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.
Katherine Factor by Erin Monahan
Katherine Factor is an author, poet, and editor. She is the author of a book of poems, A Sybil Society, and four Choose Your Own Adventure interactive novels, including Spies: Mata Hari, Spies: Harry Houdini, and Spies: Spy for Cleopatra. Katherine earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa and has been a writer-in-residence at schools for the arts. Her music essays can be seen on PopMatters. Her children’s book about Bigfoot is forthcoming in March 2023 from ChooseCo.
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.
Robert Lashley was a 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and a nominee for a Stranger Genius Award. His books include Green River Valley (Blue Cactus Press, 2021), Up South (Small Doggies Press, 2017), and The Homeboy Songs (Small Doggies Press, 2014). His poetry has appeared in The Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Poetry Northwest, McSweeney’s, and The Cascadia Review, among others. In 2019, Entropy named The Homeboy Songs one of the 25 essential books to come out of Seattle.
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.
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.
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.
As poetry rarely pays well, David McIntire (he/him) has taken on numerous occupations over the years including printer, flooring installer, delivery boy, factotum, retail manager, warehouse worker, pharmacy technician, security guard, handyman, Uber driver and roadie. He lived for a time in a converted school bus (dubbed the Poetry Bus). He now lives in a large house with several people and three cats. His third, and most recent, collection, Everything I Write is a Love Song to the World was published by Moon Tide Press in 2019, while his first two books of poetry, Punk Rock Breakfast and No One Will Believe You, were published by International Word Bank Press. In 2016 he toured Sweden with other poets and delivered a live radio performance in Stockholm. His poetry has also been translated into Swedish for local publication. He has released two CDs, one a spoken word album with musical accompaniment and one with his band 2-bit Whore.
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.
Michael Schein wrote Liquid Perishable Hazardous (2019, poetry), John Surratt: The Lincoln Assassin Who Got Away (2015, historical), The Killer Poet’s Guide to Immortality by AB Bard(2012, hysterical), and historical novels Bones Beneath Our Feet (2011) and Just Deceits (2005). Schein edited Poets UNiTE! The LiTFUSE Anthology (2015). His poetry appears in many journals and has been nominated for a Pushcart three times. Schein is the founder of LiTFUSE Poets’ Workshop (litfuse.us), and has taught at Port Townsend Writers Conference, Write on the Sound, and elsewhere. Spirits inhabit earth and sky. Poetry is everywhere. michaelschein.com.
Michael Schein will also be reading at the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education
Art At The CAVE was established in 2017. Located at 108 E. Evergreen in downtown Vancouver, the CAVE is free and open to the public Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm, and on First Fridays when it remains open until 8:00pm. The gallery is also available to host events. Visit the website at artatthecave.com or contact gallery@artatthecave.com for more information.
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.
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. Art At The CAVE was established in 2017. Located at 108 E. Evergreen in downtown Vancouver, the CAVE is free and open to the public Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm, and on First Fridays when it remains open until 8:00pm. The gallery is also available to host events. Visit the website at artatthecave.com or contact gallery@artatthecave.com for more information
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.
Caroline Holm is an artist and writer whose first book of illustrated poetry and prose, Woodland, was released February of this year. Like much of her work, Woodland centers around awe for the natural world and what it has to teach us. Struggling from a young age with chronic illness, she found the earth to be a cornerstone for true healing of the heart and body. Much of her work is drawn from time spent in the deep woods, ancient wisdom literature and with the aid and insights gleamed from plant medicines.
She lives and works in Salem, Oregon with her husband, Joshua, and feral daughter, Jane. For more info about Caroline and to stay up to date with events and projects, visit carolineholmpoetry.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: 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.
Art At The CAVE was established in 2017. Located at 108 E. Evergreen in downtown Vancouver, the CAVE is free and open to the public Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm, and on First Fridays when it remains open until 8:00pm. The gallery is also available to host events. Visit the website at artatthecave.com or contact gallery@artatthecave.com for more information.
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.
Pattie Palmer-Baker lives in Portland, Oregon with her beloved husband and her quirky, elderly dachshund who writes odes to treats. Over the years of exhibiting her artwork – a combination of paste paper collages with her poetry in calligraphic form – she was surprised and delighted that people, despite what they may believe, do like poetry. In fact, many liked the poems better than the visual art. She now concentrates on writing.
Nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize, Palmer-Baker has been published in many journals including ThePoeming Pigeon, VoiceCatcher, The Best of VoiceCatcher, Ghazal Page, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, Calyx, and Phantom Drift. Her chapbook, The Color of Goodbye, was recently published by Kelsay Books: https://kelsaybooks.com/products/the-color-of-goodbye.
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: 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.
Art At The CAVE was established in 2017. Located at 108 E. Evergreen in downtown Vancouver, the CAVE is free and open to the public Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm, and on First Fridays when it remains open until 8:00pm. The gallery is also available to host events. Visit the website at artatthecave.com or contact gallery@artatthecave.com for more information
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.
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: 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.
Art At The CAVE was established in 2017. Located at 108 E. Evergreen in downtown Vancouver, the CAVE is free and open to the public Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm, and on First Fridays when it remains open until 8:00pm. The gallery is also available to host events. Visit the website at artatthecave.com or contact gallery@artatthecave.com for more information
Jennifer Dorner’s poetry has appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, Cirque, Cloudbank, San Pedro River Review, Sugar House Review, New Ohio Review, The Inflectionist Review, The Timberline Review, and other journals. In 2019, her poems placed first in Willamette Writers Kay Snow Award for Poetry as well as first in two of Oregon Poetry Association’s spring contests. She received her MFA from Pacific University in 2020.
Thank you to everyone who attended our National Poetry Month Celebration Featuring Clark County Poet Laureate Armin Tolentino at Art at the Cave on April 14, 2022. Here are some photos and videos from the evening.
Armin Tolentino performs Billy Joel’s “Vienna” by Joann Boswell
We were also blessed by this lovely tribute to the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic community from series regular Brittany Braswell:
To The Poets
You Poet,
You write of the sad things,
Death, Suicide and heartache,
You stand before us,
Words flowing out of your mouth like the tears that have flowed down your cheeks,
You sad poet,
I love you,
You Poet,
You write of poems that are driven by hope,
You stand before us,
With metaphors of love and light,
You fill the room with positive energy,
Remind us not to forget to feel and to hope,
You hopeful poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write to the stars and to the moon,
You stand before us,
The room turns to a galaxy,
I close my eyes and can see the milky way,
You interstellar cosmic poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write about the uncomfortable things,
You stand before us,
You make us feel not alone,
You speak of the things we don’t know normally talk about,
The things that keep us up at night,
The things we tuck deep down inside of us,
You uncomfortable poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write about science,
You stand before us,
Presenting to us a whole new way to look at a biosphere,
Showing us that poetry can be about whatever your heart feels,
You scientific poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write of that trip you had last summer,
And the summer before,
You strand before us,
With an aura shining of hot pinks and bright yellows,
You define chakras,
You make us feel what you felt,
It is almost an out of body experience as I hang on every word you say,
You psychedelic poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write of memories,
You stand before us,
Sharing the cabinets of your mind,
Creating an intimacy to the room as we all drop our walls and embrace each other,
Learning about where you come from,
You memorable poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write of funny,
You stand before us,
Bringing laughter and light- hearted moments to this space,
You bring us together as we share a giggle or two,
You comedic poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write in music,
You stand before us with poems that show up as lyrics,
You turn this gallery to a dance floor,
You musician poet,
I love you,
You poet,
You write about love,
You stand before us with a heart that is falling,
Or with a heart that is breaking,
Your tales of the heart make me want to love again,
In all the deep messiness of the word,
You love poet,
I love you,
You poets,
You bring so much to this space,
Your experiences, your light, your laughter, your love,
You write feelings into words,
You savor moments turning them into forevers,
I take your words, scribble phrases into my notebook,
Those are the things I want to remember you by,
You beautiful,
Room full of poets,
I love you.
Armin Tolentino reads to the crowd at Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Armin Tolentino
Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic co-host Morgan Paige watches Armin do his thing
Bruce Hall reads his work to the Ghost Town Poetry community
Bruce Hall
Fiona Murphy reads poetry in public for the very first time
Fiona Murphy
Jim Martin, a Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic regular since thr series was founded in 2004
Thanks to Art at the Cave for hosting us, for Terri Elioff for handling setup, breakdown, and book sales, and to everyone who read or listened. Here is the lineup of readers: