Poetry Reading: Kelli Russell Agodon, Suzanne Edison, and Michael Schmeltzer

Please join us for a summer reading with three accomplished Pacific Northwest poets: Suzanne Edison, Michael Schmeltzer, and Kelli Russell Agodon.

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Suzanne Edison’s newest collection is Since the House is Burning, published by MoonPath Press in April 2022. Erin Belieu, author of Come-Hither, Honeycomb, describes the collection: “Musically adept, formally precise, both clear eyed and unfailingly empathetic in its worldview, it’s a beautiful book–one any thoughtful reader of poetry will be glad to know.”

Suzanne Edison is a poet, educator and former therapist. She is also the mother of a child living with a rare autoimmune disease. She lives her professional life at the intersection of art, healing and eduction. Since the House is Burning is Edison’s fourth book of poetry.

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In the words of poet Jane Wong, Michael Schmeltzer’s collection Empire of Surrender “asks us to look, to feel—deep in the guts—the vibrating aftershocks of war…. Full of visceral lyricism and tender epistolaries, Schmeltzer dives into the intimate depths of war, violence, familial history, empathy, and lineage. ”

Michael Schmeltzer is a biracial author originally from Japan. He currently lives in Seattle where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Floating Bridge Press. His award-winning poetry book Empire of Surrender was published by Wandering Aengus Press in April 2022. Along with Meghan McClure, he is the co-author of the nonfiction book A Single Throat Opens, a lyric exploration of addiction and family. His debut poetry collection Blood Song (Two Sylvias Press, 2016) was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in Poetry, the Julie Suk Award, and the Coil Book Award.

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Dialogues with Rising Tides is Kelli Russell Agodon’s fourth collection of poems, published by Copper Canyon Press in April 2021. Of Agodon’s newest book, poet Diane Suess says, “This is the book I need right here, right now, as the fires burn and the tides rise.”

Kelli Russell Agodon is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press as well as the codirector of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Writing Retreat for Women. She has been guest faculty and a guest speaker fo several universities and MFA programs. Agodon lives in a sleepy seaside town in Washington State and is an avid paddleboarder and hiker.