Thursday, april 18, 2019 // 9
submitted photo
‘Wild Honey, Tough Salt,’ the latest
book by Oregon Poet Laureate Kim
Stafford, will be unveiled in Astoria
on Tuesday, April 23. It will be on sale
at the event and on amazon.com.
‘WILD HONEY, TOUGH SALT,’ ON THE MENU AT
KALA
The Earth day events over two days conclude with a
book launch of Kim stafford’s poetry called “Wild honey,
Tough salt.”
The free event is open to the public. it will be begin
7 p.m. Tuesday, april 23, at Kala, 1017 Marine drive,
astoria.
Even when speaking by telephone, his excitement is
palpable.
his father, William stafford, also Oregon poet laureate,
died in 1993. he had named his son as literary executor,
a job the younger stafford embraced.
“he has published 15 books since he died!” Kim stafford
said. “My own work has languished a bit ...”
Four sections in his new work address buoyant liv-
ing, war and peace, the Earth and family reflections in
poems penned in the last 20 years.
“Tough salt” in the title references what he calls “heavy-
duty” reactions to torture and child soldiers. Works in
a lighter section savor the way poetry is celebrated on
scottish 5-pound and Mexican 100-peso banknotes.
award-winning poet pattiann rogers describes the col-
lection as “poems of quest, reconciliation and joy, offer-
ing the reader enlightening variations on the essence of
heart and self in communion.”
another poet, Naomi shihab Nye, notes his words
“shimmer with breathtaking leaps and humble wisdom.”
stafford says today’s best writers counter what he labels
“false advertising” and “fake journalism.”
“The poets are trying to talk back to it,” he said. “That’s
what i am encouraging and i instill in my students.
poetry is trying to understand the meaning, the story
behind the story, the other half of the balance sheet.”
he seeks national healing during what he calls “this con-
founding epoch” through post-election stanzas with
titles like “practicing the Complex yes” and “Champion
the Enemy’s Need.”
rather than dwelling on what caused the 2016 presi-
dential choice and what has followed, stafford chooses
to look forward with a “sliver of hope.”
“let’s find common ground, heal our divisions and work
together, not add to the polarization,” he said.
One verse reads:
“We have not done enough to spare our country
this avalanche of foolishness — not by word
or heroic act, sufficient witness at the fulcrum
to raise our state of union that lies in the gutter.”
Dorband, a writer and photog-
rapher, is known for chronicling
the Rogue River; McClure is a
librarian and musician; and Ban-
yas is a writer and choreographer.
A “Forest Visions” contem-
porary art exhibit is on display at
the Royal Nebeker Art Gallery,
1799 Lexington Ave. through
Thursday, May 9. It features
images by Astoria photographer
Robert Adams, art by painters
Kim Osgood, Laura Ross-Paul,
Michael Brophy and Rita Robill-
ard and sculptor Lee Imonen.
It is supported by donations
from foundations and the Clat-
sop County Cultural Coalition,
which distributes money from the
Oregon Cultural Trust. Its mis-
sion is to examine issues like
forest management and climate
change, plus regional and histori-
cal themes “grounded by art, sci-
ence and storytelling.”
Banyas moved to Astoria
from Portland four years ago.
Her activism was ignited by the
treatment of Native Americans
protesting a pipeline at Stand-
ing Rock in North Dakota, and
threats to water rights in the
West.
“There is a groundswell about
this, because it’s not just climate
change,” she said. “It is global
economics. It’s people wanting
to reclaim their territory from the
corporations that abuse the land-
scape and the people.”
She lamented divisive argu-
ment. “People put it as ‘Them vs.
Us.’ The environmentalist vs. the
logger ... It’s a big and broader
story — we need to get that back,
remember who we are as a peo-
ple, and adopt a protectionist
spirit.”
reaches back through the difficult
end to grasp the beautiful begin-
ning, like pulling a venomous ser-
pent inside out.” It was named as
one of The Oregonian’s top 10
Northwest books of 2012.
‘Sing in your own voice’
daN KViTKa
‘Blue Alpine Stump,’ an oil on canvas by Portland artist Kim Osgood,
features in the ‘Forest Visions’ exhibit at Clatsop Community College.
Other examples of Osgood’s work include two acrylics on panels,
‘Endless Possibilities’ and ‘Belonging Here.’
‘FOREST VISIONS’ SCHEDULE
Events begin with an 8:30 a.m. opening
ceremony at Clatsop Community College
on Monday, april 22, featuring ceramicist
richard rowland and poet Nancy Cook.
Members of the Chinook Nation are
expected to participate.
stafford will lead opportunities for Clat-
sop students to learn and demonstrate
creative practices between 11 a.m. and
4 p.m.
he and the thoughts of photographer
robert adams will be featured in a “Talk
poetry, Talk Forests” conversation at the
gallery 6 p.m. Monday, april 22; roger
dorband and susan Banyas will lead.
Tuesday’s schedule will see stafford shift
to the astoria library from 10 a.m. to
noon for a creative writing session open
to anyone. a similar event assisted by
members of the Writer’s Guild of astoria
will be held for students at astoria high
school during the afternoon.
The two days culminate in a book release
7 p.m. at Kala in downtown astoria
where stafford will unveil his new poetry
collection, “Wild honey, Tough salt,” and
read excerpts. (see related story.)
The Staffords
The environment has been a
cornerstone of Stafford’s career.
Now 69, he has taught at Lewis
and Clark College in Portland
since 1979. He helped found the
Fishtrap Writers Gathering in the
Wallowa Mountains and has led
private workshops in Italy, Scot-
land and the landlocked Asian
nation of Bhutan.
His father published 65 books
and took his four children through
stints in Oregon, Iowa, Indiana,
California and Alaska. He was
named poetry consultant to the
Library of Congress in 1970, a
position now known as the U.S.
poet laureate, and served as Ore-
gon’s chief poet from 1975 to
1990. He instilled in his son the
habit of daily writing — even
writing a verse the day he died.
Kim Stafford, appointed Ore-
gon laureate last year, has more
than a dozen books to his credit,
including a reminiscence of his
father. His first was a 1976 poetry
collection called “A Gypsy’s His-
tory of the World” — just 100
copies printed on a letterpress he
fixed.
ABOUT THE WRITER’S GUILD
Guild members call themselves, “a
group of writers in astoria committed
to strengthening the larger community
through the power of the written word.”
While encouraging adult writers, it
seeks to enhance literacy in North Coast
schools and the Tongue point Job Corps
Center, as well as at-risk youth.
The nonprofit group is led by found-
er-president, Marianne Monson, author
of 11 books for children and adults with
an emphasis on women’s history.
its calendar of events include open-mic
sessions for writers to read their work
aloud, a writing lab and open writing
“lounge” sessions. it also stages a literary
costume ball in November.
For details, log on to www.thewriters-
guild.org or email info@thewriters-
guild.org.
His 313-page thesis on a
14th-Century English work, “The
Pearl” earned him a doctorate
from the University of Oregon in
1979, though his advisor report-
edly labeled it “turgid prose.”
Stafford laughs when
reminded of the critique. “Maybe
poetry is my penance? It’s short,
clean and clear!”
In 1992, after collecting mate-
rial during an oral history project
in Florence, he published “Wind
on the Waves,” 52 stories cele-
brating life on the Oregon Coast,
including a character who sets off
from Astoria.
A critic called his account of
his brother’s 1988 suicide, “100
Tricks Every Boy Can Do,” as
a narrative where “the writer
Marianne Monson leads the
Writers Guild in Astoria whose
members are helping with work-
shops. She labeled the Staffords
“pillars of the Oregon literary
tradition.”
“We’re thrilled to be able to
offer this experience to young
writers, as well as local authors
who will have the opportunity to
listen to Kim read his work and
share insights on the craft,” she
said.
In a 2011 interview with
High Country News, the West-
ern states’ environmental and cul-
tural newspaper, Stafford offered
a deeper glimpse into the therapy
of writing. “Writing is a way to
go beyond what you know in the
direction of what you need.”
His website kim-stafford.com
offers a plea to “listen eloquently”
to seek common ground.
“If communication is the fun-
damental alternative to violence
and injustice, what is the work of
each voice among us?” it states.
He noted, “The problems of
our time are political, ecological,
economic — but the solutions are
cultural.
“I focus on things that we do
agree on, In Astoria, I want to
save the forest, but I like loggers,
too.”
He quotes far-left Afri-
can-American philosopher Cornel
West, whose recipe for social jus-
tice is, “the courage to be impa-
tient with evil and patient with
people.”
Stafford urges students to find
their voice — through place.
“It’s about being local about
what you write,” he said. “Rather
than parodying a literary voice,
strengthen your own. Learn to
sing in your own voice.
“It is part of authenticity. We
have a vote and we have a voice.
The vote is finite, the voice can
grow and reach others.”
That approach dovetails with
the Writers Guild, whose philos-
ophy statement concludes: “We
believe a literate community is a
thriving community.” CW