ANTI-RACIST, LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST, PRO-CHOICE, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
$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.
Ken Yoshikawa likes to write plays and poems and do silly things onstage. Recently he played Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Portland Center Stage, and has had two plays commissioned in Portland, one of which, From a Hole in the Ground, is presently onstage with Corrib Theatre. His first full-length poetry book, Monster Colored Glasses, was published by Lightship Press, and is available to purchase at yoshikawaken.com! In his free time he enjoys video games, hanging with friends, trees, and working as an astrologer.
Igor Brezhnev and Sam Rose Preminger founded Lightship Press “to support living artists with an emphasis on poetry (as this is our field of expertise). This mission will be realized through publishing and promoting high-quality full-length books and chapbooks, recording spoken word performances, and producing community events where contributors can step into the public eye and market their work. Priority, both in who we publish and who we hire onto our team, will be given to authors intending to earn a portion of their income through their literary craft. Our motto is ‘Support Living Artists Cause the Dead Ones Don’t Need It.'”
November 2024 is the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic. This year’s featured readers include Marialicia Gonzalez, Kevin Sampsell, Gay Garland Reed, William Erickson, Bruce Hall, Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True, and Debra Elisa.
Send an email to printedmattervancouver@gmail.com 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.
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.
Help us celebrate National Poetry Month with our special guest, Lightship Press author Zia Pollis, who is traveling from Massachusetts to be with us.
Zia Pollis is a poet and illustrator from Chamisal, New Mexico. She has a B.A. in English from Reed College and is a Master’s of Divinity student at the Harvard Divinity School. She has organized and participated in numerous poetry communities and festivals, including the Taos Verse Converse festival and the Society of the Muse of the Southwest (SOMOS). She also competed in the national youth poetry slam, Brave New Voices, and has been featured in MassPoetry’s U35 reading series. Her work has appeared in Nailed Magazine, MassPoetry,Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Harvard Magazine, and others.
Her chapbook Labors of Mercy was published by Lightship Press in 2023:
Igor Brezhnev and Sam Rose Preminger founded Lightship Press “to support living artists with an emphasis on poetry (as this is our field of expertise). This mission will be realized through publishing and promoting high-quality full-length books and chapbooks, recording spoken word performances, and producing community events where contributors can step into the public eye and market their work. Priority, both in who we publish and who we hire onto our team, will be given to authors intending to earn a portion of their income through their literary craft. Our motto is ‘Support Living Artists Cause the Dead Ones Don’t Need It.'”
November 2024 is the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic. This year’s featured readers include Ken Yoshikawa, Marialicia Gonzalez, Kevin Sampsell, Gay Garland Reed, William Erickson, Bruce Hall, Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True, and Debra Elisa.
Send an email to printedmattervancouver@gmail.com 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.
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. The suggested donation is five dollars.
Brianna Renae is a spoken word poet & public speaker born and raised in Portland Oregon. She is the author of her debut poetry collection Her Way with Words and the founder of The People’s Poets which is a BIPOC open mic created to amplify marginalized voices. She had the pleasure of opening for bestselling author Rupi Kaur in 2022. This year Brianna Renae was crowned Portland Poetry Slam’s 2023 Grand Slam Champion. She writes in hopes to inspire people to recognize the power in their stories.
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.
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. The suggested donation is five dollars.
Red O’Hare is a West Coast-based Jewish-American Poet. Her debut book of poetry, Seaglass Strange, was published late last year by Lightship Press. She was born during the Reagan administration to the child of Jewish immigrant Carnies and that of stalwart Presbyterian missionaries. She believes in boots and ghosts. Her dog is named after a Doctor Who character, but you have to guess which one. Red has been writing and performing poetry since she was 15 years old in California’s San Fernando Valley. She’s competed in poetry slams but has never won, and has been featured at Wordlights, The Last Stand at Wildwood Saloon, The Nest, Portland Poetry Slam, and The Crow’s Nest, to name a few. She has also performed at Studio Morey, Fused Creative’s show Leave Me On Read, Telltale PDX’s show This Is What We Need, The Brewery Artist’s Lofts, The Anna Broome Room, and KBOO Radio’s Talking Earth poetry series, hosted by Dan Raphael. Red’s spoken word album is available at redohare.bandcamp.com.
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.
Join us for First Friday with The Lunas (Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, and Angelo Luna) featuring the Vancouver book launch for Christopher Luna’s Voracity (Lightship Press, 2022)
From Birdhouse Books: “It’s a family affair: Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, and Angelo Luna will be joining us for the return of our First Friday Poetry Series!
Christopher Luna, co-host of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic and co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver, has just released his new poetry collection, VORACITY, from Lightship Press, and will be joined by his wife Toni Lumbrazo Luna, co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver and local poetry powerhouse, and his son Angelo Luna, who co-authored the father-son poetry collection EXCHANGING WISDOM.”
7pm Friday, January 6 Birdhouse Books 1001 Main Street Basement Vancouver, WA 98660
Voracity, featuring poetry and collages by Christopher Luna, is now available from Lightship Press or the author.
“Brutally honest confessional poetry, Christopher Luna’s Voracity conjures a beatific earnestness which transcends pain and suffering through acts of lyrical, life-affirming grace and redemption.” David Madgalene, author of Call Down the Angel
In this revealing poetry collection, Luna invites readers on a candid and intimate journey behind the mask of a public figure as he grapples with identity, body image, and the enormity of his hungers.”
Driven By Hope by Toni Lumbrazo Luna Printed Matter Vancouver, 2019
Driven By Hope is Toni Lumbrazo Luna’s third book of poetry. It contains glimpses into the lives of people she has met throughout her career as a Social Worker and Life/Career Coach. These poems are based on real life and Toni takes them to new places inside her imagination. Perhaps you will see yourself through her eyes. Order Driven By Hope here:
Exchanging Wisdom features poems for and about Christopher’s son Angelo Luna, as well as a few pieces Angelo wrote for Christopher. The earliest poem was written when Angelo was three, and the most recent at age 21. Christopher endeavored to encourage his son to be an autonomous, freethinking individual. Angelo grew to become that and so much more. Taken as a whole, the poems in this collection track the development of Angelo’s personality and the strong bond between father and son.
Christopher Luna is a true heir to the Beat and New York School traditions of candor and grandeur. This collaboration and celebration of life runs on impeccable timing and deep love. As Luna and his son Angelo exchange wisdom they also re-invent the meaning of open verse: these poems crack open the heart and spill the joy of parenthood into the world.
—Lisa Jarnot, author Robert Duncan, the Ambassador from Venus
One day you’re gonna have to…remind me how to believe in the basic goodness of all beings, Christopher Luna tells his son, Angelo, in his latest book, Exchanging Wisdom. More than a collection of father-son poems, Exchanging Wisdom is a record of gratitude. Luna knows that to be a parent is to be both teacher and pupil, vulnerable and responsible. In every poem Luna’s love beams: Like Lone Wolf and Cub we traversed…and you reminded me that magic is real…. These poems contemplate our never-ending wars, sickness, apathy, and art-making through the lens of a deeply reverent father. For some, being a parent, being the adult, is synonymous with having the answers. Luna, a Buddhist poet, community-organizer, and activist, reminds us that questioning is the only way to truth. What are you afraid to find? he wonders. Are these the right questions to ask? In these mind- and heart-opening poems Luna invites us to experience pure joy and wonder again through memory and thankfulness. Once you’ve opened those doors/ you need never do so again, asserts Luna. Once father you cannot go back to your former life. Thankfully for us, Luna never did.
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. The suggested donation is five dollars.
Sam Preminger (they/them) is a trans-nonbinary, Jewish writer and publisher. They hold an MFA from Pacific University, serve as the Editor-in-Chief of NAILED Magazine, and are a co-founder of Lightship Press. They’re the author of Cosmological Horizons (Kelsay Books, 2022) and their poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, North Dakota Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Narrative Magazine, among other publications. They live in Portland, OR, where they’ve acquired too many house plants.
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.
PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER 