PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER

Christopher Luna and Toni Partington’s Honeymoon Reading Tour of California (August 26, 27, 30)

August 8, 2015

Toni Partington and Christopher Luna

Photo by Colin Poellot

Clark County, WA Poet Laureate Christopher Luna and Toni Partington, co-hosts of the popular Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in Vancouver, WA and co-founders of Printed Matter Vancouver, are celebrating their recent marriage with a honeymoon road trip and reading tour of California that will bring them to Monterey, San Francisco, and Berkeley. Christopher and Toni are very grateful to each of the event organizers for hosting them. They look forward to reading for old friends and making some new friends as they pass through. Each will have copies of their books and chapbooks for sale at the readings listed below.

Monterey

Rubber Chicken Poetry Slam and Open Mic
Featuring Newlyweds
Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna
& Printed Matter Vancouver publisher Toni Partington
On their Honeymoon Tour of California

7:30 pm
Wednesday, August 26
East Village Coffee Lounge
498 Washington St
Monterey, CA 93940
831-373-5601

Hosted by Garland Thompson Jr.

East Village Coffee Lounge

Facebook Event Page for Monterey Reading

San Francisco

Two-Tone Poetry & Jazz
CD LAUNCH PARTY!

David Meltzer & Julie Rogers
with Zan Stewart on Saxophone
and Clark County, Washington Poet Laureate Christopher Luna
& Printed Matter Vancouver Publisher Toni Partington

CD’s & books will be available!

Thurs., August 27 2015
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

BIRD & BECKETT BOOKS AND RECORDS
653 Chenery St., San Francisco, CA in the Glen Park area
415-586-3733

Bird & Beckett Books and Records

Facebook Event Page for San Francisco Reading

David Meltzer, celebrated SF Renaissance/Beat poet is a teacher & has published over forty books of poetry, fiction, and anthologies. This is his second poetry CD in 58 years. Meltzerville

Julie Rogers, northwest poet, is a writing coach & has published several chapbooks, a hospice manual & a selected, ‘House of the Unexpected’. This is her first poetry CD. Julie Rogers

Zan Stewart, tenor saxophonist & teacher, won the celebrated ASCAP–Deems Taylor Award. His band’s debut CD, ‘The Street Is Making Music’, is on Mobo Dog Records. Zan Stewart

Christopher Luna is Clark County’s Poet Laureate, a teacher, co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver, and co-hosts Vancouver’s Ghost Town Poetry series. Poetry: Christopher Luna in Ghost Town, USA

Toni Partington is co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver, co-host of Ghost Town Poetry, and is an author, editor, writing coach, and artist.

Berkeley

California poets Neeli Cherkovski and Richard Loranger
join Christopher Luna and Toni Partington for their Honeymoon Reading Tour

Neeli Cherkovski
Richard Loranger
Christopher Luna
Toni Partington
+ a brief open mic

Hosted by Richard Loranger

Clark County, WA Poet Laureate Christopher Luna and Toni Partington, co-hosts of the popular Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in Vancouver, WA are celebrating their recent marriage with a honeymoon road trip and reading tour of California that will bring them to Berkeley, Monterey, and San Francisco.

The late spoken word legend Jack McCarthy called Ghost Town Poetry “the best open mic between Tacoma and Berkeley.”

Sunday, August 30, 2015
Art House Gallery
2905 Shattuck Ave.
(one block north of Ashby, and close to Ashby BART)
Berkeley, CA

signup 5 pm
start 5:15
$5-10 donation requested, no one turned away for lack of funds

Art House Gallery & Cultural Center
Neeli Cherkovski’s Facebook Page
Richard Loranger

Facebook Event Page for Berkeley Reading

PERFORMER BIOS

Neeli Cherkovski has written biographies of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bob Kaufman, and Charles Bukowski, with whom he co-edited the Los Angeles zine Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns. Cherkovski produced the first San Francisco Poetry Festival, and in the early-1990s helped to found Café Arts Month, a yearly event celebrating San Francisco’s cafe culture. Cherkovski is the author of Whitman’s Wild Children, a collection of essays about twelve poets he has known: Michael McClure, Charles Bukowski, John Wieners, James Broughton, Philip Lamantia, Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, William Everson, Gregory Corso, Harold Norse, Jack Micheline, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Cherkovski was a writer-in-residence at the New College of California in San Francisco. He taught literature and philosophy there until the school closed in 2008. His body of poetry includes Animal, Elegy for Bob Kaufman and Leaning Against Time, for which he was awarded the 15th Annual PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award in 2005. Cherkovski’s papers are housed at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Richard Loranger and Christopher Luna in November 2012

Richard Loranger is a writer, performer, visual artist, and all around squeaky wheel, currently residing in Oakland, CA. He is the author of Poems for Teeth, as well as The Orange Book and nine chapbooks, including Hello Poems and the recent 6 Questions (Exot Books). Recent work can be found in Out of Our #17, in the anthology I Let Go of the Stars in My Hand (great weather for MEDIA), and in the online journals London Grip New Poetry (www.londongrip.co.uk) and The Marsh Hawk Review (www.marshhawkpress.org). You can find more about his work and scandals at http://www.richardloranger.com.

Clark County, WA Poet Laureate Christopher Luna is the co-founder, with Toni Partington, of Printed Matter Vancouver, an editing service and small press that serves Northwest writers. Together Luna and Partington edited Ghost Town Poetry volumes one and two, featuring poems from the popular open mic poetry reading series that Luna established in 2004. Luna’s books include Brutal Glints of Moonlight, GHOST TOWN, USA and The Flame Is Ours: The Letters of Stan Brakhage and Michael McClure 1961-1978. Recent publications include Bombay Gin, Unshod Quills, It’s Animal But Merciful, gape-seed, Take Out, Chiron Review, and Soundings Review. To learn more about Christopher Luna, please visit http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com.

Toni Partington lives and works as a poet, editor, publisher, visual artist, and writing coach in Vancouver, Washington. Toni has a B.A. in Social Work and an M.A. in Humanities with a focus on literature and literary editing. She is the author of two books of poetry, Jesus Is A Gas (2009), and Wind Wing (2010). Her poetry has been published in numerous journals including The Cascade Journal, VoiceCatcher (editions 3 and 4), OutwardLink.net, and Perceptions. She was Co-Editor for the 2011/2012 VoiceCatcher anthology of Pacific NW women writers. Toni is co-founder and editor of Printed Matter Vancouver, an editing and small press imprint (www.printedmattervancouver.com). Toni co-hosts the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, a popular poetry reading series in Vancouver, WA founded by her husband Christopher Luna.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic at Angst Gallery Featuring Peggy Barnett August 13, 2015

July 13, 2015

GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

7pm
Thursday, August 13
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine and Art Bar, 1013 Main Street

LGBTQ-FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
angstgallery.com

With our featured reader, Peggy Barnett

Peggy Barnett was born in 1945 and grew up in Queens, New York in the 1950’s. She graduated from The Cooper Union with a degree in Fine Art. She opened a studio in NYC in 1968 and was a photographer for 45 years. In 2006 she moved to Woodinville, WA. Peggy knows that the Northwest is beautiful, but memories of the past haunt her: the Holocaust, growing up Jewish in an Italian and Irish neighborhood, the atomic bomb, junior high school, and childhood’s distant happenings arise in her poetry as if in a dream. Her mind flits back and forth between the present and the past. The present on the West Coast is always interrupted by the past of the East Coast. Her poetic memoir On Your Left! dwells on the specifics of unending change.

Submission Call: Printed Matter Vancouver and C-Tran Seek Poetry for the Buses from Clark County, WA Residents (DEADLINE: September1, 2015)

July 5, 2015

PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER
Toni Partington & Christopher Luna, Editors

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TO RESIDENTS OF CLARK COUNTY, WA

Printed Matter Vancouver is proud to announce the submission period for POETRY MOVES, poetry by Clark County Residents to be showcased on C-Tran Buses beginning January 2016.

Submission Guidelines:

What You Need To Know:
• Poems will be accepted until September 1, 2015 at 11:59pm, Pacific Standard Time.
• Submissions will be accepted via email only.
• Submit a maximum of two (2) poems. Poems can be no longer than seven (7) lines. The poem can be a complete poem or an excerpt from a longer poem. If the poem is an excerpt, please indicate this and give the poem title. Previously published poems may be accepted subject to the discretion of the editors. Indicate the publication name, date, poem title, and publication rights in the body of the submission email. Only one poem per poet will be selected and a total of ten poems will be chosen for this phase of the project.
• If your poem is accepted for use in this project, the editors may have suggestions for edits or format changes to prepare the work for display. Whenever possible the editors will work with the author to review suggested changes. Authors will have the final decision on the edits. The editors are unable to guarantee publication of your work if they feel the edits are necessary and the author disapproves of the changes.
• All authors must sign a release provided by C-Tran and agree to photo publicity. C-Tran retains first rights to use and display the poems. From there, rights revert back to the author.
• Authors agree to have their work appear online or in other publicity/promotions by C-Tran, Arts of Clark County, and Printed Matter Vancouver.

Poem Format:

Poem(s) must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font with one-inch margins.
Include your name, address, phone, and email at the top left of each page.
Include the poem’s title one line above the body of the poem, in bold font.
Poems should be single-spaced with one space between stanzas.
Poems should not exceed seven (7) lines on 1 page and be your original work.
Seven (7) lines may be excerpted from a longer poem if indicated as such.
Poems should be saved as a separate document in Microsoft Word with the extension: your last name+poem title. Example: Luna+Sunset Dream

What To Email:

Type “C-Tran Submission” in the subject line of the Email.
Include in the body of the Email:
The title(s) of your poem(s).
Contact information: name, address, email, and phone (home and cell).
For previously published poems, indicate the publication name, date, poem title, and whether you own the publication rights.
Include each poem(s) as a separate attachment.
Include all attachments in one email.

EMAIL SUBMISSIONS UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 AT 11:59PM, PST TO: printedmattervancouver@gmail.com

Sponsored by C-Tran, Arts of Clark County, and Printed Matter Vancouver

The Columbian acknowledges Printed Matter Vancouver’s Christopher Luna and the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in “Clark’s Growing Literary Community”

June 29, 2015

Had a great time at the Gallery 360 Book Fair. I used my New York voice to coax people onto the porch. So fun to be shouting in Vancouver, WA. You should try it some time, it’s good for the soul. Thank you to Peggy Bird for organizing this event and inviting me to participate. I really enjoyed hanging out on the porch of the Slocum House with authors Victoria Lindstrom and Kriston Johnson and gabbing with the people of Ghost Town about poetry and literature. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello and/or buy a few books: Lori Loranger, Bruce Hall, Karen Goysich Read, Rainy Knight, Christi Krug, Maureen Andrade, Jim Martin, Shawn Morrill, Erica Marchbank, Erin Dengerink, Angie Lindquist, and Ian Caton. We had perfect weather and an enormous crowd at the park. I hope that Gallery 360 decides to host more events like this in the future.

Peggy and Christopher at Gallery 360 Book Fair by Maureen Andrade — Gallery 360 Book Fair organizer and author Peggy Bird with Christopher Luna. Photo by Maureen Andrade for the Columbian

Many thanks to Maureen Andrade of North Bank Artists Gallery and the Columbian for this account of the event:

Clark County’s Growing Literary Community

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic at Angst Gallery Featuring Alex Dang July 9, 2015

June 14, 2015

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic at Angst Gallery Featuring Alex Dang July 9, 2015

GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

7pm
Thursday, July 9
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine and Art Bar, 1013 Main Street

LGBTQ-FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
angstgallery.com

With our featured reader, Alex Dang:

Alex Dang is a member of the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Portland Poetry Slam Team competing at the National Poetry Slam and the youngest representative from Portland in the slam’s history. Alex is the Eugene Grand Slam Champion of 2014 and 2015. Videos of his performances have amassed over 1.5 million views on YouTube. He has been a speaker at two TEDx events: TEDxReno and TEDxUOregon. A nationally touring poet, Alex has performed in over 35 cities, 20 states, and is a world renowned burger expert. His chapbook You Can Do Better will be available for purchase at the reading.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Poet and Musician Dusty Santamaria at Angst Gallery June 11, 2015

May 30, 2015

GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

7pm
Thursday, June 11
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine and Art Bar, 1013 Main Street

LGBTQ-FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
angstgallery.com

With our featured reader, poet and songwriter Dusty Santamaria

Dusty Santamaria is a songwriter, performer, poet, and painter currently living in Portland, OR. He is the author of the poetry collection Time and Other Thieves as well as the composer of the albums Getting Back to God Knows Where, Existential Detective Rock and Roll and Now That I’ve Stopped Killing. His writing features a “distinctly American surrealism;” his visual art has been described by the Portland Rearguard as “authentic and raw! Basic and romantic! Primitivism at its finest.” Santamaria has toured nationally and internationally with the bands Deadhorse Hwy and the Singing Knives, a garage, soul, rhythm and blues outfit that often serves as Santamaria’s backing band. The group’s live shows are defined by a caustic energy and the signature, unorthodox playing of guitarist Galen Ballinger. For more info, visit https://dustysantamaria.bandcamp.com/

Dusty Santamaria on the Fairmount Catwalk

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Herb Stokes at Angst Gallery May 14, 2015

April 12, 2015

GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

7pm
Thursday, May 14
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
LGBTQ-FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

christopherjluna@gmail.com

Herb at GT December 11 2014 by Tiffany — Herb Stokes at Cover to Cover Books in December 2014 Photograph by Tiffany Burba-Schramm

Featuring Herb Stokes: Upon retirement from Swissair New York, Herb Stokes and his artist wife, Marianne, moved to the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina. They did the boat and beach scene for several years but after a wonderful summer trip to Portland decided the Northwest would be their home. He took an ongoing creative writing course at Clark College and hasn’t stopped writing since.

From “SALAD FOR TWO”
By Herb Stokes

We sat at a too small table
on a sun washed terrace
overlooking the Mediterranean
drinking wine from pewter goblets.

A blue haze was in the air
and in your eyes.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic at Angst Gallery celebrates National Poetry Month with a bilingual reading featuring Los Portenos founding member Cindy Williams Gutierrez Thursday, April 9

March 20, 2015

Printed Matter Vancouver and Leah Jackson Present
GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC
Downtown in the Vancouver Arts District
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

7pm
April 9, 2015
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

With our Featured Reader Cindy Williams Gutierrez:

Cindy Williams Gutierrez

Photo by Russell J. Young

Selected by Poets and Writers Magazine as one of the top ten 2014 Debut Poets, poet-dramatist Cindy Williams Gutiérrez draws inspiration from the silent and silenced voices of history and herstory. Her poetry collection, the small claim of bones, was published by Arizona State University’s Bilingual Press. Poems and reviews have appeared in Borderlands, Calyx, Harvard’s Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s Periódico de poesía, Portland Review, Quiddity, Rain Taxi, Rattle, and ZYZZYVA. Plays include Words That Burn, which premiered in Milagro’s 2014 La Luna Nueva festival to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month and the William Stafford Centennial, and A Dialogue of Flower & Song featured in the 2012 GEMELA (Spanish and Latin American Women’s Studies) Conference co-sponsored by the University of Portland and Portland State University.

Cindy earned an MFA from the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast Program with concentrations in Mesoamerican poetics and creative collaboration. Cindy is a founding member of Los Porteños, Portland’s Latino writers’ collective, and the founder of Grupo de ’08, a Northwest collaborative-artists’ salon inspired by Lorca’s Generación de ’27.

Los Porteños is committed to making Latino and Latin American literature an integral part of the Portland community. We are dedicated to raising our voices and raising awareness of our diverse languages, canons, stories and cultures. We develop and nurture each unique voice into a collective of writers honoring this diverse heritage. Founded in 2006 with the steadfast support of Milagro Theatre, we have presented annual literary readings for Day of the Dead as well as participated in Milagro’s La Luna Nueva festival. In 2011, we began hosting a William Stafford Birthday Reading featuring original, multilingual poetry and prose written in response to Stafford poems.

2014 marked Los Porteños’ foray into community-building projects, including a Noche de Neruda reading at Literary Arts, a staged reading of Marrano Justice in collaboration with Congregation Ahavath Achim, and the production of Words That Burn in commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the William Stafford Centennial, and the rescindment of Executive Order 9066. A dramatization of the World War II experiences of conscientious objector William Stafford, Japanese-American internee Lawson Inada, and Chicano Marine Guy Gabaldón, Words That Burn was supported by 20 community sponsors, including arts and humanities funders; Asian-American, Latino, and peace organizations; as well as universities and libraries. Recent collaborations featured Echoes Cabaret—in memory of “the disappeared”—with the Jewish Theatre Collaborative and Mujeres—in celebration of International Women’s Day—with Milagro.

Upcoming readings include Letters in Exile: William Stafford and Miguel Hernández at Literary Arts on Wednesday, May 13 at 7 pm.

If I Were a Nahua Poet

Make my body a cuicoyan, this house of song.
Garland my bones with those who have gone before, colli,
And the ones who have gone before them, colli. Return,
Return. Let the sweet wind be their breath on my shoulder,
Their tug on my tunic. Let my voice join the ancients
To swell the sky with a thousand plumes of light. Ehua!

And when the moon moves between sun and earth,
Let us remember to beat our deerskin drums and dance.
To pound our bare feet and chests until this holy earth
Splits in two, and volcanoes rise up in song. Only then
Will this life be worthy: to make the dark earth rumble,
And the heart fiercely tremble. Yolhuihuiyocaz, tremble.

By Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
From the small claim of bones, Bilingual Press, 2014.

Printed Matter Vancouver offers its condolences to Ghost Town Poetry regular Doug Westberg

March 19, 2015

Dear Ghost Town Poetry Community:

Doug Westberg has requested that I inform you that his wife, Carol Holden, died on Saturday as a result of complications from colon surgery. Toni and I were very saddened to receive this news. If you would like to share your condolences or receive information regarding Carol’s memorial, Doug asks that you friend him on Facebook or contact him via Douglas.Westberg@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Christopher Luna
Poet Laureate of Clark County, WA
Publisher and Editor, Printed Matter Vancouver

Christopher Luna’s Creative Writing Classes for Spring 2015

March 1, 2015

Christopher Luna’s Creative Writing Classes for Spring 2015
Multnomah Arts Center, Clark College and Niche Wine and Art Bar

Christopher Luna at Washington State University Vancouver’s Writing Center

Photo by Louise Wynn

Multnomah Arts Center, Portland

Poetry Collage
http://www.multnomahartscenter.org/2010/08/06/spring15catalog/

Spring 2015 Catalog, page 23

Poets and artists have always used allusion and reference to create something new. Explore strategies for assembling borrowed words and images into art and poetry. Create visual collages that incorporate text or poems that include visual aids. The first class we will discuss materials—newspapers, photos, found text, natural items—that you can bring in as well as some materials that you didn’t even know you could collage with. Scissors, glue, and collage paper will be provided.

1026167

Mondays 1-2:30
April 13 to Monday May 18 (six weeks)

$84.00

Clark College
Community Education Classes

Poetry Matters
http://www.campusce.net/Clark/course/course.aspx?catId=24

This poetry workshop is for beginners and experienced writers who would like to generate new work and engage in discussions about the poet’s role in the community. You will read, listen to, and write poetry together in a safe environment focused on providing constructive feedback based on the poet’s needs rather than the listener’s personal taste. Class will also discuss how to construct a manuscript and get it ready for publication. Writers of all experience levels are welcome. Bring paper & pen or laptop. Age 16+.

Class Information
Item Number: R038
Date: 04/06 – 06/15 Mondays
No class 5/25.
Location: Scarpelli Hall SHL 103
Time: 06:00pm – 08:30pm
Fee: $139.00

The Art of Memoir
http://www.campusce.net/Clark/course/course.aspx?C=3601&pc=1&mc=24&sc=0

Everyone has a story to tell. Each person’s life is filled with adventure, mystery, trouble, and triumph. Documenting this process can be a wonderful gift for your family and friends. Memoir is also a powerful way to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all human beings. Clark County’s Poet Laureate will encourage you to begin to see yourself as a part of history. Whether you are interested in publishing a book or simply leaving a legacy for your family, this course is an opportunity to explore the creative process of this genre while learning the craft of storytelling. Includes writing exercises, examples of published memoirs, and class discussion. Designed for writers both beginner and those who possess more experience. Includes exercises and class discussion.

Class Information
Item Number: R043
Date: Wednesdays 04/08 – 06/10
Location: Joan Stout Hall JSH 115
Time: 06:30pm – 08:30pm
Fee: $149.00

Mature Learning

Memoir Writing
http://ecd.clark.edu/course/class.php?ClassID=14605&CategoryID=122

Everyone has a story to tell. Each person’s life is filled with adventure, mystery, trouble, and triumph. Memoir is a powerful way to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all human beings. This course, facilitated by the Poet Laureate of Clark County, will encourage you to begin to see yourself as a part of history. There is a value to documenting the story of your life.

Class Information
Item Number: 9408
Date: Thursdays 04/09 – 06/11
Location: CCE 208
Time: 01:00pm – 03:20pm
Fee: $101.00

Niche Wine and Art Bar
http://nichewinebar.com/

Join Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna for The Work, a monthly poetry workshop at Niche Wine & Art Bar. From noon until 3:00 on the second Saturday of every month, we will listen to spoken word recordings, read and discuss poetry, and write four or five new poems together. Niche is located at 1013 Main Street, right next door to the historic Kiggins Theatre, in downtown Vancouver’s Arts District. Cost: $20 suggested donation; no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Bring a poem to share as a way of saying hello. Shareable snacks are also welcome and very much appreciated.

we write because we must