And it’s National Poetry Month! Hypatia-in-the-Woods is planning two events, both at the lovely Brilliant Moon bookstore in downtown Shelton ( Mariano Plaza at First Street and Railroad Avenue).

CELEBRATE WITH A READING at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 9, with poet Ann Batchelor Hursey of Seattle.  A graduate of the Rainier Writing Workshop, Ann holds an MFA in poetry and will read from her first collection, A Certain Hold. Ann read and spoke about her Holly House residency at our Meet Hypatia! event in February and her book is on sale at Brilliant Moon. Also reading will be Carolyn Maddux, a Hypatia board member, who received her MA in poetry and the environment from the McGregor School of Antioch University. Her book, Voluntary on a Flight of Angels, is available from Hypatia Press for $15 including mailing; e-mail director@hypatiainthewoods.org to order a copy.

There will be munchies and Brilliant Moon’s special teas, and pocket poems for attenders to take away. The reading will include an open-mic opportunity for three-minute readings.

GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS and Hypatia-in-the-Woods join forces starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, to celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month with poetry, music and munchies at Brilliant Moon.  Great Old Broads for Wilderness will describe environmental activism, channel some of the great nature poets, and host a visit from Henry David Thoreau.

Northwest poets Holly Hughes and Bill Yake will read from their work.

Holly Hughes, a resident alumna of Hypatia-in-the-Woods, is the author of the newly published chapbook Passings (Expedition Press, 2016), Sailing by Ravens (University of Alaska Press, 2014), and coauthor of The Pen and The Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World (Skinner House Press, 2012).

Bill Yake is author of  Unfurl, Kite, and Veer (Radiolarian Press, 2010), This Old Riddle: Cormorants and Rain, Poems 1970-2003 (Radiolarian Press, 2004). His latest chapbook is a collection of poems from travels in Mongolia.

The event will also honor poets and trailbuilders from CHOICE High School. Their work, including poetry banners, can be seen in the Teresa Johnson Community Trail which follows Shelton Creek from the reservoir at Seventh and Laurel streets in Shelton to North 13th Street near Mason General Hospital.