LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
Photo by Friderike Heuer
Judith Arcana writes poems, stories, essays and books, publishing online and on paper. Her work has, naturally, been influenced by the times and places of her life: A high school English teacher in the 1960’s, Judith was fired, as many were in those years, considered dangerously radical by the school board. She’s written poems and stories rooted in her commitment to reproductive justice, which began with her work in the pre-Roe abortion underground in Chicago.
Judith’s new poetry collection, Announcements from the Planetarium, was published by Flowstone Press in 2017; its poems examine memory, consider the nature of wisdom, and reflect on the experience of aging into new consciousness. Judith hosts a poetry show on KBOO community radio in Oregon and online.
The Woman Who Hands You A Gun
Don’t think because I’m old
I’m not learning anymore. No.
That’s not how it goes. Right
now I’m on my way, leaving
town to be a carny, a barker
at the tattooed lady’s tent flap
or the woman who hands you a gun
at the shooting gallery or hoops
to toss over baby dolls. It’s got
to be something I don’t have
to study or practice, something
I can slip right into, on-the-job
training. Because I don’t have
that kind of time anymore.
I’m saying I’ll be an intern
an apprentice – not a student.
I don’t have time for that.
…….. Judith Arcana (First published in CIRQUE – Winter Solstice issue, 2012)
Follow your bliss this Spring. Take a writing workshop with Christopher Luna. Christopher has an MFA in Writing and Poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, where he received training in literary community outreach from Jack Collom, and two decades of teaching experience. He served as the Poet Laureate of Clark County, WA from 2013-2017. In 2004 he founded the popular Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, which he co-hosts with his wife Toni Partington. Christopher and Toni co-founded Printed Matter Vancouver, which publishes local poetry and provides coaching and editing services to Northwest writers.
Below you will find several creative writing workshops throughout the region sponsored by Clark College, Multnomah Arts Center, Niche Wine Bar, Angst Gallery, and High End Market Place. Hope you can join us.
Contact printedmattervancouver@gmail.com or christopherjluna@gmail.com for more information.
Everyone has a story to tell. Each person’s life is filled with adventure, mystery, trouble, and triumph. Memoir is a powerful way to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all human beings. This course will empower you to begin to see yourself as a part of history, and to discover the value in documenting the story of your life.
Beginners and experienced writers alike will generate new works and discuss the poet’s role in the community. Read, listen to, and write poetry together in a supportive class focused on providing gentle, constructive feedback. Discuss how to construct a manuscript and ready it for publication. Writers of all experience levels are welcome. Bring paper and pen or laptop. Ages 16 and over. No class on 04/28.
Poetry as a means of expression, exploration, and experience is available to everyone. Write poetry in response to prompts and read a variety of published poems that you can use as inspiration. Read and respond to one another’s work in this supportive setting, paying close attention to revision. Ages 16 & Up.
Join us on Saturday, March 10 for The Work, a monthly poetry writing workshop at Niche Wine Bar led by former Clark County Poet Laureate (2013-2017) Christopher Luna.
Christopher is completely convinced of poetry’s ability to encourage empathy and compassion, and to spark the shifts in consciousness which can lead to healing, personal growth, and an interest in fighting for progressive social change. He would love to share his passion for poetry with you.
We will read and discuss poetry, and write several new poems together from 11:30 until 2:30.
$20 suggested donation; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Bring a poem to share as a way of saying hello.
Shareable snacks are also welcome and very much appreciated.
Niche is located at 1013 Main Street, right next door to The Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver’s landmark movie house in the Vancouver Arts District.
Note: The Work Saturday Edition will take place on the second Saturday of each month, unless otherwise noted. Upcoming workshops will take place on the following dates: April 14, May 12, and June 9.
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
The Work: Monday Evening Edition
Join us on Monday, March 26 for The Work, a monthly poetry writing workshop at Angst Gallery led by former Clark County Poet Laureate (2013-2017) Christopher Luna.
We will read and discuss poetry, and write several new poems together from 6:00 until 8:30.
$20 suggested donation; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Bring a poem to share as a way of saying hello.
Shareable snacks are also welcome and very much appreciated. (Niche Wine Bar is currently closed on Mondays.)
Angst Gallery is located at 1015 Main Street, two doors to the North of The Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver’s landmark movie house in the Vancouver Arts District.
Note: The Work will take place at Angst Gallery on the last Monday evening of each month, unless otherwise noted. Upcoming Monday workshops will take place on April 30, May 28, and June 25.
Join us for a cannabis friendly and cannabis inspired poetry workshop with former Clark County Poet Laureate (2013-2017) Christopher Luna! Light snacks and coffee will be provided, but please BYOC. Must be 21+ to attend.
A bit about Christopher Luna: Christopher spent his late teens and early twenties working in a head shop on Long Island. He believes that mindful use of marijuana can be a powerful tool for consciousness expansion. Christopher is completely turned on by poetry’s ability to encourage empathy and compassion, and to spark the shifts in consciousness which can lead a person to fight for progressive social change. He would love to share his passion for poetry with you.
Space is limited, so be sure to sign up today to #getLIFTED! Tickets are a $20 suggested donation. Online reservation is required to attend the class. No one will be turned away for lack of funds, but please pre-register as this is a private event.
21+, non-refundable/non-transferable. If attendance requirements are not met the class will be canceled 24 hours before the class begins. Tickets will be refunded at that time.
BYOC
Valid Photo ID is required for entrance to the event.
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington of Printed Matter Vancouver
Dane DeLloyd by Tiffany Burba
7 pm
Thursday, February 8
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com
Dane DeLloyd is an actor/poet/pianist/artist extraordinaire who has performed coast to coast in many different venue’s and formats. On the East Coast he has opened up for acts such as The Roots, The Pharcyde, Faith Evans, and the Last Poets. On the West Coast he has played every tall monster (i.e. Frankenstein, Shrek, Zombie, Ghostface Killer and others) at Universal Studios Hollywood four out of the last five years. He also custom designed T-shirts for several mazes at Hollywood Horror Nights in Los Angeles. Dane has self-published multiple chap books as well as two musical CD’s: 100% Organic Music and Serumade Adabeigio. 100% Organic Music includes over twenty years of original material. Serumade Adabeigio (literally translated as “the healing kiss”) is his debut classical/jazz solo piano recording. He has also promoted diversity in the community working with organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh and the Heinz Foundation. His works have been performed in the Andy Warhol Museum as well as the National Poetry Slam competition. His photography is currently on display at the Waddell & Reed building in downtown Vancouver, and in limited edition photography books such as N.Y.C. (2010).
Serumade
by Dane DeLloyd
Number one. water tension: the last drop to dissipate and splash
or encircle meniscus or slide down the side of a glass
aside doing dishes after grits and bacon
lovemaking that we choose not to mention.
Number two. Total stranger love: it was totally strange love,
only strangers could share the unfamiliarity of compartmentalized air
as out of the corner of side ways you stare
Not accidentally that you were looking at their love.
Looking at their love there. It’s like
Number three. Grits and bacon.
Number four. Habitdashedbaby: she drew in close to cuddle
through inspiration she never knew
about the places she will grow
or how much she grew… has grown… is growing…
Number five: gelatinous (dispeller)
she didn’t understand daddy’s self-doubt that he had
left her the genes to stand out
and now we only cradle her until she goes forward
to educate the labelers
she’s not of mixed blood
only mixed love… loving her always… loving them always… just because.
Number six: tomato blossoms: who transplanted buds immune
to the gloom. They love the rain and gave yellow blossoms in turn that smelled fertility fuzzy fragrant and sweet fruit to turn into sauces.
Number seven: Burning bush: it started between the behemoth desert sanders and the sawdust encircling the wind to show gust and test your faith sho-nuff’ it’s the wilderness against your nature… you pushed until the words were given back the water tension from the burning bush
Number eight: already here: The road was winding up to the mountain tops,
the van was packed out so there was no time to stop and see where the sludge stopped, and the clouds met the steep. I had love for the dregs where the industry seeps but now I live here with the rivers run deep.
Number nine: invisible tank : Two waterfalls folded in the pond the landscape the culture the knowledge the genre’ routed genes rooted in between the know-how of how unknown we are.
Items numbered of human SKU. Skewn into too soon
being again residue
pledging on cue. All that you have left… patience.
Number 10: patience for Dane: I felt the loss of innocence, a child punished for being beautiful and talented. Could I take those scars away for you
…only if I could… now we both heal together and apart
we always took beach strolls when you couldn’t walk
and now we pick up phones and don’t have time to talk about Love.
And the way in the life we may have just missed.
Life could be gone quick in a wind gust, a heart lust or a trip.
Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Neil Aitken Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington of Printed Matter Vancouver 7 pm Thursday, January 11 Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7 Angst Gallery 1015 Main Street Vancouver, WA 98660
Neil Aitken, author of Babbage’s Dream
Neil Aitken is the author of Babbage’s Dream (Sundress 2017) and The Lost Country of Sight (Anhinga 2008), which received the Philip Levine Prize, as well as the poetry chapbook, Leviathan. His work has been published in American Literary Review, Crab Orchard Review, The Dialogist, Ninth Letter, The Normal School, The Southern Poetry Review, and many other journals. A former computer programmer and a past Kundiman Poetry Fellow, he is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, curator of Have Book Will Travel, and co-director of De-Canon: A Visibility Project. He also hosts The Lit Fantastic, a podcast about writers and their obsessions, and works as a creative writing coach and mentor. Visit him online at www.neil-aitken.com
Float
—a fundamental type used to define numbers with fractional parts
Like a bell, or rather the sound of it opening,
a silence that having tolled speaks again
suspended between states of incompleteness—
a point traversing a numbered landscape.
This country of small infinities is what we do
with what remains: bits of window panes,
refracted light, what gathers in the torn leaves
from the dimming edge of the red fields
grown dark. Say what you will, the body is no more
than the moon, a white trouser button in a pool
of gasoline, a halo of ash and flame
ascending the ladder of night.
Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar
LGBTQIA+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
Listen to a feature on Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on OPB Radio’s State of Wonder
Christopher Luna’s Winter 2018 Creative Writing Classes
Christopher Luna by Julian Nelson
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for one of my classes. As of this writing, my Thursday memoir writing class is full, but there are still spots available in the Wednesday memoir writing class, and my MAC classes on poetry writing and collage. I have also updated the link to the Wednesday memoir writing class so that it will take you directly to the class description. Please feel free to contact me with any questions: printedmattervancouver@gmail.com.
Poets and artists have always used allusion and reference to create something new. Explore strategies for assembling borrowed words and images into art and poetry. Create visual collages that incorporate text or poems that include visual aids. Bring newspapers, magazines, photos, found text, and natural items to class. These items will be shared or swapped during class. Scissors, glue, and paper to collage on will be provided. All levels.
1082751 Sat. 10 am – 2 pm Feb. 24 $40 [1 class] Christopher Luna
Poetry Writing Ages 16 & Up
Poetry as a means of expression, exploration, and experience is available to everyone. Write poetry in response to prompts and read a variety of published poems that you can use as inspiration. Read and respond to one another’s work in this supportive setting, paying close attention to revision.
1082102 Mon. 10 am – 12:30 pm Jan. 8 – Mar. 19 $249 [9 classes] Christopher Luna
Everyone has a story to tell. Each person’s life is filled with adventure, mystery, trouble, and triumph. Memoir is a powerful way to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all human beings. With the help of former Clark County Poet Laureate (2013-2017) Christopher Luna, you will begin to see yourself as a part of history, and appreciate the value of documenting the story of your life.
This class is full and cannot accept additional students. Please consider taking the Wednesday class described above.
Item #: 9028
Dates: Thursdays 1/11/2018- 3/15/2018
1:00PM – 3:20PM
$215
Room: CCE 208
THE WORK
Niche Wine Bar/ Angst Gallery
The Work Saturday Afternoon Edition
Join us on Saturday, December 2 for The Work, a monthly poetry writing workshop at Niche Wine Bar led by Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna.
Christopher is completely convinced of poetry’s ability to encourage empathy and compassion, and to spark the shifts in consciousness which can lead to healing, personal growth, and an interest in fighting for progressive social change. He would love to share his passion for poetry with you.
We will read and discuss poetry, and write several new poems together from 11:30 until 2:30.
Niche is located at 1013 Main Street, right next door to The Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver’s landmark movie house in the Vancouver Arts District.
$20 suggested donation; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Bring a poem to share as a way of saying hello.
Shareable snacks are also welcome and very much appreciated.
Note: The Saturday Afternoon Edition of The Work will take place on the second Saturday of each month, unless otherwise noted. Upcoming readings will take place on the following dates: January 13, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, and June 9.
The Work Monday Evening Edition
Christopher Luna and Leah Jackson are excited to announce a new Monday evening edition of The Work, to take place on the last Monday of every month.
Join us on Monday, January 29 for The Work, a monthly poetry writing workshop at Angst Gallery led by Clark County’s first Poet Laureate (2013-2017) Christopher Luna.
We will read and discuss poetry, and write several new poems together from 6:00 until 8:30. Angst Gallery is located at 1015 Main Street, two doors north of The Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver’s landmark movie house in the Vancouver Arts District. Food and libation available for purchase at Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street (accessible through a doorway at the rear of the gallery).
$20 suggested donation; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Bring a poem to share as a way of saying hello.
Note: The Work will take place on the last Monday of each month, unless otherwise noted. Upcoming workshops will take place on the following dates: February 26, March 26, April 30, May 28, and June 25.
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington of Printed Matter Vancouver
7 pm
Thursday, December 14
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com
Jamie Houghton is a poet, musician and teaching artist. Her poetry chapbook, Burn Site in Bloom, was released by Musehick Publications in 2017. Her secret talents include making the best Key Lime Pie in town and looking weirdly good in fur hats. You can read her personal essays on her blog.
THE MOWER TO THE GLOWWORMS
(After Andrew Marvell)
by Jamie Houghton
Think of it as just a haircut through your heart which is your whole
body glowing because that’s what a pulse does and your heart is electric
Think of your heart as mud struck by lightning in the womb some where
you cannot dive for or become small enough to see
Think of it as a slight shock combing up your spine or your skin
changing like the surface of water
Think of it as division think
of me as a witness think
of clinging to the rain or pouring
down the grate think
of it as the last
whisper before being extinguished
Think of it as sinking just
to rest in the dark wet think
of it as a buffet and you
are sunlight’s last snack think
of the shining blades as music think
of your tailbone as a mouse
and you will be fed to the peonies
and the dogs and the dawn think
of me as next
Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street, Vancouver.
Tiffany Burba reads from Meet Me Where I Left You at Another Read Through Books in Portland, OR on February 23, 2017
It is more important than ever to support local, independently-owned bookstores. One of our personal favorites is Another Read Through at 3932 N. Mississippi Ave. in Portland. Owner Elisa Saphier is delightful, personable, and knowledgeable. She allows authors and publishers to hold readings and book launch events in her beautiful second-floor loft, and hosts regular events such as Lesbian Lit Book Group. A generous amount of shelf space is devoted to Northwest authors in all genres.
You can find Ghost Town Poetry volumes one and two, Tiffany Burba’s Meet Me Where I Left You, and Christopher Luna’s Pulitzer Remix chapbook Brutal Glints of Moonlight at Another Read Through.
Printed Matter Vancouver is grateful to Elisa for her service to the literary community, and for carrying our books at her bookstore. We are very proud to be associated with Another Read Through. Show your support by dropping by the store today!
The latest publication from Printed Matter Vancouver.
LGBTQIA+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004
printedmattervancouver.com
Tongo Eisen-Martin
Tongo Eisen-Martin is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry book, someone’s dead already (Bootstrap Press, 2015), and his poetry has been featured in Harper’s Magazine. He is also a movement worker and educator whose work in Rikers Island was featured in the New York Times. He has been a faculty member at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and his curriculum on the extrajudicial killing of Black people, “We Charge Genocide Again!” has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. His next book, Heaven is All Goodbyes, will be the 61st Pocket Poets book published by City Lights.
Derek Fenner is an artist, educator, and researcher living in Oakland, California. He completed a BFA in painting and photography from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA in writing and poetics from Naropa University. After a decade of experience as an art educator in the juvenile justice system, he is completing a Doctorate in education at Mills College. His research interests include youth justice, youth participatory action research, decolonizing methodologies, and art-centered learning. He co-founded Bootstrap Press in 2000, which has published over 40 books. His latest book of poems is Hermeticities & Others, published in 2016.
Our thanks to Multnomah Arts Center writer Jan Stewart, who shared her impressions of her first time at Ghost Town and her time in Christopher Luna’s Multnomah Arts Center poetry writing class:
“My hat is off to you. A bright and multicolored hat of deep significance is lifted to you for your work in building a vibrant, inspiring, and supportive community of poets. At one point last night you said something like, ‘you guys are cracking my head wide open.’ Mine too. Along with the assembly of poets, a group diverse in race, experience, sexual orientation, gender, and perspective, I was impressed by the core values palpably present. Everyone felt safe to let their voice be heard. The power of that mix cracked my head wide open and knocked my socks off. I have been impressed by what you do for us at MAC and last night saw it is a drop in the bucket in what you do for poets, and even more importantly for the community, for the world, for life on this plane. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Featured Reader Dan Raphael performs at Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on June 8, 2017
Recently, Portland poet Micah David-Cole Fletcher was the only survivor among three heroes who were stabbed while defending a Muslim woman and her friend from a racist terrorist on the MAX in Portland. In gratitude for their bravery and their willingness to stand up to hate, we dedicated this month’s Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic to Micah, Ricky Best, and Taliesin Namkai-Meche.
I was moved to tears by Ghost Town regular Lori Loranger, who has been attending the series since it was founded in November 2004, when she shared the following poem:
“Tell everyone on this train that I love them”
remembering Rick Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche
So many ways to propagate hate
speak it and spout it and live it
until you believe it’s true
you can teach it to your children,
feed it with your angry thoughts
and stories
keep it on the fire
where it simmers and steams
until it explodes in violence.
So many ways to propagate hate,
while those of us who don’t believe,
who won’t give energy to hating,
pour reason and truth and love on the heat of it
with just the one way to not hate:
to NOT HATE
To not hate people who aren’t like us
or don’t think the same
To not hate even the haters
to just not hate.
It’s the duty of those of us who can
to speak up, when hate is spoken
taught, displayed
acted on
It’s our privilege to do the right thing,
a privilege not everyone can afford.
We’re all on this train
traveling together, to wherever we’re going,
going our own ways, we’re on this train together
packed in tight
with no room for hate
Tell everyone on this train that I love them.
-Lori Loranger
Micah Fletcher: “It’s the duty of those who can – Being able to do the right thing is a privilege some people can’t afford”
This event is a public reading of student poems selected for the fourth season of Poetry Moves, featuring poems written by students in Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna’s Poets in the Schools program whose work has been selected to appear on C-Tran buses from July–December 2017
Congratulations to all of our student poets:
James B., 4th grade, Hearthwood Elementary
Gavin B., 4th grade, Hearthwood Elementary
Brooklyn C., 2nd grade, Hough Elementary
Ellie G., 8th grade, Amboy Middle School
Allison K., 5th Grade, Union Ridge Elementary School
Kaylee K., 5th grade, Union Ridge Elementary School
Berenice L-P., 6th grade, Discovery Middle School
Jacob R., 8th grade, Amboy Middle School
Johanny S., 6th grade, Discovery Middle School
Christina S., 11th grade, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
JOIN US FOR THIS WONDERFUL CELEBRATION OF LOCAL STUDENT POETS
Season Four of Poetry Moves will once again feature ten young poets from the schools visited by the poets in Clark County Poet Laureate Christopher Luna’s Poets in the Schools Program. The workshops were led by April Bullard, Christopher Luna, Jim Martin, and Morgan Hutchinson. Christopher Luna supervised the instructors, and Printed Matter Vancouver co-founder Toni Partington managed and supported the team.
On July 15, we will celebrate the students whose poems were chosen with a special reading at the Vancouver Farmers Market Music Stage in Esther Short Park. Each student’s poem will be read aloud. Those students who cannot be present will be acknowledged by one of the instructors from the Poets in Schools Program. Arts of Clark County will have channel cards from previous seasons of Poetry Moves for sale to benefit the program.
The student poems will appear on C-Tran buses through December 2017.
When Christopher Luna was named Poet Laureate for Clark County in 2013, he launched a poets in the schools program that sends local writers into Clark County schools to lead poetry workshops aimed at showing children that poetry can be meaningful, magical, and fun. The program has received grant support from Humanities Washington and the Arts of Clark County.
Arts of Clark County Chair Karen Madsen made contact with C-Tran and laid the groundwork for the Poetry Moves program. Her husband Cameron Suttles designed the channel cards for the buses. The first and third season of the program featured poems from ten Clark County poets, eight of whom were selected by Luna and his wife and Printed Matter Vancouver co-founder Toni Partington as judges of a countywide contest. Season Two featured students from the Poets in the Schools Program.
PRINTED MATTER VANCOUVER 