New Washington poet laureate Derek Sheffield had lots of compliments for the Skagit River Poetry Foundation at its May 4 fundraiser at The Vinery.
Calling SPRF’s biannual festival “the pre-eminent poetry festival in northwest Washington,” he confided that he had passed on another prominent writing event to accept SRPF Executive Director Molly McNulty’s last-minute invitation.
As poet laureate, the Wenatchee Valley College instructor hopes to use poetry to improve mental health in a digital world.
“The screen life that young people are living is really saying that the marvelous, scintillating collection of moments that you and I are living right now doesn’t count for much,” he told the 140 attendees.
Poetry’s message is the opposite. In a video interview from October’s Festival, a Sedro-Woolley High School student said that listening “to so many different people and so many different styles of poetry makes you feel like the way you write is okay.”
Sedro-Woolley teacher and SRPF board member Anna Ferdinand agreed. At the festival and in poets-in-the-schools programs, students come in touch “with something deep and powerful,” and she sees “that lid of school lifted and whole selves being seen and valued by poets.”
The late La Conner author Tom Robbins’ words graced the program for the event, titled “A Child’s Garden of (the Uni)Verse,” which included a tribute from Robbins’ wife Alexa.
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood” he urged on the cover. “Joy in spite of everything,” Alexa concluded.
While the final numbers for all gifts and auction items are not in, the “Raise a Hand for Kids” bid raised more than $16,000 for poet residencies in Skagit and Whatcom County schools, including La Conner.
That’s significant, as supplemental funding from state and federal grants is vanishing or being clawed back, and remaining grants are shrinking in size and number.
“I want to thank the generous supporters who came out on a sunny spring day to help us celebrate poetry,” McNulty said. “I look forward to our next auction!”
Learn more about the Skagit River Poetry Foundation at skagitriverpoetry.org.
Anne Basye is a freelance writer based in greater La Conner.
