Red Sky Poetry TheatreRed Sky Poetry Theatre and Seattle Muse Community records at University of Washington was the longest running live weekly poetry series and open mic in Seattle history.Melanie Mcfarland, "If You're A Poet And You Know It?", Seattle Times, November 12, 1998 "Sundays, poets will find Red Sky Poetry Theater taking the stage. For 18 years the group has hosted poetry readings in venues throughout the city; the Globe, one of Red Sky's board members says, is the best place the group has even been in." accessed May 25, 2014The Stranger, Readings Listings, November 4, 1999 "Seattle's longest-running reading series turns 19 this season. Celebrate with poet Stephen Thomas, tonight's featured reader. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th off Pine, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, donation." accessed May 26, 2014
Sunrise Don Wilsun, who previously co-founded Dogtown Poetry Theater with Joe Scozzy, was a driving force in the founding of Red Sky Poetry Theatre. Along with Joe Keppler, Tom Parson, who also started the Bumbershoot Small Press Fair in 1977,Now It's Up to You Publications "Tom Parson (Now it's Up to You Publications) was active in Seattle's poetry community, organizing the first Small Press Book fair at the annual Bumbershoot Festival in 1977, helping to organize the Red Sky Poetry Theatre..," accessed May 26, 2014 and Judith Roche, whose home was used as a meeting place to plan Red Sky Poetry Theatre, Wilsun formed the core of what would become Red Sky Poetry Theatre.Joe Marshall, 'Scuse Me While I Kiss Red Sky, UW Daily, February 23, 1990 Pg 8, 10 Prior to forming Red Sky Poetry Theatre, Wilsun held ad hoc readings which were simply called Poetry Theatre. Wilsun named his labor of love Red Sky because one day he was putting up flyers for his Poetry Theatre in the Pike Place Market and as he was doing so, saw an amazing red sunset. He wrote a poem at the Soup and Salad called Red Sky. It inspired him to name his Poetry Theatre, Red Sky."Poetry Theatre", Seattle Sun, June 10, 1981 Page 7, 12Rajhet Dirzhud-Rashid, "Finding the poetry in a Red Sky", Capitol Hill Times, February 28, 1990 Page, 5, 9 The first Red Sky Poetry Theatre reading was May 24, 1981.Open Sound Volume 4 No 3, November 1992
Bill Shively, Joseph Keppler, Judith Roche, Matt Lennon, and Tom Parsons joined the Red Sky Poetry Theatre board in 1981Phil West, At Red Sky, "There's No Limit For Experimenting Poets", Seattle Times, January 17, 1992, accessed May 31, 2014 "It's a tight-knit group of regulars that meets each Sunday at the Ditto Tavern for Red Sky Poetry Theatre. They're not afraid to experiment with new poems in front of each other. They heckle each other from time to time. And at an open-mike session a few weeks ago, readers even took turns wearing a silly green top hat during their moments in front of the audience." and were listed in the original incorporation documents as board members in 1982 with Don Wilsun as President and acting agent.Articles of Incorporation of the Red Sky Poetry Theatre, Ralph Monroe, Secretary of State, State of Washington, May 17, 1982 Red Sky Poetry Theatre was a Non-profit Organization existing solely to promote and encourage poetry performance and Performance Art as well as other arts. Elliott BronsteinJack Straw Cultural Center, "2004 Writers' Forum: Elliott Bronstein" accessed June 26, 2014 would join the board a short time later.
Trudy Mercer, an early editor of SkyViews, joined the Red Sky Poetry Theatre board in 1982,Jeremy Gold, Publishing Lives: Interviews with Independent Book Publishers in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, (Mill Creek, WA, Black Heron Press, 1990), Page 76, 160, 567, accessed May 25, 2014 the same day Marion KimesGood Reads, Marion Kimes: about this author, accessed June 22, 2014 and Michael Hureaux were voted onto the board.
Kay Kinghammer,MCI Writer's House, accessed June 10, 2014 who performed in Burlesque Theatre and JT Stewart,Hugo House Event, Red Sky Reunion 2010 Accessed May 25, 2014 who formerly taught at Seattle Central Community College,Charles Mudede, Readings Listings, The Stranger, December 13, 2001, accessed June 10, 2014. "It's About Time Reading Series – A monthly open discussion on the writer's role in society. Featured readers this month are all teachers. J. T. Stewart is a poet and teaches English at SCCC...," were also part of the early meetings to create Red Sky Poetry Theatre but never actually on the board.
Other early affiliated authors not officially on the Red Sky Poetry Theatre board included Mark Svenvold, who recently did a presentation at the Modern Language Association about the influence of Red Sky Poetry Theatre on the Literary World.Modern Language Association Convention Program information from 2012, accessed May 28, 2014 "There one found a poetic procedure fueled by an allegiance to performance and informed by a resistance to canonical Euro-centric influences. At Red Sky one found anthropology and alternative ways of viewing the universe. One found study of Neolithic cultures, of tribal cultures, of Native American cultures, of anything that spoke to an ancient "oral tradition." There was history aplenty at Red Sky" Charlie Potts, another well known author, would frequently read for Red Sky Poetry Theatre.Ralph La Charity, Seek the Sacred / Share the Secrets accessed June 1, 2014 Paul Hunter,KSTS 9, PBS NewsHour, "Hunter Discusses Reshaping 'Shopworn' Language", July 9, 2007 accessed June 16, 2014KSTS 9, PBS NewsHour, "Paul Hunter", accessed June 16, 2014 who collaborated with Red Sky Poetry Theatre early on, would officially become a board member in 1993. These authors added much to the early Red Sky Poetry Theatre creative process.
Bumbershoot Charlie Burks, the coordinator of the first Bumbershoot Writers in Performance Competition in 1981,Kate Robinson, "The Battle of the Bards", University Herald, Page 1, 9, February 1981 was not officially on the board but collaborated with Red Sky Poetry Theatre on a regular basis.Dianne Simmon, They're Performing Poetry: 'Deserve to be Read Out Loud', Seattle Post-Intelligencer August 1, 1981 Pg D-1 Burks' influence on the collaborative efforts of Red Sky Poetry Theatre was substantial. The expression "Poet's Gymnasium", in the context of Red Sky Poetry Theatre as a forum for perfecting one's poetry, is attributed to Burks.Tom Phalen, "Poetry As A Contact Sport -- Rhythm And Rhyme In Your Face Can Be Beautiful And Bombastic, But It's Never Boring", Seattle Times, March 4, 1993, accessed May 29, 2014Phoebe Bosché, Words Off the Page: Poetry in Performance, Arts Focus Volume 7 Number 6, January 1988, Page 1, 4, 5 Red Sky Poetry Theatre joined Burks in judging the Writers in Performance contests that would decide who, out of hundreds, would read at Bumbershoot. Bumbershoot Writers in Performance Competitions continue to this day, although without Red Sky Poetry Theatre. However, former board member Judith Roche coordinated the Bumbershoot Literary Arts FestivalDonn Fry, [community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900826 Author! Author! Readings, Panels Planned], Seattle Times Arts and Entertainment, August 26, 1990 accessed January 17, 2015 for One Reel after Red Sky Poetry Theatre discontinued the Bumbershoot Association.David Berger, "Bumbershoot Is In Trouble; Here's How To Fix It", February 5, 1995 accessed July 11, 2014 "There's a model for this already: Judith Roche and Louise DiLenge mostly call the shots for Bumbershoot's literary arts. Not coincidentally, these are among the best aspects of Bumbershoot, consistently thoughtful and daring."
Periodicals Bill Shively edited the very first Open Sky in which writers and visual artists of any sort could contribute 400 pages to be included in the magazine. Red Sky Poetry Theatre considered its collective efforts to be more conducive to the creative process, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Essentially, Open Sky wasn't edited so much as compiled. Shively's brainchild, Open Sky, eventually became a quarterly publication. The only person to submit to all twelve issues of Open Sky was author Dann O'Keefe.Irish Writing Online, "Unpublishable? Do It Yourself" accessed June 25, 2014 Open Sky became Open Sound in 1989 with 200 pages. Ezra Mark was the editor of the first Open Sound. Ezra MarkInternet Archive, Sound Poetry Night, 3/23/12, Seattle, WA, accessed June 13, 2014 was later on the board of Subtext, another poetry series.Stacie Lavine, "From 1994 Until Infinity, The Persistence of Language and the Subtext Poetry Reading Series",The Stranger, June 26, 2003, accessed June 13, 2014
Shively created and edited the early SkyViews magazine which started out as a monthly newsletter with 'guest editors' but became a full-fledged poetry magazine shortly after the first issues. Charlie Burks added a 'Sunday Supplement' one month when he was guest editor that was much admired by the Pacific Northwest literary public. Trudy Mercer took over the compilation of this monthly magazine in 1984. Mercer published Redlines as well as working with Red Sky Poetry Theatre. SkyViews was renamed Parallel Discourse in 1989 with Phoebe Bosché and James Maloney as editors although it still referred to itself as SkyViews inside the first Parallel Discourse pages.Up In The Air, Parallel Discourse (SkyViews Volume 3 Numbers 4/5) combined issue, January, 1989, Page 5 Parallel Discourse soon spun off of Red Sky Poetry Theatre completely and was solely published by Bosché and Maloney. Swale Magazine was edited by Bosché and Roberto Valenza but it was not actually a Red Sky Poetry Theatre publication. Swale was well received.
Red Sky Poetry Theatre also had its own imprint called, of course, Red Sky Press. It published books of collected poets such as Red Sky Morning as well as publishing the Bumbershoot Anthology, a collection of the poems of the Bumbershoot Literary Contest performers, in 1984 and 1985. Visual Art was always part of the Red Sky Poetry Theatre milieu and many publications were replete with images such as the art of Keppler, Lennon,Stephen J. Bernstein, On a Linoleum Print by Matt Lennon, Arts Focus Volume 4 Number 3, December 1990, Page 16 Roberto Valenza,Guard Rail Gallery, , accessed June 9, 2014 "Roberto Valenza has 'been a poet longer than a painter' and his poetry overflows onto his canvas. His paintings, done in charcoal, pastels, and acrylic, display a fluidity of movement fitting to his scenes of animals, mother earth, and other-worldly natives." or Grace DagerCydney Gillis, Alternative To Loud Boats Arts Festival, Arts Focus Volume 3 Number 1, Page 5, 12 and many others. The line between poetry and visual art was consistently crossed as the two forms merged into something unique.Robert Degaetano, Video Artists Use Technology For Social Commentary, Seattle Downtown Magazine, April 1988, Page 13-15 There were many other publications by Red Sky Poetry Theatre affiliated authors that are too numerous to list.
Early history When Don Wilsun withdrew from regular participation in Red Sky Poetry Theatre, the Secretary of State of Washington State listed Elliott Bronstein as the acting Agent for Red Sky Poetry Theatre and Marion Kimes as the acting President and Treasurer.Washington Business 501- C, accessed May 25, 2014 Red Sky Poetry Theatre Washington Non-Profit Corporation The Registered Agent on file for this company is Elliott Bronstein...