The Olympia Poetry Network is doing great things in the South Sound and this event is evidence of the passion and value they place on the poets who inhabit Washington State. I highly recommend attending this event if you have the opportunity.

The Olympia Poetry Network is proud to host “LaureateFest 2019” on Sept. 21st at Saint Martin’s University’s Norman Worthington Conference Center in Lacey Washington.

A celebration of all things poetic, the panel discussion with the Poets Laureate will explore what poetry is, what it has been, and where it might be headed; what it means to be a Poet Laureate and a poet in today’s world; and will include comparisons and contrasts of individual poets’ processes of creation. In the evening, the poets will read for 15 minutes apiece from their original works. The Laureates will be available after the readings to sell and sign books. Both these events are free, and the public is encouraged to attend.  The following day, a workshop facilitated by Washington state’s 3rd Poet Laureate, Elizabeth Austen, on titling poems will be held in downtown Olympia from 11:00 am until 1:00pm. More details on the flyer.

Sponsored by Saint Martin’s University, Humanities Washington, ArtsWA, Panorama Retirement, Denali Walden Massage and graphic designer Debi Bodett, LaureateFest includes an afternoon Panel Discussion and evening readings by all five past and current Poets Laureate of the State of Washington, with an introduction and poem by the City of Olympia’s Poet Laureate, Sady Sparks. 

Thanks to writer and Olympia Poetry Network Board Member Patrick Dixon for passing this along.

Yours in Poetry,

Carey