Publish the Quest plays at iconic venue

Publish The Quest, a beloved island band that plays a danceable mix of blues, ska, rock and world pop, will have its first show at Sporty’s on Vashon at 9 p.m. Friday, May 24. The band was born on Vashon, but has now made a global name for itself, with a long list of collaborations in concert and on recordings with such stars as Femi Kuti, Nneka Lucia Egbuna, Eyvind Kang, Radioactive, Oliver Mtukudzi and Vieux Farka Touré. Islander and PTQ frontman Jacob Bain also founded Vashon’s reggae band Trolls Cottage. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. This show is for audiences 21 and older. Advance tickets are $12 and can be purchased at vashonevents.org/support-us/ptq2019. All tickets at the door (if any are left) cost $15.

Find cool deals, eats, music at flea market

Punk Rock Flea Market and The Lodges on Vashon will host Fire Sale! from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 25, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at The Lodges on Vashon. Fire Sale will include two days of craft, vintage and collectibles dealers, live music, DJs, a beer garden with local brews, barbecue with island-grown meats and veggies, and an after-hours barter fair. Entry, for all ages, is free with a suggested donation of $1 or more to benefit low-income housing. Artists and groups performing live throughout the event will be Full Nettle Jacket, Flesh Produce, The Shivering Denizens and OG Mambo Fresh. When bands aren’t playing, deejays will spin music to keep the beat going.

Calling all island actors

Civic Rep, an island theater company, will hold an open call audition from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 25, at Open Space for Arts & Community. Prepare two contrasting monologues totaling no more than four minutes, and contact Lzanejones6@gmail.com to arrange an audition time. Callbacks for Civic Rep’s next show, “Top Girls,” by Caryl Churchill, will be held on Saturday, June 1.

Speaker series at the Havurah

A speaker series at the Vashon Havurah will continue at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, with “Building a Trauma Aware Community,” a talk by psychologist and mental health counselor Dan Cummings. The talk will address a workable definition of trauma, what being “trauma-aware” means and how Vashon can begin to build such a community. The Havurah is located at 15401 Westside Hwy. All are welcome, as are voluntary modest donations.

Acclaimed poets perform a reading

Poets Tess Gallagher and Alice Derry will have a reading at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Vashon Bookshop. Gallagher will read from her new collection “Is, Is Not.” She has published numerous collections of poetry, including “Instructions for a Double,” “Willingly” and “Moon Crossing Bridge.” Poet Stanley Kunitz has described Gallagher as “outstanding among her contemporaries in the naturalness of her inflection, the fine excess of her spirit, and the energy of her dramatic imagination.” She has won numerous awards for her work, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and a Maxine Cushing Gray Foundation Award. She lives in Port Angeles and in County Sligo, Ireland.

Derry’s most recent book, “Hunger,” is a five-part response, with a feminist edge, to hungers of all kinds. Social justice has always been a part of Derry’s writing. Other titles include “Strangers to Their Courage,” a finalist for the Washington Book Award in 2002, and “Tremolo,” published in 2012. Derry was born in Oregon and raised in Washington and Montana. For more than 25 years, she co-directed the Foothills Writers Series, hosting about 15 readings a year.

Dancers will wow at VCA

Vashon Center for Dance will present a double bill, “Divertissements” and “Hook & Pan,” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, and 1 p.m. Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2, at Vashon Center for the Arts. “Divertissements” will include a collection of traditional and reinvented variations from productions, including “Swan Lake” and “Paquita.” Part two of the bill, “Hook & Pan,” is the dance center’s 2019 all-school production. With an original mix of ballet, hip-hop, tap, jazz, modern and even disco dance styles, the production reinvents the story of “Peter Pan.” Advance tickets, $12 to $16, are on sale now at vashoncenterforthearts.org. All tickets at the door cost $16.

Peter Mulvey does a show, with Kat Eggleston opening

Songwriter and raconteur Peter Mulvey will perform a concert, with local songstress Kat Eggleston opening the show, at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at Vashon Center for the Arts. The show, presented in partnership with islander Debra Heesch, will gift island audiences with a live look at Mulvey’s music, which blends poetry, social commentary and more. He has opened for the likes of Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris and Chuck Prophet, appeared on NPR and hosted his own boutique festival, the Lamplighter Sessions. Advance tickets, $15 to $25, are on sale now at vashoncenterforthearts.org. All tickets at the door cost $25.

Jay Thomas Quartet performs

Vashon Center for the Arts’ Spring Jazz Series will have its finale at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 6, with a performance by the Jay Thomas Quartet. Thomas, a native of Seattle who grew up in the fertile jazz scene of the 1960s, is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who plays trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophones and flutes. Individual advance tickets to the show cost $10 to $22, and can be purchased at vashoncenterforthearts.org. All tickets at the door cost $26.

Award-winning spoken word performer comes to Vashon

Nikkita Oliver, a Seattle-based creative, teaching artist, mentor, organizer and mayoral candidate, will speak and perform twice on Vashon on Friday, June 7. First up, at 1 p.m., will be a teaching session at Vashon Center for the Arts, for middle-schoolers from The Harbor School and McMurray Middle School. Oliver’s second performance will take place at 6 p.m. at the Presbyterian church when she presents “Pebbles in my Shoes,” based on her book of the same name. The 1 p.m. performance is free. Admission for the evening show is $15 for adults, $5 for youth, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Get advance tickets at nikkitaoliver.brownpapertickets.com.