Sweet deal for Poetry Festival volunteers

A million details make the Skagit River Poetry Festival happen – and they are all coming together.

Before the Festival takes place in La Conner Oct. 6-9, there are 34 poets to match to housing, pick up at the airport shuttle and feed. There are half a dozen school buses to arrange so Skagit and Whatcom County high school students can attend for free on Friday, October 7. Not to mention 220 chairs to distribute to Festival venues for a four-day whirlwind of setting up, taking down, setting up and taking down again.

This is the Poetry Festival number 11. For each of the previous ten, "my goal has been to be able to turn on the switch the first day and have everything run smoothly," said Molly McNulty, executive director of the Skagit River Poetry Foundation, "but something always throws in a monkey wrench."

So far, there's not a monkey wrench to be seen. McNulty says all poets have someone to greet them at the shuttle and housing is largely lined up, thanks to residents like Maureen Harlan, former principal, counselor and teacher at La Conner High School.

Harlan loves housing poets for the Festival and SRPF's Poets in the Schools program. This year she and her husband Mit are opening their home to Illinois poet Austin Smith.

"I saw him on C-SPAN a couple of years ago and was totally charmed," she said. "I told Molly that if she could get Austin Smith out here I'd pay for his flight. Now he's coming and I'm really looking forward to meeting him."

While many volunteers have been recruited, Festival volunteer coordinator Britta Eschete still needs folks to do what McNulty calls "the dirty jobs." That includes setting up and taking down venues and helping serve and clean up after the Thursday night meal. People are needed to sell merchandise and tickets in Maple Hall and host venues where individual poets read and discuss their work.

Volunteers will be paid in poetry. Anyone who volunteers for 12 hours over the four days has free access to all Festival events except the Thursday night soiree.

For those with less time to commit, a half day of volunteering can be exchanged for free admission to the rest of the day's program.

McNulty says there is lots of excitement around the festival, along with some unknown variables. This is the first time the Festival has taken place in the fall, although Skagit county school superintendents prefer October over May. It is also the first full year of in-person schooling since the pandemic.

Slowly, schools are signing on and people are purchasing tickets.

"All the big cities have poetry festivals, but we are unique in that we bring nationally renowned poets to ours," said McNulty. "So we always say that ours is the best."

Whether they buy a ticket or sign up to volunteer, La Conner Weekly News readers can put SPRF's claim to the test in a little over two weeks.