ARMCHAIR POETRY READING SERIES

"A wonderful venue for emerging as well as seasoned poets to gather and find community."

The First Saturday of Every Month at 7:00 PM we invite two local poets to read their work, then at 9 PM open mike is available to new, rising stars.

All scheduled poetry readings to be followed by open mic.  

July 12: Nancy Rekow, Everett Thompson, and Marianna Mears      
Nancy Rekow, widely published, award-winning poet & Bainbridge resident over 44 years, began writing poetry 37 years ago in Bob McAllister's inspirational night workshop.  Since then she has led workshops on Bainbridge and in community colleges for adults & students of all ages & served as a poet-in-the-schools, also organizing readings, contests, displays, radio readings & poetry contests along the way.  Many of her students have published and won awards.  For the Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council, she created & directed the NORTHWEST POETS & ARTISTS CALENDAR project.  As editor & consultant, she has helped many people write & publish books of poetry, stories, history, & memoirs, including Island of Geese & Stars & Minnie Rose Lovgreen's Recipe for Raising Chickens.  Currently she teaches poetry & prose workshops for beginning & experienced writers, edits manuscripts, & tutors students of all ages in writing & English.  This spring she taught poetry in the Bainbridge schools to both 7th graders and 1st graders, sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Arts Education Consortium.                                                                                                              Everett Thompson came to Bainbridge Island from a family of preachers and tobacco growers in North Carolina, where he fell in love with reading at the Olivia Rainey Public Library across from the sleepy state capitol. He graduated from Roxboro High School, attended college and got an MA in English from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. After two years in the U.S. Army during the Cuban missile crisis era, he taught for a year in a rural K-12 school in North Carolina, and then English at Bainbridge High School from 1968-1999. He helped Nancy Rekow select the poems for Island of Geese & Stars, and some of his poems have been published in various poetry journals. He has one daughter, Jennifer, and three sons—Matt, John (a senior at BHS), and Duncan, an eighth-grader at Woodward.                            
Marianna Mears was born in Illinois but moved to Seattle at the age of 4.  On the train ride she told her parents "this is REALLY living!".  On the move since then, settling for the past sixteen years in Kitsap county, Mears has created a home for writers and artists to congregate - the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse.  Inspired by the home away from home places she has visited all over the world, she wanted to have a spot like that in Poulsbo.  Originally built as a house after WW2, the building has had a long history of housing a variety of businesses including the Kitsap Herald, a Mexican restaurant and a Scandinavian restaurant.  She even met her husband in the coffeehouse and had the wedding ceremony there.  To add to the home-y-ness the place is filled with pre-owned furnishings.  Her desire to have a safe, comfortable spot for all world-weary travelers from Bainbridge Island to Japan has become a reality.  In the midst of this, she continues to write a few poems in her spare time.  She has hosted the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse Armchair poetry series since it opened.  There have been writing groups meeting there for 15 years, including Nancy Rekow's for five years in the past.  There have been visiting writers giving readings and teaching classes.  Mears has been published in periodicals from coast to coast.  Someday she'd like to sit down and write a book.

August 2: Kate Cunningham, Celine O'Leary, Nan Wooldridge

September 6: Sheila Crofut, Dawn Henthorn, Jay Payne

 NOTE:  WE ARE STILL WORKING ON THE 2ND EVER POULSBOHEMIAN POETRY BOOK.

We sometimes we Videotape our poetry readings!

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