Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall coming to Clark County on April 26 and 27

April 14, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For information: Tak Kendrick, Communications and Marketing Director
360-906-5021 – tkendrick@fvrl.org 
Hannah Erickson, Clark College Communications & Marketing
360-992-2954 - herickson@clark.edu

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Clark College and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, with support from the
Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington, are bringing Tod Marshall, Washington State’s Poet Laureate, to town.

Marshall, a poet and professor at Gonzaga University, is serving as the poet laureate from 2016-2018. He is the author most recently of Bugle (2014), which won the Washington State Book Award in 2015. He succeeds poets Elizabeth Austen (2014-2016), Kathleen Flenniken (2012–2014), and Sam Green (2007–2009). Marshall is coming to Clark County in part to celebrate the release of WA 129, the state-wide poetry anthology highlighting the breadth and depth of poetry within our state with a poet for each year of Washington statehood.

The poet laureate will be participating in three different events in Clark County on April 26 and 27:

• Poetry reading at Clark College’s Cannell Library, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663, on
  April 26 at 12 p.m. Tod Marshall will read from his own works and from WA 129 in the Cannell Library’s
  first floor Collaborative Commons. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to
  fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at
  360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP) or visit room PUB 013.
• Marshall will celebrate the release of WA 129 alongside local poets from the anthology at Washougal
  High School’s Auditorium, 1201 39th Street, Washougal, WA at 7 p.m. on April 26, in an event hosted by
  the Washougal Community Library.
• Vancouver Community Library will host Marshall for a hands-on poetry workshop at 4 p.m. on April 27,
  901 C St, Vancouver, WA. The class includes a close reading of a few contemporary poems, then using
  one as a model for writing our own first drafts. No previous writing experience is needed.

FVRL is also hosting events with Marshall in Goldendale and White Salmon in early May. Visit library.clark.edu
to learn more about the Clark College event or www.FVRL.org for more information about FVRL’s events.

About Clark College

Located in Vancouver’s Central Park and serving up to 12,000 students per quarter, Clark College is Washington State’s second-largest single-campus, for-credit community college. The college currently offers classes at two satellite locations: one on the Washington State University Vancouver campus and one in the Columbia Tech Center in East Vancouver. Additionally, its Economic & Community Development program is housed in the Columbia Bank building in downtown Vancouver.

About Fort Vancouver Regional Library District

Established in 1950, Fort Vancouver Regional Library District (FVRL) provides a vast range of information and cultural services to more than 464,000 Southwest and South Central Washington citizens in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat Counties, and the city of Woodland and Yale Valley Library District in Cowlitz County. FVRL provides a collection of more than 750,000 items, online library services at www.fvrl.org, two bookmobiles, telephone information services, 24/7 online help, outreach programs, and 15 public library locations: Community Libraries in Battle Ground, Cascade Park, Goldendale, La Center, North Bonneville, Ridgefield, Stevenson, Three Creeks, Vancouver, Washougal, White Salmon Valley and Woodland; The Mall Library Connection at Vancouver Mall; and Library Express facilities at Yacolt and Yale.

About the WA Poet Laureate program

The Washington State Poet Laureate serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry — including the state’s legacy of poetry — through public readings, workshops, lectures, and presentations in geographically diverse areas of the state.
The appointed poet laureate serves a two-year term. In April 2007, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill that recognized the value of poetry to the culture and heritage of the state by establishing the Washington State Poet Laureate. The poet laureate is sponsored by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA, with the support of Gov. Jay Inslee. The position is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities Washington.