Poetry

Seattle poet Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland and worked as a civil engineer at Hanford in the 1980s. She served as Washington State Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2014. In her first year as poet laureate, she published a collection called Plume, which deals directly with how her Hanford area upbringing influenced her. The book explores the history of the site, the death of her best friend’s father from a radiation illness, and her childhood in “Atomic City.” Flenniken sits down with us from the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Writer and artist Anis Mojgani is wrapping up his second term as Oregon's poet laureate.

The fives years Alex Tretbar spent in Oregon's prison system gave him the time to refine his writing. He recently took first prize for the 2022 PEN American Prison Writing Award in Poetry.

Ada Limón was named as the nation's 24th poet laureate by the Library of Congress. She will take over from Joy Harjo, who has held the position since 2019.

Oregon School for the Deaf senior Trayshun Holmes-Gournaris is only the second deaf student to win the state's Poetry Out Loud competition by performing three poems using American Sign Language. He will now represent Oregon at the national semifinal round.

Shortly after Anis Mojgani was named Oregon's poet laureate, a pandemic broke out and Mojgani found himself stuck at home in Portland. He shifted toward virtual readings and workshops, doing what he could to make the most of his new role.

Poet Robert Bly, who authored the men’s movement classic “Iron John,” has died.

On this episode of "Literary Arts: The Archive Project", poet, scholar, and National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis presents on “The Race Within Erasure.”

On this episode of "Literary Arts: The Archive Project," National Book Award-winning poet Nikky Finney gives a powerful performance of her poetry and explains her drive to speak truth beautifully.

This episode of "Literary Arts: The Archive Project" features Cornelius Eady's talk from a Portland Arts & Lectures event in 2002, hosted by Literary Arts in Portland, Oregon.