Author Event: Friday, Nov. 17, 2017 from 12:30 to 5:30pm

Northwest poet  and literary historian George Venn will sign copies of his most recent book of poetry Nov. 17 at Book and Game, downtown Walla Walla. The book has been nominated for the 2018 Pulitzer prize

Former writer-in-residence at Eastern Oregon University partnered with Book and Game to display and sign copies of “Lichen Songs: New and Selected Poems.” The signing will held  between 12:30 and 5:30 at the East Main store. Venn's other books will also be available.

John Witte, editor emeritus of “Northwest Review,” called the publication, “a long-awaited and highly recommended collection.” Fifty-one poems in the 127-page volume are reprinted from Venn’s earlier books: “Off the Main Road” (1978), “Marking the Magic Circle” (1987) and “West of Paradise” (1999).

The title comes from a poem called, “The Lichen Family Story,” that is featured at the Oregon Zoo. Venn said the collection serves as a companion to last year’s “Beaver’s Fire,” which compiled his regional and historical writing.

The Oregonian called Venn “one of the best-known and most respected poets in the state.” Prior to retiring in 2002 as EOU’s Distinguished Teaching Faculty, Venn garnered numerous awards including a Pushcart Prize, the Andres Berger Award, an Oregon book award and the Stewart Holbrook Award.

Writing about the book, Dan Lamberton, Walla Walla University, wrote: "What a detective of place George Venn is; how private his eyes are! Yet in "Lichen Songs" you come to know what a good man can make known, what an avid man can feel, and what, in George Venn's hands, the craft of poetry can do. He magnifies the landscape and what he sees turns to music–a choir of wheeling nature, students, family, lovers, still rooms. You will find much to care for in this bright man's new and selected work. "

In 2005, the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission and Oregon State Library chose Venn’s collection “Marking the Magic Circle” as one of the “100 Best Oregon Books (1800-2000).” His second collection of poems, “West of Paradise,” was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award and both the Oregon State Library and Poetry Northwest selected it for their meritorious booklists in 2009. Other works include “Darkroom Soldier,” a collaboration with the late Fred Hill, its companion volume, “Fred Hill: A Photographer’s Life,” and “Keeping the Swarm,” a collection of personal essays.