||| FROM JILL MCCABE JOHNSON for ARTSMITH |||


To celebrate Poetry Month, five poets, including Washington State’s newest Poet Laureate, Rena Priest, will read for the Artsmith / Darvill’s Salon Series reading this Thursday, April 15. Priest will be joined by Orcas Island poet Quinn Bailey, plus Keetje Kuipers, Jory Mikelson, and Jasmine An. The reading takes place 5:00-6:30 pm, and is accessible via Zoom at the link below.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86292004171?pwd=TUhsSStGY2NLR0lqa01qR3pIRUxRUT09
Meeting ID: 862 9200 4171
Passcode: 707979

About the Authors:

Writer and editor Keetje Kuipers (pronounced Kay-tcha Ky-pers) is the author of three books of poems, all from BOA Editions. Her third book, All Its Charms (2019), was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and includes poems honored by publication in both The Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies.

Rena Priest is a Poet and a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. Her literary debut, Patriarchy Blues, was honored with a 2018 American Book Award. Her most recent collection, Sublime Subliminal, was published by Floating Bridge Press. Priest is the first Native American to be named Poet Laureate for Washington State.

Jasmine An is author of two chapbooks of poetry Naming the No-Name Woman (Two Sylvias Press, 2016) and Monkey Was Here (Porkbelly Press, 2020) and Poetry Editor at Agape Editions. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan.

Quinn Bailey is a poet, naturalist, and wildlife tracker who for the last seven years has been helping people find a deeper connection to the natural world through ancestral skills such as bird language, wilderness living, and cultural mentoring. Quinn’s first full length collection of poetry, The Currents of the World, was released through Homebound Publications in August, 2020.

 Jory Mickelson‘s first book, WILDERNESS//KINGDOM, is the inaugural winner of the Evergreen Award Tour from Floating Bridge Press and winner of the 2020 High Plains Book Award in Poetry. They have taught workshops and retreats on a wide variety of topics including writing and wilderness, mindfulness, zines, creative writing, and poetry as a spiritual practice.