Feb. 5, 2020: Janka Hobbs
Janka glanced at the bios for the other readers, and came down with a bad case of impostor syndrome. The rest of these people have written loads of books and won multiple awards! Janka occasionally reads at RASP open mike, where she hopes to make people laugh, mainly because she has trouble reading her more serious stuff out loud.
You can find Janka’s poems in Here, There and Everywhere, 56 Days of August, on urbanfantasist.com, and a few other places. She has also released several short stories into the wild. Emcee: Mary Crane March 4, 2020: Joannie Stangeland
Joannie Stangeland is the author of several collections, most recently The Scene You See. She received the 2019 Crosswinds Poetry Journal grand prize, and her poems have also appeared in Boulevard, Prairie Schooner, The Southern Review, and other journals. Joannie holds an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop.
Emcee: Mary Crane April 1, 2020: Rayn Roberts
Rayn Roberts studied American and British Poetry under legendary poet and professor Dr. Lee Gerlach and Dr. Betsy Walsh at the University of San Diego. He is published in Anthologies: Illuminations, Expressions of the Personal Spiritual Experience (Celestial Arts an imprint of Ten Speed Pres, 2006), The Book of Hope (Beyond Borders Press, 2002), The World Healing Book (Beyond Borders Press, 2002) -- Journals: City Works, Rattle, Retort Magazine, The Seattle Star, San Diego Poetry Annual, The Pedestal Magazine, The Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Thunder Sandwich, Void Magazine and many others. He has traveled extensively and taught English in Japan, S. Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, Hawaii, Spain, Canada and the U.S. He is heard on Radio KSER 90.7 Everett in Washington State; has read all over the nation and the west coast. In 2003, he toured various libraries, coffee houses, art centers and bars in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York and Brockton, Massachusetts. Currently, he hosts a well-established reading at the Green Lake Public Library in Seattle for PoetsWest featuring some of the best poets in Washington, Oregon and California along with an open mic. Find books and poems online or at his blog, “Poetry, Etc.” & Poets & Writers. He did a reading tour in the fall of 2018 of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales where he was invited to read by Geoff Haden at the birthplace of Dylan Thomas on the poet's birthday October 27th. He has two books in print and is currently in the final stages of a third which will be out this year 2019.
Emcee: Pamela Denchfield May 6, 2020: Michael Haeflinger
Originally from the Midwest, Michael Haeflinger is the author of two chapbooks, Love Poem for the Everyday (2011) and The Days Before (2014), both from Dog On A Chain Press. In 2016, he released Let's Don't Be Crazy, a spoken word album. His latest collection, Low Static Rage, will be published in September 2019 by Blue Cactus Press.
He is the recipient of the Rutgers-Camden Award for Community Engagement (2013), The Amocat Award for Community Engagement (2017), and a Tacoma Arts Initiative Program Award (2015). He is the Executive Director for Write253, a literary arts organization in Tacoma, WA. Emcee: Jeremy Robkin June 3, 2020: Sibyl James
Sibyl James is the author of twelve books--poetry, fiction and travel memoirs--including In China with Harpo and Karl (Calyx Books), The Adventures of Stout Mama (Papier-Mache Press), China Beats (Egress Studio Press), The Grand Piano Range (Black Heron Press) and, most recently, Hard Goods & Hot Platters (Last Word Press). She has taught at colleges in the U.S., China, Mexico, and--as Fulbright professor--Tunisia and Cote d'Ivoire. Her writing has received awards from Artist Trust and the Seattle, King County and Washington State arts commissions.
Emcee: Mary Crane |
July 1, 2020: Laura LeHew
Former girl scout Laura LeHew is obsessed with the creepy, creaky underbelly of life and whatever lies beyond. Widely published, her collections include: Buyer’s Remorse (Tiger’s Eye Press—Infinities) poems on abuse, Becoming (Another New Calligraphy) a non-linear discourse on alcoholism and dementia, Willingly Would I Burn, (MoonPath Press) themed around math and science, It’s Always Night, It Always Rains, (Winterhawk Press) murder/noir and Beauty (Tiger’s Eye Press) fairy tales. As a result of her recent residencies she was able to complete 3 manuscripts and is actively seeking homes for them: Let Widows Be Widows, Dear John, and What She Carries Concealed.
In her alternate life Laura has been active in the high-tech industry for over thirty-five years. Her company Deer Run Associates provides Computer Forensic investigations and Information Security consulting services to select clients across the United States, and throughout the world working with law enforcement and commercial organizations on some of the largest and most high-profile cybercrime cases in recent years. Laura received her MFA from the California College of the Arts. She is on the steering committee for the Lane Literary Guild and facilitates the 1st and 3rd critique group. Formerly Laura held various positions for the Oregon Poetry Association including President, Contest Chair and Cascadia editor, she co-hosted a reading series, Poetry for the People, which ran for 4 seasons and has received residencies to Hypatia-in-the-Wood, PLAYA, the Montana Artists Refuge and Soapstone. Laura owns and edits Uttered Chaos, a small press which publishes books of poetry by NW writers. She knows nothing of gardens or gardening but is well versed in the cultivation of cats. Find her here: utteredchaos.org lauralehew.com Emcee: Mary Crane August 5, 2020: Savannah Slone
Savannah Slone is a writer, editor, and English professor who currently dwells in the Pacific Northwest. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in or will soon appear in Glass: A Poetry Journal, Crab Creek Review, FIVE:2:ONE, Pidgeonholes, decomP magazinE, Crab Fat Magazine, Pithead Chapel, Hobart Pulp, and elsewhere. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Homology Lit and the author of Hearing the Underwater (Finishing Line Press, 2019). She enjoys reading, knitting, hiking, and discussing intersectional feminism. You can read more of her work at www.savannahslonewriter.com.
Emcee: TBA September 2, 2020: Jen Lynn
Jen Lynn is a student at Central Washington University, pursuing a BA in Teaching English/Language Arts, who recently, by divine intervention, fell headlong into the poetry abyss. She skillfully navigates unmarked roads at tumultuous speeds as mom to five and driving instructor to teens. She is a member of the Yakima Coffeehouse Poets, is involved with Inland Poetry’s annual poetry prowl, and is prone to wandering towards kittens in the wilderness, always picking up buttons at inappropriate times.
Emcee: Mary Crane October 7, 2020: To Be AnnouncedWatch this space!
November 4, 2020: Sierra Golden
Sierra Golden graduated with an MFA in poetry from North Carolina State University. As winner of the 2018 Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize, her debut collection The Slow Art was published by Bear Star Press. The Slow Art is also a finalist for the 2019 Washington State Book Award. Golden's poems appear in literary journals such as Prairie Schooner, Permafrost, and Ploughshares. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies by Hedgebrook, Hugo House, and The Elizabeth George Foundation. Although she calls Washington State home, Golden spent many summers in Alaska, working as a commercial fisherman. She now works in communications at Agros International, a nonprofit working to break the cycle of poverty among rural farmers in Central America.
Emcee: TBA December 2, 2020: To Be AnnouncedWatch this space!
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