Cascadia Daily, Mar. 9, 2018

Your reading assignment for the weekend:
an essay, an interview, and two poems at Cascadia Magazine

Looking to read something with a little more depth than the usual clickbait in your social media feed? Then head over to Cascadia Magazine, where this week you’ll find an essay from poets Meghan McClure and Michael Schmetlzer, and two poems by Seattle-based poet Montreux Rotholtz.

“And the peals of empty bottles sound almost like laughter” is an original essay, a postscript to the poets’ genre-defying book A Single Throat Opens. It’s a reflection on memory, love, and addiction.

In addition, you’ll find an interview between Michael, Meghan, and Cascadia Magazine editor Andrew Engelson about the unique collaborative process that went into this essay and memoir. “Poetry can tell lies in order to reach a greater truth but perhaps when writing this I wanted to tell the truth in order to reveal the greater lies, the denials, the things I’ve told myself in order to sleep better at night.”

And don’t miss Montreux Rotholtz’s two poems, “Cosmos” and “Prism.” She’s the author of the chapbook Unmark and a poet who pays precise attention to the sounds and look of language.

Water protectors to protest KM pipeline in Vancouver Saturday

Opponents of the proposed expansion of KinderMorgan’s TransMountain pipeline across British Columbia — including many Indigenous activists — will be rallying in Vancouver on Saturday March 10. Find more details here. And if you haven’t already, read Jerome Turner’s profile of First Nations activists fighting the KM pipeline at Cascadia Magazine. In other pipeline news, a battle over an LNG pipeline near Oregon’s Klamath River is also heating up.

WA legislature passes voting rights, police use of force changes

Before the end of the session this week, the Washington legislature passed a voting rights law, which will allow local governments to switch to district-based voting. Why is this important? Crosscut has a sharp analysis of Yakima, where 40 percent of the population is Latino, and yet a there’s never been a Hispanic city council member. Meanwhile, the state also made it easier to prosecute police for excessive use of force.

Portland unveils plans for memorial to MAX slaying victims

Portland’s TriMet transit agency announced that local artist Sarah Farahat will create a memorial to two men killed last year at a MAX station defending two teenage black women from a white supremacist in May of last year.

How will North America de-colonialize?

Mark Trahant, writing for YES!Magazine, suggests that the United States, a deeply colonial institution, is headed for collapse–and Indigenous knowledge will be essential in disrupting and replacing a system of white supremacy that gives Wyoming two senators and Puerto Rico none. “Perhaps that means a new country. Or perhaps it’s time for a global structure that recognizes a planetary crisis. We do know this: colonialism is ill-suited for this challenge.”

Watch Portland folk-rocker Haley Heynderickx perform

Portland singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx’s new album “I Need to Start A Garden” is lovely and hauntingly original, and earning praise across North America. Have a listen to a variety of live tracks at OPB recorded at Kelly’s Olympian in Portland.

Two Seattle choreographers explore the notion of home

Seattle Dances talks with Liz Houlton and Alyssa Casey, two dancers in Seattle who — like many people who live there — are from somewhere else. They’ve created a new work, home home that explores the sense of dislocation (and community) they’ve found in their new home. “The heart of this work is a question on the validity of if any of us truly belong, and if we don’t, can we create that moment and feeling for ourselves?”
The show debuts at Erickson Theater March 16 & 17.

That’s all today’s news, arts, and culture from Cascadia. Have a relaxing and joyful weekend! –Andrew Engelson

Your reading assignment for the weekend: an essay, an interview, and two poems at Cascadia Magazine