Nancy Pagh, whose poetry has been described as poignant, humorous, and brilliant, reads at the Artsmith Salon Series at Fire Smokehouse & Grill in Eastsound this Sunday, 7 p.m., beginning with an open mic to be followed by the featured reader.

Nancy Pagh was born and raised on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington. She burst onto the literary scene at age twelve with the publication of her poem “Is a Clam Clammy, or Is It Just Wet?” in a local boating magazine.

Before earning Master’s degrees in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of New Hampshire, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of British Columbia, she worked in the scientific publications unit of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration in Seattle.

She teaches English and Canadian Studies at Western Washington University and lives in Bellingham. Nancy’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry Northwest, Crab Creek Review, Rattle, Grain, Pontoon, The Bellingham Review, Room of One’s Own, B.C. Studies, Stories with Grace, and Rock Salt Plum.

At Home Afloat, her study of women’s travel language at sea, was co-published in 2001 by the University of Idaho Press and the University of Calgary Press. No Sweeter Fat, selected by Tim Seibles as the winner of the 2006 Autumn House Prize, is her first collection of poems.

For more information about Artsmith, go to orcasartsmith/2012/05/poetry-on-fire.html