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Spokane is having its moment
This week, Cascadia Daily is reporting from Spokane, where the city is growing, and the creative scene is small but bursting with energy. In an earlier newsletter, I mentioned a national news story on Spokane’s growing population and strong economy –it was actually an Associated Press story, not the LA Times, and the link was incorrect: you can read it here. But the fact remains, Spokane isn’t the city it once was.
Fueled by lower housing costs and four major colleges and universities, the creative scene is thriving in Spokane, some of it old, and some quite new. Longtime standby Auntie’s Books is a community hub for writers, and you can catch the symphony at the renovated art-deco Fox Theatre.
A tight-knit community of writers is doing great work here. Sharma Shields writes off-kilter fiction, Shawn Vestal does journalism and fiction, and Jess Walter’s humorous novels are national bestsellers. There are number of poets who call Spokane home, including former Washington poet laureate Tod Marshall, Ellen Welcker, Laura Read, and Maya Jewell Zeller.
Plus there are some really exciting upstart arts organizations. Terrain is an annual festival of art, music, and literature each October — and Spark Central brings arts and learning to a wide audience at a low cost.
As cities like Seattle and Portland become too expensive for practicing artists and writers, places like Spokane (and Boise, Kamloops, and Bend) are becoming attractive. It’s exciting to see such a warm, tight-knit community for creative people taking off here. Oh, and the food scene is amazing! –Andrew Engelson
Cascadia Magazine original:
In Praise of Not Knowing the Names of Birds
Portland poet Judith Barrington’s poem is a lovely catalog of observations on the ways of Cascadia’s birds, even if the poet doesn’t know (or wish to know) their exact names. “I cannot name the one who hoots
the one who dives from treetops
the one who stands on chopstick legs
waiting for sushi.”
Read the full poem online here.
Smoke and wildfires across Cascadia
Smoky skies pervaded much of Cascadia in the past few days, as over 600 wildfires burn across British Columbia. Air quality is poor in Spokane, and throughout much of Oregon. Federal Canadian troops were called in to help with firefighting efforts, Glacier National Park in Montana is ablaze, and breathing the smoke can have longterm health effects. OPB reports on private forest firefighters defending homes in southern Oregon, and Yes! magazine investigates what wildfires do to our minds.
Sexual harassment widespread in OR tech industry
The Oregonian reports on a new survey of women in Oregon’s tech sector that finds 17 percent of women employees were subjected to some form of harassment in the past year (2/3 of those didn’t report it). Meanwhile, more women came forward to accuse a Seattle business owner prominent in the music scene of non-consensual sexual behavior. And a Washington legislator was fired from his job at Central Washington University over harassment allegations.
Canada-Saudi dispute leaves region’s students in limbo
A recent dispute over human rights between the Canadian and Saudi governments has left college students in British Columbia in limbo since the government recalled all students on scholarships. A university in Portland is offering to ease admission requirements to allow some of the Saudi students to transfer.
Hanford cleanup project cleaning groundwater
The Tri-City Herald reports that cleanup efforts at Hanford have removed 450 tons of pollutants from groundwater beneath the nuclear site. Meanwhile the state of Washington prevented cleanup officials from filling a collapsed waste-storage tunnel with concrete until more public input is complete.
A billowing public art piece at Portland’s Centennial Mills
Steven Tonthat and April Baer, writing for OPB, report on a public art installation entitled “habitus” by acclaimed artist Ann Hamilton in the outdoor space at Portland’s Centennial Mills. Using Tyvek and fabric, Hamilton has created a temporary installation that billows and shifts in the breeze.
Verse by three Portland poets
Portland Monthly features the work of three Portland-based poets in its Summer Reading issue, and they’re available to read online: “Palazzo Grassi — In the Palace of the Corpulent,” by Shayla Lawson, “Congrats on Your New Job,” by Zachary Schomburg, and “The Migrant’s Daughter” by Stephanie Adams-Santos:
“I think: I am the color of the wall
The blood in my body has lost
and turned to water. . . ”
Read the poems online here.
That’s today’s round-up of news & arts from across the region, written a today’s mobile office: Atticus Coffee & Gifts in Spokane. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: wildfire in northeast Washington courtesy of Inciweb