The Chuckanut Radio Hour feat. Rena Priest, Robert Lashley, and Kevin Murp

Join Village Books for an extra special evening of music, stories, and fun to kick off 2025's Chuckanut Writers Conference with the amazing Rena Priest, Robert Lashley, Ryler Dustin, and Kevin Murphy at the Hotel Leo!

Doors open and music begins at 6:30pm. Recording starts at 7:00pm.

Special Guest Poet: Kevin Murphy

Interviewer: Ryler Dustin

Musical Guest: 3-oh

Spaces are limited and REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED to secure your spot so don't delay.

The Chuckanut Writers Conference is more than just a weekend of workshops. It’s an opportunity to engage your passion for writing, connect with fellow storytellers, and nurture your craft in the inspiring Pacific Northwest environment.

Whether you’re just starting your writing journey or you’re an experienced author, the Chuckanut Writers Conference offers a welcoming space for every voice.

We’re excited to come together in person once again to study the craft and business of writing and publishing, but most importantly… let’s network and encourage one another on the journey. Join us for a weekend of learning, laughter, and creativity that will leave you feeling motivated and ready to bring your words to life.

Rena Priest is a poet, essayist, and enrolled member of the Lummi Nation. She served as the sixth Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-2023) and was the first Indigenous person to hold this post. She has received a Washington State Book Award and an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award. She is also the recipient of residencies and fellowships from Hedgebrook, Storyknife, Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, the Academy of American Poets, Indigenous Nations Poets, and the University of Washington Libraries. Her first collection, Patriarchy Blues, received an American Book Award. She has edited two anthologies, and her forthcoming collection of essays, Positively Uncivilized, will be published by Raven Chronicles Press as the winner of their 2024 Keepers of the Fire Award. Her poems appear in Yellow Medicine Review, Poetry Magazine, Poem-a-day at Poets.org, Verse Daily, and elsewhere. Priest holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, works as a freelance writer and speaker, and was one of the first recipients of the Village Books Literary Citizenship Award in 2023. She lives in Bellingham, Washington.

Robert Lashley was a 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and a nominee for a Stranger Genius Award. His books include Green River Valley (Blue Cactus Press, 2021), Up South (Small Doggies Press, 2017), and The Homeboy Songs (Small Doggies Press, 2014). His poetry has appeared in The Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Poetry Northwest, McSweeney's, and The Cascadia Review, and recently, The Cascadia Field Guide, which has been on the bestseller list for 40 weeks. In 2019, Entropy Magazine named The Homeboy Songs one of the 25 essential books to come out of Seattle. In 2024, his Novel, I Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer, was selected as a finalist for a Washington State Book Award.

Ryler Dustin is the author of Heavy Lead Birdsong from Write Bloody Publishing, and his new collection, Trailer Park Psalms, was selected for the University of Pittsburgh Press's Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. He represented Seattle on the final stage of the Individual World Poetry Slam, and his poems appear in outlets like American Life in Poetry, Verse Daily, Gulf Coast, and The Best of Button Poetry. He holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and recently moved back to Bellingham after living in Spain, Michigan, Jack Kerouac's former home, and an off-grid cabin in Oregon's Rogue River Valley.

Kevin Murphy has been writing poetry for over 45 years, often accompanying himself on guitar or percussion. He is poet-in-residence at the Chuckanut Radio Hour, and is a winner of the Bellingham Mayor Arts Award. He has recorded two CDs of his work, Between Onions and Oxygen, and the Bird of Pure Midnight. His new poetry collection is The Last Normal Year (2025).

3-oh has performed all over Whatcom county as well as live on the radio. Their acoustic music features two guitars, the occasional banjo and ringing three-part harmonies. Their sets include a number of original songs and old favorites as well as obscure cover songs originating in the 1930s to today from all sorts of genres. They especially enjoy twisting and tweaking old chestnuts until they sound like something new, and an altogether different kind of nut.

The Chuckanut Radio Hour, a recipient of Bellingham's prestigious Mayor's Arts Award, is a radio variety show that began in January 2007. Each Chuckanut Radio Hour includes guest authors, musicians, performance poet Kevin Murphy, and episodes of "As the Ham Turns" serial radio comedy performed by the Chuckanut Radio Players Les Campbell, Tonja Meyers, Sarah Hawley, and Robert Muzzy (plus the occasional guest!). Not to mention groaner jokes by hosts Paul Hanson, Kelly Evert, and announcer Rich Donnelly. The Chuckanut Radio Hour's first guest was Erik Larson and has since included, Tom Robbins, Maria Semple, Christopher McDougall, Erica Bauermeister, and Garrison Keillor, among many others. Tickets for the Chuckanut Radio Hour are $5 and are available on Eventbrite.The Radio Hour airs Sundays at 7pm on Community Powered KMRE at 88.3FM and kmre.org.

Sponsored by 12th Street Shoes and the Salish Current.

*Online registration closes two hours prior to the event. Tickets may be available at the door.

*Feel free to call Village Books and Paper Dreams for further assistance at 360-671-2626!*