Blue Begonia News & Calendar

Kim-An Lieberman at YVCC Part One

2009-04-14T08:25:00.001-07:00

Don't Miss Kim-An Lieberman coming to an event near you

2009-03-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Apr. 9: Oak Hollow Gallery Yakima, WA - 6 p.m.
Reading and book signing for Breaking the Map, in the hometown of Blue Begonia Press.

Apr. 10: Yakima Valley Comm. College Yakima, WA - 7 p.m.
Reading sponsored by the YVCC English Department and Creative Writing classes.

Apr. 18: Brave New Words Poetry Festival Whidbey Island, WA - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.A full day of poetry, music, food, and wine at Greenbank Farm. Reading with Terry Martin and many others.

Apr. 24: Shoreline-LFP Poetry Celebration Shoreline, WA - 7:30 p.m.Reading at Shoreline Community College, with Kathleen Flenniken and Ed Harkness.

May 21: Jack Straw Reading Series Seattle, WA - 7:00 p.m."Borders and Confluence": reading with Rachel Dilworth, Alma Garcia, and Laura Hirschfield.

Jun. 18: KOBO Gallery at Higo Seattle, WA - 7:00 p.m.Reading with Priscilla Long and Madeline Ostrander, in the former home of Higo Variety Store.

Gail Pearlman's New Year's Promises

2008-06-11T10:01:00.001-07:00

Secret Waters Reprinted

2008-04-09T12:08:00.001-07:00

Barry Grimes on Cold Mountain Song 62

2008-03-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

Weathered Pages Vol. 1

2008-03-21T08:33:00.002-07:00

Weathered Pages Vol. 2

2008-03-21T08:33:00.001-07:00

Weathered Pages Vol. 3

2008-03-21T08:32:00.002-07:00

YVCC Field Trip to the Poetry Pole

2008-03-21T08:32:00.001-07:00

An Invitation

2007-10-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

Call for Book Manuscripts

Blue Begonia Press, independent publisher of poetry for thirty years, is accepting submissions of full-length manuscripts for publication in 2008 from poets residing in Washington State who have never published a full-length poetry book. (Chapbooks OK). We’re looking for well-crafted work that transcends the page, that moves us, that takes our breath away—poems of meditation, testimony, praise, exploration, protest, reflection, witness. Collaborative design process. Poet receives publication, 30 copies, regional distribution/promotion of book, and assistance scheduling/advertising featured readings. Deadline March 31, 2008. Send manuscript with cover sheet, title page, paginated table of contents, acknowledgments, #10 SASE for results, and $20 reading fee in form of check made out to Blue Begonia Press. Reading fee includes one copy of the book selected for publication. For complete submission guidelines and more information about Blue Begonia Press visit www.bluebegoniapress.com

Submission Guidelines:

Washington residents only.

Simultaneous submissions OK. (Please notify us immediately if manuscript is accepted elsewhere).

Individual poems may have been previously published. (If so, identify in Acknowledgments).

Cover sheet - one loose page with the following information: title of manuscript, author name, address, home and work telephone numbers, e-mail address.

Bound manuscript, including Title Page, paginated Table of Contents, and Acknowledgments.

$20 reading fee. Checks made out to Blue Begonia Press. All entrants will receive one copy of the book selected for publication.

Include #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope for notification of results.

Mail to:
Blue Begonia Press: Poetry Manuscripts
225 S. 15th Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902

Questions? Contact: Terry Martin at martint@cwu.edu

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Browne Lawrence

2007-10-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

October 20, 5:00 pm
Fish (Poems) on the Sidewalk
Marine Science Center Fundraiser
Liberty Bay Books
18881 D Front St Downtown Poulsbo
http://www.libertybaybooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp
jeniferbrownelawrence@comcast.net

October 23, 7:00 p.m.
Crab Creek Review
Reading with Janet Knox, John Davis, Kevin Miller, Jenifer Browne Lawrence & others
Richard Hugo House
1634 Eleventh Avenue
Seattle, WA
http://www.hugohouse.org/house/map/
editors@crabcreekreview.org

November 7, 7:30p.m.
Poetry in Motion!
Poetry on the Buses
Moore Theater
1932 Second Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98107
Paige.Weinheimer@4culture.org
www.4culture.org
TEL 206 296.8605

November 11, 2:00 p.m.
Na-No-Rhyme-Oh! Poetry Reading
Madeline DeFrees, Jennifer Maier & Jenifer Browne Lawrence
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
401 NE Northgate Way Suite 1100
Seattle, WA. 98125
crm2280@bn.com
http://www.bn.com/

November 18, 3:00 p.m.
Jewel Box Poets Sunday Reading Series
Windfall Journal Poets
Bill Siverly, Michael McDowell, Mary Lou Sanelli, Jenifer Browne Lawrence & others
Jewel Box Theater
225 Iverson Street
Poulsbo, WA 98370
http://www.jewelboxpoulsbo.org/
jewelboxpoets@comcast.net

Saturday Oct 13th at Inklings

2007-10-10T07:13:00.001-07:00

Blue Begonia Press

www.bluebegoniapress.com

Introduces Jody Aliesan's new book

True North/Nord Vrai

"Old Irish fragment: The poet is the wick in the lamp of the community. Not the oil, and not the flame, but the simple piece of cloth connecting them so the people can see their own light."

Reading & discussion from True North/Nord Vrai

Gail Pearlman & Jim Bodeen

Inklings Bookshop

Chalet Mall

56^th & Summitview

Saturday, October 13, 2007, 4:00 PM

True North/Nord Vrai

2007-09-21T08:04:00.001-07:00

B l u e B e g o n i a P r e s s , I n c .

Jody Aliesan's True North/Nord Vrai has just been released from Blue Begonia Press.

Jody's story, and the story of the book are compelling in many of the ways that the book is compelling.

Blue Begonia Press stretches out believing in the larger story Jody carries. Here's part of the story.

Jody Aliesan left the US three years ago. We expect that her longtime readers in the Pacific Northwest and farther afield will be interested in knowing what she's doing now, both personally and in her writing. A library service in New York ordered copies of True North/Nord Vrai immediately after we registered it with the Library of Congress. University Book Store in Seattle posted the book online two months ago and is collecting orders. Last week we received a request from a professor of political science in Tennessee who heard of the book word of mouth. Canadians have become aware of Aliesan's presence in their midst; without our approaching them, the Vancouver public library and the city's independent and chain bookstores already offer her most recent books. Aliesan has said she will not be crossing the border south again and that True North/Nord Vrai is such an exposure that personal appearances would be excessive. We will market her reticence and principle to pique curiosity and to focus readers on the book itself.

It can be ordered directly from the press, at http://bluebegoniapress.com/

Jim Bodeen, President

(509) 452-9748

bodeen22@charter.net

Jody Aliesan: True North/Nord Vrai

186pp, 7"x 9" trade softcover

ISBN: 0-911287-58-2

$18.00 USD

Excerpts at http://bluebegoniapress.com/index.php?page_id=316

LitFuse Scholarships

2007-09-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

LitFuse 2007: A Poet's Workshop

www.mightytieton.com

Tieton Arts & Humanities announces LitFuse 2007: A Poet's Workshop. This 2-day workshop to be held November 3-4 in Tieton, WA (15 minutes west of Yakima), features hands-on letterpress printing opportunities, Susan Rich (winner of the PEN/USA Poetry Award and Peace Corps Writers' Award, among others), Kathleen Flenniken (winner of the Prairie Schooner Book award), poetry rooted in place by Dan Peters, a special narrated screening of Voices in Wartime, Cody Walker & Paul Nelson's astonishing teaching, and a murder of your fellow poets itching to channel the MUSE. All in a hilltop rural setting guaranteed to inspire. Check it out at www.mightytieton.com to register, or email litfuse@mightytieton.com for more information.

Here's my summary:

Mighty Tieton, an arts organization, is an incredible group of people.
I'm teaching (Dan Peters) two workshops at this conference—one on poetry of place, including some outside work around the town of Tieton; another on poetry and art using the Mighty Tieton collection, which is incredible.
The headliner, Susan Rich, as you can see from her bio, is a well known and respected poet and teacher. We're fortunate to have her come to this workshop.
There's an interesting option of learning the art of "letterpress" work—that is publishing using handset type and fine papers. I think the idea is that you'd come away with a broadside of your own.
The two day workshop is pricey, ($200 if you register before October) but I think it's worth it. The people at Mighty Tieton are legit and hoping to make it a place for collaboration among all the arts. They've got a huge start on the visual arts, and are dipping their toes in the water on the literary arts with this weekend.
Finally, part of my negotiation with the board of Mighty Tieton was that I be able to offer some scholarships to local writers. So, I've got four $50 dollar scholarships available. First come first serve. I'll set a deadline of September 28^th.
- If I only get two people interested, it will be a $100 dollar scholarship.
- If only one person is interested, it's a full ride.
- I realize this varied amount might make a big difference to your level of interest, so for starters, drop me an email if you're interested in any level of help with going to the workshops and after the 28^th, I'll email back those who expressed interest and we'll try to figure out how much you need and how much has been claimed.

Featured Artist: Susan Rich, winner of the PEN USA Poetry Award & the Peace Corps Writers Poetry Award for The Cartographer's Tongue: Poems of the World (White Pine Press, 2000). Susan has worked as a staff person for Amnesty International, an electoral supervisor in Bosnia, and a human rights trainer in Gaza. She lived in the Republic of Niger, West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, later moving to South Africa to teach at the University of Cape Town on a Fulbright Fellowship. Educated at the University of Massachusetts, Harvard University, and the University of Oregon, Susan lives in Seattle and teaches at Highline Community College and the Antioch University MFA Program in LA. She is an alum of Cottages at Hedgebrook, and an editor at Floating Bridge Press.

More from Inklings

2007-09-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

From Miller, Peters and Grimes at Inklings

2007-09-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

100 Steps Review in the Seattle Times

2007-08-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to the review and here's the review by Richard Wakefield:

Jenifer Browne Lawrence ventures into very deep water in "One Hundred Steps From Shore" (Blue Begonia Press, 79 pp., $15). In this Seattle-area poet's fragmented lyrics, the solid bottom is always below her feet, the water threatening to close over her head.

In the title poem, a family waits outside the emergency room where a daughter undergoes treatment after being hit by a car. Three sisters assemble a puzzle, as if putting the pieces together will also put their lives together: "We build the trees from the green down to wheat / and there is nothing left but sky." Then the door swings open, the doctor enters, and they learn that the last pieces will never fit.

In the poems that follow, various family members try to make sense of the world, but the shock waves of their loss are an earthquake that brings everything down. In "Sweeping the Sky," a moment that could bring people together becomes a drama of separation:

I haven't told her Dad's last words,

Where's your mother? Nor how, as though it were

the truth, I told him he would see her in the

morning,

that she'd gone home before it got too dark to see.

He turned his face to keep me from seeing.

In the gloom of Lawrence's poems, there is a compensatory light — the illumination of how real people confront loss.

Richard Wakefield is the author of "East of Early Winters," a poetry collection published by the University of Evansville Press. He lives in Federal Way.

Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading at YVCC

2007-08-21T09:32:00.001-07:00

Seeking Light Reading and Lecture

2007-08-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Seeking Light Documentary Part 1

2007-08-21T09:30:00.002-07:00

Seeking Light Documentary Partt 2

2007-08-21T09:30:00.001-07:00

Michael Daley at YVCC

2007-08-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Jim Bodeen Reading at YVCC

2007-08-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Terry Martin Reading at YVCC

2007-08-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

Video/Audio quality isn't great, but for fans who can't get enough, here it is.

Upcoming Readings for Terry Martin and The Secret Language of Women

2007-08-21T09:21:00.001-07:00

Aug 25th Hedgebrook "Literary Landscapes" Reading, Whidbey Island

December 13 Northwinds ArtCenter, Pt. Townsend

January ? (TBA) SoulFood Books Poetry Series, Redmond

February 12 CWU Lions Rock Reading Series, Ellensburg

April 18 A Room of One's Own Bookstore, Madison, WI

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence and 100 Steps

2007-03-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 31, 2007, 7:30 p.m. Elliott Bay Books, 101 South Main St, Seattle. (206) 624-6600.

Saturday, May 19, 2007, 4:00 p.m. Newberry Books, 561 NE Ravenna Blvd., Seattle. PoetsWest features Chris Jarmick, David Keysor, Jenifer Browne Lawrence. Open mike. MC Robinson Bolkum. Contact J. Glenn Evans 206.682.1268 or info@poetswest.com.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007, 7:30 p.m Yakima Valley Community College, Writers and Ideas Series. Parker Room of the Deccio Building. dpeters@yvcc.edu

Saturday, June 2, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St, Poulsbo, WA (360) 779-9199 email

Saturday, June 9, 2007, 6 p.m. Village Books, 1200 Eleventh Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Tel: (360) 671-2626

More photos from Hugo House

2007-02-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks to photographer Fran Dunaway!

List of Readings for Terry Martin in the coming months

2007-01-27T08:33:00.001-08:00

Hope to see you there!

Pt. Townsend (at Northwinds Gallery) on Thurs Feb 8th at 7:00.

Wapato Book Club on Tuesday, February 13th at 7:00.

Pt. Angeles (at Peninsula College) at noon on Tuesday March 6th.

Spokane (at Auntie's Bookstore) on Friday April 6th at 7:30.

Whidbey Island (at Wa Poets Association Burning Word Poetry Festival)
Saturday, April 28th.

Images from Hugo House

2007-01-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome

2007-01-12T05:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Blue Begonia News & Calendar.

If you are interested in the Blue Begonia website, with the complete catalogue and ordering information, visit bluebegoniapress.com.

For first time visitors, this site started in 2005. It was a way to get the word out about Weathered Pages, an anthology of poems left on the poetry pole at Blue Begonia Press, and two fine chapbooks released at the same time by Keely Murphy and Doug Johnson, continuing the Working Signs Series from Blue Begonia Press.

In the past year, two more books have been released by the press: One Hundred Steps from Shore, by Poulsbo poet Jenifer Browne Lawrence and The Secret Language of Women by Yakima poet and CWU professor, Terry Martin.

If you scroll down the page, you’ll see recent posts including a schedule of upcoming readings, video previews of the two most recent books along with sample reviews. I’ve also included a few select videos from the Writers and Ideas class I’ve taught at YVCC the past two years. To see the incredible work students have done in response to these reading and lectures, and for more videos, click here.

If you are interested in going back further, or finding information not seen on this first page, use the links under “Archives” on the right side of the screen.

Feel free to leave a comment, or send me an email.

The Secret Language of Women

2007-01-12T04:55:00.000-08:00


Terry Martin reads from her new book, "The Secret Language of Women". Terry's book has been getting amazing reviews. Click here to see her first, from Midwest Review. Click here to see the latest, from World Pulse Magazine. For more information or to purchase visit http://bluebegoniapress.com/

One Hundred Steps from Shore

2007-01-12T04:44:00.000-08:00


Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading Red Shrine from her debut book from Blue Begonia Press for more information and to order, visit Blue Begonia Press *Correction to the credits: Cover Design by Craig Naugle. Jenifer's book is already a best seller on the west side and has been attracting attention from a national audience. Click here for a review from Rattle.

A Review of Readers from Last Spring at YVCC

2007-01-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

Weathered Pages Application for Bumbershoot

2007-01-12T04:35:00.001-08:00

Another Great Review for The Secret Language

2007-01-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

The Secret Language of Women

Terry Martin | Blue Begonia Press, 2006 | USA

With vast empathy and unwavering emotional honesty, this Washington poet gives words to the weighty, intangible truths behind human behavior. Inhabited almost exclusively by female characters, The Secret Language of Women celebrates the nuanced ways in which women bypass verbal language to communicate emotion, share among themselves, and pass deep pools of knowledge through generations. In the architecture of this volume-in the kitchen, the garden, the bedroom, the hospital, and in nature—they are called by their surroundings to turn inward and courageously speak of strengths, weaknesses, and searing, long-muffled truths—a process that Martin clearly prizes for its delivery unto grace and gratitude.—Maria Jett

Terry and Jenifer on the Road to...

2006-12-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events for Jenifer and Terry. Burning Word to to be added soon.

Saturday, January 13, 2007, 8 p.m. Richard Hugo House, Jenifer and Terry. New Voices from Blue Begonia Press. Co-sponsored by the Richard Hugo House. 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA (206) 322-7030. http://www.hugohouse.org/events/ email programs2@hugohouse.org

Sunday, January 28, 2007, 7:30ish, Sirens Pub & Restaurant 832 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA. Jenifer will be joining her favorite group of Fort Worden diehard writers for a weekend retreat, culminating in an open mic pub invasion. Stop by Sunday evening for a beer and a poem if you’re in town.

Thursday, February 8, 2007, 7 p.m. Northwind Arts Center. Jenifer and Terry. Northwinds Art Center, 2409 Jefferson St, Port Townsend, WA (360) 379-1086. http://www.northwindarts.org/poetry.html

Thursday, February 15, 2007, 7 p.m. SoulFood Poetry Night, Jenifer reading with Dan Peters. SoulFood Books, 15748 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA 98052 (425) 881-5309 Redmond, WA http://soulfood.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp email info@soulfoodbooks.com

Tuesday, March 6, 2007, Noon, Foothills Writers Series, Jenifer and Terry. Reading held in the Little Theater, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd
Port Angeles, WA 98362 (360) 452-9277 http://www.pc.ctc.edu/news/foothills.asp email tinah@pcadmin.ctc.edu

Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. Newberry Books, 561 NE Ravenna Blvd., Seattle. PoetsWest features Chris Jarmick, David Keysor, Jenifer Browne Lawrence. Open mike. MC Robinson Bolkum. Contact J. Glenn Evans 206.682.1268 or info@poetswest.com.

Saturday, June 2, 2007, 7 p.m., Jenifer at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St, Poulsbo, WA (360) 779-9199 http://homepages.donobi.net/pbch/ email carriegilstrap-nettle@bbwc.biz

The Secret Language of Women, First Review

2006-12-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

from the Midwest Review

The Secret Language of Women
Terry Martin
Blue Begonia Press
224 South 15th Avenue, Yakima, WA 98902-3821
0911287574 $15.00
www.bluebegoniapress.com

English teacher and published poet Terry Martin presents The Secret Language of Women, an anthology of free-verse poetry that reexamines domestic life from the feminine perspective, reflects upon the sad fragility of all things, and explores innermost hopes and dreams. A gentle, reflective, and insightful whisper into the true meanings behind the building blocks of language. "Until They Told You What it Did to Rachel": and you never even thought about it, / never once considered / how your offhand comparison / to those who had slaughtered / her aunts and uncles / in Dachau, Auschwitz, Treblinka // discounted unfathomable loss, / trivializing her heartbreak / with your careless use / of that one small word. / Tonight, dark trains clatter / the tracks of your dreams.

One Hundred Steps' First Review

2006-12-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

"Within the ever-growing population of poetry, Jenifer Browne Lawrence is a voice to follow, for in the following one will be amazed for all the brightness achieved amidst shadow."

Natasha Kochicheril Moni

Here's the full review from Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century:

review by: Natasha Kochicheril Moni

ONE HUNDRED STEPS FROM SHORE
by Jenifer Browne Lawrence

Blue Begonia Press, 225 S. 15 th Avenue, Yakima, WA 98902; ISBN-13: 978-0-911287-56-1 (pbk.: alk.paper), ISBN-10: 0-911287-56-6 (pbk.: alk.paper), 79pp., $15.00 www.bluebegoniapress.com

In photography, the technique of burning an image is employed to darken what may otherwise appear too light or under-exposed. To dodge stands for the reverse, as in lightening an overexposed item thereby rendering more crisp. Jenifer Browne Lawrence's first collection One Hundred Steps From Shore, demonstrates the poetic equivalent of dodging and burning. Through the vehicle of explored memory, Lawrence provides a lucid picture of what keeps/distorts in the presence of grief.

Dark, his eyes
spark memories that crack
like the chocolate coating
on soft-dipped cones we mouthed
on our trips to town--how the hard shell
flaked off, where vanilla pushed out
dripping, how it had to be licked at once,
before any of it touched our skin.
(from "Replacing the Deck")

Lyrically masterful yet spare, Lawrence invites her readers to witness as in these lines from the title piece "One Hundred Steps from Shore":

The policeman asks what I saw, what I heard.
He wants to know if I heard a screech.
I tell him no, just a thud and I ran to see
and I saw her. He asks me what I saw,
what I heard. I tell him I smelled pennies.

The characters in Lawrence's poems continue their attempts to rescue--mallards, garter snakes, a porcupine "in my shirt mews and mews / how did I come to be / the ferryman burying over / and over the same stick in the water" (from "Porcupine Child") as they cope with the loss of the young Carolyn. And with this impulse "The lesson has been passed through / generations like a relay baton: We do not save each other." (from "Making Out") But there is more than the relationship of family-to-family, "Learning To Paint" (section 3) is thick with growing up in Valdez, Alaska while "Tales From the 20 th Century" (section 4) revises the story of love.

One Hundred Steps From Shore, as with skilled creative nonfiction, achieves the delicate, critical balance between personal/universal with grace and precision. Lawrence creates a world within each quarter slice of her collection, drawing light where necessary:

Once, she thought she was going to do it,
hold her breath exactly forever,
but she awoke with a leaf on her chest,
dizzy and missing her mom.
(from “A Cottonwood Leaf Can Be Taken Apart”)

A sensory experience, One Hundred Steps From Shore speaks to an audience in the language of layered tongues. Within the ever-growing population of poetry, Jenifer Browne Lawrence is a voice to follow, for in the following one will be amazed for all the brightness achieved amidst shadow.

One Hundred Steps in the News

2006-12-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

Jenifer Lawrence's first book, One Hundred Steps from Shore, is a Best Seller!

One Hundred Steps was recently listed in the top five paperbacks sold by Eagle Harbor Books.

Also, the poem "It was Snowing and it was going to Snow" is going to be in an anthology called "Poem, Revised-- A behind-the-scenes look at writing poetry". Marion Street Press will publish the book in 2008. Several versions of the poem together with a kind of running commentary on how the changes came about will be printed in their entirety.

Check back soon for more information on Jenifer's upcoming readings and a video of her first reading from the book at the Poulsbohemian.

100 Steps from Shore at Eagle Harbor Books

2006-11-13T06:52:00.000-08:00

John Willson introducing the poets

Jenifer reads from her book

Pictures of Jenifer's First Reading from Jim Bodeen

2006-11-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence

2006-10-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Join Jenifer for a special book launch celebration for One Hundred Steps from Shore this Saturday!
(*click links for more information)

October 21, 2006, 7pm Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse , Poulsbo

Then, be sure to mark your calendar for the following dates. Check back for more TBA readings

(maybe you can follow her around in a van like a Deadhead...a JenHead?)

November 12, 2006, 3pm Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge Island, WA

February 8, 2007, 7pm Northwind Gallery, Port Townsend, WA

February 15, 2007, 7pm SoulFood Books, Redmond, WA (reading with special guest, Dan Peters)

March 6, 2007 , 12pm Foothills Writers Series, Peninsula College, Port Angeles

June 2, 2007, 7pm Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, Poulsbo, WA

The Secret Language in the news

2006-10-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

From Kim Nowacki the Yakima Herald Republic:(click for entire article)

The book is a warm, candid and insightful memoir of the nonverbal traditions -- gesture, habit, disposition -- that pass among women. Martin's prose is subtle in its power to relate what connects a mother and child, sisters, friends and romantic relationships.

---

Martin conveys with a poignant but astute observance, the wide-eyed wonderment and reckless abandonment of childhood, as well as the perils of growing older and then finally solace, and where to find it.

"It's absolutely the best work I can do at this point in my life," she says.

"So now it's a blank page again."

One Hundred Steps from Shore

2006-09-29T13:48:00.000-07:00


Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading Red Shrine from her debut book from Blue Begonia Press Please join Jenifer and Blue Begonia Press for a special book launch reading and celebration, Saturday, October 21st, at the Poulsbohemian Coffehouse. for more information and to order, visit Blue Begonia Press *Correction to the credits: Cover Design by Craig Naugle.

The Secret Language of Women

2006-09-29T10:48:00.000-07:00


Terry Martin reads from her new book, "The Secret Language of Women". Please join Terry and Blue Begonia Press for a special book launch and reading, Saturday, October 7th, 7pm at Oak Hollow Gallery in Yakima.

Coming Soon...

2006-08-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Scenes from Weathered Pages Port Townsend Reading

2006-08-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

June, 2005

Weathered Pages and Terry Martin

2006-07-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Jewel Box Theatre, 225 Iverson St., Poulsbo, WA 98370,
contact Jenifer Lawrence at jewelboxpoets@comcast.net

Coming up on September 17, 2006
Terry Martin and the Weathered Pages Poets.

Terry Martin is the author of The Secret Language of Women, just out from Blue Begonia Press. Says Lucinda Roy of Terry’s work: “…Terry Martin paints a portrait of a world in which the most crucial language is often wordless and mystical. In these powerful poems, the sublime is housed within the domestic: kitchens are cathedrals, and the geometry of rituals sustained by women teach us how to sing. Even as she acknowledges the transience and fragility of all things, Martin finds constancy in the patience of boulders, and locates hope in the brilliant firelight of the firefly. This is a collection about what we dare to love and what dares to love us back. It’s a celebration of the many paths we take as we edge toward the warm, the changing light.

In addition, this program will bring together several writers from the Weathered Pages Anthology.

A six-foot cedar post, the word POETRY carved on both the east and west sides, planted in a garden on a street corner in Yakima, pushpins stuck in the wood. For ten years, hundreds of people have pinned thousands of poems to the Poetry Pole at Blue Begonia Press. After time in the weather, the pages have been taken down and saved—until now. This book includes over 200 poems by poets from all corners of the country and from around the world, who have joined poets from Yakima in posting their work. Some contributors are being published here for the first time; others are internationally known. Poems collected here represent a decade of testimony pinned and flying from a cedar post planted in a garden. They may trigger what you're looking for in your own life.

There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody.

October 15 brings to the Jewel Box--Kevin Miller and Joseph Green, outstanding Washington poets, and November 19 features the last program of the year with the fiery wit of Jeannine Hall Gailey, reading with Seattle poet Judith Skillman.

The Jewel Box Poets are taking December off to shop, wrap, rest and plan for 2007. The first reading of the new year will be held Sunday, January 21, 2007.

Lynn Martin at Yvcc

2006-06-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

Judith Skillman at YVCC

2006-06-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Gayle Kaune at YVCC

2006-06-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Charles Potts Video

2006-05-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

Lynn Martin Reading Tuesday May 30th

2006-05-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

From Wauna--Lynn Martin

Parker Room, Higher Education Center, YVCC
Reading Begin at 730

“Arising from a sequence of great losses, Lynn
Martin’s poems walk straight into the deepest sorrow. There, face to face with the most terrifying state of not knowing, they expand outward to the farthest rim of
affirmation—where the blue bowl holds everything.”
—Noelle Oxenhandler, Essayist, The New Yorker

YVCC Weathered Pages Reading

2006-05-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

730 pm Parker Room, Higher Education Center,

Free and open to the public

Featuring YVCC Students and Staff

From Yakima—May 15th: Editors, Weathered Pages Anthology Jim Bodeen, Terry Martin, and Rob Prout.

A six-foot cedar post, the word POETRY carved on both the east and west sides, planted in a garden on a street corner in Yakima, pushpins stuck in the wood. For ten years, hundreds of people have pinned thousands of poems to the Poetry Pole at Blue Begonia Press. After time in the weather, the pages have been taken down and saved—until now. Poems collected here represent a decade of testimony pinned and flying from a cedar post planted in a garden. They may trigger what you're looking for in your own life.

There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody

Scenes from Gayle Kaune Lecture/Reading

2006-04-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

Gayle Kaune at YVCC's Writers and Ideas Reading
April 3rd.

with Travis Hantz

with Ashley Hood

Scenes from Cashmere Reading

2006-04-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Derek Sheffield for setting up the reading and sending these images.
Next reading, Burning Word Festival, Whidbey Island

From Friday's On Magazine YHR

2006-04-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

from YHR's Kim Nowacki, in On Magazine First Anniversary Issue

Writers and Ideas poetry class returns this spring to Yakima Valley Community College.

But you don't have to be a YVCC student to attend....A portion of the class is open to the public and features free readings by poets who have been published in Yakima's Blue Begonia Press.

All readings are on Mondays at 730pm at YVCC in the Parker Room of the Deccio Higher Education Center, 1000 S. 12th Ave.

(This week's) reading will be by Charles Potts, a member of the 1968 Berkeley poetry explosion and author of numerous books, including an underground class "Valga Krusa."

A serious poet with a political bent and a smirking sense of humor, Potts can be found these days working out of an old Masonic temple-turned-Bohemian paradise--a place of literary and artistic worship--in downtown Walla Walla.

The remaining Writers and Ideas reading dates and poets are:

May 1: Judith Skillman, Seattle
May 15th, "Weathered Pages" editors, Yakima
May 3oth: Lynn Martin, Wauna, Wash.

Charles Potts at YVCC

2006-04-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

April 17th: Charles Potts has had a dozen books of poetry published since 1996, the most recent: The Portable Potts from Albuquerque’s West End Press in 2005. Other new titles still in print include three from Blue Begonia Press in Yakima: Kiot: Selected Early Poems, 1963-1977, Lost River Mountain and Slash & Burn; Across the North Pacific from Slough Press; a reprint of Little Lord Shiva: The Berkeley Poems, 1968, from Glass Eye Books; and Nature Lovers from Pleasure Boat Studio. Other books in print include How the South Finally Won the Civil War: And Controls the Political Future of the United States.

Writers and Ideas Reading Spring Series

2006-03-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

ALL READINGS at YVCC in the PARKER ROOM, DECCIO BUILDING, Beginning at 730pm
Click for video preview.

April 3rd: Gayle Kaune has published widely in literary magazines including Willow Springs, Seattle Review, Greenfield Review, Centennial Review and South Florida Poetry Review. Her poems have won several Washington Poets’ Association Awards, the Ben Hur Lampman Prize and been nominated for a Pushcart prize. Her chapbook, Concentric Circles, won the Flume Press award and her book, Still Life in the Physical World is available from Blue Begonia Press. Gayle has recently relocated from the Eastern Washington desert to Port Townsend, WA.

April 17th: Charles Potts has had a dozen books of poetry published since 1996, the most recent: The Portable Potts from Albuquerque’s West End Press in 2005. Other new titles still in print include three from Blue Begonia Press in Yakima: Kiot: Selected Early Poems, 1963-1977, Lost River Mountain and Slash & Burn; Across the North Pacific from Slough Press; a reprint of Little Lord Shiva: The Berkeley Poems, 1968, from Glass Eye Books; and Nature Lovers from Pleasure Boat Studio. Other books in print include How the South Finally Won the Civil War: And Controls the Political Future of the United States.

May 1st: Judith Skillman is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Eric Mathieu King Fund from the Academy of American Poets for her book “Storm,” Blue Begonia Press, 1998. Grants include a Writer’s Fellowship from the Washington State Arts Commission, a publication prize and public arts grant from the King County Arts Commission. Her poems have appeared in FIELD, Poetry, Southern Review, Seneca Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Journal of the American Medical Association, Fiberarts, Northwest Review, and many other journals. Skillman’s “Heat Lightning: New and Selected Poems 1986 – 2006 “ was published in early 2006 by Silverfish Review Press. “Coppelia, Certain Digressions,” is due out in the fall of 2006 from David Robert Books. Skillman is a Faculty Member at City University in Bellevue, Washington.

May 15th: Editors, Weathered Pages Anthology, Jim Bodeen, Terry Martin, and Rob Prout. A six-foot cedar post, the word POETRY carved on both the east and west sides, planted in a garden on a street corner in Yakima, Washington, pushpins stuck in the wood. For ten years, hundreds of people have pinned thousands of poems to the Poetry Pole at Blue Begonia Press. Weathered Pages is a sampling of the work of those who have used the Poetry Pole as a source of inspiration.

After time in the weather, the pages have been taken down and saved—until now. Poems collected here represent a decade of testimony pinned and flying from a cedar post planted in a garden. They may trigger what you're looking for in your own life. There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody.

May 30th: Lynn Martin “Arising from a sequence of great losses, Lynn Martin’s poems walk straight into the deepest sorrow. There, face to face with the most terrifying state of not knowing, they expand outward to the farthest rim of affirmation—where the blue bowl holds everything.” —Noelle Oxenhandler, Essayist, The New Yorker

Writers and Ideas at YVCC, Preview 2006

2006-03-15T01:17:00.000-08:00

Video of Weathered Pages at Elliott Bay

2006-03-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

Video of Weathered Pages at Hugo House

2006-03-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Blue Begonia at Burning Word

2006-02-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Washington Poets Association presents

Burning Word 2006

The Festival of Poetic Fire!

At Historic Greenbank Farm on Whidbey Island, WA
Saturday, April 29, 2005 - All Day!

All Day-All Event Passes: only $15 Adults, $7.50 Students

The Washington Poets Association will commemorate its 35th anniversary Saturday April 29th by presenting "Burning Word 2006", a dynamic, all-day celebration of poetry, music, performance, and workshops, featuring more than 40 talented poets and musicians, ranging from renown award-winning poets to hot new talents you'll want to discover.

The 2005 Main Stage will feature the non-stop excitement of more than 40 accomplished poet/performers. Festival headliners this year are internationally acclaimed poets Carolyn Kizer and Tess Gallagher. Also featured will be Madeline DeFrees, Tara Hardy, Ilya Kaminski, and Amalio Madueño.

The other outstanding Main Stage talent includes: Caleb and Rijl Barber, Bart Baxter, Jim Bodeen, Gloria Burgess, John Burgess, Lyn Coffin, Barton Cole, Sharon Cumberland, j.d. crosato, J.Glenn Evans, Thomas Hubbard, Holly Hughes, Paul Hunter, Christopher J. Jarmick, Don Kentop, Claudia Mauro, Terry Martin, Jack McCarthy, Tiffany Midge, Kevin Miller, Jed Meyers, John Olson, Peter Pereira, Eve Preus, Martha Silano, Joni Takanikos, Kary Wayson, the Weathered Pages poets, Brian Whittingham, Jane Winslow, and Pieter Zilinsky.

Weathered Pages in the Olympics

2006-02-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

FIVE POETS TO READ FROM A WEATHERED PAGES

ANTHOLOGY AT MARCH 14 FOOTHILLS PRESENTATION

PORT ANGELES, Washington (February –, 2006)—On Tuesday, March 14, Peninsula College’s Foothills Writers Series will present a special program featuring readings by five poets whose work appears in the Weathered Pages anthology.

The book had its official debut last September at Bumbershoot and since then Weathered Pages readings have been held all over the state. The five poets who will read their work at the March 14 Foothills have varied backgrounds, and the voices they represent are uniquely their own.

Poets who will participate in the noontime reading in the college’s Little Theater include Port Townsend poet Gayle Kaune, Poulsbo poet Jenifer Browne Lawrence and Bainbridge Island poets Lindsay Brown, Kristin Henshaw, and John Willson.

The story behind the Weathered Pages anthology is a unique one, as are the stories of the individual poets whose work appear. The idea was the brainchild of Blue Begonia editor and press operator Jim Bodeen of Yakima, Washington.

"If wine can age gracefully, why can't words?", he asked. That was the beginning of The Poetry Pole, a six-foot cedar post he stuck in the front yard of his home in Yakima, and on which he invited poets to pin their work. As more and more poems were posted, Bodeen began to collect them, emptying the post from time to time to allow for still more postings.

The Poetry Pole remained in Bodeen’s yard for nearly a decade, drawing poets from all over the state and the country. Eventually, more than 1,000 poems were posted, and Bodeen decided the pole's pinnings were worth publishing.

He enlisted the aid of three coeditors, who helped him sift through the collection. The result is an anthology that contains more than 200 poems by 132 poets from the Northwest, including ones by Peninsula College’s own poet, English and German professor Alice Derry. Derry is also a codirector of the college’s Foothills Writers Series and was instrumental in bringing the following Weathered Pages readers to the college:

Port Townsend poet Gayle Kaune has published widely in literary magazines, including Willow Springs, Seattle Review, Greenfield Review, Centennial Review and South Florida Poetry Review. Her poems have won several Washington Poets’ Association Awards and the Ben Hur Lampman Prize and have been nominated for a Pushcart prize. Her chapbook, Concentric Circles, won the Flume Press award and her book, Still Life in the Physical World, is available from Blue Begonia Press. Kaune recently relocated from the Eastern Washington desert to Port Townsend.

Lindsay Brown of Bainbridge Island used to live just a few sidewalks and a side street away from The Poetry Pole. Now, she lives by the ocean and makes art out of sea glass and says she still can't decide which is better.

Kristin Henshaw has taught Japanese and Language Arts courses at Bainbridge High School for the past 20 years. Her poetry has been published in numerous magazines and journals, including Calyx, Crab Creek Review and convolvulus. She also has had feature articles published in The Bainbridge Review and the Yomiuri newspaper in Japan.

Jenifer Browne Lawrence of Poulsbo has been published in Potomac Review, Windfall, and Comstock Review. Blue Begonia Press will publish her first poetry collection, One Hundred Steps from Shore, in 2006.

John Willson, a poetry instructor for the Bainbridge Island Park District and a bookseller at Eagle Harbor Book company, is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize as well as awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, the Artist Trust of Washington and the King County Arts Commission. His chapbook, The Son We Had, was published by Blue Begonia Press in 1999. He was a 1995 finalist in the National Poetry Series.

Scenes from the Whidbey Island

2006-02-24T21:07:00.000-08:00

Save the Dates February and March

2006-02-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Weathered Pages Events in February and March

Please help promote these events by forwarding these links to friends and family who might be interested.

Friday, February 10 - 7 to 9 PM
Reading Seattle Richard Hugo House

Saturday, February 11 - 7 to 9 PM
Reading Langley's Island Coffee House

Sunday, February 12 - 5:15 to 8 PM
Free Workshop for High School Age StudentsLangley's Island Coffee House

February 15th, 630 pm
The Olympia Poetry Network and Blue Begonia Press present:An Evening of Weathered Poets
From The Olympia Poetry Network

Friday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m.
The Elliott Bay Book Company Weathered Pages Reading with:

MARCH 12, SUNDAY, 3PM
Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge, Washington

Washington Poets Association Hosts:

2006-02-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

"Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole 1996-2005"
Yakima Poets Come to Seattle & Whidbey Island

Free Reading Seattle Richard Hugo House
Friday, February 10 - 7 to 9 PM
Readers to include:

Paul Hunter

Jenifer Lawrence

Keely Murphy

Free Reading Langley's Island Coffee House
Saturday, February 11 - 7 to 9 PM

Free Workshop for High School Age Students
Langley's Island Coffee House
Sunday, February 12 - 5:15 to 8 PM

If wine can age gracefully, why can't words? That was sort of what Blue Begonia Press operator Jim Bodeen of Yakima, Wash., had in mind when he decided to publish Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole 1996-2005. Bodeen had been collecting the poems for years, ever since 1996, when he stuck a cedar post in the front yard of the home he shares with his wife, Karen, in Yakima, and invited the poetry community to share their work by pinning it to the post, entitled, aptly, "The Poetry Pole."

Nine years and hundreds of weather-stained, sometimes tear-stained pages later, Bodeen decided that the pole's pinnings were worth publishing. He enlisted the aid of three co-editors, Dan Peters, Terry Martin and Rob Prout, and sifted through 1,000 poems, gleaning the work of some 132 writers from throughout the Northwest.

With the help of a Breneman Jaech Foundation grant administered through the local Allied Arts of Yakima organization, Blue Begonia published Weathered Pages last September. The book has been featured at a number of public venues, including its debut last September at Bumbershoot.

But the show continues, and Weathered Pages writers will be gathering at Seattle's Richard Hugo House and at Langley's Island Coffee House for three public events in February.

First up, the Washington Poets Association and Richard Hugo House will co-sponsor a free Weathered Pages reading:

Friday, Feb. 10th - 7 to 9 p.m.Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole Free Reading! Richard Hugo House Cabaret
1634 11th Ave.Seattle, WA 98122206-322-7030

Reading will be editors Bodeen, Peters, Martin and Prout. Donations are welcome and will help support non-profit small press, Blue Begonia's efforts to promote Weathered Pages.

Readers will also include:

Paul Hunter

Then the show moves on to Whidbey Island, where the WPA, the Learning and Community Engagement Program (LACEP) and Americorps will co-sponsor:

Saturday, Feb. 11th - 7 to 9 p.m.
Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole Free Reading!

At Island Coffee House124 2nd StreetLangley, WA - Whidbey Island360-221-2414

Reading will be editors Bodeen, Peters, Martin and Prout.
Donations are welcome and will help support non-profit small press, Blue Begonia's efforts to promote Weathered Pages.

Finally, the WPA, LACEP and Americorps will co-sponsor a free workshop for high school-age students. The workshop will be taught by Bodeen, who taught English at Yakima's Davis High School for 33 years. Sunday, Feb. 12th - 5:15 to 8 PM

Free Writing Workshop For high school age students At Island Coffee House 124 2nd Street Langley, WA - Whidbey Island 360-221-2414

When asked about the upcoming workshop, Bodeen said, "20 months ago I was given a word, Storypath/Cuentocamino. Two slammed- together nouns in English and Spanish. No handbook, no definition. Storypath/Cuentocamino is what I'm interested in. I have been given deeper explorations into testimony/testimonio, witnessing, and the relationship of poetry and listening. I'm not an expert in anything. I'm a beginner. In Spanish the word is principiante." For more information on this workshop contact Eve Preus

For More Information on these events contact: Victory Lee Schouten
360-331-7099

Eagle Harbor Books Hosts:

2006-01-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge Washington, Hosts:

BLUE BEGONIA PRESS POETS
MARCH 12, SUNDAY, 3PM

Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole. For ten years a four-by-four wood pole has stood in the side yard at the home of Blue Begonia Press in Yakima, where it has received poems with push-pins from countless poets who also paused to read the work placed there by others. Editor Jim Bodeen, Keeper of the Pole, in concert with poet/editors Terry Martin, Dan Peters, and artist/poet/editor Rob Prout, distilled this collection of works enduring the tests of weather and time into the book Weathered Pages.

They will be joined by Bainbridge poets Lindsay Brown, Kristin Henshaw, and John Willson, along with Jenifer Lawrence of Poulsbo, Gayle Kaune of Port Townsend, and Alice Derry of Port Angeles, in a reading celebrating this quintessentially democratic venue.

For directions: Eagle Harbor Books

OPN and BBP

2006-01-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Olympia Poetry Network and Blue Begonia Press present:
An Evening of Weathered Poets, February 15th, 630 pm.

From The Olympia Poetry Network:
http://www.scattercreek.com/~yake/opn.html.

Here is a picture of the shape of the evening.
The reading is held at Traditions Fair Trade Cafe, 300 Fifth Ave. SW (5th and Water Streets), downtown Olympia. We try to begin promptly, as near to 6:30 as possible.
Please bring friends, family, and books to sign and sell.
An open mike begins shortly after some opening remarks and lasts about 30 minutes.
We strongly encourage the open mike.

It is the mission of the Olympia Poetry Network to:
1) bring the strongest readers available to our community, and
2) encourage writers of all experience levels to share their work with us.

Here’s a link to the venue:
http://www.traditionsfairtrade.com/pages/tradhome.html.

Featured Poets TBA, but if you are interested in reading at this event and are in Weathered Pages, let us know soon and, like that, you’ll be a featured poet.

Weathered Pages in the News

2005-12-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

From the Yakima Herald Republic, 2005 Year in Review Top Local Stories for Entertainment:

http://yakimaherald.com/page/on/28505602127437

Coming soon, calendar of readings.
Happy New Year!

Bundles of Blue

2005-12-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here’s a brief look at the Blue Begonia Press Catalogue. Works not listed are either out of print of not part of the seasonal specials being offered. The entire catalogue, including rare and out of print titles, will be available soon on the Blue Begonia Press website.

You may buy any of the books individually.
Or you may choose to create your own “Blue Begonia Bundle”.
A few are suggested below, but feel free to mix and match to fit your tastes.

Send your orders to:
Blue Begonia Press 225 South 15th Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902
email: bodeen22@charter.net
Please indicate the special pricing when you order, so we can keep track more easily.

Prices include free shipping and are good until January 31st, 2006:

30% off orders of 3 books.
40% off orders of 4 books.
50% off orders of 5 or more books.

THREE SUGGESTED BUNDLES:

AWARD WINNING BUNDLE—
$25 for any three of the following:

NOW THE DAY IS OVER
by Joan Fiset
ISBN 0-011287-22-1 (paper) $12.95
146 pages 6 x 9
King County Arts Commission Book Award, Selected by Rebecca Brown

SECRET WATERS
by Linda C. Brown
ISBN 0-911287-24-8 (paper) $10.00
64 pages 6 x 9
Publication Award from Artist Trust in Seattle

ESCAPE OF THE BIRD WOMEN
by Linda Andrews
0-911287-25-6 paper $12.00
Washington State Governor’s Award Winner:

STORM
by Judith Skillman
0-911287-26-4 paper $12.00
Winner of Academy of American Poets
Eric Mathieu King Award

SEEKING LIGHT IN EACH DARK ROOM/
BUSCANDO LUZ EN CADA CUARTO OSCURO
Young Latino Voices Anthology
edited by Jim Bodeen
ISBN: 0-911287-48-5 paper 352 pages $15.00
Winner Most Adventuresome Publication, Bumbershoot Book Fair, Seattle 2002

BARDONS CROSSING
by Doug Johnson
ISBN: 0-911287-30-2
Handmade / Handsewn $10.00
Signed. 200 copies
Winner Best Design Book Award Bumbershoot Book Fair, Seattle 1998

BIRD WOMEN BUNDLE—
$25 for any three of the following

ESCAPE OF THE BIRD WOMEN
by Linda Andrews
0-911287-25-6 paper $12.00

NOW THE DAY IS OVER
by Joan Fiset
ISBN 0-011287-22-1 (paper) $12.95
146 pages 6 x 9

CLEARWATER
By Alice Derry
091128723X paper $15.00

SECRET WATERS
by Linda C. Brown
ISBN 0-911287-24-8 (paper) $10.00
64 pages 6 x 9

BEETHOVEN AND THE BIRDS
by Judith Skillman
ISBN 0-911287-19-1 (paper) $11.00
100 pages 6 x 9

STORM
by Judith Skillman
0-911287-26-4 paper $12.00

STILL LIFE IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD
by Gayle Kaune
ISBN 0-911287-17-5 (paper) $11.00
94 pages 6 x 9

WRITERS AND IDEAS, YVCC READING SERIES BUNDLE—
$25 for any three of the following

CONFLUENCE: POEMS OF TOM PIER
by Tom Pier
ISBN: 0-911287-50-7 paper $13.00

THIS GREEN
by Barry Grimes
ISBN 0-911287-15-9 (paper) $10.00
94 pages 6 x 9

ESCAPE OF THE BIRD WOMEN
by Linda Andrews
0-911287-25-6 paper $12.00

EVERYWHERE WAS FAR
by Kevin Miller
0-911287-28-0 paper $13.00

CLEARWATER
By Alice Derry
091128723X paper $15.00

THE BLUE BEGONIA PRESS CATALOGUE

THE LONESOME BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT
by Lee Bassett
ISBN 0-911287-14-0 (paper) 10.00
71 pages 6 x 9

THIS GREEN
by Barry Grimes
ISBN 0-911287-15-9 (paper) $10.00
94 pages 6 x 9

ESCAPE OF THE BIRD WOMEN
by Linda Andrews
0-911287-25-6 paper $12.00

NOW THE DAY IS OVER
by Joan Fiset
ISBN 0-011287-22-1 (paper) $12.95
146 pages 6 x 9

SECRET WATERS
by Linda C. Brown
ISBN 0-911287-24-8 (paper) $10.00
64 pages 6 x 9

BEETHOVEN AND THE BIRDS
by Judith Skillman
ISBN 0-911287-19-1 (paper) $11.00
100 pages 6 x 9

STORM
by Judith Skillman
0-911287-26-4 paper $12.00

STILL LIFE IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD
by Gayle Kaune
ISBN 0-911287-17-5 (paper) $11.00
94 pages 6 x 9

IMPULSE TO LOVE
by Jim Bodeen
0-911287-27-2 paper $13.00

EVERYWHERE WAS FAR
by Kevin Miller
0-911287-28-0 paper $13.00

BLUE BOWL
by Lynn Martin
0-911287-42-6 paper $13.00

THE RESERVOIR
by Dan Peters
0-911287-49-3 paper $14.00

CONFLUENCE: POEMS OF TOM PIER
by Tom Pier
ISBN: 0-911287-50-7 paper $13.00

LOST RIVER MOUNTAIN
by Charles Potts
ISBN: 0-911287-32-9 paper $13.00

KIOT Selected Early Poems 1963-1977
by Charles Potts
0-911287-51-5 paper $10.00

LOVING IN TIME OF WAR
by Jody Aliesan
ISBN 0-911287-31-0 paper $13.00

GRIEF SWEAT
by Jody Aliesan
ISBN: 0-913089-19-2 paper $10.00

LEE BASSETT: THE POEMS 1973-2000
by Lee Bassett
ISBN: 0-911287-34-5 paper $15.00

SEEKING LIGHT IN EACH DARK ROOM/
BUSCANDO LUZ EN CADA CUARTO OSCURO
Young Latino Voices Anthology
edited by Jim Bodeen
ISBN: 0-911287-48-5 paper 352 pages $15.00

FROM THE WORKING SIGNS CHAPBOOK SERIES:

AL HET
by Zev Shanken
0-911287-20-5
Handmade / Handsewn $10.00
Signed.

BARDONS CROSSING
by Doug Johnson
ISBN: 0-911287-30-2
Handmade / Handsewn $10.00
Signed. 200 copies

THE SON WE HAD
by John Willson
0-911287-35-3
Handmade / Handsewn $12.00
Signed. 250 copies

SIFTING THROUGH STONES
by Kristin Henshaw
0-911287-36-1
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
Signed. 250 copies

A MOUTHPIECE OF THUMBS
by Derek Sheffield
0-911287-38-8
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00

AVIATION
by Catherine Coan
ISBN; 0-911287-39-6
300 copies. Handsewn $15.00

THE TELLING SIGNS
by Susan Moon
0-911287-41-8
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
315 Numbered & Signed copies

SWEETBRIER
by Judith Skillman
0-911287-44-2
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
Signed.

LILACS WAITING ON NANCY’S BONNET
by Barbara Thomas
0-911287-45-0
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
500 copies. Numbered & Signed

SPANISH CROSSES
by Brett Dillahunt
0-911287-46-9
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
250 copies signed and numbered.

FOURTEEN LINES & THREE STRIKES: SONNETS
by Doug Johnson
0-911287-53-1
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
Each Cover Original Illustration by poet in an envelope
210 signed and numbered copies.

THIS STEADY PLACE
by Keely Murphy
0-911287-54-X
Handmade / Handsewn $15.00
Signed.

Three Blue Begonia Events in December

2005-12-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Book signing at Inklings Bookshop in Glenwood Square
Saturday December 17th, 1-3pm.

http://www.inklingsbookshop.com
5110 Tieton Drive • Suite 300 • Yakima, WA 509.965.5830 Mon-Sat: 10-9 • Sun: 12-6

Book signing at Oak Hollow Gallery in the Chalet Shopping Center
Sunday December 18th, 1-3pm.
OAK HOLLOW GALLERY — 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, noon-4 p.m. Sundays and evenings by appointment at 5631 Summitview Ave. Call 965-3846

We invite all Weathered Pages contributors to share part of their weekend with Blue Begonia, Inklings and Oak Hollow as we celebrate the book and the holiday season. Drop by and lend a hand as we explain this important work to curious shoppers.

Join Jim, Terry, Dan and Rob around the tables. The events will be a great opportunity to meet your readers, make connections to other poets in the anthology and help us sign several boxes of books.

The current show at Oak Hollow, "Gifts From the Artists' Hands," features jewelry, painting, drawing, pottery, sculpture, weaving, photography, fiber arts and crafts by 55 local and regional artists. It runs through the holiday season.

Working Signs Reading, Tuesday December 20th at 8pm,
hosted by Inkling Bookshop.

Blue Begonia’s chapbook series, Working Signs, is pleased to announce the first reading devoted solely to the work of two outstanding Yakima poets.

Doug Johnson, 14 lines and 3 Strikes, and Keely Murphy, This Steady Place, will be giving a free public reading Tuesday, December 20th at 8pm, hosted by Inklings Bookshop.

This is the first extended chance Yakima will have to hear the work of these incredible writers. (scroll down for early reviews of their work, along with pictures of the authors and their books)

Come spend a cold winter evening with the warmth of the spoken word shared among friends and help Blue Begonia celebrate the accomplishments of these gifted poets.

Weathered Pages Visits the Tri-Cities

2005-11-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Reading and Book Signing:
This Friday, December 2nd,
8-10 pm at the WSU Tri-Cities branch campus.

Featured poets include:
Linda Andrews, Dan Lamberton,
Doug Johnson, and Keely Murphy

The event is also an open mic, so all Weathered Poets are encouraged to come and participate. Please help us by forwarding this link to anyone you think might be interested in this first out-of-town Weathered Pages reading.

Here's a link for directions: WSU-TC Auditorium, 2710 University Dr., Richland, WA 99354 (See map) http://www.tricity.wsu.edu/libarts/la_event.html

Linda Andrews' poems have appeared widely in journals and magazines. She has received the Richard Blessing Award, an Academy of American Poets Prize, and the Ucross Foundation Fellowship. Her book of poems, Escape of the Bird Women, received a 1999 Washington State Governor's Award. She has worked as a speechwriter and editor in the health care field and in this capacity has been published in several professional periodicals, including The New England Journal of Medicine. She teaches English at Walla Walla College.

Dan Lamberton teaches at Walla Walla College. His poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Sojourners, Northern Lights and other journals and anthologies. He has an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Washington.

Doug Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate in educational psychology and is in press with the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. As a high school English teacher he writes poetry on scraps of paper in between teaching, and caring for his family. Besides 14 lines, 3 strikes being his second piece in the Working Signs project he is published recently in Weathered Pages. He loves riding his Harley, playing piano, seeking silence and his angel-Tanya.

Keely Murphy is a writer from the Yakima Valley who has been recognized by Prism, the YVCC Student Arts and Literary Journal, and also by the Allied Arts Council of Yakima County. Most recently published by Blue Begonia Press, her book This Steady Place is a collection of poems in the Working Signs chapbook series.

Scenes from Borders Reading October 22nd

2005-10-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Charles Potts (Kiot, The Portable Potts)
and Gail Pearlman

...we have no maps, but I ask you
to break out of prison, run like hell,
don't stop until you find the truth.
I promise I will ask this.

from "New Year's Promises",
by Gail Pearlman in Weathered Pages

Janelle Howell and Jim Bodeen

What I remember is this:
Your thick fingers folding
over my 5 year-old hand knuckled
like a butter clam
deep in your palm.

from "Moments", by Janelle Howell in WP

Stephen Thomas ("Perspectival" in WP)
and Doug Johnson

I knew then that no one was
braver....You had dealt with all of those
hollow trees longer than I had. You knew that the woman would
get it eventually.

from "Whale Skin", by Doug Johnson in WP.

Walter Schlect, Dustin Becker and the Coles.

Jane Schwab ("Hop Fields, 1944") Kim Nowacki,
and Keely Murphy (This Steady Place)

You worked in fields not your own
dreamed of a six foot reach,
unending twine
circling a globe you'd craft
to shade your family from the August sun.

from "Hop Fields, 1944" by Jane Schwab in WP.

Scenes from Allied Arts Reading

2005-10-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Reading This Saturday

2005-10-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Poetry reading Saturday,
October 22nd
Starting at 7pm
Borders Books,
Union Gap.

Featuring:
Keely Murphy, author of
This Steady Place
Doug Johnson, author of
14 Lines and 3 Strikes
and Charles Potts, most recently author of Kiot
published by Blue Begonia Press and The Portable Potts, published by West End Press

with-
Jim Bodeen, publisher of Blue Begonia Press
Terry Martin
Rob Prout
Dan Peters
and an invitation to read
for all poets featured in Weathered Pages.

Thanks especially to Jeremy Gaulke, whose poem “In the Garden” is featured in Weathered Pages, for setting up this event.

Prout's Parking Lot Poem

2005-10-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

From the cars in the lot at the first reading of Weathered Pages, October 9th, 2005.

Book Release, Potluck, Signing, Reading

2005-10-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Weathered Pages: The Poetry Pole

132 poets

“Start the poetry now.” Thomas McGrath

Weathered Pages: Book Release / Potluck / Book Signing / Reading

Sunday, October 9, 2005 ( Allied Arts Center 5000 West Lincoln Avenue Yakima

Schedule:

Potluck on the Picnic Grounds at Allied Arts: Noon to 1:30—Meet each other, sign books, celebrate your work, your way of working, your being in the world. For the poets and their friends and families

Reading 2-5 pm Allied Arts Theatre on the grounds—for the public. Everyone.

The Plan: Yakima Valley Poets to host poets coming in from out of town

Please bring: Salad, Main Dish, Bread or Fruit for 4-6 people

Dessert, coffee, bottled water provided by Allied Arts, Blue Begonia Press and Starbucks

RSVP to Jim Bodeen: Bodeen22@charter.net by Thursday October 6th.

If you need a place to stay, please let Jim know. We’ll find accommodations.
If you would like to host a poet in Yakima, please let Jim know.
And if you have any questions let’s hear them too.

In the hard service of the word. In that spirit.

Directions to Allied Arts Center:
If you are coming into town from Seattle or Ellensburg: after crossing the Selah bridge into Yakima take the 1st exit (Highway 12, Exit to Naches) and then the 40th Ave Exit, stay on 40th until you reach the light on Lincoln. Turn right on Lincoln Ave continuing until you reach Gilbert Park and Allied Arts Gallery.

If you are coming from the South: Take the Nob Hill Exit off I-82, cross over the freeway and stay on Nob Hill until you reach 40th Ave. Turn right on 40th continuing until you reach the light at Lincoln. Turn left on Lincoln Ave, continuing until you reach Gilbert Park and Allied Arts Gallery.

New From Blue Begonia Press

2005-09-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

“Man.”
--Rob Wyman
on
This Steady Place, debut poetry from Keely Murphy

14 Lines
3 Strikes

210 different covers

21 poems

All
Doug Johnson

Experimental, Innovative, Improvisational

Blue Begonia Press is proud to announce a return of the Working Signs series of chapbooks. The award-winning series features limited edition, handmade blends of technology and tradition. The books are the result of a collaboration between writers.

This Steady Place, by Keely Murphy, has already had it’s first review. Rob Wyman, a public defender from Seattle, Washington, was handed This Steady Place at Bumbershoot 2005. He was laughing about something when he opened the book. His laugh became a smile. His hand went to his chin and he turned to a serious reading of the first poem.

When he was done, he turned around and said “Man.”

If you ever think there’s nothing new to be said, read Keely Murphy’s debut.

Doug Johnson’s new book, 14 Lines 3 Strikes features 210 different versions of the same book. Each cover has completely original artwork. The entire book is a study in originality and improvisation. The poems are a sequence of jazz sonnets about baseball, teaching, family, art and the arbitrary.

Doug Johnson, one of the creators of the Working Signs series in 1998, is the first poet to have two Working Signs chapbooks. As with his first chapbook, Bardons Crossing, Johnson gives you the envelope and then he pushes it open in your hands. The book is intimate and personal by design.

These are the first two of a new wave of Working Signs.

They are written by two poets from Weathered Pages.

The three books together make a very nice set.

This Steady Place--$15

14 Lines 3 Strikes--$10

They are available, along with Weathered Pages, at Inklings Booksellers and by contacting the press directly at:

Blue Begonia Press
225 South 15th Avenue
Yakima, WA
98902
email: bodeen22@charter.net

Ordering Information

2005-09-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Send your Weathered Pages orders to

Blue Begonia Press
225 South 15th Avenue
Yakima, WA
98902
email: bodeen22@charter.net

$20 (+$5 s/h and tax)
* Special discount for contributors, $11 (+3 s/h/, and tax)

Information for booksellers:
40%, purchaser pays the shipping.

Books will be available for purchase at all readings and events.
They are also available at Inklings Bookstore (www.inklingsbookshop.com) and Borders in Union Gap.

The Book Launch at Oak Hollow

2005-09-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Raul "Torito" Torres: I am Torito, little bull. Now I am a touchy-feely guy. This poem is my way of telling everyone, including my relatives, that I am not totatly disabled because of my blindness. I can still do the things I used to do--and some things, even better.

Keely Murphy, with Walter Schlect: I live in the Yakima Valley, one block away from the Poetry Pole. It is in the center of the city. This is where everything begins. The Pole has arms.

Laurie Kanyer: For when you leave, evil shall not know/ you've walked away.

Jim Bodeen with Peggy Ludwick: Each of these poems has been in the weather. Each poet has trusted a process larger than anything that can be explained....May the poems have more adventures, as William Stafford delighted in saying. May they also find new homes.

Weathered Pages Book Launch in the News

2005-09-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

Book Launch Party/ Celebration/ Reception Today
Saturday, Sept. 10
4:00-7:00
Oak Hollow Gallery
5631 Summitview‹Chalet Place (by Starbucks & Wray¹s Thriftway)
Yakima

Oak Hollow Gallery and the Blue Begonia Press are hosting a book launch party at the Gallery's brand new location. The afternoon will include a short introduction to the book, followed by time to meet the authors, hear about how their poems ended up on the pole, and have them sign your book.

Here's the latest on the book from today's Yakima Herald Republic, thanks to another great article from Kim Nowacki.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/284198575177913

Weathered Pages Events

2005-09-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

Please put the following kick-off events for the book on your calendar. We hope you can join us for these celebrations. Bring your family and friends!

Book Launch Party/ Celebration/ Reception
Saturday, Sept. 10
4:00-7:00
Oak Hollow Gallery
5631 Summitview‹Chalet Place (by Starbucks & Wray¹s Thriftway)
Yakima

Oak Hollow Gallery and the Blue Begonia Press are hosting a book launch party at the Gallery's brand new location. The afternoon will include a short introduction to the book, followed by time to meet the authors, hear about how their poems ended up on the pole, and have them sign your book.

Poetry Reading and Potluck
Sunday, October 9
2:00-5:00
Allied Arts Center
5000 West Lincoln Ave.
Yakima

This will be the first official Weathered Pages poetry reading. After a potluck in the park next to the Allied Arts Center, many poets featured in the anthology (from in and outside the region) will read their work.

Blue Begonia Press Announces Weathered Pages

2005-09-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

A six-foot cedar post, the word POETRY carved on both the east and west sides, planted in a garden on a street corner in Yakima, Washington, pushpins stuck in the wood. For ten years, hundreds of people have pinned thousands of poems to the Poetry Pole at Blue Begonia Press. Weathered Pages is a sampling of the work of those who have used the Poetry Pole as a source of inspiration.

This book includes over 200 poems by poets from all corners of the country and from around the world, who have joined poets from Yakima in posting their work. Some contributors are being published here for the first time; others are internationally known. These writers—male and female, young and old, gay and straight, free and incarcerated, Native, Asian, Latino, Anglo and African-American—gather around belief in one of the most democratic, and perhaps most necessary, art forms.

After time in the weather, the pages have been taken down and saved—until now. Poems collected here represent a decade of testimony pinned and flying from a cedar post planted in a garden. They may trigger what you're looking for in your own life. There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody.

Blue Begonia News & Calendar

Kim-An Lieberman at YVCC Part One

Don't Miss Kim-An Lieberman coming to an event near you

Gail Pearlman's New Year's Promises

Secret Waters Reprinted

Barry Grimes on Cold Mountain Song 62

Weathered Pages Vol. 1

Weathered Pages Vol. 2

Weathered Pages Vol. 3

YVCC Field Trip to the Poetry Pole

An Invitation

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Browne Lawrence

Saturday Oct 13th at Inklings

True North/Nord Vrai

LitFuse Scholarships

More from Inklings

From Miller, Peters and Grimes at Inklings

100 Steps Review in the Seattle Times

Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading at YVCC

Seeking Light Reading and Lecture

Seeking Light Documentary Part 1

Seeking Light Documentary Partt 2

Michael Daley at YVCC

Jim Bodeen Reading at YVCC

Terry Martin Reading at YVCC

Upcoming Readings for Terry Martin and The Secret Language of Women

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence and 100 Steps

More photos from Hugo House

List of Readings for Terry Martin in the coming months

Images from Hugo House

Welcome

The Secret Language of Women

One Hundred Steps from Shore

A Review of Readers from Last Spring at YVCC

Weathered Pages Application for Bumbershoot

Another Great Review for The Secret Language

Terry and Jenifer on the Road to...

The Secret Language of Women, First Review

One Hundred Steps' First Review

One Hundred Steps in the News

100 Steps from Shore at Eagle Harbor Books

Pictures of Jenifer's First Reading from Jim Bodeen

Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence

The Secret Language in the news

One Hundred Steps from Shore

The Secret Language of Women

Coming Soon...

Scenes from Weathered Pages Port Townsend Reading

Weathered Pages and Terry Martin

Lynn Martin at Yvcc

Judith Skillman at YVCC

Gayle Kaune at YVCC

Charles Potts Video

Lynn Martin Reading Tuesday May 30th

YVCC Weathered Pages Reading

Scenes from Gayle Kaune Lecture/Reading

Scenes from Cashmere Reading

From Friday's On Magazine YHR

Charles Potts at YVCC

Writers and Ideas Reading Spring Series

Writers and Ideas at YVCC, Preview 2006

Video of Weathered Pages at Elliott Bay

Video of Weathered Pages at Hugo House

Blue Begonia at Burning Word

Burning Word 2006

The Festival of Poetic Fire!At Historic Greenbank Farm on Whidbey Island, WASaturday, April 29, 2005 - All Day!

Weathered Pages in the Olympics

Scenes from the Whidbey Island

Save the Dates February and March

Washington Poets Association Hosts:

Eagle Harbor Books Hosts:

OPN and BBP

Weathered Pages in the News

Bundles of Blue

Three Blue Begonia Events in December

Weathered Pages Visits the Tri-Cities

Scenes from Borders Reading October 22nd

Scenes from Allied Arts Reading

Reading This Saturday

Prout's Parking Lot Poem

The Festival of Poetic Fire!

At Historic Greenbank Farm on Whidbey Island, WA
Saturday, April 29, 2005 - All Day!