Tag: haiku

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on Zoom Featuring Michael Dylan Welch February 11, 2021

January 17, 2021

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

Featuring Michael Dylan Welch

7 pm

Thursday, February 11

On Zoom

$5 Suggested donation

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, has provided a home for the reading series since 2015: https://nichewinebar.com

Michael Dylan Welch served two years as poet laureate of Redmond, Washington, where he is also president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword, director of the Poets in the Park Festival, and curator (since 2006) of SoulFood Poetry Night. He has published dozens of books, most recently Dance into the World, and his poetry has appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies in more than 20 languages. Michael was keynote speaker for the 2013 Haiku International Association conference in Tokyo, is cofounder of the biennial Haiku North America conference (1991), the American Haiku Archives (1996), and the Seabeck Haiku Getaway (2008). He also founded the Tanka Society of America (2000) and National Haiku Writing Month (2010), the latter held every February, the shortest month for the shortest genre of poetry (learn more at http://www.nahaiwrimo.com). His personal website, devoted mostly to poetry (not just haiku), including hundreds of essays and reviews, is www.graceguts.com. Lately, Michael has been traveling the world, via Zoom, giving poetry readings, workshops, and presentations in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, India, England, Canada, and around the United States—a silver lining amid our pandemic lockdown.

NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control, this month’s reading will take place over Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com by no later than 3 pm on February 11 to indicate your interest in participating. In the subject line, let us know if you are “Reading” or “Just Listening.” You will receive instructions for how to join the meeting. Open mic readers are invited to share one poem for three minutes or less. 

If you are willing to donate to support the series, please use Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com) or contact him to make other arrangements. Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.

Printed Matter Vancouver is Accepting New Clients

January 13, 2019

Are you ready to take control of your writing goals? Do you have a manuscript that needs polishing before being submitted for publication? Printed Matter Vancouver can help. We are accepting new clients now.

2018 was a great year for Printed Matter Vancouver. We had the privilege of working with an impressive group of creative individuals at various stages in their writing journey. We are humbled by their grace, talent, and perseverance. They entrusted us with their precious poems, essays, stories, fiction, articles, and commentary. We provided guidance, editing, formatting assistance, critique, and revision. Witnessing the growth and commitment of these writers is incredibly satisfying. To say this year has been astounding would be an understatement. We are grateful to those who have put their trust in us. These inspiring individuals have an unflinching determination to do the work that is necessary to grow and improve as a writer.

christopher and toni at sam and kelly wedding by julian nelson
Printed Matter Vancouver Co-founders Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna at Sam Mackenzie and Kelly Keigwin’s wedding. Photo by Julian Nelson.

If you are considering working with an editor, compiling a chapbook, or further developing your writing skills, contact us for an initial consultation at no cost to you. We can be reached via printedmattervancouver@gmail.com. Let’s explore your writing together!

With sincere appreciation to all for a great year,
Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna

Here are a few of the projects we worked on during 2018:

• Editing and formatting a debut book of poetry.
• Editing of a historical memoir.
• Critique, review, and editing of a significant collection of poetry.
• Editing Book #1 of a fiction series.
• Editing a full-length book of haiku.
• Coaching a poet mining decades of journals to create a series of chapbooks.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Maggie Chula Thursday, November 14, 2013

November 2, 2013

Flyer November 14 2013

GHOST TOWN POETRY OPEN MIC

Hosted by Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna

and Printed Matter Vancouver founder Toni Partington

 

November 14, 2013

7pm

Cover to Cover Books

6300 NE St. James Rd.,

Suite 104B

(St. James & Minnehaha)

Vancouver, WA

98663

 christopherjluna@gmail.com

LGBTQ-friendly, all ages,

and uncensored since 2004

 With our featured reader, Maggie Chula:

Maggie Chula has been writing and teaching haiku, tanka, and haibun for more than thirty years. She has published seven full-length poetry collections as well as a musical CD of Grinding my ink. Called the ‘Haiku Queen of Portland’ by the Willamette Week, her haiku have appeared in journals worldwide, on Tokyo train station billboards, at a construction site for the Orange Line in Portland, and on cans of Itoen tea sold in vending machines in Japan. Her latest book, Just This, is her second collection of tanka. Maggie has just finished a three-year appointment as Poet Laureate for Friends of Chamber Music, composing poems while listening to concerts. She currently serves as President of the Tanka Society of America. Living in Kyoto for twelve years, she now makes her home in Portland where she hikes, gardens, swims, and creates flower arrangements for every room of the house.

TANKA

you sign your letters

‘affectionately’

I write ‘loving you’

picking a scab in my cleavage

I watch it bleed

Maggie Chula

Books available at the reading:

Just This                                                                      $16.00

Just This translation                                                  $12.00

What Remains:

Japanese Americans in Internment Camps             $20.00 (discounted from $25)

Grinding my ink                                                         $15.00 (discounted from $16.95)

The Smell of Rust                                                      $12.00 (discounted from $14.95)