There are no recent bookmarks.

After nomination by Arts & Humanities Bainbridge, Michele’s appointment was unanimously confirmed for a two-year term by the Bainbridge Island City Council at its September 27, 2022 meeting.

Michele Bombardier

Arts & Humanities Bainbridge and the City of Bainbridge Island are pleased to announce the appointment of Michele Bombardier as Bainbridge Island’s inaugural Poet Laureate.

Following her confirmation, she said, 

“I’m honored to serve as Bainbridge Island’s inaugural poet laureate. I look forward to organizing events such as workshops and open mics as well as bringing regional and national poets to Bainbridge for readings. We have such a vibrant arts community here and I’m glad that poetry is welcome at the table. My hope is that this position will provide opportunities for everyone in our community to experience poetry in new ways.”

Michele's Background

Michele and her family have lived on Bainbridge for over thirty years. After a thirty-two year career as a speech-language pathologist, she returned to graduate school at Pacific University to follow a long-held dream of earning an MFA in poetry. 

Her debut poetry collection, What We Do, was a finalist for a 2019 Washington Book Award. Her poetry and book reviews can be found in dozens of literary journals such as JAMA, Alaska Quarterly Review, Atlanta Review, Parabola, Bellevue Literary Review, and many others. She is a Hedgebrook and Mineral School fellow and is the founder of Fishplate Poetry, an organization that offers workshops, editing, and retreats while raising funds for humanitarian relief.

As a poet, Michele has presented to Bainbridge High School English classes, led small creative writing groups for middle schoolers, and has been an invited lecturer at several universities. She has also been a featured poet at the Bainbridge Public Library and taught a class at BARN called “After Mary Oliver” that promoted reading of diverse poets. She is nearing completion of her second book of poems and has begun working on a third.

As Bainbridge Island’s Poet Laureate, Michele will host readings, offer classes and workshops, bring other poets from the Puget Sound region and beyond to Bainbridge, and encourage Bainbridge Island poets of all ages. She will also compose and present poems for Bainbridge Island Creative District events, island celebrations and gatherings, and at COBI functions.

For more information, contact Arts & Humanities Bainbridge at 206.842.7901 or poetry@bainbridgeartshumanities.org.

Upcoming Poetry Events


Haiku Competition

04-30-2023

Presented by Plum at Plum, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Tue, Mar 28 @ 12:00 am Wed, Mar 29 @ 12:00 am Thu, Mar 30 @ 12:00 am + 31 more dates and times

Fri, Mar 31 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 01 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 02 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 03 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 04 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 05 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 06 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 07 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 08 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 09 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 10 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 11 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 12 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 13 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 14 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 15 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 16 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 17 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 18 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 19 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 20 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 21 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 22 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 23 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 24 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 25 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 26 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 27 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 28 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 29 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 30 @ 12:00 am - less dates and times

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April with haiku!

Submit up to two haiku by March 31st at info@plumbainbridge.com and win a chance for Plum Gift Certificates.

Entries will be judged by a member of Haiku Northwest and all haiku will be...

[more+]

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April with haiku!

Submit up to two haiku by March 31st at info@plumbainbridge.com and win a chance for Plum Gift Certificates.

Entries will be judged by a member of Haiku Northwest and all haiku will be displayed on the lights over the Plum deck in Winslow.

[less-]
Tags:  Poetry & Literature

Poetry Reading by Cedar Sigo

03-30-2023

Presented by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Thu, Mar 30 @ 7:00 pm

Suquamish poet Cedar Sigo presents a selection of his works, riffing off the visual artworks featured in our Indigenous Strength & Wellness exhibition. Cedar’s readings promise to expand and enhance interpretations of selected artworks and add...

[more+]

Suquamish poet Cedar Sigo presents a selection of his works, riffing off the visual artworks featured in our Indigenous Strength & Wellness exhibition. Cedar’s readings promise to expand and enhance interpretations of selected artworks and add another dimension to the exhibition’s experience of engagement.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature

Poetry Corners

04-30-2023

Presented by Poetry Corners at Downtown Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Sat, Apr 01 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 02 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 03 @ 12:00 am + 27 more dates and times

Tue, Apr 04 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 05 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 06 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 07 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 08 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 09 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 10 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 11 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 12 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 13 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 14 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 15 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 16 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 17 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 18 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 19 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 20 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 21 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 22 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 23 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 24 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 25 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 26 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 27 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 28 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 29 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 30 @ 12:00 am - less dates and times

Poetry is not the books in the library. Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.
– Jorge Luis Borges

It could be said that poetry is best felt with the sun on the skin, or the wind on the cheek, or...

[more+]

Poetry is not the books in the library. Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.
– Jorge Luis Borges

It could be said that poetry is best felt with the sun on the skin, or the wind on the cheek, or discovered in the wild. Indeed, this experience of poetry will be available to Bainbridge Island this April in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Poetry Corners, a local poetry movement first established by an enthusiastic group of local creatives in 1999, continues its long-running tradition of posting local poems throughout the windows of downtown Bainbridge Island.

Beginning in April, Poetry Corners will present its annual poetry exhibition featuring the jury-selected poetry of local poets.

The public poetry exhibit will be displayed from April 1st through April 30th in celebration of National Poetry Month, which was created by the American Academy of Poets. “The Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. Along the way we enlisted a variety of government agencies and officials, educational leaders, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations to help. National Poetry Month is a registered trademark of the Academy of American Poets.

“The goals of National Poetry Month are to:
- highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets
- encourage the reading of poems
- assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms
- increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media
- encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and
- encourage support for poets and poetry.

Why was April chosen for National Poetry Month?
In coordination with poets, booksellers, librarians, and teachers, we chose a month when poetry could be celebrated with the highest level of participation.” (https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/faq)

Poetry Corners is being published by local publisher, Bainbridge Island Press, founded by Tamarah Rockwood who has long enjoyed editing and printing indie-poetry journals. “I have always known that more people write poetry than they let on,” Rockwood noted. “It is such a joy finding these poets and reading their work, and immortalizing their craft in a journal. This is the purpose of art, is to bring the artists together.”

There will be a live reading on TBD at 6 p.m. at the Bainbridge Island Library. Chapbooks will be available to buy at Eagle Harbor Bookstore and other participating bookstores.

Poems will be displayed in Winslow business windows.

A map of the poems’ locations can be found here.


Contact
Bainbridge Island press
Tamarah Rockwood
Poetry Corners Editor

poetrycorners2022@gmail.com

[less-]
Tags:  Poetry & Literature

Karen Kunc Artist Talk and Reception

04-07-2023

Presented by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Fri, Apr 07 @ 6:30 pm

In celebration of her solo exhibition in the Sherry Grover Gallery, BIMA is delighted to welcome artist’s book creator and master printmaker Karen Kunc for a talk about her practice, followed by conversation and a light reception.

Karen Kunc...

[more+]

In celebration of her solo exhibition in the Sherry Grover Gallery, BIMA is delighted to welcome artist’s book creator and master printmaker Karen Kunc for a talk about her practice, followed by conversation and a light reception.

Karen Kunc explores inventive color abstractions of the natural and human-fashioned world in her prints and artist books, creating ideas of ‘strange beauty’. Kunc was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She received her BFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975, and her MFA from Ohio State University in 1977. She is the Cather Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where she has taught since 1983. Her awards include: Fulbright Scholar Awards to Finland and Bangladesh; two National Endowment for the Arts awards; the 2007 SGCI Printmaker Emeritus Award; a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Master Award; an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship; the 2016 Lincoln Mayor’s Art Award; the 2000 Governor’s Art Award. Recent prizes for her work include: the Miniature Print Exhibition X, Vancouver, Canada; the Yerevan Print Biennial, Armenia; the Novosibirsk Print Triennial, Russia; Hida Woodcut Triennial, Takayama, Japan. She has exhibited her color woodcut prints and artist books extensively nationally and internationally, recent invitational venues include: Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Maui, Hawaii; New York, NY; Venice, Italy; Santander, Spain; Krakow, Poland.; Austin, Texas. Her work is in public collections including: the Museum of Modern Art; the Library of Congress; the Milwaukee Art Museum; the Sheldon Museum of Art; Joslyn Art Museum; American Art Museum Smithsonian; Haas Arts Library Yale University; Stanford University; Jyväskylä Art Museum, Finland; Spencer Library University of Kansas; Portland (OR) Art Museum; Herbert E. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell University. She has taught workshops in Egypt, Italy, Finland, Poland, Japan, France, Mexico, Iceland, Spain; and she has lectured as a visiting artist to over 200 institutions. In 2014 she opened Constellation Studios as a creative work-site for print, paper, and book, inviting artists for residencies, workshops, collaborations, exhibitions.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature

Jori Lewis Book Reading

04-13-2023

Presented by Bloedel Reserve at Kitsap Regional Library, Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Thu, Apr 13 @ 6:30 pm

Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident Jori Lewis will be speaking about and reading from her book, Slaves for Peanuts.

Thursday, April 13, 6:30 PM
Bainbridge Island Public Library, BI WA

This free event is in collaboration with Bainbridge Public...

[more+]

Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident Jori Lewis will be speaking about and reading from her book, Slaves for Peanuts.

Thursday, April 13, 6:30 PM
Bainbridge Island Public Library, BI WA

This free event is in collaboration with Bainbridge Public Library and Eagle Harbor Books.

Jori Lewis writes narrative nonfiction about the environment and agriculture, mostly in the Global South. Her reports and essays explore how people interact with their environments, focusing on the intersections between nature, history, and culture. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic Magazine, Discover Magazine and Emergence Magazine, among others, and she is a senior editor of Adi Magazine, a literary magazine of global politics. In 2022, she published her first book, Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History, which was supported by the prestigious Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and a Silvers Grant for Work in Progress.

Jori holds a MJ from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a MA in the social sciences and a BA in anthropology, both from the University of Chicago. She splits her time between Illinois and Senegal.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature

Haiku Competition

04-30-2023

Presented by Plum at Plum, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Tue, Mar 28 @ 12:00 am Wed, Mar 29 @ 12:00 am Thu, Mar 30 @ 12:00 am + 31 more dates and times

Fri, Mar 31 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 01 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 02 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 03 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 04 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 05 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 06 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 07 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 08 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 09 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 10 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 11 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 12 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 13 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 14 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 15 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 16 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 17 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 18 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 19 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 20 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 21 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 22 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 23 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 24 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 25 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 26 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 27 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 28 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 29 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 30 @ 12:00 am - less dates and times

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April with haiku!

Submit up to two haiku by March 31st at info@plumbainbridge.com and win a chance for Plum Gift Certificates.

Entries will be judged by a member of Haiku Northwest and all haiku will be...

[more+]

Celebrate National Poetry Month in April with haiku!

Submit up to two haiku by March 31st at info@plumbainbridge.com and win a chance for Plum Gift Certificates.

Entries will be judged by a member of Haiku Northwest and all haiku will be displayed on the lights over the Plum deck in Winslow.

[less-]
Tags:  Poetry & Literature

Poetry Reading by Cedar Sigo

03-30-2023

Presented by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Thu, Mar 30 @ 7:00 pm

Suquamish poet Cedar Sigo presents a selection of his works, riffing off the visual artworks featured in our Indigenous Strength & Wellness exhibition. Cedar’s readings promise to expand and enhance interpretations of selected artworks and add...

[more+]

Suquamish poet Cedar Sigo presents a selection of his works, riffing off the visual artworks featured in our Indigenous Strength & Wellness exhibition. Cedar’s readings promise to expand and enhance interpretations of selected artworks and add another dimension to the exhibition’s experience of engagement.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature

Poetry Corners

04-30-2023

Presented by Poetry Corners at Downtown Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Sat, Apr 01 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 02 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 03 @ 12:00 am + 27 more dates and times

Tue, Apr 04 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 05 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 06 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 07 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 08 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 09 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 10 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 11 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 12 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 13 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 14 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 15 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 16 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 17 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 18 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 19 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 20 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 21 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 22 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 23 @ 12:00 am Mon, Apr 24 @ 12:00 am Tue, Apr 25 @ 12:00 am Wed, Apr 26 @ 12:00 am Thu, Apr 27 @ 12:00 am Fri, Apr 28 @ 12:00 am Sat, Apr 29 @ 12:00 am Sun, Apr 30 @ 12:00 am - less dates and times

Poetry is not the books in the library. Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.
– Jorge Luis Borges

It could be said that poetry is best felt with the sun on the skin, or the wind on the cheek, or...

[more+]

Poetry is not the books in the library. Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book.
– Jorge Luis Borges

It could be said that poetry is best felt with the sun on the skin, or the wind on the cheek, or discovered in the wild. Indeed, this experience of poetry will be available to Bainbridge Island this April in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Poetry Corners, a local poetry movement first established by an enthusiastic group of local creatives in 1999, continues its long-running tradition of posting local poems throughout the windows of downtown Bainbridge Island.

Beginning in April, Poetry Corners will present its annual poetry exhibition featuring the jury-selected poetry of local poets.

The public poetry exhibit will be displayed from April 1st through April 30th in celebration of National Poetry Month, which was created by the American Academy of Poets. “The Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. Along the way we enlisted a variety of government agencies and officials, educational leaders, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations to help. National Poetry Month is a registered trademark of the Academy of American Poets.

“The goals of National Poetry Month are to:
- highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets
- encourage the reading of poems
- assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms
- increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media
- encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and
- encourage support for poets and poetry.

Why was April chosen for National Poetry Month?
In coordination with poets, booksellers, librarians, and teachers, we chose a month when poetry could be celebrated with the highest level of participation.” (https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/faq)

Poetry Corners is being published by local publisher, Bainbridge Island Press, founded by Tamarah Rockwood who has long enjoyed editing and printing indie-poetry journals. “I have always known that more people write poetry than they let on,” Rockwood noted. “It is such a joy finding these poets and reading their work, and immortalizing their craft in a journal. This is the purpose of art, is to bring the artists together.”

There will be a live reading on TBD at 6 p.m. at the Bainbridge Island Library. Chapbooks will be available to buy at Eagle Harbor Bookstore and other participating bookstores.

Poems will be displayed in Winslow business windows.

A map of the poems’ locations can be found here.


Contact
Bainbridge Island press
Tamarah Rockwood
Poetry Corners Editor

poetrycorners2022@gmail.com

[less-]
Tags:  Poetry & Literature

Karen Kunc Artist Talk and Reception

04-07-2023

Presented by Bainbridge Island Museum of Art at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Fri, Apr 07 @ 6:30 pm

In celebration of her solo exhibition in the Sherry Grover Gallery, BIMA is delighted to welcome artist’s book creator and master printmaker Karen Kunc for a talk about her practice, followed by conversation and a light reception.

Karen Kunc...

[more+]

In celebration of her solo exhibition in the Sherry Grover Gallery, BIMA is delighted to welcome artist’s book creator and master printmaker Karen Kunc for a talk about her practice, followed by conversation and a light reception.

Karen Kunc explores inventive color abstractions of the natural and human-fashioned world in her prints and artist books, creating ideas of ‘strange beauty’. Kunc was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She received her BFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975, and her MFA from Ohio State University in 1977. She is the Cather Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where she has taught since 1983. Her awards include: Fulbright Scholar Awards to Finland and Bangladesh; two National Endowment for the Arts awards; the 2007 SGCI Printmaker Emeritus Award; a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Master Award; an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship; the 2016 Lincoln Mayor’s Art Award; the 2000 Governor’s Art Award. Recent prizes for her work include: the Miniature Print Exhibition X, Vancouver, Canada; the Yerevan Print Biennial, Armenia; the Novosibirsk Print Triennial, Russia; Hida Woodcut Triennial, Takayama, Japan. She has exhibited her color woodcut prints and artist books extensively nationally and internationally, recent invitational venues include: Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Maui, Hawaii; New York, NY; Venice, Italy; Santander, Spain; Krakow, Poland.; Austin, Texas. Her work is in public collections including: the Museum of Modern Art; the Library of Congress; the Milwaukee Art Museum; the Sheldon Museum of Art; Joslyn Art Museum; American Art Museum Smithsonian; Haas Arts Library Yale University; Stanford University; Jyväskylä Art Museum, Finland; Spencer Library University of Kansas; Portland (OR) Art Museum; Herbert E. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell University. She has taught workshops in Egypt, Italy, Finland, Poland, Japan, France, Mexico, Iceland, Spain; and she has lectured as a visiting artist to over 200 institutions. In 2014 she opened Constellation Studios as a creative work-site for print, paper, and book, inviting artists for residencies, workshops, collaborations, exhibitions.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature

Jori Lewis Book Reading

04-13-2023

Presented by Bloedel Reserve at Kitsap Regional Library, Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island
Upcoming Dates: Thu, Apr 13 @ 6:30 pm

Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident Jori Lewis will be speaking about and reading from her book, Slaves for Peanuts.

Thursday, April 13, 6:30 PM
Bainbridge Island Public Library, BI WA

This free event is in collaboration with Bainbridge Public...

[more+]

Bloedel Reserve Creative Resident Jori Lewis will be speaking about and reading from her book, Slaves for Peanuts.

Thursday, April 13, 6:30 PM
Bainbridge Island Public Library, BI WA

This free event is in collaboration with Bainbridge Public Library and Eagle Harbor Books.

Jori Lewis writes narrative nonfiction about the environment and agriculture, mostly in the Global South. Her reports and essays explore how people interact with their environments, focusing on the intersections between nature, history, and culture. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic Magazine, Discover Magazine and Emergence Magazine, among others, and she is a senior editor of Adi Magazine, a literary magazine of global politics. In 2022, she published her first book, Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History, which was supported by the prestigious Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and a Silvers Grant for Work in Progress.

Jori holds a MJ from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a MA in the social sciences and a BA in anthropology, both from the University of Chicago. She splits her time between Illinois and Senegal.

[less-]
Tags:   Poetry & Literature