by Ryukan | May 19, 2018 | Blog
The retreat we have been planning for a few months happens in two weeks. Becoming Cascadian was a response to the desire by the SPLAB Board to continue events that operate at the intersection of poetics and bioregionalism, but do not require the kind of budgets as the...
by Ryukan | May 10, 2018 | Blog
Republished from the South Seattle Emerald: In attempting to explain what bioregionalism is to one of the other parents at my daughter’s elementary school yesterday, he heard me say that a bioregion is what our nation would be if political boundaries were drawn by...
by Ryukan | May 8, 2018 | Poetry Postcard Fest
Thursday and Friday, (5.10 & 5.11.2018) I will be the Methow Valley for events that involve the August Poetry Postcard Fest. Fest registration starts in less than two months and this is the first fest we’ve facilitated since the release of 56 Days of...
by Ryukan | May 8, 2018 | Blog
The annual Give Big fundraiser for Seattle area non-profit organizations has developed into a significant source of funds for SPLAB, an organization that has created an incredible amount of work in the 24+ years it has been in existence: 450 hours of radio interview...
by Ryukan | Apr 25, 2018 | Blog
by Ryukan | Apr 16, 2018 | Blog
I sat down with Paul Nelson, SPLAB founding director, to find out about the upcoming retreat SPLAB is bringing to the Cascadia region. First, what is Cascadia? Cascadia is a bioregion that begins in the south at Cape Mendocino, at the beginning of the Cascadia...
by Ryukan | Mar 30, 2018 | Blog
It’s getting more difficult to find spaces that welcome poets. One that worked well for a couple of months is making other plans for the monthly night of poetry that we started in December 2017. We’re grateful to Jude’s for the run, even if it was...
by Ryukan | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog
The Cascadia Poetry Festival returns May 9-12, 2019, in Anacortes, Washington! All events except workshops will happen at the Croatian Cultural Center, 801 5th Street in Anacortes. In addition to a tribute to Sam Hamill, there will be the launch of two anthologies,...
by Ryukan | Mar 23, 2018 | Blog
The Cascadia Poetry Festival will not happen in 2018. While we work on a new home for the main festival after hosting it in Tacoma last year, Seattle in 2012, 2014, 2016, guiding the event in Nanaimo, BC, in 2015, and also helping to guide the 2017 version in...
by Ryukan | Mar 20, 2018 | Poetry Postcard Fest
The launch of 56 Days of August: Poetry Postcards, an anthology that was ten years in the making is finally happening in the Bay Area THIS WEEKEND! Ina Roy-Faderman has worked tirelessly to help create this book and set up these readings and I am looking forward to...
by Ryukan | Mar 15, 2018 | Blog
I consider him the dean of Washington poets. Sam Hamill’s poetry life has manifested in an oeuvre that is quintessentially Cascadian, influenced by Asian wisdom culture, deeply connected to place and will soon find its place in world literature. His work as...
by Ryukan | Mar 11, 2018 | Blog
From Sarah Zale: Call for Poems: Death Penalty The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill? ― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice...
by Ryukan | Feb 25, 2018 | Blog
Wendy Call 5 March 2018 Jude’s Old Town Rainier Beach, 9252 57th Ave S Seattle WA 98118 (206)420-4889 The open mike starts at 8:00 (with sign-up prior to that). Wendy will come on between 8:40 and 8:50 and give us 20 minutes or so of work. (photo by Kathy...
by Ryukan | Feb 22, 2018 | Poetry Postcard Fest
Upcoming gig alert! 11am, March 24, 2018: Book Passage, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA. Join us for a celebration of the publication of 56 Days of August (Five Oaks Press) – readers will include participants in the yearly August Poetry Postcard Festival, Tupelo...
by Ryukan | Feb 4, 2018 | Blog
5 February 2018 Jude’s Old Town Rainier Beach The open mike starts at 8:00 (with sign-up prior to that. Usually a 5 minute time limit w/ readers chosen at random from the list). Claudia will come on around 8:50 and give us 20 minutes or so of work. CLAUDIA CASTRO LUNA...
