The Work Poetry workshop has a new home. Beginning July 12, the workshop will take place at the Vancouver Arts Hub from 2-5 on the second Saturday of every month and 9-12 on the fourth Saturday of the month. The Arts Hub is located at 1007 E Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98663 in the former home of the Vancouver library. The cost for this workshop will be a $25 suggested donation. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

The Arts Hub is operated by The Arts Centered, under the superb leadership of Christine Richardson. I encourage everyone in the community to take advantage of all that this important organization has to offer. Learn more here: https://theartscentered.org/

According to their website, “theARTScentered is a 501c3 non profit organization in Vancouver, WA, working to provide resources, space, professional expertise, and collaborative opportunities to local visual and performing artists & arts/culture groups and organizations since 2021. Why theARTScentered? It takes action to center something and active focus to keep something centered… it takes work! In all we do, we center our work around the arts and serve our community with the arts at the heart of it. We are connectors and master creative problem solvers, and we are passionate about creating opportunities for equity in cultural access.”

I will lead one more First Friday Poetry Reading on June 6 and two more drop-in poetry workshops at Birdhouse Books before bookstore owner Lucas Gubala moves his inventory to Ronald Records. My final workshops at Birdhouse Books will take place from 9-12 on May 24 and June 28. You can learn more about these workshops on the Creative Writing Workshops page of the Printed Matter Vancouver website. 

I am very grateful to Lucas Gubala, Sarah Summerhill, Kirsten Hull, and all of the volunteers and customers who made Birdhouse Books a home for our poetry community. I will miss the cozy environs, the freeflowing tea, and the wonderful and generous Local Authors section. I am among the poets whose books could always be found on their shelves. Few have done more to support local writers.

Here is Lucas’s announcement regarding the move: “Birdhouse Books will be migrating! We will now share space with the incredibly groovy Ronald Records. Construction will be happening alongside the Main Street project, but you can look forward to a new space to browse books and records very soon. This does mean that our events will be put on hold after next first Friday (June 6), but stay tuned to https://birdhousebooks.store/ and @Birdhousebookstore on Instagram for announcements and call to action while we are moving. Thank you all!”

I encourage the community to continue to support Birdhouse Books as they make this transition.