Award-winning poet Holly J. Hughes will be the guest speaker at the Kitsap Audubon meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 at the Poulsbo Library.

Hughes gives eloquent voice to bird species that have vanished from the earth. She is the author of “Passings” (Expedition Press, 2016), a moving collection of elegiac meditations on 15 bird species that no longer fill our skies. For her multi-media presentation to Kitsap Audubon, she’ll read poems from her book, illustrating the poems with paintings by John J. Audubon and at least one bird call.

Passings was recently nominated for an American Book Award by the Before Columbus Foundation. She is also the author of “Sailing by Ravens” (University of Alaska Press, 2014), co-author of “The Pen and The Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World” (Skinner House Press, 2012), and editor of the award-winning anthology, “Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s Disease” (Kent State University Press, 2009).

She taught writing for more than 25 years at Edmonds Community College, where she co-founded the Sustainability Council and directed the Convergence Writer’s Series. She currently teaches writing workshops throughout the Pacific Northwest and consults as a writing coach.