Ey’ skweyel!
My name is Rena Priest. I am the sixth Poet Laureate of Washington State and the first Indigenous person to hold this honor. As one of my first activities in this position, I’d like to invite you to participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day, which takes place across the U.S. and Canada every April in celebration of National Poetry Month.
This year we’ll celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 29th. I’m pleased to share these pocket broadsides as a gift from the Washington State Poet Laureate program, to be distributed freely by bookstores and libraries during National Poetry Month and beyond.
About the poem: I put out a call for youth poets to send in a short poem or an excerpt. I selected this excerpt by Sadie Olsen for its brevity, and clarity of message. She chose to submit these lines because water is life. The official translation into Xwlemi Chosen was approved by fluent speaker, Ted Solomon. Thank you for joining us in celebrating National Poem in Your Pocket Day!
Hy’sxw’qe!
PARTICIPATING LIBRARIES AND BOOKSTORES
Anacortes
- Watermark Book Co.
Bainbridge Island
- Eagle Harbor Bk Co.
Bellingham
- Northwest Indian College Library
- Henderson Books
- Eclipse Books
- Lummi Admin Building
- Village Books
- Whatcom County Libraries
Bothell
- Neverending Bookshop
Bremerton
- Ballast Book Co.
Chehalis
- Shakespeare and Company
Clarkston
- …and Books, too!
Coupeville
- Kingfisher Bookstore
Eastsound
- Darvil’s Bookstore
Ellensburg
- Pearl Street Books & Gifts
Friday Harbor
- Bay Bookstore
Ilwaco
- Time Enough Books
Kirkland
- BookTree
Leavenworth
- A Book For All Seasons
Lopez Island
- Lopez Island Bookstore
Olympia
- Orca Books Co-op
- Browsers Bookshop
Port Angeles
- Port Book and News
Port Townsend
- Imprint Bookstore
Poulsbo
- Liberty Bay Books
- Bookit Nook
Seattle
- Left Bank Books
- Couth Buzzard Books
- Madison Books
- Elliott Bay Book Co
- Third Place Books
- Open Books
- Phinney Books
Spokane
- Auntie’s Bookstore
Sumner
- A Good Book
Tacoma
- King’s Books
Vancouver
- Vintage Books
Vashon Island
- Vashon Bookshop
Walla Walla
- Book & Game Company
Winthrop
- Trail’s End Bookstore
Yakima
- Inklings Bookshop
Thank you Rena! I will pick up Poem in Your Pocket at Kings Book, and one for my niece, a budding poet about to bloom. Bill Kelly
On Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 3:58 PM Washington State Poet Laureate wrote:
> David Haldeman posted: ” Ey’ skweyel! My name is Rena Priest. I am the > sixth Poet Laureate of Washington State andthe first Indigenous person to > hold this honor. As one of my first activitiesin this position, I’d like to > invite you to participate in Poem in Your PocketDay” >
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your message. I’m just now seeing it, but I want to thank you for your participation in this year’s Poem in Your Pocket celebration. I’m happy you also were able to include your niece.
Best wishes to you and yours,
Rena