Wil Gibson fell in love with poetry at the age of 8 when he saw the poet laureate of Chicago belting out verse. But as a young adult living on the streets, he felt a divide between his social standing and his literary dreams. "I never thought poetry was something I could have," Gibson says. "It was for rich people; it was for educated people; it wasn't for me." Once Gibson found his voice in poetry, he started connecting with people through the rhythm of language.
At this year's Redwood Poetry Festival, Gibson will host the 15 published poets sharing their work at the Historic Eagle House (139 Second St., Eureka) after an opening performance by singer-songwriter Zera Starchild. The showstopper event is Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. ($10), but the entire schedule, which includes events and workshops at Outer Space, Synapsis, Siren's Song and Phatsy Kline's, stretches Sept. 11 through Sept. 15.
Gibson served as Eureka's poet laureate from 2021-2023, and his first notable poetry book Harvest the Dirt addresses poverty and his own upbringing in a low-income family. His work flows conversationally and connects easily with the audience.
Among the scheduled poets is Moth Taylor, a nonbinary writer whose main theme for the night focuses on "coming to terms with the external and internal changing of seasons." With summer coming to a close, Taylor wants listeners to think about how natural shifts in our lives may change the path we're on. Their latest chapbook, Solstice Spells, focuses on these connections to our environment. They also create ekphrastic pieces, crafting visual art that complements their poetry.
Taylor enjoys connecting an audience with the little "intimate" parts of life that can be easily overlooked, like a barren desert that fills with vibrant flowers for a few days a year. "I will often go to places in my work that will speak ... to times that were a little bit darker in my life. But what I strive to do in every piece is to make sure there is a thread of hope that flows throughout and hopefully is the last note that stays with people," they say.
The Eagle House show also features Anna Martinez, who served as Albuquerque, New Mexico's poet laureate from 2022 through this July. Martinez was born in Los Angeles to an artistic family and her dad, a Latino activist, was an important role model. As a Latina attorney, her poetry focuses on themes of truth and justice, sometimes connecting with current events. "I always believed that artists are the ones who change things and leave history behind because the victor is the one who gets to write the story and we can't always believe the things they write about us, and so now it's our time to reclaim our stories," she says.
"I write the way my activism works, like a pretty open book, honest," she says. "The beat of who I am is basically what I'm always writing about," says Martinez, who recently published Pura Puta: A Poetic Memoir.
Eureka's first poet laureate, David Holper, has several collections under his belt. He and Gibson have worked together over the past few years to transform Eureka into a more vibrant poetic community for both writers and audiences. "It's great to have poet laureates to help the public understand poetry isn't boring. It's not stale, or dead, or stuffy; it's actually really interesting, but you actually have to have a means to access it," Holper says.
His recent book Language Lessons: A Linguistic Hejira focuses on untranslatable words from around the globe. It's a playful read designed for folks who might not otherwise be interested in poetry. On the flip side, Holper doesn't shy from discussing controversial topics and disrupting the status quo.
"Even if my voice is shaking when I say it," notes Holper, "I want to be able to speak the truth to the nature of the problems in society so people will listen and hear that."
Sasha Love (she/her) is a local freelancer who will be studying journalism at University of Oregon this fall.