TELL THEM

Small and bright as a

hummingbird in winter,

time is all we have. Whose warmth

will you reach for in the end?

Whose breath at your ear?

—Charlotte Gould Warren

PORT ANGELES — Charlotte Warren will give a reading from her new book of poems, “If Not Him,” at 7 p.m. Friday in the Carver room of the Port Angeles library, sponsored by Port Book and News.

Alice Derry and Kate Reavey will open the reading at the library at 2210 S. Peabody St., with a few of their own poems to celebrate the event.

Warren is the author of three poetry collections, “If Not Him” (Steven F. Austin Press), “Dangerous Bodies” (SFA Press), and “Gandhi’s Lap” (Word Works), which won the Washington Prize in D.C.

Her memoir, “Jumna: Sacred River” (SFA Press) chronicles her childhood in India during its fight for independence, and her coming of age in the United States through the turbulent ’60s.

Her poems have appeared on Seattle buses and in Calyx, Orion, Hawai’i Review, Hubbub, The Louisville Review, Kansas Quarterly and other journals, as well as in anthologies such as those from Empty Bowl Press and Seattle Book.

Born in India of missionary parents, Warren’s early years were shaped by a country rich in natural beauty and threatened by political upheaval.

Her own life balanced precariously on the edge of loss.

From the time she was 6 until she was 11, she was sent from her home in the plains to a boarding school in the Himalayas.

Again, when the family returned to America, her last five years of high school were as a boarding student in Pennsylvania.

After graduating from Reed college, marrying, and moving to the Olympic Peninsula to raise a family, Warren knew she was finally home. Mountains, wild rivers, forests and high meadows surrounded her with beauty and nourished her spirit.

She drew inspiration, too, from the art and resilience of Native communities who continue to care for the earth and “sing the salmon home.”

Once her children were grown, Warren earned an MFA in Writing from Vermont College and taught part-time at Peninsula College.

She continues to live near the Salish Sea in the house she and her late husband designed over 60 years ago.

Holding his memory close, she cherishes her grown sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and a community of friends.

Bring a friend, buy books, enjoy an evening of poetry!