Poets in the Park 2019
Celebrating the Land
Saturday, 20 July 2019, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm — FREE!
Anderson Park | 7802 168th Ave NE | Redmond, Washington
Environmental theme this year—see schedule below
Teachings of the First People: Native American Story and Myth with Roger Fernandes, Lower Elwah S’Klallam Tribal Storyteller
Music by Band of Poets
Environment-themed poetry workshops by Christianne Balk, Tara Hardy, Jeffrey Morgan, and Carolyne Wright
Washington Poetic Routes reading, coordinated by Claudia Castro Luna, Washington state poet laureate
Poetry readings by more than a dozen organizations
At least 68 featured poets
New book showcase readings
Open-mic readings
Art installations by Centro Cultural Mexicano / Los Pajaros Gallery and Crystal Edwards / VALA Arts, plus craft activities
Chalk art, poetry on sticks, and other surprises, plus free ice cream!
Poets in the Park in 2019 will once again feature groups and organizations, with 25-minute reading slots, this year mostly with an environmental theme. We also have 55-minute workshops, our book fair, vendors, open-mic readings, installations, ice cream, and more—and it’s all free! Scroll down to see the schedule. If you have questions, please contact Michael Dylan Welch.
Enjoy poetry readings and performances on our Café and Picnic Shelter stages, workshops in our workshop cabin, and activities, installations, and vendors throughout the park, plus our poetry book fair (coordinated by Brick and Mortar Books, with no commission taken)—all FREE! Bring your own lunch to enjoy on the lawn or in our café area. Chalk poetry, hula hoops, Haiku on Sticks, art/craft activities for kids and adults (sponsored by VALA Arts), RASP poetry anthology poems on sticks, and more! And great summer weather too!
See the Facebook event. Tweet to #poetsinthepark.
See below for the schedule, individual and group participants, book fair information, and more.
Sponsored by the Redmond Arts & Culture Commission, the Redmond Association of Spokenword, and 4Culture, directed by Michael Dylan Welch. This event is supported in part by Poets & Writers. Additional thanks to all our volunteers.
Location/Parking
Anderson Park is located at 7802 168th Avenue NE in Redmond, Washington—see map. You’ll find plenty of free street parking (come early to park closer to the event). You can also park in the church parking lot immediately to the east of the park (yes, this is okay). Additional parking available at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, about two blocks away at 16600 NE 80th Street in Redmond.
Book Fair
Our gratitude to Dan Ullom and Nicole Craswell of Redmond’s Brick and Mortar Books for facilitating our no-commission book fair, in the Adair cabin. Just bring your poetry-related publications to sell at the book fair, fill out the book fair inventory form (view or download PDF file—please do this before Saturday if you can), and enjoy the festival! Put a price list next to your publications, or mark each one with a price. Check in at the end of the day to pick up unsold books. You can purchase publications with cash, check, or credit card.
2019 Schedule
Don’t miss a moment of our many readings and performances at our Café and Picnic stages, and workshops in the Fullard Cabin. Come early to catch it all! Bring your own lunch. All sessions end five minutes before the next session. All events and activities are free. To support poets reading at all times of the day, please commit to attending for the entire day if you can. Thank you.
Saturday, 20 July 2019, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Activities/Installations
Haiku on Sticks (view poems by Haiku Northwest members)
Poetry on Sticks (view poems from the RASP poetry anthology, Here, There, and Everywhere)
Chalk Art (by Pamela Denchfield)
Handmade Art (craft activity sponsored by VALA Arts)
Art Installation (sponsored by Centro Cultural Mexicano and its Los Pajaros Gallery)
Art Installation (by Crystal Edwards, sponsored by VALA Arts)
Groups, Organizations, Vendors, and Sponsors
Band of Poets
Black Heron Press
Book Arts Editions (artist books by Marilyn Stablein)
Brick and Mortar Books (Nicole Craswell)
Centro Cultural Mexicano / Los Pajaros Gallery
Floating Bridge Press
For Love of Orcas (anthology)
Greenwood Poets
Haiku Northwest
Jack Straw Writers
Pleasure Boat Studio (Lauren Grosskopf)
Poets & Writers
Printed Matter Vancouver
Puget Sound Poetry Connection
Raven Chronicles
Redmond Arts & Culture Commission
Redmond Association of Spokenword
Redmond Historical Society
Rose Alley Press
VALA Arts
Wandering Aengus Press
Individuals (67 scheduled performers)
Dianne Aprile
Anna Bálint
Christianne Balk
David Berger
Phoebe Bosché
Allen Braden
C. W. Buckley
Tiffany Burba
John Burgess
Terran Campbell
Lyn Coffin
Sharon Cumberland
Sarah DeWeerdt
Matthew Eiford-Schroeder
Roger Fernandes
Ida Freilinger
Dianne Garcia
Anis Gisele
Jerry Gold
Tara Hardy
Ed Harkness
David Horowitz
Ann Batchelor Hursey
Connie Hutchison
Sibyl James
Anna Jenkins
Jill McCabe Johnson
Roy Kindelberger
Jenne Knight
Claudia Castro Luna
Christopher Luna
Toni Lumbrazo Luna
Curtis Manley
Tanya McDonald
Anne McDuffie
Ted McMahon
Jory Mickelson
Natasha Moni
Jeanne Morel
Jeffrey Morgan
Jed Myers
Rosanne Olson
Ken Osborne
Carl Palmer
Jenney Pauer
Sylvia Byrne Pollack
Rena Priest
Rose Ramm
Michelle Schaefer
Michael Schmeltzer
Douglas Schuder
Tina Schumann
Martha Silano
Kara Simon
Marilyn Stablein
Kari Tai
Mary Ellen Talley
Ann Teplick
Angela Terry
Holly L. Thomas
Kathleen Tice
Richard Tice
Bob Toohey
Connie Walle
Michael Dylan Welch
Carolyne Wright
Sandra Yannone
Volunteers
Jon Albers
Laura Lee Bennett (volunteer coordinator)
Julie Brown
Nicole Craswell (Brick and Mortar Books)
Pamela Denchfield
Crystal Edwards
John Gustaveson
Elizabeth Hayden
Michael Heavener
Joan Pasch
Rose Ramm
Brooke Reedy
Susan Rich
Bruce Robertson
Vivienne Rutherford
Kara Simon
Michael Dylan Welch
and others!
History
Read about Poets in the Park 2014, Poets in the Park 2015, Poets in the Park 2016, Poets in the Park 2017, and Poets in the Park 2018—photos, schedule, participants, vendors, and more.
Michael Dylan Welch started the Poets in the Park conference in 2004, and the first two conferences were held at Marymoor Park’s Clise Mansion in Redmond, Washington, sponsored by the Redmond Association of Spokenword. These well-attended two-day events took place in April of 2004 and March of 2005. The 2014 revival of this event took place at Redmond’s Anderson Park, cosponsored by the City of Redmond and the Redmond Association of Spokenword, as more of a social and poetry reading/performance festival, with fewer workshops. Bring a blanket and picnic lunch to enjoy on the park lawns while listening to poetry at the next Poets in the Park!
Poets in the Park was one of Michael’s proposed duties as the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 poet laureate of the city of Redmond. See also the 2014 Redmond Summer Poetry Walks.
See archived websites for the 2004 and 2005 Poets in the Park conferences. See Seattle Post-Intelligencer story about the 2004 conference.