Poetry always seems to abound on Bainbridge Island in April.
In honor of National Poetry Month, the town is flush with a month full of activities and readings and celebrations of spoken word. This year there’ll even be poetry on demand.
Student poets from West Sound Academy, the independent Kitsap prep school located next to the Northwest College of Art, will set up a post in the commons of Winslow Mall off Winslow Way, providing poetry on demand for passers-by.
“People will be able to order poems while they’re waiting for their latte,” Kathleen Thorne said with a smile.
Thorne is a longtime Bainbridge arts organizer, program manager for the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Organization, she coordinates the island-wide artistic endeavors — Celluloid Bainbridge and National Poetry Month.
For the latter, this month, stages across the island are open to poets, local and beyond, including the floor of the library, lounges of bookstores and windows of downtown businesses as well as at the island’s largest performing arts venue — Bainbridge Performing Arts.
Last year, performance poets packed the lobby of BPA for the now-annual April poetry slam — slated for 7:30 p.m. April 8 at BPA.
It was standing room only as eight island-based poets competed to induce convection, excitement and pleasant unrest amongst the audience with their words. This year they move into the BPA theater.
For those who have never been, a slam is a kind of dim-lit, club-vibe poetry reading where poets are encouraged to evoke as much emotion as possible into their delivery, competing, one after the other in essence, for the audience vote.
“Immediacy to me is the word that I think of when I think of slam poetry,” said local poet, last year’s champion Van Calvez. “Poetry for the masses, poetry that regular people can enjoy.”
Regular people, of course used lightly here, denote people who may not necessarily listen to or read and contemplate the intricacy and delicacy of traditional poetry.
At a slam, it’s blatant, funny and loud, while still thought-provoking and well-crafted. Focus is shared between both the content of the poem and how the poet performs it.
Five judges, randomly picked throughout the audience, will deliberate which poets make it to the next round. And in the end, only one is left standing.
Calvez will be there again this year along with last year’s runner up Jennifer Hager. And Thorne said the slam’s also aiming to attract some spoken-word-heads from Seattle, a city which annually fields a national slam team. WU
National Poetry Month throughout North Kitsap
• April 6: The illustrious annual San Carlos Poetry Reading from 1-4 p.m. at the San Carlos Restaurant, 279 Madison Ave. N on Bainbridge. Emceed by Bob McAllister. Poets wishing to read can sign up in advance by calling BIAHC at (206) 842-7901.
• April 8: BPA Poetry Slam at 7:30 p.m., $5 suggested donation at Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N. Info: (206) 842-8569.
• April 12: Poetry on demand stand commissioning West Sound Academy student poets all day at the Winslow Mall in downtown Bainbridge.
• April 12: The Poulsbohemian Poetry Series features Barbara Berger and more at 7 p.m. at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St. NE in Poulsbo. Open mic follows readers.
• April 20: The Jewel Box Poetry Series features Mary Lou Sanelli and Joannie Kervran at 3 p.m. 225 Iverson St. in Poulsbo.
• April 27: The Bainbridge Library, 1270 Madison Ave. features “Poem by Poem,” a gathering of island poetry teachers — Nancy Rekow, Ralph Cheadle, Bob McAllister, and Everett Thompson — at 2 p.m.
• Throughout the month: Thirty poster-size local poems are posted in shop windows and venues through downtown Bainbridge; “Poetry on Bainbridge: How It Began,” an exhibit featuring longtime and legendary Bainbridge poetry teachers and mentors at BPA, 200 Madison Ave.; “Poetry Is!” a TV series of local poets in performance runs on BITV. WU
