Chris Cottrell

Chris Cottrell was born in Portland, Oregon but grew up on Maui. His fiction, reviews and poetry have appeared in The Scene, Alchemy, Willamette Week, Portland Review (which he now edits), Clackamas Literary Review, Nervy Girl! and Alembic (formerly Mercury). Cottrell has been awarded the 2009 Shelley Reece award and the PSU/Literary Arts Writers in the Schools Residency and Internship for 2009-2010. His is the first poetry MFA awarded from Portland State University.

Nicholas Karavatos lives near Dubai, teaching literature and writing at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He’s been an Assistant Professor there since 2006. He taught general studies at a small private college in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman from 2001 to 2006.

Nicholas Karavatos

Nicholas recently published his first book: No Asylum (Arcata: Amendment Nine, 2009). David Meltzer writes on the back cover: “Nicholas Karavatos is a poet of great range and clarity. This book is an amazing collectanea of smart sharp political poetry in tandem with astute and tender love lyrics. All of it voiced with an impressive singularity.”

Here is an audio recording of Nicholas’ inter-media spoken word performance at his December 2009 book launch.

Carolyn Brazda

Carolyn Brazda was the finalist for the 2008 and 2009 Academy of American Poets Award. She lives and writes in Portland, OR.

7 p.m., Three Friends Coffee House,
SE 12th and Ash, Portland, Oregon