Proud to be One Third of WordsWest Literary Series -- Now in Our 4th Year and w/ Joannie Stangeland

That's me, Harold Taw, and Katy Ellis

Here is our happy trio at the venerable Easy Street Cafe and Record Store in West Seattle. 1001 thank you's to Tracy Record, Editor of the famous West Seattle Blog (the New York Times of West Seattle) for a super fun interview that reads on the page with the same energy and spontaneity as our lunchtime meeting. What a pleasure when a reporter (editor) gets every quote right and creates an article in which we recognize ourselves. Long live the West Seattle Blog --- the best source of news on our peninsula.

Here is the beginning of the article and the link to read more~

The three West Seattle writers who co-curate WordsWest Literary Series say it’s the kind of series “we would like to be invited to.”

WordsWest opens its fourth season this Wednesday night at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and co-curators Harold Taw, Katy Ellis, and Susan Rich say it’s become everything they hoped it would be, and more.

While we regularly feature WordsWest in the WSB calendar and previews, we thought the start of the season would be a good time to check in with the co-founders, to re-introduce (or, if you’re new here, introduce) them and what it is they do each month. So we sat down with Susan, Katy, and Harold for that check-in over lunch at Easy Street Records one recent midday.

First – we should mention that WordsWest events usually feature two writers, in an innovative format, plus a community member reading a “favorite poem,” and a chance for interactivity with the dozens of attendees. More on the 7 pm Wednesday season-opener lineup a bit later – but first, the start of their story:

Susan – who had just come back from the Poets on the Coast retreat she runs in LaConner – explained that she and Katy met at the city’s best-known bookstore, Elliott Bay Books, introduced by a mutual friend. Talking, they agreed, “wouldn’t it be nice to go to a reading without having to cross the bridge?”

An early topic of discussion: “What would we call it?” And during that discussion,  click to continue.

Happy Fall ~ Poetry Matters - Generating New Work, Publication, and a Reading

I am thrilled (thrilled!) to be teaching at Harmony Fields next Sunday, October 1st from 2:00-5:00 pm. Poet and farmer extraordinaire, Jess Gigot, has invited me to her gorgeous farm just outside of La Conner, WA in Bow, WA. "Poetry Matters: Generating New Work and a Poetry Salon" will be held in her refurbished barn. The group is limited to 16. You can register on-line right here.

We've built in a 90 minute intermission so poets can try out one of the amazing restaurants in Bow-Edison --- a town being quickly recognized as a foodie and artist haven. At 6:30 pm I will join Jess Gigot, Michael Daily, and Georgia Johnson for a reading at the i.e. gallery.

From Poets on the Coast, to LitFuse, to Poetry Matters --- this is the season of poetry.

To find out more about the workshop or the farm --- click here.