Leader Staff
arts@ptleader.com
Port Townsend writers are to honor five late Copper Canyon Press poets at the Fort Worden–based press’s open house and holiday book sale.
The 16th annual …
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Published by Port Townsend’s Copper Canyon Press, Ocean Vuong’s “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” presents poems described as “visceral, tender and lyrical, fleet and agile,” in Whiting Awards’ list of 2016 winners. The poetry press in Fort Worden is hosting its annual holiday open house and book sale Friday, Dec. 16. Courtesy image
Leader Staff
arts@ptleader.com
Port Townsend writers are to honor five late Copper Canyon Press poets at the Fort Worden–based press’s open house and holiday book sale.
The 16th annual holiday event is set for 5:15 p.m., Friday, Dec. 16 at Madrona MindBody Institute in the fort’s former gym, located across the road from the press.
It’s a well-known event, said Joseph Bednarik, copublisher. The seasonal gathering is a time for the “poetry tribe” to come together for conversation and refreshments, peruse books, and “see and be seen,” Bednarik said.
The event always includes a brief oral presentation, Bednarik said. This year, that presentation, set for 6:15 p.m., is a tribute reading to the Copper Canyon Press poets who died in 2016: Jim Harrison, C.D. Wright, Shirley Kaufman, David Budbill and Washington’s own Lucia Perillo.
Port Townsend translator Red Pine is to present Harrison’s poetry; novelist and artist Rikki Ducornet, who also lives in Port Townsend, reads from Wright’s work.
Michael Wiegers, Copper Canyon’s editor in chief, is to talk about Kaufman.
Other readers are yet to be determined, Bednarik said.
“We’re honored to share the legacies of these poets,” Wiegers said in a press release. “We pride ourselves on having a broad aesthetic. “For example, David Budbill was completely committed to a direct, down-to-earth voice, whereas C.D. Wright’s work is idiosyncratic, layered and complex.”
Copper Canyon published 20 books in 2016, several of which are appearing on “Best Books of 2016” lists from a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, as well as National Public Radio.
Copper Canyon often gets “best-of” nominations, Bednarik said, but this year has been a big one for listings.
Ocean Vuong’s debut full-length collection, “Night Sky with Exit Wounds,” was released by Copper Canyon Press in 2016; in April, the publisher ran a second printing. The volume is also on several “best of” lists, and is a poetry best-seller.
“Ocean’s poetry has moved readers from around the country to send in handwritten reader response cards with heartfelt reactions to his work and immigrant story,” said Janeen Armstrong, reader services coordinator at Copper Canyon, in a press release.
“There is an exhilarating and well-
deserved buzz around this book. It’s something special.”
