Peninsula College welcomes Alice Derry as its 17th Writer in Residence, April 25-27.
One of the signature events for the residency of Alice Derry is a partnership with the Visiting Elders Project and the opportunity for the renowned poet to work with storyteller Elaine Grinnell, Jamestown S’Klallam elder and storyteller extraordinaire. The two will be joined by recent PC graduate and Makah weaver Kylee Butler.
All are welcome to join Derry, Grinnell, and Butler in the college’s Public Union Building from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26.
This unique collaboration is free and open to the public.
During her residency period, Derry will be on PC campuses and in the community, reading poetry, talking about poetry and helping others write poetry.
About the Writer in Residence, collaborators
Derry has been writing and publishing poetry for the past 40 years, with four volumes and three chapbooks to her name. Her newest manuscript, “Hunger,” has been accepted by MoonPath Press for publication in fall of 2017. She has read throughout Washington and Oregon, in addition to points east and south.
Of her most recent book, “Tremolo” (Red Hen Press, 2012), Tess Gallagher wrote: “’Tremolo’ is a tour de force of vibratory power that marks Alice Derry as having come into her own as one of our very best poets.”
Derry also is at work on another manuscript of poems.
“It’s indeed an honor to be invited to a program I hosted for 10 years,” Derry said.
“My goal is to live up to the rich tradition of literature which the college has been fortunate to be part of.”
For about 30 years, Derry was a distinguished professor at Peninsula College. As a director of the Foothills Writers Series, she was a major force behind inviting several authors a year to the campus, in addition to local readings.
For 10 years she was in charge of the Writer in Residence program and faculty adviser for the college’s annual literary magazine, Tidepools.
In 2013, she helped organize the 75th Raymond Carver Birthday Celebration and gave the keynote address.
During her residency period, Derry will be on Peninsula College campuses and in the community, reading poetry, talking about poetry and helping others write poetry. She said she is pleased to team up with local tribal members presenting their art alongside hers.
“All the arts have common ground,” Derry said. “A teacher of one might be a student of another. That has certainly been the case for me.”
Derry said she also is excited to once again work with Dr. Kate Reavey in her writing workshops.
The Visiting Elders Project at Peninsula College is only in its second year, but Jamestown S’Klallam elder Elaine Grinnell has been a formidable contributor to the program already. In 2016, she taught in the first-ever Health and the Environment from Native Perspectives class, as a guest lecturer, participated in the opening and closing teaching and learning opportunities, and she was excited to return for this year’s work, including a May visit to an ECE Early Childhood Education class as well as the opportunity to work with Derry and Butler in this unique intergenerational, multi-cultural and multi-genre creative opportunity to bring stories, weaving, poetry and culture to the forefront.
Kylee Butler has taught weaving workshops to students and community members while she was a student, and she recently completed the final coursework for her AA degree.
On June 8 at 12:35 p.m., Butler will be featured in the Studium Generale presentation and an exhibition of her work will be shown in the “House of Learning” Peninsula College Longhouse gallery this summer.
Events on tap
Derry’s events are free and open to the public. Her schedule of public events is as follows:
• Tuesday, April 25, 12:30 p.m. — Derry reads from her work. At the PC Little Theater.
• Tuesday, April 25, 2 p.m. — Beginners’ writing workshop with Derry and Dr. Kate Reavey. Contact Professor Matt Teorey to sign up, mteorey@pencol.edu.
• Wednesday, April 26, 1:30 p.m. — A discussion of art with Derry; Jamestown S’Klallam storyteller, elder, and educator Elaine Grinnell and PC student and weaver Kylee Butler. Co-sponsored by the Visiting Elders program. In the PUB conference room.
• Wednesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. — Derry will read with tribal poets at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center at 401 E. First St., Port Angeles, with center director Suzie Bennett hosting.
• Thursday, April 27, at 12:30 p.m. — Derry will give her keynote address at a Studium Generale presentation, “Let Poetry Delight You: Works by Five Contemporary Women Poets.” At PC Little Theater.
• Thursday, April 27, at 7 p.m. — Fort Warden State Park, Peninsula College Port Townsend Campus, 202 Eisenhower Ave., Room 204: Derry reads from her work.
• Monday, May 1, 10 a.m. — PC Forks campus, 481 South Forks Ave., Derry reads from her work.
“There’s something for everyone,” Derry said. “Because of its deep connections with the everyday language we speak, poetry has a place in each person’s life.”
For more information, email mteorey@pecnol.edu or call 417-6269.
