The Street-Level View From Poet J.W. Marshall
In "50th & Sunnyside" and "Poem of Our Good Fortune," poet and Seattle native J.W. Marshall proves that getting out of your car — whether to become a pedestrian or a bus rider — changes everything.
Marshall read the poems for the Seattle Arts and Lectures' Poetry Series. They're part of the letterpress chapbook "WORK together" (Cash Machine Press, 2014), which features new poems from both Marshall and his wife, poet Christine Deavel.
Marshall and Deavel are co-owners of Open Books: A Poem Emporium in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.
Marshall is also the author of "Meaning a Cloud," which was the winner of the 2007 FIELD Poetry Prize, and the chapbooks "Taken With" and "Blue Mouth."
His reading was recorded on March 19 by Jack Straw Productions at A Contemporary Theatre.
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Elizabeth Austen
Producer
Former Washington State Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen has been interviewing poets and producing poetry segments for KUOW since 2001. She began as an intern while in graduate school for an MFA in creative writing (poetry) at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Once she discovered the joy of blending her early background as an actor and director (Book–It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Festival) with her passion for poetry as a spoken art form, she was hooked. She's been producing poetry for radio audiences ever since. Her collection, "Every Dress a Decision" (Blue Begonia Press, 2011), was a finalist for the 2012 Washington State Book Award in poetry. She is also the author of two poetry chapbooks, "The Girl Who Goes Alone" (Floating Bridge Press, 2010) and "Where Currents Meet," winner of the Toadlily Press Chapbook Award and part of the quartet "Sightline," published in 2010. Elizabeth's poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac and online at Verse Daily, the Bellingham Review and DMQ Review. You'll find Elizabeth's poems in anthologies including "What to Read in the Rain" and "Poets Against the War" and in literary journals. She's performed at venues including Poets House in New York City, The Loft in Minneapolis, the Austin ArtSpark Festival, and locally at the Richard Hugo House Literary Series, Bumbershoot, and the Seattle and Skagit River Poetry Festivals. An audio CD, "skin prayers," featuring 26 original poems recorded with a live audience in the KUOW studios, is available on her website, www.elizabethausten.org. Elizabeth was the 2007 Roadshow poet, bringing poetry to underserved rural communities in Washington state under the auspices of the Washington State Arts Commission, Humanities Washington, and the Washington Poets Association. She is committed to fostering a broader understanding and appreciation of the literary arts in general and poetry in particular. She teaches frequently at Richard Hugo House, a literary arts center in Seattle, and she has been a visiting artist for western Washington school districts and colleges.
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