In April 2019, one of my poems was part of an exhibit at Gallery One in Ellensburg, Washington called Double Vision: An Exhibition of Image & Word, featuring photographs curated by Zemie Barr from Portland’s Blue Sky Center for Photographic Arts…
A Fun Literary Event Sidelined by the Pandemic…
In April 2020, my friend, David Pickering, and I were both scheduled to be featured poets at that year’s Inland Poetry Prowl, a weekend-long poetry event hosted by various venues within easy walking distance in the heart of historic downtown Ellensburg, Washington…
The Dahlias Are Divas…
And, in their September abundance, they are now putting on a glorious show. And now they are in a book—Gratitude, by the outstanding photographer, Kelly Johnson. Kelly was walking around the neighborhood one day during the pandemic and she stopped to photograph some blooms…
Project Proposal: Albert Street Bench Haiku
In March 2016, I was asked to by the then-director of Alberta Main Street to come up with a proposal for haiku that could be etched onto art benches here and there throughout the Alberta Street arts district neighborhood….
Be a Member of the City of Ideas
The city of ideas remains alive and well and living between the covers of many a book. I seek out volumes that teach me things, that remind me of the necessity of history and creativity and having an open and curious mind. I like to read stories of lives
Quotable Quotes: Bob Dylan on New Orleans
This was printed in the International Herald Tribune in August 2005. It is taken from Bob Dylan’s book, Chronicles: Volume One, which I have read at least twice since I wrote this post.
“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds—the cemeteries – and they’re a cold proposition, one of the best things there are here….
Pandemic Pastime: Renting a Movie Theater
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, Cinema 21, the independent movie house in Northwest Portland, Oregon came up with a creative way to generate cash and, hopefully, weather the months when the city had decreed none of us could gather together to watch a movie on the big screen. For $250, you could rent their Screen #1…
Publication News: “The Great and Marvelous Sugar Baby” Finds a Home
Every now and then, you write a poem that you think will never find its true readers. Who wants to publish a persona meets ekphrastic poem about a now long-gone work of art? “The Great and Marvelous Sugar Baby Has (Not) Spoken” was one of those poems for me. Luckily, the women at Visitant, a new online journal for literary pilgrims, decided to publish it back in June 2016…
Retrospective News: Oregon Literary Fellowship
In December 2004, I was awarded an Oregon Literary Fellowship—specifically, the Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship for Literary Nonfiction. What an honor! Several months later, the 2004 class of recipients was fêted at a lovely ceremony at the Wieden + Kennedy offices…
Art Exhibit: Katy Stone’s Fall at Boise Art Museum
Who would have thought that painting on clear sheets of Duralar acrylic that are then cut and secured into place with platforms of wood and small pins could be such an affecting sculptural installation? But, indeed, they were…
