2006 Poetry Roadshow Call for Applications

The Washington Poets Association, Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington are inviting applications for the 2006 Poetry Roadshow featured poet.

Poetry Roadshow history

In spring 2005, a partnership of the Washington Poets Association, Washington State Arts Commission, and four community colleges and their towns sent Washington poet James Bertolino on the first Poetry Roadshow for a series of lectures and readings in culturally under-served rural communities in the state: Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Centralia and Port Angeles. Funded by an NEA grant through the Washington State Arts Commission, Bertolino's Poetry Roadshow visits were well received and much appreciated by the institutions and communities.

This year a follow-up to that series will replicate the successful elements in four small communities across the state. The Roadshow project is also a supporting part of a greater dream; it is laying down tracks for a future poet laureate for Washington state.

Poetry Roadshow 2006

A series of four interactive lecture/workshops and conversations/readings by a prominent Washington poet will provide a revelatory shared experience in language for those in smaller, often rural communities who have to bring the rest of the world in, rather than partake of the cultural wealth so prevalent in major cities.

The objectives of the Poetry Roadshow are to:

• provide underserved rural communities with the opportunity to hear, gain insight from and converse with a renowned Washington poet;
• engage diverse audiences in exploration of how the language of poetry defines our experiences and ourselves;
• work towards defining and refining a program which will be inhabited by future state poet laureates.

Venues for the 2006 featured poet and compensation

Partnering institutions and locations are: Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake; Washington State University, Tri-Cities; Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen; and Lower Columbia College, Longview.

The Poetry Roadshow coordinator will aid the featured poet and institutions in arranging mutually acceptable dates. The featured poet will present a lecture/workshop, usually to a daytime class or assembly, plus a public reading, usually in the evening. Each institution has received a grant from Humanities Washington so that the featured poet will receive an honorarium of $500 for each presentation, plus the reimbursement of actual travel expenses, including meals, lodging and transportation.

Application Process

A cover letter indicating desire to participate and availability to travel is required, as well as the completed application form, a single page original poem, and a brief resume of lecture, workshop, teaching, reading and publishing history. Representatives of the three partnering organizations will select the featured poet based on publishing credits and presentation experience. There is no fee to apply. Applicants must live and work in Washington state.

Application deadline: September 29, 2006. Notification date: October 9, 2006.

• Application form (HTML)
• Application form (Word)

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