The fourth Cascadia Poetry Festival begins Thursday and we invite you to be part of the conversation. This post serves as a primer for some of the key opportunities.

Gold Passes for entry into all events (except workshops and the Slam) are $35 and available at Brown Paper Tickets. Admission for single events is $10 and available at the door. Purchasing a Gold Pass allows us to bring poets from all over Cascadia to the festival, house them, feed them and pay them a modest stipend to help us celebrate this remarkable place.

The fest has four major components: Academic, Democratic, Performative and Late Night/Party.

The Academic portion features panels and workshops. Two workshops happen Friday morning: Poetic habitat now, featuring legendary Vancouver poet Daphne Marlatt and Handmade Artist Books (The Basics) featuring Portland poet Marilyn Stablein, who was active in the literary arts community in Seattle for many years. There are also two panels: Water and the Legacy of Denise Levertov. The Levertov panel features Sam Hamill, Daphne Marlatt, Brenda Hillman and Tim McNulty. The panels start at 9 and 10:30 Saturday respectively.

The Democratic portion of the fest is Living Room, a chance for poets of all ages and levels of accomplishment to read their own work in a circle format. It will happen from 3-5pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Performative aspects of the fest are represented by Main Stage readings Thursday through Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 4 at Open Books and via the Cascadia Regional Poetry Slam, happening Saturday the 5th at 7pm at Black & Tan, 5608 Rainier Av. S.

The Late Night event is the After Party, Friday and Saturday, from 10p to 12M at Common Area Maintenance, 2125 Second Avenue in Seattle. Poets from the Academic, Experimental, Lyric, Slam and other traditions/styles will read one poem each in a fast-paced and lively atmosphere. Beer is provided by Naked City.

A Small Press Fair happens Saturday, from 12N-5pm in the Reception Hall of the Spring Street Center. Among the confirmed participants are Talon Books (Vancouver), PageBoy Magazine, Entré Rios Press, Louis Collins Books, Cascadia College and others.

We’re grateful to 4Culture, Cascadia College, Poets and Writers, Cascadia Now, the Tacoma Poetry Festival and all the sponsors and supporters of the festival.