HomeMy WebLinkAbout032723 Special Session City Council Business Meeting Packet- Added After Meeting (2)oW
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S- HA DEME/?1S
I've been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say "bless you"
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. "Don't die," we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don't want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, "Here,
have my seat," "Go ahead — you first," "I like your hat.
Port Townsend Arts Commission
Poet Laureate Program Proposal
Poet Laureate Proposal
Port Townsend Poet Laureate, a service -contract position
co -managed by the
City of Port Townsend Culture and Society Committee (CSC)
and the Port Townsend Arts Commission (PTAC)
and in partnership with the Port Townsend Public Library
Program Background
The City of Port Townsend is pleased to announce the inauguration of the City of Port Townsend
Poet Laureate program, which is managed as a collaboration between the Culture and Society
Committee (CSC) and the Port Townsend Arts Commission (PTAC), and in partnership with the
Port Townsend Public Library.
The Poet Laureate Program is established 2023. The first term of the Poet Laureate of Port
Townsend January of 2024.
Program Goals and Objectives
The City seeks to name one Poet Laureate to serve, per term, an honorary position as ambassador
of Port Townsend, honoring the City's active creative community, promoting the City's robust
literary arts and celebrating the written word.
The objectives of the program include:
• Enhance the creation and appreciation of poetry and the literary arts;
• Demonstrate the City's commitment to the literary arts and welcome artists into civic
discourse;
• Create a focal point and an official voice for the expression of Port Townsend's culture through
the literary arts;
• Contribute to the growth of the individual Poet Laureate;
• Raise awareness of the power of poetry, written word, and the spoken word;
• Inspire an emerging generation of critical thinkers, writers, and storytellers;
• Provide a forum for cross pollination of art forms;
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• Celebrate the cultural heritage, the spirit of the people, and the unique qualities of our region;
• Create a unique program that will inspire other communities to celebrate poetry;
• Collect new literary works that celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of Port Townsend and East
Jefferson County for a growing body of work that commemorates the life of our region.
Poet Laureate Eligibility
The poet must:
• Be at least 18 years of age at the time of nomination or application;
• Have been a Port Townsend (or East Jefferson County) resident for at least one year prior to
the application/nomination deadline and remain a resident throughout the one or two-year
term;
• Be committed to bringing poetry to a wide range of places and people;
• Be able and available to reach East Jefferson County audiences through travel and other
means;
• Provide evidence of achievement in the art of poetry;
• Have demonstrated a previous commitment to promoting awareness of poetry;
• Be prepared to undertake the public role required of the laureate.
Review Process
The Port Townsend Poet Laureate Panel, as seated by the PTAC, and approved by the CSC, will
be a small team of persons with a combined knowledge about: creative writing, public programs,
and the City of Port Townsend, and will include a representative of the CSC and the PTAC. The
Port Townsend Poet Laureate Panel will review and vet the applications and recommend the Poet
Laureate to the Mayor.
The selection process is coordinated by the PTAC and the Mayor's Office. Guiding principles for
the program as follows:
• An open call for poets;
• Applicants for the contract -position of Poet Laureate will reside in East Jefferson County;
• A two-part review process will be enacted:
• Stage One: open submissions will be reviewed. All eligible submissions will be
considered. Applicants will submit the following:
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• Full curriculum vitae;
• Short biographical statement;
• Four to six recent poems (from the last three years);
• Short narrative (no more than 2 pages) articulating how they will fulfill the scope of
work of the position;
• Stage Two: three to five finalists will be interviewed by the Port Townsend Poet Laureate
Panel
Appointment
The Mayor will appoint the Port Townsend Poet Laureate in December of a calendar year, to
announce in January, the beginning of Poet Laureate term.
Poet Laureate Honorarium
The Port Townsend Poet Laureate will be contracted by the City of Port Townsend and the Port
Townsend Arts Commission and receive an honorarium of $1,200 made in two payments of $600
based on benchmarks established in the legal contract.
Because the City operates with fiscal -year budgets, at the end of the year, the PTAC and CSC
will review the reflections and contract of the Poet Laureate to ensure all duties and
responsibilities were fulfilled before issuing a second year contract for the full term.
Port Townsend Poet Laureate Panel
An honorarium for three panelists each to receive $300 for their service in support of
interviewing and vetting application submissions for the Port Townsend Poet Laureate. A City
Council representative and an Arts Commission representative will be offering their civic service
as volunteers to the literary arts and the community in their standard operating practices with the
City of Port Townsend appointment to advisory boards and committees.
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Scope of Work for Term
The Poet Laureate will fulfill their scope of work during the calendar year. The scope of work is
three fold:
1. The first duty is ceremonial, as the voice of the city the Poet Laureate will:
• Provide no less than four public, accessible events across East Jefferson County (at various
locations discussed by the CSC, PTAC, and Poet Laureate);
• These might include:
• First City Council Meeting
• Public Art Dedications
• Public Building Dedications
• In addition, the Mayor's office may recommend two more optional activities;
• Write one or more commemorative poem(s) each year of term relating to an integral theme
to East Jefferson County to be included in a potential anthology or a library of poetry for
public installations.
2. The second duty of the Poet Laureate is educational. The Poet Laureate will:
• Write quarterly social media/newsletter updates, work with Port Townsend Public Library
and the City staff for educational communications that encourage excitement about poetry,
literacy, and literary events in the city;
• Participate and coordinate with the Port Townsend Public Library during National Poetry
Month (April), potentially creating a residency for the month in the Carnegie Room;
• Engage East Jefferson County residents, visitors, civic and elected leaders, youth, seniors,
and students of all ages about the value of poetry, creative writing, narrative expression
through two or more self -coordinated, community partnered activities that are reviewed
and approved by the PTAC;
3. The third duty of the Poet Laureate is inspirational and offers poetic nourishment for years to
come to celebrate the City of Port Townsend, the Poet Laureate will:
• Create a special project proposed by the poet which will:
* Nourish the poet's own poetic growth and interests;
• Inspire community around literary arts, poetry, and literacy;
• Creatively engage community in poetry;
• Offer a unique legacy for both poetry and the Poet Laureate in the city;
• Be reviewed and approved by the Port Townsend Arts Commission.
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• Ideas for the Poet Laureate's special project include:
• A series of readings at unique sites;
• A series of workshops at unique sites;
• A collaboration with a community organization;
• A library of poetry by residents via an open call to all regional poets.
• Determine that the project does not conflict with existing programs or readings in the City.
Review Criteria
All submissions in stage one of review process will be reviewed and scored as follows:
• The candidate's prior experience on their resume and/or website;
• The quality of poetry submitted;
• The quality of the proposal.
Submission Materials
Each applicant shall prepare to provide the following:
• Full name
• Residence address (must be within East Jefferson County)
• Contact phone number
• Contact email address
• Website and/or relevant social media
• Biographical statement (7-10 sentences)
Materials:
• Four - six poems from the last three years
• Brief narrative (1-2 pages) outlining your intent within the scope of work
• Curriculum vitae
• Please curate your resume to highlight your literary accomplishments and service to
the poetry field.
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Proposed Poet Laureate Program Details
Specific to 2023
Timeline
February — review and submit the panelist recommendations to the culture and society
committee/mayor. Notify panelists and issue contracts.
March — City Council discusses Port Townsend Poet Laureate Program
April — Announcement an dCall for Applications (Port Townsend Public Library supports this
process, and some panelists will work with the library to call for applications/generate
excitement).
May 31— Deadline for nominations to be received
June—Poet Laureate Panel meets to select 3-5 finalists
July— Finalist interviews
August—Poet Laureate recommendations submitted to the Mayor's Office and Poet Laureate
notified
September -December — PTAC meets and plans with Poet Laureate to discuss plans
Panelists
for 2023 Review for 2024 Inaugural Port Townsend Poet Laureate
Ellie Matthews
Ellie Mathews takes pleasure in keeping a couple hundred fonts of metal type organized. She
holds a degree in geography from the University of Washington with emphasis on cartography
and graphic arts. She worked in design and software development. She is the author of four
books: two nonfiction, a middle grades novel and a memoir. She has won cooking and writing
awards including the Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature, a grant from the Seattle Artists
Program for Literary Artists, a Fishtrap Fellowship, and the Pillsbury Bake -Off grand prize. Ellie
Matthews is on the Port Townsend Public Library Advisory Board and has spent time curating
the poetry section.
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Lisbeth White
Lisbeth White (she/her) is a lover of the earth, wanderer of lands, poet, expressive arts therapist,
developmental editor, elemental energy healer, listener, and ancestor celebrant.
She is certain our collective liberation is intricately tied to ancestral earth wisdom and firmly
believes each of us has boundless capacity within to be our own wisest healers.
She has received awards, fellowships, and residencies from VONA, Callaloo, Tin House, Writing
By Writers, Corporeal Writing, Bread Loaf Environmental Writer's Conference, The Dickinson
House, and Blue Mountain Center.
She is a co -collaborator connecting Black artists and writers with social and healing justice
organizations for mutual inspiration and support.
Shin Yu Pai
Shin Yu Pai is a Seattle -based writer and the author of 11 books, including most
recently Virga (Empty Bowl, 2021). She is the recipient of awards from the City of Seattle's
Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, and The Awesome Foundation. She is a 2022 Artist Trust
Fellow and was shortlisted in 2014 for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature. From 2015 to
2017, Shin Yu served as Poet Laureate for The City of Redmond. Her writing has appeared in
Atlas Obscura, Tricycle Magazine, YES! Magazine, NYTimes, Zocalo Public Square, Seattle
Met, ParentMap, Seattle's Child, International Examiner, and South Seattle Emerald. Her work
has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada.
Shin Yu is the writer, host, and producer of The Blue Suit — a podcast on Asian American stories
for KUOW Public Radio, Seattle's NPR affiliate station. The Blue Suit launched in July 2022
and is currently in production for a second season, which will begin releasing episodes in May
2023.
New books are forthcoming in 2023 from Empty Bowl Press and Blue Cactus Press
(Shin Yu Pai was just announced as Seattle's Civic Poet!)
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