First Wednesdays Reading at Blackbird

Location: Blackbird Wine Shop, 4323 NE Fremont, 
This show is 21 and over.
Date & Time: July 6th, 7-9pm

Ian Berry, Matt Schumacher, and Kirsten Rian.
Matt Schumacher is a vagabond transplant who considers himself an Oregonian. His first collection of poetry, Spilling the Moon, was published by Wordcraft of Oregon in 2008, and his second collection, The Fire Diaries, was published by the same press in 2010. Three new projects, Blueprints for Spiderwebs, favorite maritime drinking songs of the miraculous alcoholics, and Ghost Town Odes, are in the works. His poems have recently appeared in Vallum, ZYZZYVA, and Painted Bride Quarterly, and he is poetry editor for a magazine of New Fabulism named Phantom Drift.

Kirsten Rian’s poetry and nonfiction has appeared in numerous magazines, international literary journals, and anthologies, and was recently nominated for inclusion in the Best New Poets anthology. She leads workshops internationally in locations like Sierra Leone and Finland, facilitating writing as a tool for literacy, healing, and storytelling within the refugee/immigrant and homeless communities. She co-authored the anthology, Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass (Urban Adventure Press). Her anthology of Sierra Leonean poetry, Kalashnikov in the Sun (Pika Press), was released in 2010. She is frequently a featured reader or lecturer and has appeared recently for Oregon Humanities, Portland Center Stage, and Friends of William Stafford. Also an independent photography curator and writer, she has coordinated more than 375 exhibitions, and served as picture editor or writer for 80 books and catalogues. She curated the permanent exhibition for the new Mercy Corps international headquarters. She has been awarded writing residencies through Soapstone, Literary Arts, Multnomah County Library, among others. She runs a monthly reading series, Comma, through Broadway Books. She teaches writing through regional organizations such as Fishtrap, Portland State University, Multnomah County Library, and is a freelance writer. She is also a painter and musician and mother of two sweet kids.


Contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com for more information.