Dinner Table Conversation

And now to another topic which is poetry and the Skagit River Poetry Festival, where the community of La Conner takes poets to its bosom and into its schools. The Next Chapter Bookstore carries all participants' books on consignment (70/30 split, which is generous and which I misunderstood as 30/70 when I left my books so that I made the wrong facial expressions but corrected that later when the owner handed me my check on the spot and I fainted with happiness.)

Kelli Russell Agodon, Kathleen Flenniken and I were on the Women Poets Rock panel for students Friday morning at MoNA (Museum of Northwest Art). In celebration of poetry and the festival, the museum had art of a word related nature on display. Soaring ceilings, lots of light, great space to give a panel. To make this a multimedia presentation, I brought my "A Room of Her Own" totebag I got at the retreat for committed women writers held at Ghost Ranch in 2003 and which my roommate and I had altered to read "A Room Mate of Her Own" because neither of us had gotten a room of her own, nor a workspace of her own, which rankled, even while the concept and rest of the retreat, including my workshops with Kim Addonizzio, were challenging and great. But back to our panel: we rocked. Students in high schools and community colleges from all over Skagit County, including the San Juan Islands, were selected to participate in Friday's Festival.

Saturday, Kathleen, Gloria Burgess and I gave the Women Poets Rock panel for adults. We also rocked, but in a far more mature manner, which for me included a wee tirade based on the visual art to our left which had the word "EVE" surrounded by text blocks, the word "ADAM" surrounded by text blocks. The textblock which set me off was "VEGETAL" as one of the attributes of Eve, whom I imagine we are to take as the archtype for woman. Linden Ontjes, a fine poet in the audience, declared later that had I given the signal, the audience would have torn the display from the wall.

This was the fourth incarnation of the biannual festival, brainchild of Tim Bruce, the Superintendent of La Conner Schools. Tim, his wife, Chris, and their family opened their art-filled home for a cocktail party for poet participants Friday evening. Did I mention he is a patron of the arts AND superintendent of schools? A quintessentially northwest Philip McCracken sculpture stood in the center of the living room. Big wow. Poet and caterer Georgia Johnson made fabulous dinner for us both evenings.

The Next Chapter Bookstore & Coffeehouse, second shoutout. The owners of the bookstore cleared out their living space upstairs so it could be used as a festival reading and workshop venue. I had the privilege of holding my Saturday afternoon poetry workshop there. Big thank you. They hold all sorts of events in that space, including silent meditations on a regular basis. Here's the url to their website so you can buy zillions of books from them:
http://www.nextchapter.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

What else? What more? What not? So many poets and events swarming the town, so little time to take them all in - always the downside of this kind of event for me at least. I cannot go to every session or even most sessions without suffering overload, but I regret missing what I cannot take in. If you attended the festival or intended to attend, or love its existence in any way, let them know. Saturday evening's closing felt ominously uncertain as to the future of this important project. Go to http://www.skagitriverpoetry.org/index.asp and offer whatever support you can.