Many of you already know about the Poulsbohemian Coffee Shop on Front Street in Poulsbo. I have had the privilege of drinking their lattes and interviewing many of the authors that I’ve written about in this column while sitting in their very comfortable setting.
If you like listening to poetry — or reading your own to an audience during the open mike part of the session — you will want to attend the Armchair Poetry Reading at 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month. (Read poetry by this month’s presenters in this edition of Kitsap Weekly.)
This coffee shop has been in business since 1993, is owned by Marianna Mears and managed by Jeffrey Kooker, and this is what they say about themselves: “We have the best view in town. We have been perched here overlooking Liberty Bay in Poulsbo since 1993, and we even have outside seating for you and your doggies. Milk Bones and water bowls available.”
I attended a July Armchair Poetry reading at the coffee shop and met Nancy Rekow, the organizer of this event. She told me that the Poulsbohemian is rated eighth in the nation for Best Poetry Reading Places. Nancy is a poet in her own right and also has spent many years promoting, organizing, and helping to get books by local artists and writers published.
She is also very involved with the Arts &Humanities Bainbridge, in collaboration with Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bloedel Reserve, Humanities Washington and other organizations, and they present a full month of poetry events throughout April, National Poetry Month.
Some of the books Nancy has been involved in getting published are just plain fun to read. There is the book published by a group that calls themselves the Tour de Coop. Their book is titled, “Chicken Raising Tales,” and contains stories and pictures of chicken coops and about different kinds of chickens, with helpful information about their coops, all written with humor.
One story is named “Murden Cove School for Chickens.” It is a tongue-in-cheek story and the first line tells you how fun this school/article will be:
“The Murden Cove School for Chickens (MSC) is an all-girl, independent boarding school, founded in 2008 by the Trick family.”
This story is written by Steve and Jo Ann Trick. Find this book on Amazon.com.
Another book is the sketchbook with poems called “Bainbridge Island A to Z,” written and illustrated by Bill Hemp.
Nancy also interviewed Rose Lovgreen and recorded her story for the book “Far as I Can Remember,” an immigrant woman’s story from 1888-1975. It is available on Amazon.com.
And as if that’s isn’t enough work for one woman, Nancy also organized and ran a contest for the poets of the Poulsbohemian in 2006, then published a book with the winning poems. I asked her if there would be another contest and she said, “You never know.”
As I said, if you like poetry, stop by the Poulsbohemian and ask about the next reading. It’s a fun and very interesting group.
Quote for today: “Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood.”— Yukio Mishima.
— Contact Donna Lee Anderson at welltoldtales@aol.com.
