Josie Emmons Turner (former Tacoma Poet Laureate) and Kathleen Byrd (former Olympia Poet Laureate) will be our headliners for our First Saturday Workshop Reading and Open Mic on November 1st. Thanks for spreading the news and letting others know.

4:24 pm workshop - Finding Your Authentic Voice In this workshop, we’ll look at various types of poems, including persona poems in which the poets explore a speaker, be it a person or animal, and find out what makes that voice believable, authentic. We’ll also look at how the poem itself may tell a story, what is left in, what is left out. What is the work of the reader?

6:05 to 6:15 -break and Open Mic signups

6:15 PIE reading Features- Josie Emmons Turner and Kathleen Byrd and open mic

BookTree is at 609 Market St. Kirkland Wa. 98033

PIE- Poetry Is Everything

Bio’s
Josie Emmons Turner lives on a beautiful estuary feeding into Gig Harbor where an abundance of wildlife greets her. She is an avid gardener, amateur French cook, writer, poet and former Tacoma Poet Laureate. She has been an educator, has worked in the arts and has served on panels for the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kathleen Byrd holds an MFA from Western Washington University in creative writing, poetry and an MEd from the University of Washington, Tacoma, with an emphasis on adult learning theory. Kathleen works collaboratively with other artists to engage community in the arts and poetry writing, especially related to the environment and climate change. She has been a campus leader for climate justice across the curriculum. She leads workshops and facilitates community gatherings on poetry related to place and climate change, most recently with the Nisqually River Education Project and with The Thurston County Climate Action Group. The Pacific Northwest is home to Kathleen who has lived in Seattle, Olympia, and Bellingham and maintains connections to these places. She enjoys walks in the woods, treks up mountains, and cycling around town.