A New Chapter Begins

Dear Island Verse Family,

We are absolutely joyous to share with you the exciting news that the Island Verse Literary Collective is getting our own home! This means that we will be able to bring you our extraordinary programming such as Writing Circle, Open Mic, Guest Author workshops & showcases, along with an abundance of brand new events, in a cozy space uniquely tailored to the literary and spoken arts!

More than a venue, Island Verse’s new home (right next to Madrone Cellars on First street!) will be a sanctuary for storytelling and the craft of verse. It will welcome and hold space for diverse voices—from Sovereign Nation and Tribal peoples, to Latinx and English-language-learning communities—and extend our reach to youth and elders across the San Juan archipelago.

In the coming year, we will:

• Collaborate with WA State Poet Laureate Derek Sheffield to inaugurate youth and adult poet laureates to represent the collective poetic voice of the San Juan Islands;

• Found a local publishing company that brings island voices—both emergent to established, and especially those historically marginalized—into print;

• Continue bringing world-class writers and performers to our islands, utilizing our new home as an intimate space to foster genuine, face-to-face dialogue between artists and community members. 

I'm reaching out to you today to ask for your direct support in helping us expand our programming and end the new year strong. At a time when many are experiencing an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness, as vast and diverse communities are being silenced, we find it rooted in our mission to empower and lift up the voices of those very communities as well helping every human being we can to process the general and acute traumas of this unfolding world. As a non-profit enmeshed in arts and culture, we have felt the dreadful economic impact on our own community. Major funding has been cut nationwide for programs like ours, making your help more crucial than ever.

Your gift today will help us:

• Secure and sustain our new home,

• Heal and uplift the community through the literary arts, 

• Keep workshops and readings accessible to all, and

• Ensure that our archipelago’s stories are heard here and far beyond our shores

We invite you to be part of this next chapter!Please make a tax-deductible donation to Island Verse today either by hitting the donate button below or by sending a check made payable to:

Island Verse Literary Collective  

540 Linder st

Friday Harbor, WA 98250

Thank you for helping us build a permanent home for the voices of our islands

&

See you at Open Mic!

Make a Gift Today