Two men and a look inside: Free event to explore poetry and wellness

Port Townsend poet and mental health counselor Matthew Nienow and Washington state poet laureate Derek Sheffield will have a public conversation about poetry and wellness Thursday. Photos courtesy of the poets

Arts news by Diane Urbani de la Paz

Poetry is like music. You can step inside it for sweetness or an inky darkness. It gives you a chance to slow down, get quiet, and listen with your heart.

This is how Derek Sheffield and Matthew Nienow describe the art of poetry. They are two writers preparing for an unusual literary event that’s free for everyone at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 2. Registration is required at jclibrary.info to attend the in-person event at the Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock; live streaming will also be available from the library website.

The topic is poetry and wellness; the name of the event is the Huntingford Humanities Lecture. It’s no lecture, though, Sheffield said — this will be an unscripted conversation between people whose lives are changed by reading, hearing and writing poems.

“We’re both going to show up with some arrows in our quiver,” said Sheffield. He’s the Washington state poet laureate who lives near Leavenworth. He began his term this spring and will continue orchestrating poetry activities for the next two years.

Nienow, who lives in Port Townsend, is a writer, mental health counselor, husband and father of two teenage sons.

His newest book, “If Nothing,” has received glowing praise for its unvarnished story of the journey through addiction to sobriety and through mental health struggles, loss, longing and joy.

Sheffield, for his part, said he loves the laureate’s duty of bringing fellow poets such as Nienow into the spotlight.

“Matthew’s book and his journey are just perfect,” he said, adding that he and his students at Wenatchee Valley College read “If Nothing” in class last year.

Both men noted that poems, in all of their diversity of sound and story, have the power to surprise us. Writing and experiencing a poem isn’t like receiving a lighthearted Hallmark card, Sheffield added.

“What we’re sharing are … poems that speak to the full range of human experience,” replete with the difficult stuff that is part of the deal. A good piece of writing reflects that life is not like a kids’ ride at Disneyland, he said.

“No, it’s hard-earned, and sometimes you have to plunge.”

“There’s so much [poetry] out there,” of varying styles, added Nienow. Some is like a magic spell. A poem can offer the relief of catharsis, like a blues song. Other writing gives us a clear message, Nienow said, that we are not alone in the dark.

“It’s there,” he said, “for everybody.”

Annie Scott, the Jefferson County Library District director, said the idea for Thursday’s event sprang from conversations about how literature can nurture people and the wider community.

Sheffield, as poet laureate, was a natural choice, Scott said, while Nienow brings a local perspective and a professional grounding in mental health.

“The Huntingford Humanities Lecture is designed to honor Sara Louise ‘Sally’ Huntingford’s legacy of bringing thoughtful, high-quality learning opportunities to a rural community,” Scott noted. The event, held every fall, began in 2001. It has since brought authors such as Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie Frankel and Jess Walter to Jefferson County.

Nienow and Sheffield mix the artistry and insight that the Huntingford lecture is all about, said Scott.