Tag: community

Printed Matter Vancouver Books Available at Another Read Through in Portland, OR

August 31, 2017
Tiffany
Tiffany Burba reads from Meet Me Where I Left You at Another Read Through Books in Portland, OR on February 23, 2017

It is more important than ever to support local, independently-owned bookstores. One of our personal favorites is Another Read Through at 3932 N. Mississippi Ave. in Portland. Owner Elisa Saphier is delightful, personable, and knowledgeable. She allows authors and publishers to hold readings and book launch events in her beautiful second-floor loft, and hosts regular events such as Lesbian Lit Book Group. A generous amount of shelf space is devoted to Northwest authors in all genres.

GT 2 FRONT COVER

You can find Ghost Town Poetry volumes one and two, Tiffany Burba’s Meet Me Where I Left You, and Christopher Luna’s Pulitzer Remix chapbook Brutal Glints of Moonlight at Another Read Through.

Printed Matter Vancouver is grateful to Elisa for her service to the literary community, and for carrying our books at her bookstore. We are very proud to be associated with Another Read Through. Show your support by dropping by the store today!

The latest publication from Printed Matter Vancouver.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on State of Wonder

July 21, 2017
Toni and Christopher OPB pic
Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic co-hosts Toni Partington and Christopher Luna at Angst Gallery in July 2017. Photo by Aaron Scott. Art by Cynthia Heise.

Printed Matter Vancouver would like to thank producer Aaron Scott, intern Elayna Yussen, and everyone at OPB Radio’s State of Wonder for featuring the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic community on their program. I founded the reading series in 2004, and Toni Partington, my wife and co-host, came on board in 2007. It was a very moving experience to hear what the series has meant to Toni and series regulars April Bullard, Eileen Elliott, and Erin Iwata. I found myself in tears as my friends spoke about their personal journey, and how Ghost Town Poetry has contributed to both their personal growth and their development as writers. We hope that you will agree that Aaron and his crew perfectly captured what makes the reading series so unique.

Toni and I were also pleased to find that the producers acknowledged Angst Gallery’s role in the community as  “de facto arts center.” Angst Gallery owner Leah Jackson has been one of the driving forces in the Vancouver Arts District for many years. Since 2005, she has provided me with a venue in which to present local and national poets, poetry & music collaborations, coaster poetry, and bilingual poetry readings. I would not have been named the first Poet Laureate of Clark County without her unfailing support. In fact, Leah Jackson was the first to acknowledge my service to the poetry community when she named me the poet laureate of her two businesses, Angst Gallery and Niche Wine Bar. This great honor allowed me to have two years of practice as her laureate (2011-2012) before being called upon by the Clark County Arts Commission to serve the poets of Clark County as their poet laureate.

The program also includes a wonderful interview with Erika Bartlett, a Vancouver artist whose solo show, “The Art of Healthy Spaces”, is on display at the gallery through July 29.

Christopher Luna

To listen to the entire program, visit:

Hurray For The Riff Raff | Ghost Town Poetry | Teva Harrison | Ural Thomas | Bend Art Center

April Bullard by Tiffany
April Bullard reads her work at Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic. Photo by Ghost Town videographer Tiffany Burba 

To listen to the segment on Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, visit:

Vancouver’s Ghost Town Poetry Hasn’t Missed A Beat Since 2004

Erika on OPB
Erika Bartlett and her work at Angst Gallery in Vancouver, WA. Photo by Aaron Scott

To listen to the segment with Erika Bartlett, visit:

Erika Bartlett At Angst Gallery: Mixing Nature And Business

 

Printed Matter Vancouver Congratulates the Winners of the Poetry Moves Contest (Phase Three, January-June 2017)

October 14, 2016

Printed Matter Vancouver Publishers Christopher Luna and Toni Partington are proud to announce the winners of the third phase of Poetry Moves, sponsored by Printed Matter Vancouver, Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna, Arts of Clark County, and C-Tran.  The following poems will appear on C-Tran buses from January-June 2017:

“Joy” by Cherish DesRochers-Vafeados

“A Long Ago Memory of Calmer Times” by Bruce Hall

“Subsequent Layers of Existence” by Bill Lucking

“Why We Don’t Belong Here (excerpt)” by Livia Montana

“Hope, embossed” by Gwendolyn Morgan

“Eulogies Are for the Living” by Angeline Nguyen

“Just Breathe” by Bridget Nutting

“Calling” by Jennifer Pratt-Walter

“Camilla” by Alex Vigue

“how to love (excerpt)” by Desiree Wright

Unfortunately, Bridget Nutting passed away before we could inform her that her poem had been chosen. We dedicate phase three of Poetry Moves to her memory, and share our deepest condolences with her family. Please visit her family’s GoFundMe page to donate to a special fund to help her husband Dave cover the cost of the funeral, medical bills, and lost wages during her long illness: https://www.gofundme.com/2t8ccc3c.

poetrymoves_toni_thumb

Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna and Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall will also have one poem each on the buses. Luna’s poem is entitled “pavement pastoral” and Marshall’s poem is entitled from “With Apologies to Andre Breton.” Christopher is the first poet laureate for Clark County; the Clark County Arts Commission recently extended his term for the third time. He will remain in the position through the end of 2019.

Poetry Moves judges Partington and Luna would like to thank everyone who submitted to the contest. We are also very grateful to Karen Madsen of Arts of Clark County, Graphic Designer Cameron Suttles, and C-Tran for their hard work and support.

There will be a reading to celebrate the winners at the Vancouver Community Library on Sunday, January 15, 2017. Previous channel cards from the first two phases of the programs will be available for sale at the event. All proceeds from these sales will go toward funding the Poetry Moves program.

We are very proud of our fellow poets.

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

April 12, 2015

Ghost Town Flyer May 14 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.

Christopher Luna named Clark County’s first Poet Laureate

February 17, 2013

I am pleased to announce that the Clark County Arts Commission has named me Clark County’s first Poet Laureate. I am very grateful to the commission for this honor, and look forward to this opportunity to share my passion for poetry with even more members of our community. I have a lot of ideas about how to do this, which I will share at the public meeting mentioned in the press release below, as well as a public address which I have been asked to give at the Vancouver Community Library on Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm. I encourage everyone who values poetry and its ability to transform our lives to join us in celebrating this great step forward for the county. I am very grateful for Vancouver’s poetry community, and for the love and support of three amazing women: Toni Partington, Mel Sanders, and Leah Jackson. Without their belief in me, and their own work for the arts community, none of this would have been possible.

Christopher Luna

Clark County Arts Commission news release logo

February 15, 2013

Contact: Elizabeth Madrigal, Clark County Arts Commission, (360) 281-1615,

emadrigal@clarkcountyartscommission.org, Elizabeth.madrigal@gmail.com

Patricia LaCroix, Clark County Arts Commission, (360) 606-7104,

placroix@clarkcountyartscommission.org

Vancouver resident selected first Clark County Poet Laureate

Vancouver, WA – Christopher Luna, a Vancouver poet, visual artist and editor, has been named Clark County’s first Poet Laureate by the Clark County Arts Commission.

As Poet Laureate, Luna may act as a cultural ambassador, composing poems for special events and occasions. His main duty is to promote poetry and literature, nurturing public knowledge and appreciation of the power of words. His work will reflect diverse experiences in Clark County and the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area.

The public can meet Luna when he is officially installed as Poet Laureate during the commission’s 6:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the sixth-floor hearing room of the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St.

Luna earned a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Poetics at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, Boulder, Colo. He serves as a writing consultant and poetry event coordinator for WSU Vancouver’s Writing Center, where he teaches a weekly workshop.

His work has appeared in New York Journal of Books, Poetry Project Newsletter, The Columbian, The Oregonian and Willamette Week. He co-edited Ghost Town Poetry, a collection of poems from a popular open microphone poetry reading series he established in 2004. Luna frequently is a featured reader at bookstores, night clubs, libraries and coffee shops.

For information about the Poet Laureate position, contact Pat LaCroix, chair of the arts commission, at (360) 606-7104. For more information on the arts commission visit www.clarkcountyartscommission.org.