PORT ANGELES — “I’d like to dedicate this book to all the voiceless people around the world,” Makah poet John Pritchard III writes at the front of his collection titled WOLF: We Only Love Freedom.
“You all could make a difference like Malala. All that it takes is courage,” he adds, hailing Malala Yousafzai, 17, who this year became the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pritchard, 23, is known to poetry enthusiasts around Clallam County for his rhythmic, realistic work: poems such as “What to Live For?,” “Faith,” “Place of Replacement” and “Tears.”
They’re all in WOLF, and Pritchard will recite selected pieces at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, 401 E. First St., tonight.
Admission is free to the 7 p.m. event, while copies of the just-published book will be available for $10 with proceeds to help Pritchard embark on a quarter studying abroad.
The paperback also is available on Amazon.com for $12.99, while Pritchard can be reached at johndefuca@gmail.com.
The student has been accepted to the Washington Consortium of Community Colleges program in Florence, Italy this spring. But it’s not certain he’ll go.
The cost of traveling to Italy and studying there for three months is around $10,000, said Val Conroy, Peninsula College’s study abroad coordinator.
Not many students from her campus participate, she added, due to the steep cost.
Before Pritchard arrived in her office, Conroy had never seen a tribal member apply for the program.
Raising the money “will be quite a feat,” she said, as the deadline for payment is
Feb. 6.
“But John has quite a few people behind him,” she said, “and he is certainly doing everything he can to make it a reality.”
Pritchard’s letters of recommendation from Peninsula College English professors Kate Reavey and Helen Lovejoy, “were the best letters I have ever seen,” Conroy added.
Pritchard’s book was published with support from the Bill Hennessey Native Bridges Fund, established by the late Port Angeles family doctor William F. Hennessey, and from the Peninsula College Foundation.
Pritchard learned of the study abroad program from a poster he saw on campus just last September.
He spoke to Reavey, who has taught in Florence, and decided: “I need to find a way.”
Poetry might be that.
It’s “just something I’ve been doing a long time. Just in the last few years, I’ve been doing performance-based poetry through the college and open-mic events, and I’ve always gotten a positive response,” Pritchard said.
In verse, “I just try to view different aspects of world . . . from every angle,” he said.
He writes of “self-motivation, going through triumphs, and going through poverty,” life in Neah Bay, reality and dreams.
As he continues his college career, Pritchard hopes to major in fisheries management, while he also has an interest in international studies.
“I have a lot of plans of helping out my community,” he added.
The Makah writer, also an artist who designed his book’s cover, would fit in well in Italy where great value is placed on the literary and visual arts, Conroy believes.
Pritchard “has the depth to get so much out of that experience, and bring it back,” she said.
The book’s introduction starts right out with Pritchard’s call to his people.
He writes:
slow down or your life is just going to be bars n cuffs// I never picked
up drugs but I have scars from night so rough// Enough is enough…
We are our own reason why life is tough// quit blaming the ones who
gave up and gave in
… learn patience it’ll bring amazement//
but with opportunity never offer no hesitation// don’t show demonstration
of frustration no matter the occasion// always carry confidence
bury fear// will yourself through any hell there’s a reason why we are
all here// never accept defeat you gotta take your dream and make
that your heart beat
WOLF’s title is an acronym Pritchard thought of years ago.
“Wolves are misunderstood,” he said, “and sometimes we can be misunderstood.”
On Monday night, Pritchard hopes not so much for a reading as a conversation.
“People can ask a question at any moment . . . It will be fun,” he promised.
“It’ll be like a rollercoaster, with controversial topics.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
