An evening of poetry with Ed Harkness and Alicia Hokanson

Third Place Books is honored to welcome Ed Harkness and Alicia Hokanson to our Lake Forest Park store! Harkness and Hokanson will be reading from their latest poetry collections, Avalance: A Survival Guide and Perishable World. This event is free and open to the public.

For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance.

About Avalanche. . .

This collection of poems reflects Harkness's relationship with the worlds of nature, politics, loss, family, and hope. These poems are lyrics--songs offered to readers to hear and be inspired. Harkness is a mature and curious observer of the natural, the human, and the global. Each poem sets forth a unique an angle of vision. Using no extra words or syllables, the language of the poet is distilled into a powerful, beautiful voice.

About Perishable World. . .

"Who knows if the grief / I squeeze through my lips can be borne?" says an ancient Aztec singer. In this collection, prize-winning poet Alicia Hokanson sets out to map the raw boundaries of grief by ruthlessly examining occasions and consequences of loss, offset by close and affectionate attention to the smallest nuances of the sensual universe. We learn that what perishes from this world is not only bearable but inseparable from what we celebrate.—Samuel Green, former Washington Poet Laureate, author of Disturbing the Light

Winner of the International Eyelands Book Awards GRAND PRIZE for poetry for 2021!

Edward Harkness is the author of four full-length poetry collections, Saying the Necessary (2000), Beautiful Passing Lives (2010), The Law of the Unforeseen (2018), and most recently, Avalanche: A Survival Guide (2023). Of it, novelist David Long wrote, “No poet I know moves so nimbly between the cadences of formal poetry and the quirky, often hilarious, rhythms of actual speech…or devotes himself so lovingly to family – past, present and future. Put simply: Edward Harkness has become an indispensable poet.” He lives with his life-mate, Linda, in Shoreline, Washington.

A native of Seattle, Alicia Hokanson grew up exploring the beaches, forests, and islands of Puget Sound, inspiring her deep attention to the natural world. Her first book, Mapping the Distance, was selected by Carolyn Kizer for the King County Arts Commission publication prize and it was released by Breitenbush Books in 1989. Brooding Heron Press published two chapbooks, Phosphorous and Insistent in the Skin. Her poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals and anthologies. Upon completing her B.A. and M.A. in English at the University of Washington, Alicia pursued a career teaching English in a variety of venues, from working with high-school students in South Australia to teaching grades 1-8 in a one-room schoolhouse on Waldron Island, 8th graders on Bainbridge Island, and middle-school English for 27 years at Lakeside School in Seattle. Named River of Words Poetry Teacher of the year in 2003 for her work nurturing young writers, she also held the Bleakney Chair in English at Lakeside upon her retirement in 2014. She now devotes her time to writing, reading, and advocating for social and environmental justice.

About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.