Event Description

Join us online for a FREE poetry reading with Washington State’s Poet Laureate Rena Priest, the first Indigenous Poet Laureate of our Evergreen State.

In her poems you will find multiple perspectives, a full suite of linguistic skills, and an incredible blend of wit, sentiment, perceptivity and boldness. Hearing her work read aloud offers insights into our relationship with the natural world, compassion with the human experience, humorous takes on life and her perspective as a member of Lummi Nation.

For this special engagement, in addition to hearing Priest’s poetry, we will be treated to a short workshop on the possibilities that poetry opens up. You are encouraged to follow along at home – you never know what might happen! We will finish the evening with some time for questions.

We are honored to be collaborating with Priest on what will be a rich and thought-provoking evening.

Rena Priest is the current Washington State Poet Laureate. A member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation, she is the author of Patriarchy Blues, which was honored with the 2018 American Book Award, and the recent Sublime Subliminal.

The Poet Laureate program is sponsored by Humanities Washington and The Washington State Arts Commission/ArtsWA, with the support of Governor Jay Inslee. See the full website of the Poet Laureate here.

Poet Laureate events are produced by the hosting organization.