June Events and Book News from Empty Bowl
May 28, 2024
Dear Empty Bowl friends,
We’d like to let you know about some upcoming events in Port Townsend and also share some book news.
Saturday, June 15, you have a chance to see the movie Dancing with the Dead: Red Pine and the Art of Translation. Filmmaker Ward Serrill and producer Rocky Friedman tell the entertaining adventures of Bill Porter (Red Pine), the world-renowned translator of ancient Chinese poetry, who ignited a movement in China to seek inner peace through poetry and mountain solitude. Bill is a living bridge between two cultures, a bridge that is supported by ancient poetry and understanding. Empty Bowl is proud to be the publisher of several of Red Pine’s translations, including Zen Roots: The First Thousand Years. The screenings will be followed by a conversation with Red Pine, moderated by former Washington State poet laureate Claudia Castro Luna. Showings are at the Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden State Park, at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
On Sunday June 30, join us when Anna Odessa Linzer reads from her recently published collection Season Unleashed. Together with Tanya Holtland and Cedar Sigo, Anna will be reading as part of the Poetry on the Salish Sea series at Wilderbee Farm from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30. The farm is a wonderful place to enjoy poetry on a summer afternoon.
On Saturday, June 29 from 3-5 pm, Empty Bowl is hosting a memorial gathering for Clem Starck at The Friends Meetinghouse, 1841 Sheridan St., in Port Townsend. We’ll share stories and read our favorite poems by Clem. If you can’t attend, feel free to send a written tribute by email to editor@emptybowl.org that we’ll share at the gathering and give to Clem’s family. All are welcome for this tribute to a great Northwest poet.
Coming in June: Be Broken to Be Whole
In late June, we’ll be releasing Be Broken to Be Whole: New and Selected Poems by Tom Crawford. Tom was the author of nine books of award-winning poetry, including Lauds, The Temple on Monday, and The Names of Birds. He was also a birder, a contemplative, an activist, and an enthusiast whose writing, infused with Eastern thought and a sense of mysticism, explores the natural world and our complex connection to it. Tess Gallagher has written: “Tom Crawford is a poet who has labored long in the vineyard, yet remained somehow a well-kept secret within American poetry. Thankfully, his gifts of audacity, of acute detail, natural astonishment and of enacted wonder save his place for a ‘now’ in our current attentions.” Available for preorder in June, this collection includes a foreword by novelist David James Duncan.
Memory’s Vault: The Poetic Heart of Port Townsend Launch Events
We’re happy that Memory’s Vault: The Poetic Heart of Fort Worden is successfully launched and grateful to artist Richard Turner (sitting, facing away from the camera in the picture to the right) for traveling from his home in California to join us for two events: an artist talk and contributors’ reading on May 18 and a walk up to Memory’s Vault and a reading of Sam Hamill’s poems on May 19. Even the weather complied with our plans! Our gratitude to editor Bob Francis (pictured at left above) for his persistence in realizing his vision and to Centrum and the Friends of Fort Worden for their support.
As always, we love to hear from you and appreciate the support and good wishes expressed for the work we do at Empty Bowl. And remember, you can also find news on the Empty Bowl Facebook page, where we try to keep up with our authors and their events.
Holly and John