UPDATE POSTED APRIL 11: I regret to inform you that our featured reader, Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest, will be unable to join us on Thursday due to illness. Here is what she posted on her Facebook profile: “After 3 years of dodging it, covid has finally caught up to me and it truly is as awful as you all say. 🤒 I’m sad that I’ve had to cancel a number of upcoming events and will miss out on the Olympia launch of the anthology, and sad to have missed you all yesterday in Seattle. On the flip side, this is the most rest I’ve had in as long as I can remember.”
To honor Rena’s service to the poetry community, bring a favorite poem by Rena or another favorite poet laureate to share at the open mic.
Rena has already been invited to read for us at a later date. Stay tuned for details to follow by subscribing to The Work poetry newsletter (send a request to printedmattervancouver@gmail.com) or by visiting Printed Matter Vancouver.
We thank Rena for her service to our state and wish her a speedy recovery.
Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Featuring Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige
7 pm
Thursday, April 13
Art at the Cave
108 E Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98660
LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST, PRO-CHOICE,
ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
$5 Suggested donation
Donations can be made in person or through Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com). Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.
Rena Priest is a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She is wrapping up her term as our 6th Washington State Poet Laureate. She is also a Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow an Academy of American Poets Fellow, and the recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award. Her debut collection, Patriarchy Blues, received a 2018 American Book Award. Most recently she has edited an anthology titled, I Sing the Salmon Home: poems from Washington state. Other books include Northwest Know-how: Beaches and Sublime Subliminal. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.
The Ghost Town Poetry community respectfully encourages you to support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, provided a home for the reading series from 2015-2020. Stop by their new location at 900 Washington, Suite 130 Vancouver, WA 98660: https://nichewinebar.com.
UPDATED Statement on Healthy Spaces from Art at the Cave: We want to provide a healthy space to enjoy art. We have been practicing safety precautions such as regular cleaning, social distancing and mask wearing.
As a result of the removal of the mask mandate effective March 12, 2022, we will no longer require the wearing of masks. We encourage you to continue to wear a mask if it makes you feel more comfortable, and we will supply masks and hand sanitizer at the door. As social distancing has become a norm, please be mindful some will still need a bit of personal space while inside the gallery.
PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER 