A spicy scene, in the prose & on the plate: Poetry reading tradition returns to San Carlos Sunday

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 24, 2017

From days of old, when knights were bold and minstrels regaled the king and court with songs and rhyme, to the raucous readings of the Beat Generation, to today’s combative poetry slams, live recitation before a group has always been a hallmark of poetry’s appeal.

On Bainbridge Island, too, for nearly 35 years now, the gathering of poets and poetry lovers at San Carlos Restaurant has been a literary tradition, one which continues from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 26 at “A Prelude to Poetry Month,” a free all-ages community poetry reading event.

Everyone is welcome to come and read, or just listen, explained event coordinator Nancy Rekow. The festivities often carry over into the evening as folks stick around and munch and sip and chat. The bar will be open, and dinner available after the reading.

“This lively annual reading, started 33 years ago by Lee Jorgenson and Bob McAllister, who was emcee until his death nearly two years ago, is now the longest running poetry reading in the area,” Rekow said. “Even longer than our monthly readings at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, which are now in their 24th year.”

Acting as master of ceremonies this year will be Mark West, son of Bainbridge poet Beverley West.

Jorgenson and his wife Marianne, longtime owners of the popular Winslow eatery at which the reading takes place, retired last year, and new owners Dean and Kristen Gellert are sponsoring the event now.

The first gathering was held just a few months after the Jorgensons opened the restaurant back in 1984, and quickly became a cultural calendar staple.

“In those days there was no cell phones, no internet,” Lee Jorgenson said. “We were pioneers back in those days. People would come to me and say, ‘Lee, what are we going to do? We need some entertainment on this island.’ There wasn’t nearly as much going on.”

Of course, the Jorgensons themselves had a lot going on, what with their new business venture and two young kids to tend to, so bored was not exactly on their radar.

Still, Lee did have one other new development in his life: a budding love of poetry.

“We were so busy opening the restaurant that I didn’t have time to read [Fyodor] Dostoyevsky and I started reading poetry because it’s short and it’s concise and it’s compartmentalized,” Jorgenson said. “As I started reading Charles Bukowski, who was doing poetry readings in Los Angeles and it was a crazy scene and he was throwing beer cans at people from the stage, it was such a happening, I thought, ‘God, that’d be a lot of fun to do something like that.’”

He thus set out to seek the sage advice of Bainbridge’s own Bukowski: longtime Bainbridge High School English and drama teacher, the renowned and colorful island art world giant Bob McAllister.

“He called himself the Mad Priest of Bainbridge Island,” Rekow recalled.

And mad he was — mad to get going on this new project.

Together, Jorgenson and McAllister put the word out, held the first reading and the rest is history.

In the past, Jorgenson recalled, the gathering saw capacity crowds pack the restaurant to hear readers of all ages and skill levels present prose. Though attendance has waxed and waned a bit through the years, every reading, he said, has seen a sizable audience. Even the occasional unsuspecting diners who happened to be present at the start have sometimes decided to stick around and listen in.

“There’s just so much talent and personal expression and creativity on the island,” he said. “We enjoyed that so much over the years. So, with Marianne’s help, it became an annual event at the restaurant every year, and then it moved more to the spring than in the fall.”

By having the event before the actual start of National Poetry Month, Rekow said, it allows the beloved tradition to act as a kind of kickoff for the many other poetry-themed happenings planned on Bainbridge in April.

Visit www.adminAHbainbridge.org to learn about Poetry Corners PLUS and the other special poetry events happening around the island all month long.