We are bringing three fine poets to the podium at the Museum of Northwest Art (MONA) on April 21, 2013 in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Paul Hansen, recently returned from China, is a painter, poet, and renowned translator of Chinese poetry. He is the author of Rimes of a Riverrat and has translated four collections of Chinese poetry: Before Ten Thousand Peaks, The Nine Monks, Lin Hejing: Recluse Poet of Orphan Mountain, Lin Hejing’s Art of Poetry and selections in The Clouds Should Know Me By Now. His translations have also appeared in A Drifting Boat; An Anthology of Chinese Zen Poetry and The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Literature.
Paul Hunter is a Seattle-based poet, musician, instrument-maker, teacher, and editor, and publisher. For more than a decade, he has produced beautiful letterpress books and broadsides under the imprint of Wood Works Press, located in Seattle. His poems have appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Bloomsbury Review, Iowa Review, North American Review, Poetry and Poetry Northwest.
Bellingham poet James Bertolino’s eleven volumes of poetry include Finding Water, Holding Stone and Every Wound Has A Rhythm. Two of his earlier collections, First Credo and Snail River, were winners in the Quarterly Review of Literature: Contemporary Poetry Series. He retired from university teaching in 2006, following an appointment as Writer-in-Residence at Oregon’s Willamette University
The reading begins at 3 p.m. at MONA, located at 121 First Avenue in La Conner, WA. A suggested $10 donation supports the work of the foundation in bringing hundreds of poets into classrooms every year to inspire students to discover the joys of language and self-expression. The foundation also sponsors the renowned Skagit River Poetry Festival, which brings poets from around the world to La Conner every other year for a literary feast of words. The next festival is May 15-18, 2014.
The Academy of American Poets first designated April National Poetry Month in 1996. The month-long national celebration increases the visibility, availability, and appreciation of poetry across the country.