Since its founding by novelist Bill Ransom in 1974, the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference is recognized as a central Pacific Northwest gathering place for contemporary literature, bringing some of the best literary writers in the world together with ardent students of writing.

As part of the conference, the faculty takes to the stage at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park each afternoon at 4 p.m. for craft lectures and each evening at 7:30 p.m. for readings. Beginning Monday, July 19 and ending Saturday, July 24 Centrum presents the 37th annual Readings and Lectures Series of the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference.

Thanks to a grant from Humanities Washington, all readings and lectures are presented free of charge.

This year’s series features such writers as Copper Canyon Press poets Chris Abani, Erin Belieu and Dana Levin; Vietnamese memoirist and novelist Bich Minh Nguyen; poet Martín Espada; novelist Cristina García; fiction writer Peter Orner, and others.

Chris Abani is the author of, most recently, Song for Night, a novella about a child soldier in Africa. The Los Angeles Times called Abani’s novel Graceland, the story of a Nigerian Elvis impersonator, one of the best books of 2002. Other books include The Virgin of Flames, Becoming Abigail and Hands Washing Water.

Erin Belieu is the author of three poetry collections, all from Copper Canyon Press. Her first book, Infanta, was a winner of the National Poetry Series and was chosen as a best book of the year by The Washington Post and Library Journal. Her second collection, One Above & One Below, won the Midland Authors Prize. Belieu's most recent collection, Black Box, was a finalist in 2007 for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Denise Chávez is widely regarded as one of the leading playwrights and novelists of the southwestern United States. She is also the artistic director of the Crossing Borders Festival in Las Cruces, N.M. Her novels include The Last of the Menu Girls, Face of an Angel, and Loving Pedro Infante.

Martín Espada is the author of 16 books, including two recent collections of poems: Crucifixion in the Plaza de Armas and La Tumba de Buenaventura Roig. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, including two NEA Fellowships. Poems have appeared in many periodicals, including The New Yorker, Harper’s and The Nation.

Cristina García is the author of four novels: Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters, Monkey Hunting and A Handbook to Luck. A fifth novel, The Lady Matador's Hotel, is forthcoming this year. García has edited two anthologies, Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature and Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature.

Dana Levin’s first book, In the Surgical Theatre, was published by American Poetry Review in 1999; Copper Canyon Press brought out her second book, Wedding Day, in 2005. Her work has appeared in many anthologies, including The Poet’s Child, This Art and American Poetry.

Ana Menéndez was born to Cuban exile parents who fled to Los Angeles in 1964. She worked as a journalist in the 1990s before turning to fiction with the collection of short stories, In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd. Menéndez published her first novel, Loving Che, in 2003. Her second, The Last War, appeared in 2009.

Bich Minh Nguyen published her first novel, Short Girls, in 2009. Her memoir-in-essays, Stealing Buddha's Dinner, was published by Viking Penguin in 2007 and received the PEN/Jerard Award. Her work has also appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines. She currently teaches at Purdue University.

Peter Orner, although perhaps best known for his novel, The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, is one of the finest teachers and short-story writers in the country. His story "The Raft" was selected for inclusion in the Best American Short Stories of 2001, edited by Barbara Kingsolver.