Foothills Writers Series

FOOTHILLS WRITERS SERIES, Winter 2010

The Foothills Writers Series presents international, national, regional, and local writers reading their own works. The readings are held in the Peninsula College Little Theater on selected Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the academic year.For over 35 years, this series has been a fine slate of writers to the Peninsula to pique your interest and keep you reading and writing so please join us. Readings are free and open to the public. Held in the Little Theater from 12:35 to 1:25 pm unless otherwise noted.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010 — Cairns along the Road, Poems 2002-2009
William Mawhinney of Port Townsend will read from his second collection of poetry, Cairns along the Road, Poems 2002-2009. He is the host of the Northwind Reading Series in Port Townsend and performs poetry in local retirement homes through an Arts to Elders program.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010 — Beyond Forgetting
Three poets will read from a unique collection of poetry and short prose about Alzheimer's disease on Tuesday, February 2, when Peninsula College’s Foothills Writers Series welcomes Edmonds-based poet and professor Holly Hughes and local poets Tess Gallagher and Alice Derry. The reading will begin at 12:35 pm in the college’s Little Theater.

Hughes is the editor of Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer's Disease, which was published in April 2009 by Kent State University Press as part of its prestigious Literature and Medicine Series. Hughes was inspired to begin this anthology after losing her mother to Alzheimer's disease in 2001. Tess Gallagher, who had also lost her mother to Alzheimer's, agreed to write the Foreword.

When Hughes put out a call for submissions she was overwhelmed by the volume of response; almost immediately more than 500 potential contributions poured in and they kept coming. With assistance from an editorial board, Hughes selected poetry and prose from 100 writers, then asked each to write a short personal note to provide context for their work, believing that would make it more useful to readers. The result is a compelling and moving anthology that contains the work of 100 writers ranging from doctors to nurses, social workers, hospice workers, daughters, sons, wives, and husbands, all of whose lives have been touched by the disease.

Because the writers share their personal stories as well as their poems and prose, the collection is a valuable companion to anyone who is trying to help a loved one through the disease, a disease now estimated to affect one in two persons over the age of 80 and which is being diagnosed in people as young as 50.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 — Mike O’Connor
Peninsula College’s Foothills Writers Series will welcome Port Townsend writer and publisher Mike O’Connor on Tuesday, February 23, when he reads from his collected works in the Little Theater. The reading will begin at 12:35 pm.

A native of Washington state, O’Connor farmed in the Dungeness River Valley and logged and planted trees in the Olympic Mountains during the 1970s. He left in the 1980s to travel to Asia, where he spent the next several years working as a journalist and studying Chinese culture before returning to the United States and the Olympic Peninsula. He currently serves as publisher of Empty Bowl Press in Port Townsend, where he lives with his wife, Ling-hui.

A prolific writer and translator, O’Connor has published nine volumes of poetry and translation. His two most recent publications are When the Tiger Weeps and Unnecessary Talking: The Montesano Stories, a memoir of childhood days. A new long poem, Immortality, can be found online at Narrative Magazine. His translation of the novel Setting Out by Taiwan writer Tung Nien will be published by Pleasure Boat Studio later this year.

In 2009, O’Connor received an Artists' Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship. The award recognizes an artist’s creative excellence and accomplishment, professional achievement and continuing dedication to their artistic discipline. O’Connor was one of 16 artists who received the $7,500 award.

O’Connor is also a previous recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature and has been named an Honorary Fellow of Hong Kong Baptist University.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010 — Open Mic
It’s your turn to share your work with others. Students and community members are invited to read poems and short fiction; sign up in the Little Theater 10 minutes before the reading.

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This program has vigorously observed principles of equal opportunities, not discriminating on the basis of color, national origin, sex, or handicap. If you or someone you know might be interested in reading, please contact the co-directors. We encourage unestablished writers—of prose as well as of poetry—to apply.

We do not censor our readers in any way, and audience members may be offended by a reader’s language. Nevertheless, we feel this freedom of expression is necessary.