put your money where your poetry is…
April 11, 2012
LAST CHANCE! Please help us fill the last two seats! Delicious! Entertaining! Taste for Poetry! Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at Ciao Thyme in the Kitchen, Bellingham.
Your palate will be delighted by the culinary wizardry of Ciao Thyme. Your spirit will be engaged by the multiple talents of poet/actor/musician Carolyn McCarthy. Your generosity will help the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest carry on for another year.
Only TWO seats remain! Won’t you join us at the table for this delectable and worthwhile event? Additional info and tickets: Brown Paper Tickets
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April!
April 1, 2012
We received a wonderful collection of poems that will be sure to give our two judges a lively challenge over the coming weeks. The quality of poems was exceptional and we are deeply grateful to all the poets who courageously submitted their work, and to the families and teachers that encouraged them. Winning poets will be notified by phone (if a phone number was provided) by Friday, April 20, 2012.
If you believe in community poetry and would like to support the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest, we urge you to join us on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at the delectable Taste for Poetry, our annual fundraising dinner. The kitchen wizards at Ciao Thyme will serve up five courses of culinary delights and the multi-talented Carolyn McCarthy will regale us with poetry and song. A limited number of seats at the table are still available through Brown Paper Tickets.
Meanwhile, no Fooling, today is the first day of National Poetry Month and National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). Will you accept the challenge?
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Taste for Poetry
March 8, 2012
The Sue Boynton Poetry Contest operates on a very small budget, thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and in-kind donors. But there are some very real costs associated with the contest — mainly related to the design, production and installation of the plaques and placards that display the winning poems.
To meet contest expenses, we offer a number of poetry workshops, sell copies of our five-year anthology, Poetry Walk, and hold one really spectacular, delicious fundraising dinner — Taste for Poetry.
Combining the extraordinary talents of poet/musician/actor Carolyn McCarthy and the culinary genius of Mataio Gillis (pictured at Taste for Poetry 2011) and the Ciao Thyme kitchen, this year’s Taste for Poetry will be held on Tuesday, April 17, In the Kitchen at Ciao Thyme in Bellingham, Washington.
Guests will enjoy fabulous food, sparkling entertainment and the exceptional company of the other smart, generous, community-minded poetry lovers at the table.
Won’t you join us? Tickets are $75 per person and seating, of course, is limited. Buy your ticket today at Brown Paper Tickets and celebrate poetry and Poetry Month with the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest!
The Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest is a program of Whatcom Poetry Series, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. A portion of your ticket purchase is tax-deductible.
THANK YOU!
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poets get ready!
September 29, 2011
Yes, it’s still September, but it’s never too early to start thinking about your Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest submission for 2012! The 2012 guidelines are now posted on the 2012 contest page (click on 2012 contest near the top of this page) along with important dates — including the fabulous Taste for Poetry fundraising dinner at Ciao Thyme.
Watch this page for more details. Better yet, SUBSCRIBE! We look forward to reading your poems!
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a taste of poetry…
March 27, 2011
Between courses of scrumptious Indian-themed food prepared by the culinary team at Ciao Thyme, Kevin Murphy read (and even drummed) his amusing, engaging and thoughtful poetry.
But lest we get too lofty an idea about poets and poetry, we also had a participatory event. The person at the end of each side of the two long tables was handed a pad of paper with a prompt. They were to write a line of poetry in response to the prompt, then pass the paper along to the person sitting next to them. Each person would add a line – but fold the paper down over the previous lines so that only the single most recently added line was visible.
The prompt for all four groups was I have been eating poetry, a line borrowed, with gratitude, from Eating Poetry by Mark Strand.
Here are the four poems that resulted:
I have been eating poetry
It turns out I may be allergic
I think it’s the Haiku Histamines
that have made me want nothing but
to brush my teeth over and over
‘til I can smile without worry of green particles
The green particles allow the grey matter to rhyme
Are you a licker or a biter?
Would life be so simple.
—–
I have been eating poetry
My mouth waters when I taste Rumi
The crispy crunch of pappadum enlivens my tongue
inspiring it to spicy glossolalia
nurture it, shape it, and turn it over
Flip it high with your spatula, catch it on your tongue
Be careful, it may crawl away
Swing wide your arms and nod in that knowing way
Close your eyes and bite your tongue!
—–
I have been eating poetry
all night long the moon and marigold stars
with fork & spoon, smile, joy
Words so sweet – I gave up chocolate,
But not the dark, never the dark
Once I chewed around slowly
fragrant aromas of past participles
turn into the gift you never dreamed of!
I wipe my mouth, rub my belly and turn again to the poetry of dreams.
—–
I have been eating poetry
For days now, I have been eating poetry
Greasy words, slimy syllables, unkind consonants
while I should have paid my bills and bought healthy food
Instead I am clipping coupons and planning recipes for Top Ramen.
Perhaps instead of eating poetry, I should have smoked some fiction,
Instead of eating or smoking my mouth still desires chocolate
Peaceful and serene, there is always room for ice cream
and then from the deep well, we drink ink.
—–
Photo by Nancy Lou Canyon
Gratitude
March 23, 2011
Our warmest thanks to poet Kevin Murphy, to Jessica and Mataio Gillis and the entire Ciao Thyme staff, to our wonderful, poetry-loving guests and to the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest committee for making this year’s Taste for Poetry so delicious!
Okay, poets, now it’s your turn!
Taste for Poetry
March 22, 2011
Tonight’s the night…The generous, visionary and fun-loving guests of Taste for Poetry 2011 will be dazzled by the culinary magic of Ciao Thyme and the dexterous wordplay of our featured poet, Kevin Murphy.
Here’s Kevin reading his 2010 Walk Award winning poem, Falling Apart, or New Delhi Haiku Blues, which can also be read here.
poetry on the menu…
March 12, 2011
While you’re putting the finishing touches on your poem, here’s a reminder that the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest has a lineup of delectable events in the next ten days.
Next Saturday, March 19, Lana Hechtman Ayers will teach not one but TWO poetry workshops at Mindport Exhibits in downtown Bellingham.
Then, on Tuesday, March 22, the 2011 Taste for Poetry serves up a lively combo of food and poetry In the Kitchen at Ciao Thyme for the Contest’s annual fundraiser.
All the details are on the Events page. We hope you’ll join us for these delicious poetic happenings!
two weeks from today!
March 8, 2011
There are still a few seats at the table! Please join poet Kevin Murphy, the culinary dynamos at Ciao Thyme and other friends of the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest at Taste for Poetry, a savory evening of memorable food and words, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 6:00pm.
Please print your reservation form now, write your check and put it in the mail. We’ll see you on the 22nd!
Have you made your reservation?
February 24, 2011
Please join the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest at the 2nd annual
Taste for Poetry
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
at Ciao Thyme in the kitchen
Bellingham, Washington
Featured poet: Kevin Murphy
Delicious!
A few seats still left at the table.
Reserve now: Taste for Poetry 2011
