Writers gather weekly for lit salon

Hemingway went. Ezra Pound too. Gertrude Stein hosted one for years. From informal meetings at Parisian cafés to daily afternoon teas, writers have always gathered at literary salons to read to each other.

Orcas Island now has its own regular salon for writers and thinkers to convene. The Artsmith Salon Series begins Monday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Doe Bay Resort café and will continue every Monday evening.

Rene Keep of Doe Bay Resort said, “The cafe here will provide a magical realist background for writers to voice their work."

The weekly salon will host featured writers working in all genres from poetry to screenwriting who will come to Orcas from all over the western United States.

Artsmith volunteer Jennifer Brennock said, “This is not more of the same. Each of the writers coming really sees the world through a different lens, so it should get interesting.”

Featured writers coming to the salons include author Susan Wingate, poet Paul Nelson, “A Sudden Country” author Karen Fisher, Seattle poets Ellen Welcker and Priya Keefe, novelist Isla McKetta, poet Jean-Paul Pecqueur, novelist and playwright Molly Best Tinsley of Ashland, OR, and performance poetry team The Pincushion Orchestra from San Jose, Calif.

Brennock said, “A lot of these writers are just excited to come to Orcas Island and see what it’s all about.”

San Juan Island resident Susan Wingate will read at the Sept. 28 salon. Wingate is a poet, playwright, and screenwriter. Her novel in-progress “Camouflage” received a semi-finalist award the 2009 Textnovel Writing Contest. Her novel “Bobby’s Diner” became a bestselling ebook in October 2008.

The first salon on Sept. 21 will feature Ellen Welcker from Vashon Island. Welcker writes and teaches poetry. Her new work is featured in Tinfish 19, Gently Read Literature, and Picayune Review.

Each Monday night, the featured writer will be followed by an open mic for local writers of all genres. The open mic participants can read their creative writing for 10 minutes.

“This is a free, open space we're creating for writers of all sorts to share their art. It will have that small space feeling of an authentic salon,” Keep said.

The salon series will also feature a local talent giving a special reading of their work. Ron Herman, Barbara Lewis, Michele Griskey and other Orcas writers will share original work from monologues to pieces of creative nonfiction.

The salon is free to attend and is a collaboration between the Orcas nonprofit Artsmith and Doe Bay Resort. Located in Eastsound, Artsmith promotes writers and visual artists and provides residencies for them to produce new work.

Executive Director of Artsmith Jill McCabe Johnson said, “This is really just an extension of what we’ve done a few times through the year. Not only will it bring some talented writers to Orcas, but it also gives great Orcas writers a forum to be heard.”

Information about the Artsmith Salon Series is available at www.orcasartsmith.org, www.doebay.com, by email salonseries@orcasartsmith.org, by phone 376-2025, and on Facebook.

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