April is National Poetry Month and, as usual, Bainbridge Island celebrates it with multiple events.
Sadly it comes on the heels of the loss of island poet Karen Perry, who died from cancer earlier this month. Perry helped carry the torch for the San Carlos Poetry Reading, the island’s longest-running poetry event, and often had poems in the Poetry Corners exhibit.
“Transformation” is the theme for this year’s Poetry Corners competition. Winning poems will be on display in windows on Winslow Way starting next week through April.
“We got a great response to the call for poets,” said Lindsay Masters, spokeswoman for the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, which sponsors the event.
A free film screening of “Louder Than a Bomb,” will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, at the Historic Lynwood Theatre.
The award-winning documentary tells the story of four Chicago high school poetry teams as they prepare for and compete in the 2008 Chicago-area youth slam. By turns hopeful and heartbreaking, the film captures the tempestuous lives of these unforgettable kids, exploring the ways writing shapes their world, and vice versa. A Q&A follows the film.
The 27th annual San Carlos Poetry Reading returns in April. The free event, from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15, at San Carlos Restaurant, 279 Madison Ave., follows an open mic format that allows a broad spectrum of work to be heard. Share a poem or just come to listen. Sign up to read ahead of time by contacting Nancy Rekow at 842-4855 or nancyrekow@msn.com, or sign up at the event. Contact Rekow for details.
Fields End Writers’ Roundtable salutes Poetry Month with a presentation by Frances McCue, “Reading and Writing Poems
That Startle Us,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 17, at the Bainbridge Public Library. This interactive talk showcases surprising, inspiring poems and offers techniques to create verse with unexpected turns. For more information, visit www.fieldsend.org.
The month-long celebration wraps up with a reading of the Poetry Corners poems at 7 p.m. April 28, in the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art auditorium. For details, visit www.bainbridgeartshumanities.org.
