Tag: Vancouver (WA)

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Katherine Factor at Art At The Cave on February 9, 2023

January 15, 2023

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Featuring Katherine Factor
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST, PRO-CHOICE,
ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm
Thursday, February 9

Art at the Cave
108 E Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98660
https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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.

Book Launch for Christopher Luna’s Voracity with special guests Angelo Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna at Birdhouse Books January 6, 2023

December 18, 2022

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.

Voracity by Christopher Luna
$18.00

“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: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous
The Poetry Box, 2021

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.

—Claudia F. Savage, author of Bruising Continents

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Sam Preminger at Art At The Cave on Thursday, December 8, 2022

November 16, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Sam Preminger

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

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

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm

Thursday, December 8

Art At The Cave

108 E Evergreen Blvd

Vancouver, WA 98660

https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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.

Photos from Ghost Town Poets reading in Milwaukie, OR on October 7, 2022

November 11, 2022

Our thanks to Tom Hogan for inviting us to bring some of the poets from the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic community to Oregon for the Milwaukie Poetry Series at Milwaukie Floral & Garden on October 7. Angelo and Christopher Luna read from their first co-authored book, Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autnomous, published in 2021 by The Poetry Box. They were joined by Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic regular Erin Iwata and Toni Lumbrazo Luna, co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver and former co-host of Ghost Town Poetry.

We are also grateful to the Clackamas Review for running a story about the event which included Maria Vara’s wonderful portrait of Angelo and Christopher. Visit Maria Vara Photography to see more of her work.

Angelo Luna and Christopher Luna by Maria Vara
Angelo and Christopher Luna by Tom Hogan

Angelo Luna reads from Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous
Angelo Luna reads from Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous
Erika Moorman reads in the open mic
Ghost Town Poet Erin Iwata reads to the crowd at the Milwukie Poetry Series
Erin Iwata reads her poetry
Milwaukie Poetry Series host Tom Hogan with featured readers Erin Iwata, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, Angelo Luna, and Christopher Luna
Nat Iwata reads his poetry in public for the first time
Tiel Ansari reads in the open mic
Milwaukie Poetry Series founder Tom Hogan with featured Ghost Town Poets Erin Iwata, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, Angelo Luna, and Christopher Luna
Milwaukie Poetry Series founder Tom Hogan with featured Ghost Town Poets Erin Iwata, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, Angelo Luna, and Christopher Luna

Here is tom Hogan’s announcment for the reading:

Milwaukie Poetry Series First Friday

Featuring Ghost Town Poets
and Open Mic

October 7, 2022 at 6:30 PM.

In-person at Milwaukie Floral & Garden or watch on Zoom.

Share poetry! It’s that time of year for First Fridays!

We’re having in-person poetry readings again! Our Friday, October 7 event will conclude the 2022 season First Fridays events. Our First Friday events are co-sponsored by the Milwaukie Poetry Series and St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church.

This event is in person at Milwaukie Floral & Garden, 3306 SE Lake Rd. This is a new location and is approximately a half mile east of downtown Milwaukie on Lake Rd. It will also be a virtual event on Zoom.

Our Featured Readers are members of the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic community. Christopher and Angelo Luna will read from their new book Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous and from other work. Christopher served as the first Poet Laureate of Clark County, Washington. The other two featured readers are Toni Lumbrazo Luna and Erin Iwata. The featured readers will read for about 40 minutes, followed by an Open Mic.

Readers for the Open Mic must be in-person and anyone who would like to participate is welcome. If you want to read in the Open Mic, email Tom Hogan at tomhogan2@comcast.net to register. Plan to read 1 or 2 poems. We will have another round of poems if time permits, depending on the number of participants and length of the poems.

Register to watch the event on Zoom at the Milwaukie Poetry Series website, www.milwaukiepoetryseries.com. You will receive a Zoom link prior to the event. The event will be recorded and available for viewing on demand on the Ledding Library YouTube Channel after the event.

Please call Tom Hogan at 503.819.8367 or e-mail him at tomhogan2@comcast.net with any questions about this event or the Series. We hope you can join us. Thank you for participating, please be safe and well.

Sixteen Years: Enriching Milwaukie one poem at a time.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring David McIntire at Art At The Cave on November 10, 2022

October 26, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Featuring David McIntire
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST, PRO-CHOICE,
ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm
Thursday, November 10

Art at the Cave
108 E Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98660
https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Michael Schein at Art At The Cave on October 13, 2022

September 19, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Michael Schein

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

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

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm

Thursday, October 13

Art at the Cave

108 E Evergreen Blvd

Vancouver, WA 98660

https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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

Tuesday, Oct. 18. Visit https://www.ojmche.org/events/oregon-jewish-voices-2022/ for more information

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.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring John Miller at Art At The Cave September 8, 2022

August 18, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring John Miller

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

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

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm

Thursday, September 8

Art at the Cave

108 E Evergreen Blvd

Vancouver, WA 98660

https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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.

John Miller is the author of Olympic, published in 2022 by The Poetry Box. His poetry has featured at the 2021 Connecticut Shakespeare Festival and the Elisabeth Jones Art Center’s 2021 Festival of Feelings. John is founder of Portland Ars Poetica (https://www.meetup.com/Portland-Ars-Poetica/).  He has lived in Portland, OR since 2012. 

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

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Caroline Holm at Art At The Cave on August 11, 2022

July 19, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Caroline Holm

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

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

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm

Thursday, August 11

Art at the Cave

108 E Evergreen Blvd

Vancouver, WA 98660

https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Pattie Palmer-Baker at Art at the Cave July 14, 2022

June 19, 2022

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Pattie Palmer-Baker

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

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

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

7 pm

Thursday, July 14

Art at the Cave

108 E Evergreen Blvd

Vancouver, WA 98660

https://artatthecave.com

$5 Suggested donation

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 The Poeming 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.

Learn more at https://www.pattiepalmerbaker.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