between generations is as fundemental as our DNA. Poetry must be in our DNA. I like to think so.

The Skagit River Poetry Project began years ago so that our area students could learn from working, real life poet professionals. Students at the heart has always been our main focus and the Festival was the natural extension. Since 1998 when education leaders convinced community leaders to support the idea of a Skagit River Poetry Project, thousands of area kids have been touched by poets. Poetry has become something that is alive and relevant to our rural students and audiences. We have been fortunate to bring nationally known poets like Billy Collins and Jane Hirshfield to our community and we continue this important work even in the face of large budget cutbacks. By offering fewer poets at the Festival and more poetry events in the community, this helps us be less dependent on grants. We are committed to maintain the quality of past Festivals and school projects this cycle with the help of our community of passionate poetry lovers.
Please consider a tax-deductible end of the year contribution. Checks made out to Friends of the Poetry Project and sent to LA Conner School District, PO Box 2103, La Conner, WA 98257, ATT: David Cram
Thank you

I was reading a quote from Stanley Kunitz yesterday where he said, "Poetry is the medium of choice for giving our most hidden self a voice--the voice behind the mask that all of us wear." And I was thinking about those masks and how poetry helps to keep me honest, to myself and to those around me. I think the writing and reading of poetry is a leveling field for our emotional interaction with our world. It's one that can make things clear and define how we find our way in the world.
Write a poem today and share it.
Here's mine:

Winter Walk

It's a celery day
that snaps
and clears my head
from the grog of yesterday's rain.
Color glitters.
I walk until there never was
the unlifted fog or Skagit drizzle
Just the sound of wintering swans.

Check back for poetry festival and project updates.