Cascadia Poetics LAB
Poetry Postcard Fest
Watershed Press
Cascadian Prophets Podcast
Cascadia Poetry Festival 8

Open Books Open House

August 18, 2016
Ryukan

Open Books LogoIt is a rather remarkable thing to have in a city: an all-poetry bookstore. Cambridge, MA and Boulder, CO, are the only two USAmerican cities (besides Seattle) I believe with such a cultural nexus. And for many years the people who made Seattle’s all poetry bookstore possible, John Marshall and Christine Deavel, have run Open Books with grace, vast poetry knowledge and a sense of community. Both fine poets (published in Make It True: Poetry From Cascadia) they are displaying their commitment to Seattle’s poetry community by ensuring a good transition as they sell the store to Billie Swift. (No, not the former Mariner reliever, the brand-new PLU MFA. WooHoo!) Go to the open house and buy a book for God’s sake.

Open Books Hours

Here is the party info:

Dear Friends of the Store,
The transition of ownership of Open Books from Christine Deavel and John W. Marshall to Billie Swift is right around the corner! The public commemoration/celebration will happen as a series of Open Houses over three consecutive nights, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 26, 27, and 28. Here’s a link to more information posted on our website. (6-8pm)
 
And books! They continue to be published, shipped, purchased, and read, even though we have been so engaged in the business of transition that we haven’t been letting you know about the wonders that have been arriving by the cartonful. Since last we wrote, the store’s received new books by some well-known poets — Alice Oswald, Falling Awake ($25.95 Norton), Alice Notley, Certain Magical Acts ($20 Penguin), Ben Lerner, The Hatred of Poetry ($12 FSG), Rita Dove, Collected Poems: 1974-2004 ($39.95 Norton), and Marie Ponsot’s Collected Poems ($35 Knopf). A large number of fine books by younger poets has arrived, too. Alexander has written up and posted two from that number, those being The Hermit by Lucy Ives ($17.95 Song Cave) and The Orchard Green and Every Color by Zach Savich ($17.95 Omnidawn). Please give those write-ups a look.
And, finally, we have added a listing of more than one hundred used books in all price ranges to our website. Linger a while there and see if something calls to you. And of course feel free to contact us for more information about any of those books.
Thank you for your support of Open Books for all these years, and for your support of the store for years and years to come!
Now, let’s close this newsletter with a sweet poem of awareness and beginnings from W.S. Merwin’s new collection, Garden Time ($24 Copper Canyon).
— John, Alexander, Billie, and Christine (bookkeeper+)
Rain at Daybreak
One at a time the drops find their own leaves
then others follow as the story spreads
they arrive unseen among the waking doves
who answer from the sleep of the valley
there is no other voice or other time
— W.S. Merwin

 

Open Books: A Poem Emporium
2414 North 45th Street
Seattle, Washington 98103
Bill Swift

Not THAT Billie Swift

Open Books 2

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

dashed cool colors line

You May Also Like

Support Cascadia Poetics Lab on Giving Tuesday!

Support Cascadia Poetics Lab on Giving Tuesday!

Support Cascadia Poetics Lab! November 1-3, 2024, we hosted a beautiful 8th Cascadia Poetry Festival at the Hugo House, Neukom Vivarium and Spring Street Center in Seattle. Cascadia Poetry Festival 8 featured multiple prominent poets and academics from throughout the...

Celebrate Cascadia Poetics Lab on Giving Tuesday!

Celebrate Cascadia Poetics Lab on Giving Tuesday!

Celebrate CPL on Giving Tuesday Dec. 3! We thank all participants and attendees at the recent 8th Cascadia Poetry Festival. We hope to stage this at the Hugo House annually for years to come. Videos and photos from the festival will be shared on the Cascadia Poetics...

CPF8 Thanks

CPF8 Thanks

We will begin the process of documenting and reporting on all of the developments from the 8th Cascadia Poetry Festival on this blog in the next few weeks and months, including video of as much of the program as possible. In the meantime, huge thanks to all the...