Featuring Brittney Corrigan and David Pickering
PLUS, Winners of the Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize
Sunday, April 24, 2022 In-person at the Hoffman Center
Limited to 20 audience members; advanced registration required
$7 admission
The Hoffman Center welcomes back poets Brittney Corrigan and David Pickering for a reading of their new collections from Airlie Press. Both poets have previously read on our stage as participants of PoetryFest and both have appeared in the North Coast Squid. Brittney’s poem Aubade for Manzanita was the winner of the 2021 Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize. David’s poem from the Squid, “The Pickerings Try Methodist” was also featured on the Wonder Garden Poetry Post in July.
The first and second place winners of the Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize, Carey Taylor and Lauren Mallett, will also read their winning submissions. Read more about them here.
About the Poets:
Photo Credit: Nina Johnson Photography
Portland poet Brittney Corrigan’s fourth collection. Daughters, reimagines characters from mythology, folklore, fairy tales, and pop culture from the perspective of their daughters—including daughters of such unlikely parents as Bigfoot, the Mad Hatter, and Medusa. Says Corrigan, “I wanted to explore what it means to be a daughter: eldest, youngest, middle, only. Princess, daddy’s girl, tomboy, little mother, good girl, bad girl, prodigal, angel, black sheep.”
Taking on such topics as aging, rebellion, loss, domestic violence, homelessness, and gender identity, the voices of Daughters aim to turn the reader’s conceptions of the characters on their ends and throw light upon what it means for a girl to come out from under her parents as a woman of her own making. — Airlee Press
I was raised between the jaws of cats
triple my size, teeth long as hairpins
and paws that could pull down the sun.
The straggle of their manes against
the bars, the heat of their voices before
the whip. Cindered eyes on my father.
— excerpt from “The Lion Tamer’s Daughter” in Daughters, by Brittney Corrigan. Airlee Press
For more about Brittney, visit http://brittneycorrigan.com/.
Photo Credit: Dean Davis Photography
David Pickering is a native Oregonian, having grown up and lived much of his life in the working-class culture of the North Oregon Coast. His first collection, Jesus Comes to Me as Judy Garland, explores themes of sexual orientation, spirituality, family, and aging, often using smart humor and sharp observation.As the book travels back in time, it becomes clear that Pickering has always felt both part of a community and alienated from it.
The title of the book derives from its final poem: a fitting choice since “Jesus Comes to Me as Judy Garland” combines so many of the threads that run through the volume as a whole. When he describes his early affection for Judy Garland, lip-syncing to her music in his parents’ basement, Pickering recalls both the unease he felt as a gay teenager in a hostile environment, as well as the joy of these moments. —as reviewed by Colorado Review
Let yourself float
down the Nehalem, a candle
in a paper boat. Let it be night.
Let the moon pull you past
the gravitational divide, the body.
— from Jesus Comes to Me as Judy Garland by David Pickering. Airlee Press
Against his better judgment, David now has a website, pickpoetry.com, but he much prefers the interpersonal to the electronic.
Please Note: The audience is limited to 20 attendees, so advance registration is required. Proof of vaccination is required at the door. Masks are encouraged.
We live in a dynamic health environment and will make necessary adjustments to keep our community safe.
featuring Brittney Corrigan and David Pickering as well as the winners of the Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize
