FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CASCADIA POETRY FESTIVAL REGISTRATION OPEN
May 9-12, 2019, Anacortes, A Tribute to Sam Hamill

Seattle, WA, March 13, 2019—The Seattle Poetics LAB (SPLAB), a literary arts-oriented non-profit organization, has opened registration for the Cascadia Poetry Festival-Anacortes, 2019. The event celebrates poet/editor/translator and founder of Copper Canyon Press, Sam Hamill, who lived in Anacortes the last eight years of his life.

All events, except for Sunday morning workshops, will happen at the Croatian Cultural Center, 801 5th Street in Anacortes. Gold Passes are $25, are on sale now at Brown Paper Tickets and admit the holder to all events except Steve Kuusisto’s master workshop. The first 45 Gold Pass holders can also register for one of two free workshops.

The fest will see the launch of two anthologies. One is a tribute to Sam Hamill (Samthology) featuring poetry by friends of the late poet, an interview and essays about his work and legacy. A bilingual anthology (Spanish and English) Make It True meets Medusario, will also be launched. This book, to be published by Pleasure Boat Studios, comes out of two previous anthologies and features poets from the Cascadia bioregion mingling with Spanish language poets of the neobarroco tradition, including Raúl Zúrita. Co-Editor José Kozer will be among the presenting poets, along with Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, Copper Canyon Press co-founder William O’Daly, Shin Yu Pai, Stephen Collis, Susan Griffin, Tim McNulty, Stephen Kuusisto, Rebecca Seiferle, Thomas Walton, Nadine Maestas, Elizabeth Cooperman, Jared Leising, EJ Koh, Ian Boyden, Lyn Coffin, Kent Johnson and others to be announced. There will be a shakuhachi flute performance by longtime Hamill collaborator Christopher Yohmei Blasdel.

Main stage and late night readings, an open reading called Living Room, workshops and panels on Translation as a Political Act and Cascadian Zen, will be part of the programming. Details at www.CascadiaPoetryFestival.org. Sponsors include ArtsWA, Humanities Washington, The Anacortes Lodging Tax Fund, Copper Canyon Press, Middlepoint Press, Poets & Writers, The Fidalgo Culture Foundation, Kim Miller, Marius Hibbard and How It Works.

The festival schedule is at: http://cascadiapoetryfestival.org/cpf-anacortes-2019/

SPLAB, a Seattle-based non-profit organization, was founded in Auburn, Washington on December 14, 1993. www.splab.org

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For more information, contact Paul Nelson at 206-422-5002 or splabman (at) gmail (dot) com.