April 2025 – PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Jan Harrington and Victor Griggs at Art At The Cave on May 8, 2025 [UPDATED to include photographs]

April 15, 2025

Featured reader Victor Griggs reads from his book Rolling Through Life
with a little help from his mother

Kyle David Congdon shares his poetry as his daughter Rowan listens on nearby

Janis Harrington reads her poetry as her fellow featured reader Victor Griggs listens

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Featuring Jan Harrington and Victor Griggs

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

7 pm
Thursday, May 8

Art At The Cave
108 E Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98660
https://artatthecave.com

ANTI-RACIST, LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,
PRO-CHOICE, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

https://printedmattervancouver.com/

$5 Suggested donation
No one will be turned away for lack of funds

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.

Janis Harrington is a poet living in North Carolina. Her poetry collection, How to Cut a Woman in Half, written as a novel in verse, was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Her first book, Waiting for the Hurricane, is a collection of narrative poems about three generations of a family and the dark secrets they keep. It won the 2017 Lena Shull Book Award, given by the North Carolina Poetry Society. Her work has appeared in anthologies and literary journals, including Tar River Poetry, Journal of the American Medical Association, and North Carolina Literary Review. She won the 2023 James Applewhite Poetry Contest sponsored by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. She co-hosts a monthly poetry reading series at an independent bookstore.

According to Victor Griggs, “I am from the Pacific Northwest. I always love writing but I really started taking seriously during The pandemic. Never give up on your dreams. For more information about me and my work please visit futurelegs.net.”

Book description from Victor’s website: Rolling Through Life chronicles Victor Griggs’ reflections from 2019-2021, set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the solitude of quarantine, intensified by his personal challenges with cerebral palsy, Victor immersed himself in the details, stories, and thoughts he lived with each day. This short collection of poetry and prose is a tribute to his resilience and introspection during those times of isolation.

Send an email to printedmattervancouver@gmail.com or visit
https://christopherlunapoetry.substack.com/

to register to receive The Work, Christopher Luna’s monthly newsletter featuring news and events for poets in Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR and surrounding areas.

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.

“Stimulation,” a poem about autism by Elise Hoekstra/ These Shining Lives at Starbird Theatre

April 11, 2025

During Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic at Art At The Cave on April 10, Elise Hoeskstra shared a powerful and moving poem about what it is like to be autistic. We are proud to publish it here because we believe her writing can help the community to have more compassion and understanding for their neurodivergent family, friends, and neighbors.

Elise introduced the poem by saying, “As an adult with Autism, I have been attempting to articulate what is ubiquitous in my daily life through writing. One of the topics that popped up was sensory overload, a phrase that has general meaning, but what did that mean specifically? This poem is a breakdown of what sensory overload looks like for me.”

Elise Hoekstra reads her poetry at Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on April 10, 2025

Stimulation

Hearing: Noise buzzes, seemingly louder with every second. I can’t focus. Individual voices blur. It’s irritating at best. One loud noise won’t simply do it, but many. Like waves braided together, crashing into the back of my head.

Sight: Light shines, eyes squint like staring into the sun, lowlights calm ere white brightness prevails. Yet the sun of California does not bother me.

Smell: Candles. Pungent peonies burning in the background, coats my throat leaving it soar, sits in my clothes, gives me a headache. Grumpy at best.

Touch: Heavy hot air, sweat on the skin, rosacea, drives me crazy. Uncomfortable clothes. Pants, shirts, and skirts that don’t lay just right. Fabrics!

Taste: The feeling of raw octopus on my tongue. The gift of a three year olds germs that leave bogey mucus molded to my throat.

Bio: Elise is a bookworm at heart and was inspired to write based on the vast collection of different works that she has explored as a special education teacher, poet, and avid lover of YA novels. Learning to sing before she could speak, Elise loves to write music, as songs just pop into her head. She has performed collegiately in choir and is an active choral member at Clark College. She serves on the board and is an active thespian for Starbird Theatre. Elise also enjoys coaching high school wrestling. She is also first generation Dutch and was diagnosed late in life with ASD and ADHD. It is her dream to see her work inspire and form connections in the neurodivergent community.

Learn more about Starbird Theatre:

These Shining Lives

This play is based on the true story of women who worked at the Radium Dial Company in the 1920s, painting watch dials with radium-based paint. The women initially took pride in their work, but soon developed severe health issues from the toxic exposure. The play follows Catherine Donohue as she becomes aware of the harmful effects of radium and struggles with her own illness while seeking justice for herself and her co-workers. It explores themes of resilience, friendship, and the fight against corporate negligence. Catherine and the other women ultimately challenge the company, demanding accountability for the suffering they endured. The play highlights the human cost of industrial progress and the courage of those who fought for workers’ rights and justice.

Performance Dates:

May 9th 7:30pm

May 10th 2:00pm

May 10th 7:30pm

May 11th 2:00pm

Location:

TJMS Theatre

3000 NW 119th St

Vancouver, WA 98685

Tickets $20 Online, $22 at the door

Poets Participate in Hands Off! National Day of Protest in Esther Short Park in April 5, 2025

April 9, 2025

Local poets Christopher Luna, Eric Fair-Layman, Debra Elisa, Elmo Shade, and Clark County Poet Laureate Susan Dingle shared their work with thousands of fellow Americans who filled Esther Short Park in Vancouver, WA on April 5 to express their displeasure with the Trump administration’s fascist policies and agenda. Similar events happened in cities across the country that day.

Local emcees Eric Fair-Layman and Debra Elisa (Humble Poets Open Mic), Christopher Luna (Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic), and Susan Dingle (Poetry Street PNW)

Clark County Poet Laureate Susan Dingle with Eric Fair-Layman and Debra Elisa

HANDS OFF! Vancouver Protest / Evergreen Resistance / 50501 / Indivisible

HANDS OFF! Vancouver Protest

Join us! Saturday, April 5, 2025 12-3pm at Esther Short Park.

605 Esther St, Vancouver, WA

Learn more at EvergreenResistance.org or FiftyFifty.one

https://events.pol-rev.com/events/48ed63de-ceee-488a-bbf3-702298177ec5

50 protests.

50 states.

1 movement.

Join us in the fight to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach.

On February 5th, #50501 raised our voices. The first #50501 protests were a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies. The idea—50 protests in 50 states on 1 day—was born on r/50501 and spread rapidly on social media.

In just days, grassroots organizers—without any budget, centralized structure, or official backing—pulled off over 80 peaceful protests in all 50 states. Twelve days later, tens of thousands of Americans declared “No Kings Day” and protested once more. On March 4th, a call to stand up for democracy was answered with another wave of protests.

Our movement shows the world that the American working class will not sit idly by as plutocrats rip apart their democratic institutions and civil liberties while undermining the rule of law.

50 protests. 50 states. 1 day.

https://events.pol-rev.com/events/48ed63de-ceee-488a-bbf3-702298177ec5