Third Annual Poetry Month Celebration

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council announces the Third Annual Poetry Month Celebration with a free community event on Thursday, April 29, 7 pm at the Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park Towne Centre.

Winners of the annual poetry contest in student and adult categories, juried by poets Belle Randall and Janee J. Baugher, will read their poems. Published poets Jared Leising and Kelli Russell Agodon will then read and discuss their work. Sponsored in part by Friends of Third Place Commons and Humanities Washington.

More on the featured poets:

Jared Leising

Poet Jared Leising has been selected by Jack Straw Productions as the curator of their 2010 Writers Program. Jared is the author of the chapbook The Widows and Orphans of Winesburg, Ohio. His poems have appeared in various Washington publications such as Pontoon, Crab Creek Review, and Stringtown, as well as on Metro Buses and local radio. Jared was selected by Nancy Rawles as a Jack Straw Writer in 2001, has worked as a writer-in-residence for Ballard and Nathan Hale High Schools, been a nominee for Seattle Poet Populist, and before moving to Seattle, he received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. Currently, he teaches English at Cascadia Community College, serves as president of the Washington Community College Humanities Association, and is on the board of directors at 826 Seattle.

Kelli Russell Agodon

Kelli Russell Agodon is the winner of the 2009 White Pine Press Poetry Prize judged by Carl Dennis. Her manuscript, Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room, will be published by White Pine Press in the fall of 2010. Kelli was born and raised in Seattle, is a graduate of Shorecrest High School, and attended the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University's Rainier Writing Workshop, where she received her MFA in creative writing. She is also the author of Small Knots (2004) and Geography, winner of the 2003 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award. Currently, Kelli lives in the Northwest with her family. She is the co-editor of the literary journal, Crab Creek Review.



Third Place Commons is located inside the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155. For more information please contact the Arts Council office at 206-417-4645 or email.