All four of the previous Washington State Poets Laureate will be in attendance and reading new original pieces celebrating, and raising awareness of, the philanthropic work of Catholic Relief Services at “Soul of Poetry – Share the Journey” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26 at St. Cecilia Parish.
“The event has been a year in the making,” said Catholic Relief Services spokeswoman Mona Theresa Lydon-Rochelle. “But, miraculously all four Washington poets laureate agreed to write original poems to honor the humanitarian aid works of Catholic Relief Services and to those they serve.”
It’s a significant happening, Lydon-Rochelle said, as “these four poets laureate have only appeared once or twice together in Washington state since the inception of Washington’s poet laureate program.”
The poets are Tod Marshall (2016-2018), Elizabeth Austen (2014–2016), Kathleen Flenniken (2012–2014), and Sam Green (2007–2009). The current poet laureate (who is not attending) Castro Luna’s term will run from Feb. 1 to Jan. 31, 2020.
The event is free to attend and open to the public. Donations for Catholic Relief Services will be accepted at the door. There will be a reception to follow.
The Washington State Poet Laureate serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry — including Washington’s legacy of poetry — through public readings, workshops, and presentations in communities throughout the state. The position was established in April 2007 when the Washington State Legislature passed a bill that recognized the value of poetry to the culture and heritage of the state. Washington joined several other states in appointing an official state poet laureate position.
Green was named the first Washington State poet laureate in 2007. In an interview for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, he said, “I think poetry can be a voice for the voiceless.”
Green is also the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His poetry engages the Pacific Northwest landscape with accessible, elemental observations of life’s small turns. The author of numerous collections of poetry, including Washington State Book Award winner “The Grace of Necessity” (2008) and “Vertebrae: Poems 1978–1994” (1997).
Green is the founding editor of Brooding Heron Press, which he runs with his wife, Sally.
Flenniken began her career as a civil engineer and didn’t discover poetry until her early 30s. Her collection, “Plume” (University of Washington Press, 2012), a meditation on the Hanford Nuclear Site and her home town of Richland, won the Washington State Book Award, and was a finalist for the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards. Her first book, “Famous” (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry and was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association.
Her other honors include a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and Artist Trust.
Austen is a Seattle-based poet, performer, teacher and radio commentator. She spent her teens and 20s working in the theatre and writing poems. A six-month solo walkabout in the Andes region of South America led her to focus exclusively on poetry. She is the author of “Every Dress a Decision” (Blue Begonia Press, 2011) and two chapbooks, “The Girl Who Goes Alone” (Floating Bridge Press, 2010) and “Where Currents Meet,” part of the 2010 Toadlily Press quartet, “Sightline.”
Marshall was born in Buffalo, New York, and he grew up in Wichita, Kansas. He studied English and philosophy at Siena Heights University, earned an MFA from Eastern Washington University, and graduated with his doctorate’s degree from the University of Kansas. He directs the writing concentration and coordinates the visiting writers series at Gonzaga University. He enjoys backpacking and fishing and spends about a month of every year in a tent.
Catholic Relief Services, begun in 1943 by a group of Roman Catholic Bishops in the United States to help war-torn Europe and its many refugees after World War II, is a charitable organization dedicated to serving the poor abroad.
“Having witnessed the traumas of epidemics, war and the plight of the poorest of poor, I’m committed to raising awareness through poetry,” Lydon-Rochelle said.
Also speaking at the event are Jesús J. Huerta, of Catholic Relief Services West, in Portland, Oregon, and Father John Topel, Jesuit Assistant to the Law School Dean of Seattle University. Music from Ennio Morricone’s “The Mission” will be performed.
