Program Meeting: Tuesday, April 24, 7:30pm–Poetry of the Natural World

“The work of poetry is to direct our attention, with words, to the place without them, so understanding can occur.”
 —Anita Sullivan

This month we focus on words instead of images, but what image-words! We’ve invited Alan Contreras, Ce Rosenow, and Anita Sullivan to give us a tour through the vivid world of nature poetry as they see it. Reading from their own work and the work of their favorite poets, they will also talk about different forms of poetry and how they and other poets have tried to convey particular images or themes through their poems.

Alan Contreras has studied the birds of Lane County for more than 30 years. He is past president of the Oregon Field Ornithologists, and has written and edited several books on Oregon birds, including “Northwest Birds in Winter,” and “Birds of Lane County.” He co-edited “Birds of Oregon,” a hefty and comprehensive (752-page!) reference to the approximately five hundred bird species known to occur in the state. He has also published widely on higher education issues, and his third poetry collection, “In the Time of the Queen,” is just out.

Ce Rosenow, a specialist in haiku and other Asian forms, coordinated Lane Community College’s honors program for several years. Previous to that, she taught literature and writing at LCC, and she has now returned to the writing and literacy classrooms full time. For many years she was the publisher of Mountains and Rivers Press. Her recent collections include “North Lake,” (Mountain Gate Press), “Pacific,” (Mountain Gate Press), and “A Year Longer,” (Longhouse Publishers).

Anita Sullivan has written, hiked, and gardened in Eugene, while owning and operating her own piano tuning business for almost 30 years. During those piano tuning years, she earned an MFA in Poetry, helped found Airlie Press, was an occasional commentator on National Public Radio, and traveled to Greece seven times. She has published two poetry chapbooks and a full-length collection. The most recent chapbook is “And If The Dead Do Dream,” (Uttered Chaos Press, Eugene, 2016). Later this year Shanti Arts Press in Brunswick, Maine, will publish a chapbook of her essays, “The Bird That Swallowed the Music Box.” The title essay is based on her reaction to the song of the Swainson’s Thrush.