Vancouver (WA) – PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER

WRITING YOUR LIFE STORY: A new creative writing workshop with Christopher Luna begins May 2, 2019

April 26, 2019

christopher by alisha jucevic — Christopher Luna by Alisha Jucevic for the Columbian

Beginning in May 2019, Printed Matter Vancouver co-founder Christopher Luna will offer a new eight-week workshop called Writing Your Life Story at Angst Gallery on Thursdays from 10:30am – 1:00pm.

WRITING YOUR LIFE STORY

Who: Open to all skill levels. The class will be limited to ten (10) participants.

Where: Angst Gallery, 1015 Main St., Vancouver, WA 98660

When: 10:30a – 1p Thursday, May 2 – Thursday, June 27, 2019 (Note: no class June 20)

What: Document your memories for your family or for possible future publication. Complete short timed writings as well as weekly take-home assignments. Give and receive feedback in a safe, informal environment.

Cost: $225 (cash, check, card)

REGISTER AT ANGST: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 12 – 3:30pm, OR
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 12 – 3:30pm

2019 Dates

May 2 – June 27
July 11 – August 29
Oct 3 – Nov 21

Overview: Christopher Luna will introduce the participants to the techniques of creative nonfiction storytelling which uses the content of one’s life as the foundation for narrative. He will introduce current examples in popular nonfiction and memoir to assist the process. Participants will be encouraged to share their writing in a safe environment (no one will be required to share their stories) with the option of receiving feedback from the facilitator and other students. We will work to achieve the following goals:

1) learn the key elements of successful storytelling in written form,
2) create a living document for yourself, your family, or others,
3) delve into or build upon your written skills.

Bring your ideas, notes, paper, and pen/pencil (no books required).

Your Facilitator: Christopher Luna

With an MFA in Creative Writing and over 25 years of experience as a creative writing teacher, published author, workshop leader, editor, and writing coach, Christopher Luna will lead you through skill-building techniques, content reflection, supporting examples, and constructive feedback. Originally from Long Island, New York, Christopher has made Vancouver, Washington his home since 2003. Since then he has taught a variety of English classes at Clark College, led poetry and memoir writing workshops, and served as the first Clark County Poet Laureate (2013-2017).

For questions contact Christopher Luna at printedmattervancouver@gmail.com or 360-910-1066.

“The highest purpose of art is to inspire.” –Bob Dylan

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring John Burgess at Angst Gallery on May 9, 2019

April 14, 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Flyer May 9 2019 cropped

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna of Printed Matter Vancouver
Featuring John Burgess

7 pm
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
FREE

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar: http://briz.us/
LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

JB_60

John Burgess grew up in upstate New York, worked on a survey crew in Montana, taught English in Japan, and since 1985 has lived in Seattle, where he works for an insurance company. Past glories include: 2006 Jack Straw writer; co-founder of the original Burning Word Festival; 2008 Words’ Worth curator for the Seattle City Council; and past Board president at Hugo House, Seattle’s creative writing center. He’s a co-instigator with the Band of Poets. He has five books of poetry, some with maps and drawings, from Ravenna Press: Punk Poems (2005), A History of Guns in the Family (2008), Graffito (2011), “by Land…” (2015), and 1977 (2018).

1977 Cover

From 1977:

SPLEEN

I sing in praise of destitute dogs,
for days of melancholy rut
snouts bowed subservient
dissonance from the gut—

of strays, bile and vile
ion charged connected
for scent of beaten,
canine teeth retracted

a pack under attack—
ah, ill-humored howl

Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, & Claudia F. Savage read at Another Read Through April 25, 2019

March 30, 2019

Poetry Reading with
Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, & Claudia F. Savage

7-8 pm
Thursday, April 25, 2019

Another Read Through
3932 N Mississippi Ave
Portland, Oregon 97227

Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna (formerly Partington) co-host Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, the LGBTQ+ friendly, all ages and uncensored Vancouver, WA reading series Luna founded in 2004. Luna and Partington are also the co-founders of Printed Matter Vancouver, a small press and editing/coaching service serving Northwest writers. Printed Matter Vancouver has published two anthologies from the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic as well as debut books of poetry by Clark County, WA poets Tiffany Burba, Matthew Eiford-Schroeder, and Jenney Pauer.

Wind Wing Cover

Toni Lumbrazo Luna is the author of Wind Wing and the chapbook Jesus is a Gas.

Message_FrontCover_sm — Message from the Vessel in a Dream (Flowstone Press, 2018) featuring poetry and collage art by Christopher Luna

Christopher Luna is the author of Message from the Vessel in a Dream (Flowstone Press, 2018) and the chapbooks GHOST TOWN, USA and Brutal Glints of Moonlight.

Savage headshot August

Claudia F. Saleeby Savage is part of the performance duo Thick in the Throat, Honey and co-runs a parent-artist podcast of the same name. Her most recent book of poetry is Bruising Continents. Other recent work appears in BOMB, Denver Quarterly, Columbia, Nimrod, Water-Stone Review, and Anomaly (the interview series “Witness the Hour: Arab American Poets Across the Diaspora”). She is a 2018-2021 Black Earth Institute Fellow, a progressive think tank. Her collaboration, reductions, about motherhood and ephemerality with visual artist Jacklyn Brickman, is forthcoming in 2020. She teaches privately and as a Writer in the Schools and lives with her husband and daughter in Portland.

Where to Find Message from the Vessel in a Dream in Portland and Southwest Washington

March 3, 2019

I am very grateful to the following businesses for carrying Message from the Vessel in a Dream (Flowstone Press, 2018):

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Another Read Through
3932 N Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR 97227

Like Nobody's Business

Like Nobody’s Business
904 NW 23rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97210

IMG_20190114_101954781 (2) — Ghost Town Poetry Volumes One and Two, Edited by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna for Printed Matter Vancouver, and Christopher Luna’s Message from the Vessel in a Dream on display at Multnomah Arts Center

Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219

Christopher Luna reads from Message from the Vessel in a Dream at Vintage Books on February 2, 2019

Vintage Books
6613 E Mill Plain Blvd.
Vancouver, WA 98661

Flowstone Press announces the release of Message from the Vessel in a Dream, the first full-length volume of poetry by Christopher Luna, Clark County, WA’s first poet laureate (2013-2017) and the founder of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic. The book contains work spanning 20 years, and favors prose poetry and collage poems assembled and arranged using found material. The book is dedicated to Carlos Santana, the guitar virtuoso and eponymous “vessel” who gifted Luna with the only line of poetry he has ever received from a dream.

Order Message from the Vessel in a Dream.

How many Christopher Lunas are there? The bard, the community dynamo, the scholar, the compassionate one, the jazz quartet, the father & lover, the world of a man: all and more are speaking in this book. So many perspectives to experience here, so much to learn about literature, attitude, action and beauty. The maestro of Ghost Town has created a bustling, radiant and necessary environment. — Dan Raphael

Christopher Luna served as Clark County, WA’s first Poet Laureate from 2013-2017. He has an MFA from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, and is the co-founder, with Toni Lumbrazo Luna, of Printed Matter Vancouver, an editing service and small press for Northwest writers. He and Lumbrazo Luna co-host Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, the popular Vancouver, WA reading series he founded in 2004. Luna’s books include Brutal Glints of Moonlight, GHOST TOWN, USA and The Flame Is Ours: The Letters of Stan Brakhage and Michael McClure 1961-1978.

message from the vessel in a dream

completely still
seemingly emotion-
less yet blowing
notes to charm
succeeding ages
it matters little
whether one studies
flow or counterpoint
so long as eventually
the instrument is raised to the lips

you make your appearance
known through some creator
neither Duke nor Trane
ever revealed the source
a wisdom too precious
to put a name to
something not unlike the sound of the heart
beating in the chest of your firstborn

listen to the wind
as interpreted
remember how his hips’
involuntary Poughkeepsie shimmy
show’d you how it was done
never forget promises made
in the quiet of the early morning
priorities set straight
a brick wall stared down till dawn
experience cool breeze adrenaline release
and never forget you learned to listen
don’t forget to breathe

Christopher Luna Reading/Book Signing at Final Vancouver Independent Artists Group Show on March 1, 2019

February 21, 2019

VIA final show March 1 20919

Vancouver Independent Artists
March Group Show
Final Event

5-10pm
Friday, March 1
North Bank Artists Gallery
1005 Main Street
Vancouver, WA

From event organizer Chris Stevens (Pop Octopus): Please join us for this final event in the North Bank gallery space. We will be showcasing a variety of local artists and saying goodbye to a Vancouver landmark. We’re opening up the back studio and hallway for the first time and will have some wonderful spoken word poetry and book signing from Christopher Luna. Please join us in saying farewell to this landmark of the Vancouver art community.

Artist Lineup:

Lindsey Butler
Bill Ferguson
John Burkett
Mike Lindberg
Lee Sekaquaptewa
Nickolas Barnes
Melissa Koren
Renee Bryant
Drew Taylor
Jacob Herring
Cory Crouchley
Kerry Scribner
Kelly Schrock
Patrick Flynn
Chris Stevens

Spoken word and book signing by Christopher Luna

Christopher Luna will be reading from and signing his new book, Message from the Vessel in a Dream.

Flowstone Press announces the release of Message from the Vessel in a Dream by Christopher Luna, Clark County, WA’s first poet laureate and the founder of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic. Luna’s first full-length volume of poetry spans 20 years, and favors prose poetry and collage poems assembled and arranged using found materials. The book is dedicated to Carlos Santana, the guitar virtuoso and eponymous “vessel” who gifted Luna with the only line of poetry he has ever received from a dream.

Paperback: 140 pages
Publisher: Flowstone Press (November 13, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1945824220
ISBN-13: 978-1945824227

Order Message from the Vessel in a Dream

“Message from a teeming mind” by Scott Hewitt for the Columbian, December 8, 2018.

Photos from Matthew Eiford-Schroeder and Christopher Luna’s Reading at Vintage Books in Vancouver on February 2, 2019

February 14, 2019

Matthew Eiford-Schroeder and Christopher Luna would like to thank everyone who attended our reading on February 2. We are very grateful to Candace and the rest of the staff at Vintage Books for being so hospitable. Both Matthew and Christopher have additional readings lined up for this year. Please visit our Events page for more information.

Matthew Eiford-Schroeder reads from Consistently East

Christopher Luna reads from Message from the Vessel in a Dream

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Tim Whitsel at Angst Gallery February 14, 2019

January 13, 2019

ghost town poetry open mic flyer february 14 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna of Printed Matter Vancouver
Featuring Tim Whitsel

7 pm
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
FREE

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar: http://briz.us/
LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Tim Whitsel believes in the power of dogwood blossoms. He may have migrated west on a solitary bicycle at the age of nineteen. He remembers the cheekbones of the first girl he kissed. He studied with David Waggoner, James Welch and Stanley Plumly at the University of Washington. For six years he curated the Windfall Reading Series at the Eugene Public Library. His poem “Mudflat Allure” won first prize at the 2013 Northwest Poets’ Concord. We Say Ourselves appeared in 2012 from Traprock Books and Airlie Press published his full-length collection Wish Meal in 2016.

GRIMACE

A cabin on a snowy river made
lonelier by threadbare conifers.

French doors, three glass teeth
facing the direction of the storm.
Everyone is away for the day.

Cinching their ballcaps snug
for a comfort they don’t feel.

Blowing on their hands one at a
time so their placards don’t fall.
Follow the Money, Hear ME

unwilling to be fenced like cattle
or fly south like trumpeter swans.
Tim Whitsel
May 10, 2018

PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER

we write because we must

Tag: Vancouver (WA)