The transition of ownership of Open Books from Christine Deavel and John W. Marshall to Billie Swift is right around the corner! The public commemoration/celebration will happen as a series of Open Houses over three consecutive nights,
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 26, 27, and 28. Here’s a
link to more information posted on our website.
(6-8pm)
And books! They continue to be published, shipped, purchased, and read, even though we have been so engaged in the business of transition that we haven’t been letting you know about the wonders that have been arriving by the cartonful. Since last we wrote, the store’s received new books by some well-known poets — Alice Oswald,
Falling Awake ($25.95 Norton), Alice Notley,
Certain Magical Acts ($20 Penguin), Ben Lerner,
The Hatred of Poetry ($12 FSG), Rita Dove,
Collected Poems: 1974-2004 ($39.95 Norton), and Marie Ponsot’s
Collected Poems ($35 Knopf). A large number of fine books by younger poets has arrived, too. Alexander has written up and posted two from that number, those being
The Hermit by Lucy Ives ($17.95 Song Cave) and
The Orchard Green and Every Color by Zach Savich ($17.95 Omnidawn). Please give those write-ups a look.
And, finally, we have added a listing of
more than one hundred used books in all price ranges to our website. Linger a while
there and see if something calls to you. And of course feel free to contact us for more information about any of those books.
Thank you for your support of Open Books for all these years, and for your support of the store for years and years to come!
Now, let’s close this newsletter with a sweet poem of awareness and beginnings from W.S. Merwin’s new collection, Garden Time ($24 Copper Canyon).
— John, Alexander, Billie, and Christine (bookkeeper+)
Rain at Daybreak
One at a time the drops find their own leaves
then others follow as the story spreads
they arrive unseen among the waking doves
who answer from the sleep of the valley
there is no other voice or other time
— W.S. Merwin
Open Books: A Poem Emporium
2414 North 45th Street
Seattle, Washington 98103
It is a rather remarkable thing to have in a city: an all-poetry bookstore. Cambridge, MA and Boulder, CO, are the only two USAmerican cities (besides Seattle) I believe with such a cultural nexus. And for many years the people who made Seattle’s all poetry bookstore possible, John Marshall and Christine Deavel, have run Open Books with grace, vast poetry knowledge and a sense of community. Both fine poets (published in Make It True: Poetry From Cascadia) they are displaying their commitment to Seattle’s poetry community by ensuring a good transition as they sell the store to Billie Swift. (No, not the former Mariner reliever, the brand-new PLU MFA. WooHoo!) Go to the open house and buy a book for God’s sake.
