Local poet celebrates book with virtual event

Sisters poet and singer-songwriter Beth Wood will celebrate the release of her latest poetry book, “Believe The Bird,” with a virtual reading hosted by Paulina Springs Books on Friday, February 19.

Wood will be joined by Kim Stafford, Oregon’s poet laureate from 2018 to 2020, and author of a dozen books of poetry and prose. Wood and Stafford will share poems, conversation, and even a song or two. The event is free and open to all.

Wood follows up her award-winning poetry book, “Ladder To The Light” (2019 Oregon Book Awards Readers’ Choice Award and 2019 finalist for the Stafford/Hall prize for poetry), with a collection of forthright, shimmering poems that examine the stories we tell ourselves. Some stories are true, some may no longer be true. Some are based on history, cultural messages, direct experience.

Wood asks, “What if we examine the stories we tell ourselves to see if they resonate with who we are now? What if we allow our inherent wisdom to override messages that no longer serve us? When is a story good and when is it harmful? What if we get to decide what narratives work for us?”

Part reckoning, part lament, part celebration, “Believe The Bird” is a book full of questions in the form of poems, pointing to the wisdom of the bird in hand.

“Partnering with Paulina Springs Books and Kim Stafford on this book-release event is a dream come true,” said Wood. “Not only do I admire Kim’s work, but I have also watched him in his role as Oregon poet laureate advocating for poetry in our lives, not as some high esoteric ideal, but as a practical way we can connect through story. If we’re lucky, we can even lift each other up with a poem or a song.”

After many years of hosting the Sisters Folk Festival Sunday Community Celebration and working on staff at the Americana Song Academy, Texas-born troubadour-poet Beth Wood has finally become a local.

“For years I have dreamed of living in Sisters, and this spring it finally became a reality,” she said. “It is a strange time to move during a pandemic, but I’m so happy to have landed here in a place that treasures art and artists. I can’t wait for all the magic that will unfold.”

A celebration of “Believe The Bird” is set for Friday, February 19, at 6:30 p.m.

To register for the free event, visit www.crowdcast.io/e/beth-wood-believe-the-bird/register.

For more information call 541-549-0866 or visit www.paulinaspringsbooks.com.

For more information about Beth wood, visit www.bethwoodmusic.com.