If you ain’t no place you can’t go nowhere

hugo
Richard Hugo. Photo courtesy of Hugo House.

My title is from  Richard Hugo’s great book about writing, The Triggering Town.  Born in White Center, WA, Hugo reminds poets of the importance of identifying the “where” of a poem (whether actual or imagined) and how rooting creativity to place can allow the imagination to grow in unexpected ways.  As I prepare to explore our state and its poetry, I thought that it might be a good idea to visit a wonderful resource about the literature of Washington.  Dan Lamberton and The Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest have created a solid online resource for Washington writers, and I highly recommend Reading the Region, a starting place for understanding the literature–and, of course, the poetry–of our part of the world.

The Triggering Town (available at Auntie’s and other independent bookstores in our state).

 

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