Had a GREAT TIME at the Skagit River Poetry Fest. The weather was terrific: hot, sunny, blue. Thanks to Sam Green and Molly McNulty and all the volunteers and staff: you really put together a wonderful weekend.Some highlights (for me):
- Driving up with KF and having cocktails and calamari out on the deck overlooking the Swinomish Channel, right after check in.
-The lovely guesthouse off Snee-Oosh on Fidalgo Island (Thank you to L and M Pepper!).
-Jane Hirshfield's opening night reading.
-Dinner at Nell Thorn with Kathleen Flenniken and Elizabeth Austin and Robert Wrigley; RW is a hoot ("remember" the W is silent . . . hehehe).
-Doing the sensory-lyric exercise with 8th graders at the Middle School.
-Participating in the Poetry and Science panel with Pattiann Rogers.
-Moderating the Poetry as Healing & Poetry as Medicine panels with Bryan Patrick Miller, Gloria Burgess, and Tom Crawford. The audience seemed totally with us for each session, and asked great questions, and responded so deeply. Wow.
-Dinner at Kerstin's with a large group of poets and friends.
-Poetry and "Private Feelings" (whoa-whoa-whoa feeeelings . . . . hehehehe) with Michael Spence and Gloria B. (this panel stirred some controversy!)
-Reading with David Wagoner and David Mason for Narrative Poetry.
-Tony Curtis' hysterically funny Irish Em-Ceeing job for the featured readings: that guy is a leprecaun and totally off-the-hook!
-All the folks at Second Chapter Books: you rock! Thank you for having all our books available and displayed so nicely for the entire festival.
-Paul Horiuchi's art at MONA. It was an incredibly moving retrospective of his life's work, with this amazing final collage: a four panel folding screen, with his trademark blocks of colored paper and calligraphy arrayed, plus two small photographs (the first time he ever used phtos in his work): one of a open doorway, one of a coat and a hat left hanging on a coatrack. His good-bye.
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Good to be home. Dean and I went to the plant sale at Bradner and got a few heirloom tomatoes and some huchera for the garden. Dinner out with friends tonight. And then back to the working week.
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9 comments:
I've never heard of Paul Horiuchi, but that's gorgeous. I thought it was a book cover. I wished it were a book cover.
Sarahjane: I think the image is from the cover of the book that goes with the show.
I agree, if I am lucky enough to have another book, I would want some of his work for a cover image. It is gorgeous.
This sounds like so much fun.
Aw, I bet you were great with the high school kids!
Heard so many nice things about you at the festival (see, isn't it cool when people actually love you behind your back?) Wish I could have gotten to more of your presentations (especially the science and poetry/ healing and poetry ones!)
Wow. Do you feel (over)stimulated now that that's all over?
Just for kicks--what sort of heirloom 'maters? What sort of huchera? (I've gone mad for the stuff this season.)
Sam Green is such a cool guy! Lucky you!
J9: SO good to see you and Glen there!
rjg: the heirlooms were from our neighborhood pea-patch plant sale. A great little findraiser. We got brandywine, green zebra, and moonrise.
Dean picked out the huchera, they are redish orange leafed, but I don't know the name.
Justin: yes, SG is a good egg, isn't he?
O--brandywines. Those are loverly. Great eatin. They're hard to find around here and I've been too busy to start anything from seed this year.
The huchera--I know what you're talking about but don't know the cultivar either. I saw some at the nursery and really wanted them. They're lovely. But they just don't go with the new scheme.
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