The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

A new event is on the local calendar for poets and aspiring poets. Mark your calendars for Riverpoets, which will include an open mic, a poetry workshop, and a morning hike and write on April 17-19.

On Friday, April 17, there will be a welcome and open mic at the Hotel Cathlamet at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna will offer a poetry workshop as part of her "One River, Many Voices" tour at the Cathlamet Library from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Pre-register at 360-795-3254, as space is limited. At 7 p.m. that evening at the River Life Interpretive Center in Skamokawa, Castro Luna will be joined by Robert Michael Pyle, Irene Martin, and Ruby Hansen Murray in a poetry reading, along with music performed by Andrew Emlen and Kyleen Austin. On Sunday at 10 a.m., join a two mile Hike & Write at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge, beginning at the White Tail Trail gate. Bring a beloved poem, a notebook and pencil. It is a flat gravel path, but participants are also welcome to walk a flat paved area nearby.

This is the last stop on Castro Luna's tour of the state, funded by Humanities Washington and the Washington Arts Commission.

Events are free, but donations will be accepted at the April 18 poetry reading in Skamokawa.

Organizers for RiverPoets hope to make it an annual poetry event in Cathlamet to celebrate local poets and song writers. It is a private, self-supporting, non-commercial enterprise. Donations are welcome and will go toward event promotion.