PORT ANGELES — The Writers’ Harvest, a gathering of poets, authors and lovers of literature, returns to the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., on Saturday night — this time with a tribute to a beloved member of the arts community.
This 7 p.m. harvest of poetry and short stories, held for 19 years now, is called the Reading for Hunger Relief, as it generates support for the Sequim and Port Angeles food banks.
One of its first organizers was Jim Fisher, the Port Angeles poet, novelist and teacher who died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 72.
Fisher was known for his humor and his “sonnettes,” abbreviated versions of 14-line sonnets Shakespeare made famous.
Fisher had a lot of fun with sonnettes, so he wrote hundreds of them, said Peninsula College professor Janet Lucas, organizer of this year’s Writers’ Harvest.
‘Sonnettes’
She’s asked the participants, members of the Peninsula College faculty and the North Coast Writers group, to read their own sonnettes in remembrance of Fisher.
These writers also will offer bits of memoir, essays, fiction and poetry to round out the reading.
Slated to appear are:
■ Carmen Germain, a poet and retired professor who taught writing and literature at Peninsula College for more than 20 years.
■ Michael Mills, a playwright, poet and essayist who teaches English at Peninsula College and serves as adviser for Tidepools magazine.
■ Glynda Schaad, a member of a West End pioneer family and author of books including Women to Reckon With and High Divide.
■ Charlotte Warren, author of the prize-winning poetry collection Gandhi’s Lap and the memoir Jumna: Sacred River — An American Childhood in India.
■ Sally Albiso, a winner of the Robert Frost Foundation Poetry Award and other prizes.
■ Suzann Bick, a poet and former director of writing centers at Stanford University, Peninsula College and other institutions.
■ Mary-Alice Boulter, a poet and theater artist who has published work in Vietnam magazine, Timberline and other journals and anthologies, and the c-oauthor with Maine poet Anne Mullin of a chapbook titled Two Friends Blend.
■ Molly Hollenbach, an essayist, anthropologist and member of the Goat Girls, an Olympic National Park hiking group.
■ Patrick Loafman, a wildlife biologist and author whose works include a novel, Somewhere Upriver.
■ Diana Somerville, author of the award-winning travel memoir Inside Out Down Under: Stories from a Spiritual Sabbatical.
■ Janet Lucas, a Port Angeles native who teaches English at Peninsula College and writes creative nonfiction essays, poetry and scholarly articles.
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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.