Cascadia Daily, March 27, 2019

A very big literary conference comes to Portland

One of North America’s largest annual conferences for writers and publishers, AWP, is in Portland this week. And that’s good news for book lovers in the Rose City. Even if you’re not attending the full conference, you can purchase a day pass to the AWP book fair this Saturday for just $5. There are a ton of off-site book signings, reading, and parties: The Rumpus has a nice curated list of some of the best off-site and AWP events going on in Portland. The good folks at Tin House wrote up a guide to food & drink in Portland for AWP (since they’re locals, after all!)

Cascadia Magazine will be there at AWP, too! Both editor Andrew Engelson and fiction editor Steve Genise will be attending events, meeting folks, and hopefully finding talented writers to publish. Come visit us at 11 am-noon, Saturday March 30 at the Northwest Micropress Fair at the Ace Hotel, 403 SW 10th Ave. We’ll be sharing a table with the lovely people at Entre Rios Books (big hat tip to them for letting us have a spot at their table!).

Hope to see some of you there!

Cascadia Magazine original: Two poems by Fiona Tinwei Lam

Now online at Cascadia Magazine, read two poems about the interaction between humans and the natural world by Vancouver-based poet Fiona Tinwei Lam: “Sea Star,” and “Ode to a Crow.”
“Shallow waves wash over
impassive sand. Galaxies
of your sunflower kin dissolving
on reefs from Alaska to Mexico.”
Read the full poems online here.

WA budget will bump taxes on “extraordinary profits”

Crosscut looks at the budget from Washington state House Democrats–which would boost spending for K-12 education and mental health services with a tax on “extraordinary profits”–essentially sales of stocks and other securities totaling over $100,000. Meanwhile, the Spokane school district faces staff cuts because of shifts in statewide education funding. And Investigate West looks at how the state may have to spend up to $3 billion to make court-mandated fixes to road culverts in order to improve salmon habitat.

Planning bike lanes without black community buy-in

Portland Mercury has a very detailed and sharp look at a controversial plan to create new bike lanes and greenways in northeast Portland, a historically black neighborhood now faced with displacement and gentrification. Ultimately, the bike lanes were rejected for a variety of reasons, but a failure to get meaningful input from the African American community was a factor. Meanwhile, a court ruled that minority-owned businesses in SeaTac Washington will not be compensated for being displaced to construct a new justice center. Crosscut reports on a cool project in Seattle’s Central District–converting a historic home into a gallery and center for black artists.

Much of Vancouver could be without water after major earthquake

The Star Vancouver describes a new report that finds that much of Metro Vancouver could be without drinking water, and more than 800 buildings could collapse in a mega-quake. The Star also has a guide to finding safe drinking water sources in the event of a catastrophic failure.

New wolf pack found in western Oregon

A new wolf pack has been discovered in the Umpqua National Forest in Lane and Douglas counties, the Portland Tribune reports, taking the number of wolves in the state to an estimated 140. As the Trump administration looks to take gray wolves off the federal endangered list, National Geographic looks at the complex issue of whether wolves have recovered or not.

Seattle looks to eliminate library fines

Crosscut has a fascinating article about a plan to eliminate library fines in Seattle–which hit low-income people hardest and discourage use of books and other resources. In related news, a campaign to save a Seattle black-owned bookstore has raised over $40,000. And it looks as though Portland’s only jazz radio station will be saved, after a 5-year deal was worked out with Oregon Public Broadcasting.

An archive of photos from Vancouver’s Chinatown

Christopher Cheung at The Tyee reports on and displays images from an amazing archive of photographs of Vancouver’s Chinatown in the 1970s and ’80s by Paul Yee. The Georgia Straight profiles The Tashme Project: The Living Archives, a play based on the oral histories of Japanese Canadians interned during the Second World War. It runs from April 3-13 at Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre.

“Jealous,” poetry by Martha Silano

Over at the Seattle Review of Books, take a moment to read Seattle-based poet Martha Silano’s “Jealous,” a litany of things envied and not envied:
“of that star in Orion
that isn’t a star
but a nebula
giving birth to 100s
of infant stars;”
Read the full poem here. And while you’re at it, read a great profile of Martha by Paul Constant at the Seattle Review of Books, and check out her lovely poem “In the Little Wenatchee Drainage” at Cascadia Magazine.

That’s today’s selection of news, environmental reporting, arts, culture, and poetry from across the upper left-hand corner of the continent. Have a lovely spring evening and we’ll see you again tomorrow! –Andrew Engelson