Poetry Reading with Pacific Northwest Poets

Please join us for a summer reading by three acclaimed Pacific Northwest poets: Suzanne Edison, Michael Schmeltzer, and Kelli Russell Agodon.

Please join us for a summer reading by three acclaimed Pacific Northwest poets: Suzanne Edison, Michael Schmeltzer, and Kelli Russell Agodon. The poets will be available to sign their books after the event. Books are on sale now at the bookstore, and will be available at the events.

About the Poets:

Suzanne Edison: Since the House is Burning (MoonPath Press, April 2022) is Suzanne’s fourth collection of poetry. Author Erin Belieu describes the collection as: “Musically adept, formally precise, both clear eyed and unfailingly empathetic in its worldview, it’s a beautiful book–one any thoughtful reader of poetry will be glad to know.” Suzanne is a poet, educator, former therapist, mother of a child with a rare autoimmune disease. She lives her professional life at the intersection of art, healing and eduction. Since the House is Burning is Edison’s fourth book of poetry.

Michael Schmeltzer: Poet Jane Wong says “Michael Schmeltzer’s collection Empire of Surrender (Wandering Aengus Press, April 2022) “asks us to look, to feel—deep in the guts—the vibrating aftershocks of war…. Full of visceral lyricism and tender epistolaries, Schmeltzer dives into the intimate depths of war, violence, familial history, empathy, and lineage.” Michael Schmeltzer, a biracial author originally from Japan, is Editor-in-Chief of Floating Bridge Press. He is the co-author of the nonfiction book A Single Throat Opens, a lyric exploration of addiction and family. his debut poetry collection Blood Song (Two Sylvias Press, 2016) was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in Poetry, the Julie Suk Award, and the Coil Book Award.

Kelli Russell Agodon: Dialogues with Rising Tides is Kelli Russell Agodon’s fourth collection of poems, published by Copper Canyon Press in April 2021. Of Agodon’s newest book, poet Diane Suess says, “This is the book I need right here, right now, as the fires burn and the tides rise.” Kelli is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press and teaches at Pacific Lutheran University’s low-res MFA program, the Rainier Writing Workshop. She lives in a sleepy seaside town in Washington State and is an avid paddleboarder and hiker.