Dear Reader,
It’s officially summer with this, the 41st issue of the 3rd Thursday Newsletter.
But no time to relax; those of us working on Voices of Tacoma: A Gathering of Poets are in a frenetic period of editing and finalizing details in order to keep on schedule and launch the anthology this Fall (at 11:00 am on October 12th, to be specific).
We are also busy organizing community events to bring the work of the poets to you!
Our next event is the Poet’s Corner at the 2024 Tacoma Pride Festival, on July 13th. Come join us (and all the other activities) from 12:00pm to 6:00pm. The Poets’ Corner activities include:
Create your own poetry using black out poetry, collage poetry, and add a line to the poem of Tacoma poetry.
Coloring maps of Tacoma.
An opportunity to talk to the poets whose work is included in the anthology and peruse/purchase books by those poets (if they have books for sale).
Come by, say hi, we look forward to seeing you there!
The week after the Pride Festival we’ll be at Tacoma Porchfest, on July 20th, for Voices of Tacoma: Poets on the Porch! We have a lineup of sixteen poets who will be reading their work, starting at 1:00 pm, including:
Trevor White, Karen Cruz, Alexa Hoggatt, Chloe Mohs, Sarah Heavin, Joshua Olver, Mary Bradford, Albert de Santis, Jessika Satori, Tom Nolan, John Kulm, Phil Harty, Jean-Pierre Garcia, Samcori, render jemis, and Robert Lashley.
Come by to hear them read their work and hang out with us as we celebrate with all the bands at this amazing community event!
Submissions to the anthology have closed and so now we’re working on edits to the manuscript. The book will be published on October 12th, so we have a lot more work to do!
All told, we had 82 poets submit 165 poems of, about, or inspired by Tacoma! Can you believe that? 82 poets from all across the City and beyond!
We have an amazing editorial panel that then reviewed and scored each of the poems (in secrecy until now). Now that we’ve received all the submissions I can finally publicly thank them for all of their hard work:
Julie Baldock, Jenny Bartoy, Teshawn Deville, Kristy Gledhill, Michael Haeflinger, Joanne Rixon, Celeste Schueler, Katharine Threat, Josie Emmons Turner, and Jesi Vega.
They have been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition; I am so grateful for their help selecting the poems for the anthology!
Another partner in this project is Tacoma-based artist Mauricio Robalino. Mauricio has not only provided the cover art (Voices), but is also creating the illustrations for the anthology. His artwork is both poetic and it naturally includes many images of the Pacific Northwest icons, so it is fitting (and a huge honor) to have his work included in the book.
Mauricio Robalino, "Poetry Tree" Ink on Paper
Stay tuned for a special Summer edition of the Third Thursday Newsletter - coming early July!
9th Annual Hilltop Street Fair August 24th - 11:00am to 7:00pm, Hilltop. Hosted by the Hilltop Business Association. Come visit our Poet’s Corner table.
Pantages Windows - Artscapes September (TBD) Pantages Theater. Made possible by Spaceworks. On display in the windows at the Pantages Theater from September through November.
Voices of Tacoma: A Gathering of Poets Launch Event October 12th, 11:00am to 5:00pm
Location(s) to be determined. Hosted by the Tacoma Public Library and Tacoma Arts & Vitality Division. Join us as we LAUNCH Voices of Tacoma: A Gathering of Poets!
Voices of Tacoma @ Arts at the Armory December 7th & 8th, Tacoma Armory Building. Hosted by the Tacoma Arts & Vitality Division. A continuation of our LAUNCH, we’ll have a Poets Corner and readings by the poets.
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