The latest from Empty Bowl Press
October 31, 2024
Dear Empty Bowl friends,
Fall arrived in full color this year in the Northwest, and with the changing season, life continues to be busy here at Empty Bowl. To start, we have some exciting news to share:
I Sing the Salmon Home, edited by Rena Priest, received the Washington State Book Award in Poetry for 2024! We look forward to celebrating with Rena and several local contributors at a reading honoring salmon on November 14 at 7 p.m. on Vashon Island. Thanks to Empty Bowl author Ann Spiers and to Joseph Bogaard, executive director of Save our Wild Salmon, for putting this event together—you can find more details on the SOWS website. Please note: the event is FREE but you need to register in advance.
Readings in November
Nov. 2, 2 – 4 p.m.: Reading by contributors to the latest Madrona Project, This Machine Is Made for Earth at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner. Editor Michael Daley will MC; readers include Morgan Randall, Susan Rich, Randy Dills, Stephen Roxborough, Robert McNamara, Georgia Johnson, Steven Dolmatz, Holly Hughes, Heidi Seaborn, Janée J. Baugher, and Leslie Wharton. Event is free; you can register here.
Nov. 2, 7 – 9 p.m.: Tess Gallagher and Gary Lilley read at Pelican Bay Books & Coffeehouse in Anacortes as part of the Madrona Reading Series.
Nov. 3, 2 p.m.: Michael Daley & Holly Hughes are reading with poet Gary Thompson at Griffin Bay Bookstore in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
Nov. 30, 7 – 9 p.m. Anna Odessa Linzer reads with Will Hornyak at Pelican Bay Books & Coffeehouse in Anacortes as part of the Madrona Reading Series.
Need some books for the holidays?
On November 10, from 12 – 5 p.m., join us for the Fall Bookfair at Finnriver Farm & Cidery in Chimacum, featuring local small presses. Empty Bowl authors will be reading and signing books, and we’ll have special holiday bundles and discount prices for the readers in your life. Check back for more details on the reading/signing schedule on our website.
Forests, Temples, Glacial Rivers
In December, we will celebrate the release of Andrew Schelling’s Forests, Temples, Glacial Rivers with two events. Andrew will be joined by other Empty Bowl poets in Seattle and Port Townsend.
Thursday December 5, 7 p.m., at Seattle University with Sibyl James, author of Plum Blossom Wine. Check our events page soon for details about the location.
Saturday December 7, 4 p.m., at The Friends Meetinghouse, 1841 Sheridan Avenue, in Port Townsend with Tim McNulty, author of Cloud Studies and other books.
In case you miss these readings . . .
Two of our recent readings are now available online:
On September 23, Anna Odessa Linzer read at the Bainbridge Museum of Art and was interviewed by Holly Hughes as part of the museum’s Curated Conversations series. Watch the reading and conversation here.
We were glad to have attended a tribute to Tom Crawford in Santa Fe at the Collected Works Bookstore on October 20. You can see photos here and watch a recording of the reading here.
We’re always grateful for the support of you, our readers, and our writers, too, for their inspiring words—like these from Tom Crawford’s poem “Last Salmon”:
Isn’t the world almost perfect
that we don’t have to choose
between the verb and its object
St. Paul or sister fish, who’s doing what
to whom, in principle, always comes back
to water and ordinary light
It’s enough to stand still
if we mean it, the way a tree says, here
then grows
If we don’t cross paths with you, we wish you quiet days with good books in the seasons of reading ahead.
Holly & John