Skagit River Poetry Festival Report, Mark Doty on Routines

This year’s festival got off to an interesting start when the fundraising dinner they held on Thursday night began with me sitting next to Robert Hass, his poem and my poem from the anthology next to each other on beautiful broadsides at each place setting. Let me tell you, there’s no way to make you feel humble like sitting next to a former US Poet Laureate. But the good news is we had plenty to talk about, including Japanese translations, our favorite Japanese current literature (I was able to tell him about Monkey Business, the contemporary Japanese journal Roland Kelts works on, which he was really excited about and had never heard of) and one of my former UC professors that Robert told me he really admires. On the other side of me sat visual artist Fritha Strand, who live painted during the evening readings, quite a cool spectacle, and of course I love artists, so that was great too. (Kelli snapped this pic so you could see how happy I was to get my book signed by Robert Hass – literally I looked up for a second and flash!)

I loved meeting Blas Falconer, who was so accomplished and had a great warm, intuitive personality, and seeing Kwame Dawes and Mark Doty read again, talking religion and language with Emily Warn, and discussing women and monsters with lovely Canadian poet (who also happens to look like a Disney princess, but cooler) Rachel Rose.

The panels and readings went as well as they could (I think!) and I was surrounded by old friends at the festival too. (Pictured: Kelly Davio, Rachel Rose, Lana Ayers, Kelli Agodon, Susan Rich, Oliver de la Paz, the top of Robert Hass’ head,  and sunset view from our B&B.)

Some of the highlights of the weekend for me included wildlife sightings: seeing three otters flipping around logs in the river, getting startled by a series of herons who look and sound like ghosts at night flying right up to us and landing as we walked along the river at night, lots of close-ups of white-headed sea eagles, deer and quail crossing the street. La Conner was just beautiful, showing off with sunny weather and iris fields and startling sunsets and mild evenings of river time.

Last night at the final reading of the Skagit River Poetry Festival, Mark Doty started a poem by talking about how “wildly creative people need their routines – where they get their morning coffee, where they get their haircut, where they take their daily walk – to produce creative work.” And as I’m settle back into my house and my routines, I realize how true that is, how no matter how much fun I have being extroverted and running from panel to reading to dinner while I’m at an event like this, it is always nice to come home to my little townhouse, my own little bed, my cats, the hours of alone time.