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Illuminating poetry since 1959

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Lines / from the current issue

A passion for strangeness, / what kind of color is a softness / spoken, felt as a sensation traced / in shapes of transistor afternoons?

JOSIE VALDEZ | Say the Words

Recent Features

September 13, 2021

The Pursuit of It: Maggie Nelson’s On Freedom

"Who does stasis serve?"—an essay by Gabrielle Bates

by Staff
August 16, 2021

Part of that Secret

Greg Bem on Chath pierSath's On Earth Beneath Sky

by Staff
August 11, 2021

Beyond the Bradys: Poetry and the “Perfect” American Family

"I’m reminded that sometimes the poem comes after I’ve written what I think I need to say, when the...

by Staff
July 21, 2021

Interview// Invisibility is a Form of Presence: A Conversation with Fiona Sze-Lorrain...

On translating Green Mountain by Chinese Poet Yang Jian

by Staff

poem of the week

HALA ALYAN
Bore

Published by Staff

It appears like a word and then I pray.

September 15, 2021
Poems

CAITLIN ROACH
The Molt

Published by Staff

We are five
months into a game
neither of us know
how to play.

August 19, 2021
Poems

SUN TZU-PING
from You Are Not There
translated by Nicholas Wong

Published by Staff

“What’re they selling there?”
“What we already have.”

August 8, 2021
Poems

JEREMIAH FOSTER
Uphill Writing

Published by Staff

An afternoon run up the false summit
of every promising idea,

July 27, 2021
Poems

MELANIE TAFEJIAN
Salt

Published by Staff

Great pyramids of salt, line
the shore, coarse mounds
I'd like to climb, fly
down in a red sled.

July 23, 2021
Poems

ESTHER LIN
Season of Cherries

Published by Staff

Sweeter, nearly cloying as you and I
eat and eat until the bag folds over.

July 20, 2021
Poems

Features

Features

SAL Essay Series

Writers preview the Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series

September 13, 2021
Features

On Failure

In which writers investigate the practice of failure.

August 11, 2021
Features

One More Thing

Conversations with contributors and other writers curated by Helene Achanzar

July 20, 2021
Features

Visual Poetry

Poets explore the intersection of word and image.

June 9, 2021
Features, Recent

Life List

A series of poems by BIPOC poets that engage with birds, curated by Sean Hill.

June 7, 2021
Features, Recent

Wago Ryoichi’s Poetics of Catastrophe

translated and introduced by Ayako Takahashi and Judy Halebsky

March 10, 2021
Features

Native Poets Torchlight Series

In which Guest Editor Jennifer Elise Foerster celebrates contemporary Native American poets.

February 15, 2021
blue blur color dark
Features

The Subvocal Zoo

A podcast featuring readings by and conversations with writers & poets.

November 15, 2020
Features, Recent

DAO STROM
an excerpt from Instrument

[Wading into a new decade (ten miles of jungle, twenty+ river crossings, one night in a cave, chimes at the altar of the Highway of Horror, then lunch by...

October 26, 2020

book reviews

September 14, 2021

How Do the Words Dream Together?

Randall Potts on Geoffrey Nutter's Giant Moth Perishes

by Staff
August 16, 2021

Part of that Secret

Greg Bem on Chath pierSath's On Earth Beneath Sky

by Staff
July 12, 2021

Hearts Washed Clean by Rain

Jon Lemay on Catherine Pond’s Fieldglass

by Staff
June 16, 2021

To Whistle Against the Dark

On Kate Gleason’s Laika in Space

by Gabi Graceffo

Essays

The Pursuit of It: Maggie Nelson’s On Freedom

Published by Staff

"Who does stasis serve?"—an essay by Gabrielle Bates

September 13, 2021
Essays, Recent

I Am Ready To Be Every Animal You Leave Behind

Published by Staff

"Vuong shows the world for the truth of all its sharp and beautiful teeth." —a visual essay Tessa Hulls

June 2, 2021
Essays, Recent

commentary

Interview// Invisibility is a Form of Presence: A Conversation with Fiona Sze-Lorrain:

Published by Staff

On translating Green Mountain by Chinese Poet Yang Jian

July 21, 2021
Interviews, Recent

One More Thing: Muriel Leung and Helene Achanzar in Conversation

Published by Staff

"I am the assemblage of both my memory and the ones that contest it."

July 20, 2021
One More Thing, Recent

Cinema Poetry NW

Current Issue

Current Issue

Summer & Fall 2021

Featuring winners & finalists of the James Welch Prize; poems by Marilyn Hacker, Antonio López & Phillip B. Williams; essays by Lois Welch & Cedar Sigo & much more

June 23, 2021

New from Poetry NW Editions

THEOREM <br>Elizabeth Bradfield & Antonia Contro
THEOREM
Elizabeth Bradfield & Antonia Contro
THE LACHRYMOSE REPORT <BR>Sierra Nelson
THE LACHRYMOSE REPORT
Sierra Nelson
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF A THOUSAND GRIEFS <BR>Wei-Wei Lee
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF A THOUSAND GRIEFS
Wei-Wei Lee

News

April 15, 2021

Possession Sound Reading Series: Open for Submissions

Poetry NW Editions is accepting submissions to their Possession Sound Reading Series through May 31.

by Staff

Twitter

Poetry Northwest
Poetry Northwest @poetrynw
13 hours ago
Our Spring & Summer newsletter came out yesterday -- catch up & subscribe at the link below. https://t.co/zrO31wABnW
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Poetry Northwest @poetrynw
Poetry Northwest Newsletter | Summer & Fall - https://t.co/eGRrdL4AYk https://t.co/Ron9HQrsH5
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Rachel Edelman
Poetry Northwest Retweeted · Rachel Edelman @rachelsedelman
13 hours ago
I'm reading my poem "Swatch Test" after the al cheyt, during Yom Kippur morning services tomorrow. G'mar tov. https://t.co/Rg1L8t2fwn
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nanya
Poetry Northwest Retweeted · nanya @not1ofurbiznes
1 day ago
loved this piece by @GabrielleBates on Maggie Nelson's newest -- pulls crucial threads on language, abstraction, action, and how these may need to be in greater and more material synchrony if we are to think Freedom on the page (in w/e form) https://t.co/py2g0KCItc via @poetrynw
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Poetry Northwest
Poetry Northwest @poetrynw
2 days ago
Poetry Northwest Newsletter | Summer & Fall - https://t.co/eGRrdL4AYk https://t.co/Ron9HQrsH5
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Read Gabrielle Bates (@gabrielle_bates_)'s essay " Read Gabrielle Bates (@gabrielle_bates_)'s essay "The Pursuit of It: Maggie Nelson's On Freedom. at the link in our bio. ⁠ ⁠ This essay is part of a series in which Poetry Northwest partners with Seattle Arts & Lectures (seattleartsandlectures) to present reflections on visiting writers from the SAL Poetry Series. This evening, Maggie Nelson will read and discuss her work in conversation with Danzy Senna at 6:00 pm PST. ⁠ ⁠ #maggienelson #onfreedom
Read Caitlin Roach's mesmerizing piece "The Molt" Read Caitlin Roach's mesmerizing piece "The Molt" at the link in our bio. ⁠ ⁠ #poetry #litmag #poetrynorthwest
Free broadside! 🌟We've decided to share this di Free broadside! 🌟We've decided to share this digital & printable broadside of the James Welch Prize winners' poems, which was originally just a perk for contributors to the Welch campaign (don't worry, contributors! You'll be getting letter press broadsides!). Poems by Kenzie Allen (@cerena), Brendan Shay Basham (@bsbasham), and art by Stella Nall (@stella.nall).⁠ ⁠ Follow the link in bio to download yours! #poetry #broadside #jameswelchprize #illustration
We're so excited to invite you to the first of two We're so excited to invite you to the first of two inaugural James Welch Prize readings. On Thursday, September 16th at 6 PM MDT tune in to see prizewinner Brendan Basham (@bsbasham) read with judge Sherwin Bitsui (@sherwinbitsui) as part of the Montana Book Festival (@montanabookfestival). The reading will be followed by a conversation between the two poets moderated by Heather Cahoon.⁠ ⁠ Get more info at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ & check back soon for info on the second virtual reading with Kenzie Allen and Sherwin Bitsui.⁠ ⁠ #jameswelchprize #poetry #reading
Join our friends at Seattle Arts & Lectures (@seat Join our friends at Seattle Arts & Lectures (@seattleartsandlectures) for an online event with Maggie Nelson in conversation with Danzy Senna on Tue, Sep 14 @ 6 p.m. (PT). ⁠ ⁠ Maggie Nelson, the poet, scholar, and nonfiction author of the cult classics Bluets and The Argonauts, is back with a new volume that interweaves critical theory, pop culture, and the intimate exchanges of daily living. On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Restraint explores how we think, experience, and talk about freedom in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate. Danzy Senna is a novelist and nonfiction author of five critically acclaimed books, including the novel New People.⁠ ⁠ Tickets & more info at the link in our bio! ⁠ ⁠ #maggienelson #danzysenna #poetry #reading
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Partners

Seattle Arts & Lectures
In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets)
Vandal Poem of the Day
poets.org

With the support of

Everett Community College
The Kinsman Foundation
The Community Foundation of Snohomish County
Everett Cultural Arts Commission
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Humanities Washington
readers & supporters like you

Poetry Northwest would like to acknowledge that our publications are made on the traditional homelands of the Coast Salish Peoples—including the Tullalip, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, and Sauk-Suiattle Tribes—whom we wish to honor, past and present, with the deepest respect and gratitude.

Illuminating poetry since 1959

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