Empty Bowl Press Brimming with Literary Achievements
[caption id align="alignnone" width="3024"]
John Pierce, copublisher of Empty Bowl Press, hosted a reading of their latest release at the Port Townsend Friends Meetinghouse last Saturday, September 14. Photo courtesy of Empty Bowl Press [/caption]
Local small press Empty Bowl is overflowing with energy after two years dipping back into our local waters
Copublishers Holly J. Hughes and John Pierce took over the job of offering words out of Empty Bowl in 2022, bringing the business back to the Olympic Peninsula where it was founded in 1976. In the last two years, they’ve produced 11 books with yet one more set to come out this year.
Two of their 2023 releases are already receiving accolades. On September 3, the Washington State Book Awards named I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State, edited by former Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest of the Lummi Nation, one of this year’s finalists. And in May, Tele Aadsen’s What Water Holds, a series of lyrical essays first shared at Oregon’s FisherPoets Gathering, took gold in the Nautilus Book Awards.
“Those two books are book we really enjoyed working on,” Hughes said during an interview with The Beacon. “It’s gratifying when you see this affirmation coming from outside.”
Empty Bowl’s fundamental theme of literature and responsibility in support of human communities in wild places is raised up through their readings as well as the work they print.
Set in the forests of Fort Worden, this year the press held a reading for Memory’s Vault: The Poetic Heart of Fort Worden, a book which offers a retrospective look at a powerful piece of public art and a community’s responses to it. Created in 1988 at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, Memory’s Vault was designed by artist Richard Turner and features the poems of Sam Hamill, cofounder of Copper Canyon Press. Working with long-time Port Townsend resident Bob Francis as editor, Empty Bowl put together a richly illustrated book which includes an essay by Turner, the full text of Hamill’s poem sequence, and contributions by local residents, including work by Port Townsend Poet Laureate Conner Bouchard-Roberts and a map illustrated by Beacon Editor Nhatt Nichols..
“What I loved about it was that it felt like it was a project that was so directly tied to our community,” Hughes said. “It was thrilling to see how much Memory’s Vault means to the people who came, and it was exciting for the artist, Richard Turner, to hear how much people loved the work that he did many years ago now.”
In a slightly less wild yet still very human community, Empty Bowl holds many of their readings at the Friend’s Meetinghouse in Port Townsend. The press has a long association with local poet and translator Bill Porter, aka Red Pine, who recommended the Friends’ Meetinghouse to the Hughes and Pierce when they took over ownership.
Pierce noted that the space owned by the Port Townsend Friends, or Quakers, who worship in a silent meditative manner, is a good fit for poetry readings.
“We just like its energy,” he added.
[caption id align="alignnone" width="3024"]
Sibyl James reads some of her translations from Plum Blossom Wine poems by Song dynasty poet Li Qingzhao translated by James and Kang Xuepei, the latest release from Empty Bowl. James and Kang bring a contemporary sensibility to their translations, reading Li not as scholars but as modern women. Photo courtesy of Empty Bowl Press [/caption]
This past Saturday, they held a reading at the Meetinghouse in celebration of their most recent release, Plum Blossom Wine, poems by Song dynasty poet Li Qingzhao translated by Sibyl James and Kang Xuepei. The book gives voice to an important female Chinese poet writing in a time when literature was dominated by men. Another reading of the book is scheduled in the Seattle Chinese Garden on September 22 from 2-4 pm.
Their next reading at the Friends Meetinghouse is scheduled for December 7 with local poet Tim McNulty joining Andrew Shelling for the release of his book, Forests, Temples, Glacial Rivers, which will be the dozenth release from Hughes and Pierce.
Empty Bowl will also join Winter texts and other local presses at Finnriver Farm & Cidery on November 10 for their Small Press Book Fair from 9am to 4 pm.
With a very full two years under their belt, they’re also keeping a mindful eye on how to sustain Empty Bowl.
“Luckily, people have always come along to carry Empty Bowl, and we are honored to be the carrier for this period of time,” Hughes said. “We’re hoping that when we pass it along, that it will be in a place where it’s maybe a little more sustainable for the people who pick it up.”
In another two years, the press will celebrate 50 years in operation, and Pierce said that’s when they may look towards a transition.
“That’s quite an accomplishment for a small press, especially a regional small press,” Pierce said. “One thing we want to try to do is not have Empty Bowl go dormant. We certainly want to figure out a way to have it persist,” he added.
Despite difficulties with distributors in the post-Amazon age, Hughes is high-spirited about their successes and the efforts they’ve poured out.
“If the work we’re doing these couple years can contribute to keeping Empty Bowl alive, then I think we’ll feel good about that,” Hughes said.
