Bjorn Brezhnev has my undying gratitude and respect

 My life and my 2023 would not have been the same without my friend Igor Bjorn Brezhnev, the publisher and co-founder of Lightship Press.

 

Bjorn is a tireless supporter of poets and writers locally. I first became aware of him when he hosted a weekly open mic at the Rocking Frog that included multiple features and a very democratic process of deciding who would read in the open mic. He picked names from a hat.

 

Since then Bjorn has organized great series and individual readings at Rose City Book Pub, CoHo Theatre, Birdhouse Books, and elsewhere.

 

Bjorn is determined to get poets paid, and puts all of himself into organizing and executing many events in the community. We should not have to work for free. What we do can be both a vocation as well as a profession if we believe in it enough to treat it that way. I respect Bjorn for his determination to raise money for poets to de remunerated for their time and hard work.

 

I could not be more proud of my Voracity, my book from Lightship Press, edited by Sam Preminger and designed by Igor Bjorn Brezhnev in December 2022.

Lightship Press cofounders Bjorn Brezhnev and Sam Preminger at The Haven PDX

  

Many of us owe a debt of gratitude to Bjorn for all he has done to make the greater Portland metropolitan area and Ghost Town, USA safe for poetry.

 

Why not show your support in a more tangible way and contribute to Bjorn’s Patreon.

  

Bjorn is also available for consulting or you can buy one of his books. I love his epic “nights since” series.

  

Support Living Artists ‘Cause the Dead Ones Don’t Need it!  

 

Photos and Video from Everett Poetry Night June 19, 2023

 

I had a great time at the Everett Poetry Night on June 19. Many thanks to Duane Kirby Jensen​ for inviting me to feature and to all of the poets and listeners for their time, energy, and beautiful words. It was great to see Robinson Bolkum​ again and to make some new friends. Archie and the entire staff of the Sisters Restaurant were so kind and generous and welcoming, and the food was delicious. Definitely worth the drive. I also want to thank my wife Toni Lumbrazo Luna​ for accompanying me on the road trip and for taking this video of my set. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP48GaCHfXk

Video by Toni Lumbrazo Luna.

Note: In honor of Juneteenth, Christopher began his reading with the poem "Inheritance" by Camille Rankine. This is the first piece that you hear in the video. You can read the poem here: https://poets.org/poem/inheritance-2

Everett Poetry Night

Featuring Christopher Luna

5-8pm Monday, June 19 and every Monday The Sister's Restaurant 2804 Grand Avenue Everett, WA 98201 Christopher Luna is a poet, editor, teacher, writing coach, and artist who served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Clark County, WA from 2013-2017. Luna has an MFA from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. He is the co-founder, with Toni Lumbrazo Luna, of Printed Matter Vancouver, an editing service and small press for Northwest writers. He and Morgan Paige co-host the LGBTQ+ friendly, all ages and uncensored Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in Vancouver, WA, founded by Christopher in 2004. Christopher Luna’s books include Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous (The Poetry Box, 2021 with Angelo Luna), Message from the Vessel in a Dream (Flowstone Press, 2018), Brutal Glints of Moonlight, and The Flame Is Ours: The Letters of Stan Brakhage and Michael McClure 1961-1978 (Big Bridge).

Read the EPN Story on the Everett Poetry Night website https://www.everettpoetrynight.com/.

Christopher Luna
Photgo by Toni Lumbrazo Luna

Toni Lumbrazo Luna reads from Wind Wing

Toni Lumbrazo Luna reads from Wind Wing

Gary

Christopher Luna reads from Voracity (Lightship Press, 2022)
Photo by Duane

The list of open mic readers

Robinson Bolkum reads altered greeting cards to the crowd

Peggy
Photo by Duane

Christopher reads from Message from the Vessel in a Dream (Flowstone Press, 2018)
Photo by Duane

Christopher Luna by Duane Kirby Jensen

Christopher Luna reads from Message from the Vessel in a Dream
Photo by Duane 

Christopher Luna reads from Voracity
Photo by Duane

Everett Poetry Night emcee Duane Kirby Jensen reads his poetry

I took seeing this on the car parked next to us when we arrived
as a good sign that I would have a good Juneteenth reading in Everett.

Everett Poetry Night host Duane Kirby Jensen with Featured Reader Christopher Luna

Christopher Luna with The Sisters Restaurant owner Archie after the reading

After the featured reading, Duane Kirby Jensen passed around the Bag of Giving. I am very grateful to all those who contributed to a modest stipend for this traveling poet.

I was also thrilled to receive one of my magical friend Robinson Bolkum's Poetry Dollars:

  

Voracity Book Launch at Birdhouse Books January 6, 2023 Featuring Christopher Luna with special guests Angelo Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna

 

Join us for First Friday with The Lunas (Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, and Angelo Luna) featuring the Vancouver book launch for Christopher Luna's Voracity (Lightship Press, 2022).

From Birdhouse Books: "It’s a family affair: Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, and Angelo Luna will be joining us for the return of our First Friday Poetry Series! 

Christopher Luna, co-host of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic and co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver, has just released his new poetry collection, VORACITY, from Lightship Press, and will be joined by his wife Toni Lumbrazo Luna, co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver and local poetry powerhouse, and his son Angelo Luna, who co-authored the father-son poetry collection EXCHANGING WISDOM."

Angelo Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, and Christopher Luna in Rochester, NY November 2019

Photo by Maria Vara

 7pm

Friday, January 6

Birdhouse Books

1001 Main Street Basement

Vancouver, WA 98660

Voracity, featuring poetry and collages by Christopher Luna, is now available from Lightship Press or the author: christopherjluna@gmail.com.

"Brutally honest confessional poetry, Christopher Luna's Voracity conjures a beatific earnestness which transcends pain and suffering through acts of lyrical, life-affirming grace and redemption." David Madgalene, author of Call Down the Angel

In this revealing poetry collection, Luna invites readers on a candid and intimate journey behind the mask of a public figure as he grapples with identity, body image, and the enormity of his hungers."

Driven By Hope by Toni Lumbrazo Luna

Printed Matter Vancouver, 2019

Driven By Hope is Toni Lumbrazo Luna’s third book of poetry. It contains glimpses into the lives of people she has met throughout her career as a Social Worker and Life/Career Coach. These poems are based on real life and Toni takes them to new places inside her imagination. Perhaps you will see yourself through her eyes. Order Driven By Hope here:

https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Hope-Toni.../dp/1070872970/

 

Exchanging Wisdom: A Guide for Parents of the Autonomous

The Poetry Box, 2021

Exchanging Wisdom features poems for and about Christopher’s son Angelo Luna, as well as a few pieces Angelo wrote for Christopher. The earliest poem was written when Angelo was three, and the most recent at age 21. Christopher endeavored to encourage his son to be an autonomous, freethinking individual. Angelo grew to become that and so much more. Taken as a whole, the poems in this collection track the development of Angelo’s personality and the strong bond between father and son.

 Christopher Luna is a true heir to the Beat and New York School traditions of candor and grandeur. This collaboration and celebration of life runs on impeccable timing and deep love. As Luna and his son Angelo exchange wisdom they also re-invent the meaning of open verse: these poems crack open the heart and spill the joy of parenthood into the world.

—Lisa Jarnot, author 

Robert Duncan, the Ambassador from Venus

One day you’re gonna have to…remind me how to believe in the basic goodness of all beings, Christopher Luna tells his son, Angelo, in his latest book, Exchanging Wisdom. More than a collection of father-son poems, Exchanging Wisdom is a record of gratitude. Luna knows that to be a parent is to be both teacher and pupil, vulnerable and responsible. In every poem Luna’s love beams: Like Lone Wolf and Cub we traversed…and you reminded me that magic is real…. These poems contemplate our never-ending wars, sickness, apathy, and art-making through the lens of a deeply reverent father. For some, being a parent, being the adult, is synonymous with having the answers. Luna, a Buddhist poet, community-organizer, and activist, reminds us that questioning is the only way to truth. What are you afraid to find? he wonders. Are these the right questions to ask? In these mind- and heart-opening poems Luna invites us to experience pure joy and wonder again through memory and thankfulness. Once you’ve opened those doors/ you need never do so again, asserts Luna. Once father you cannot go back to your former life. Thankfully for us, Luna never did.

 —Claudia F. Savage, author of Bruising Continent