Humble Poets Open Mic

Attention all poetry people: please come to our next open mic - Sunday, September 29th / 4-6pm The Stacks Coffeehouse featuring cooler weather and Julia Gaskill.

Julia Gaskill (she/her) is a poet and professional daydreamer from Portland, OR. She has competed multiple times on national poetry slam stages and toured with her poetry across North America. Her work has been published through Moria Magazine, Pine Row Press, Vagabond City Lit, and more, and her poems have been featured on YouTube channels such as SlamFind, Write About Now, and Button Poetry. She was included in the anthologies A Shape Produced by a Curve (great weather for MEDIA, 2023), Excelsior! (FreezeRay Poetry, 2022), and In Absentia (Bicycle Comics Press, 2020). Julia is the author of four chapbooks, runs the poetry mic Slamlandia, co-created the Bigfoot Poetry Festival, and is the creator of the spoken word album, Stouthearted Bitch. Her debut full length collection, weirdo, was published through Game Over Books in 2022. Find out more about Julia at on Twitter and Instagram or at juliagaskill.com.

Please join us Sunday, August 25th from 4-6pm The Stacks Coffeehouse for an open mic and feature with Bethany Reid.

Bethany Reid grew up as a logger’s daughter in the Willapa Hills of Southwest Washington State, but now lives in a house on a greenbelt in Edmonds, WA, walks in the woods every day, and hangs out with poets whenever and wherever she can. Her first full-length book, Sparrow, won the 2012 Gell Poetry Prize; her fourth full-length poetry book is The Pear Tree: Elegy for a Farm, which won MoonPath Press’s 2023 Sally Albiso Award.

We miss you and want to see you.

See you next Sunday The Stacks Coffeehouse 4-6pm

Clark County’s Poet Laureate, Susan G. Di**le, is the feature.

SUSAN DI**LE moved from New York to Washougal, Washington in 2020 to live near family the year after she became a widow. In the middle of the pandemic. What could possibly go wrong? Fortunately, she found Humble Poets Open Mic and has been sort of a regular here ever since. Susan became the Clark County Poet Laureate In March 2024. She hosts Poetry Street PNW at the Camas Library on the 4th Wednesday each month, with co-host Julie Sparling. Her first chapbook, “Parting Gifts” won honorable mention and publication by Local Gems Press, NY in 2020. “In Pilgrim Drag” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020. She is currently a student in the MFA program at Pacific University, in poetry.

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Come get humble with us on Sunday - June 30th from 4-6pm at The Stacks Coffeehouse

This month's feature is Valentina Ortiz

Valentina Ortiz speaks the stories of ancient and modern Mexico. She has traveled many countries with her work, taking the Latin American traditions to audiences young and adult. Her stories are entertaining, full of hope, a window into the daily life of the people of Mexico. She moves comfortably from myth to the personal story, from folktale to her voice about migration. She loves to play with the diversity of languages, Spanish, English, French, and the ancient Mexican indigenous voices. To her flow in stories, she adds her skills as a longtime professional drummer and singer. She is recognized for her workshops in Universities and Community Centers as well as for leading rhythm and storytelling residencies for children of all ages. She published 4 books and produced 4 records of her original stories and music. She has a Bachelor´s Degree from Barnard College in New York and a Masters in Arts Management from Mexican Metropolitan University UAM; in 2018, she received the Teacher´s College (Columbia University) Certificate for Teaching of the Arts. https://valentinastoryteller.com/

Thank you for showing up big time The Stacks Coffeehouse for Humble Poets Open Mic with Frederick Livingston

We had a great crowd (25 readers!) and we appreciate everyone for being considerate of time so everyone could read who wanted to.

We are so moved by the beauty of those who come and share with us.

We can’t wait to see you all in June!

Join us next Sunday, May 26th from 4-6pm The Stacks Coffeehouse for a poetry open mic, featuring Frederick Livingston

Frederick Livingston is an ecologist currently working in the prison-to-school pipeline, growing native plants with incarcerated people for restoration projects across the American West. Born at the southern tip of the Salish Sea in Olympia, Washington, his work in experiential education and peacebuilding has taken him across the world, from Peace Corps in rural Tanzania to the United Nation’s University for Peace in Costa Rica, and beyond.

Since his 6th grade debut on local-access television performing “Ode to a Chair”, Frederick’s work has appeared in scientific journals, dozens of literary magazines, and public spaces. He has been the featured poet of California Quarterly and nominated for several Pushcart and Best of the Net awards. He is the author of the poetry collection “The Moon and Other Fruits” as well as the recently released “Trees are Bridges to the Sky”, which won the Prism Prize for Climate Literature.

Thank you Sherri Levine for featuring at our open-mic. We had a great turn out and are feeling so honored to be a part of the PNW literary scene.

See you in May!

Come get humble with us next Sunday, the 28th from 4-6pm at The Stacks Coffeehouse
We are so excited to have Sherri Levine as our featured reader.

Sherri Levine believes that poetry saves lives. She is a poet, a mental health advocate, a teacher, a former poetry series host, and a squirrel lover living in Portland. Her poem, “Facedown,” won the Lois Cranston Memorial Prize. She also won First Prize (Poet’s Choice) in the OPA Contest. Sherri has published four poetry collections—In These Voices (Poetry Box 2018) Stealing Flowers from the Neighbors,” (Kelsay Press 2021) A Joy to See—an ekphrastic poetry book of prominent poets responding to her late mother’s paintings. Her illustrated poetry book, I Remember Not Sleeping (Fernwood Press) will be released this year. She escaped the long harsh winters of upstate New York and has ever since been happily soaking in the Oregon rain.

Come get humble with us on March 31st with our next feature: Emily Moon

We start at 4 p.m. The Stacks Coffeehouse

Emily Moon (she/her) is a q***r transgender poet from Portland, Ore. She is the author of "It’s Just You & Me, Miss Moon," host for Eastside Poetry Workshop, and host for Queerlandia Open Mic. Her work is published or forthcoming from Buckman Journal, Rogue Agent, Ouch! Collective and elsewhere. Her chapbook "a dancing goddess" is forthcoming from Boats Against the Current." She is on Instagram and Facebook .Moon.57 Her link tree is linktr.ee/EmilyMoonPoet

Thanks to everyone who came out for our open mic The Stacks Coffeehouse. We love you!!! And we are poets, so we mean it.

Please join us for an open mic on Sunday, February 25th from 4-6 pm at The Stacks Coffeehouse.

We will start with an open mic, take a break, introduce our featured reader, and follow that with more open mic time.

Elisa Carlsen will be our featured reader. Elisa grew up in Humboldt County, Nevada. Their writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Trumpeter, Anti-Heroin Chic, Oranges Journal, Brushfire, and elsewhere. Elisa is the author of Cormorant (Unsolicited Press, 2023) a short collection of poetry addressing the human dimensions of a controversial salmon recovery project in the Pacific Northwest.

Come share your words with us.

To all the poets and writers who grace our open mic, thank you! We are building something special and it starts with you. We are truly humbled by what you share.

And a huge shout out to The Stacks Coffeehouse for giving us a home.