Port Angeles poets to launch books with reading at fine arts center
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026
PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles poets Linda B. Myers and Laura E. Garrard will launch their new chapbooks with a reading at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
The free event will be in the Esther Webster Gallery at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles. Attendees should RSVP at www.pafac.org/rsvp.
Myers’ book, “Load-Bearing Walls,” was named because it contains poems about the people who have supported her.
“I do believe that we really need to be load-bearing walls for each other,” Myers said, “because life isn’t always an easy occupation.”
Myers, a co-founder of Olympic Peninsula Authors, published 10 novels before she turned to poetry.
Garrard’s book, “Paddling the Sweet Spot Between Life and Death,” revolves around the subjects of aging, dying, caretaking and reflection and draws from challenges with Stage III multiple myeloma and how she used resiliency, present-minded living and inspiration from nature to push through those challenges.
“I was 51 years old going on 35 and never dreamed this would be a possibility for me, that I would have to face something so serious in my life as this,” Garrard said.
Both books were selected and published through the 2025 Open Chapbook Competition with Finishing Line Press of Georgetown, Ky.
Port Book and News will have copies of both books available for purchase, and the authors will be available to sign them.
Local author S. Salazar also will read from her poetry book, “Raíces, Relics, and Other Ghosts,” which is based on a cultural diaspora.
Attendees will be able to view the gallery’s current exhibit, “Field Notes,” a collection of works inspired by artist and ornithologist John James Audubon. The exhibit features works depicting the beauty, migration and resilience of birds by contemporary artists Ann Reid, Natalie Niblack, Justin Gibbens and Anne Goetzman.
