Three poets read at Books by the Way

t Bradfield, Hill and Dream bring their NW tour to Vashon.

t Bradfield, Hill and Dream bring their NW tour to Vashon.

Poets Elizabeth Bradfield, Sean Hill and Jasmine Dream will read from their latest books of poetry at Books by the Way at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 7.

Bradfield spent her childhood summers on Vashon, visiting relatives and exploring the Island’s beaches and woodlands, so it comes as no small surprise that her poems delve into the natural world, where it intersects with family and intimate relationships.

With poems published in The Atlantic Monthly and Poetry and with several Pushcart awards, Bradfield is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Praise for her book “Interpretive Works” includes Bookslut critic Jennifer Garfield’s comment, “Bradfield is much more than a naturalist with a pen. Her poetry crosses and redefines the boundaries, illuminating the silent, isolating misconceptions of the human narrative.”

In “Blood Ties & Brown Liquor,” Sean Hill transforms his hometown of Milledgeville, Ga., into a poetic portrait of the town’s black community. Using a multiplicity of forms and vernacular, Hill’s work is often compared with the first books of Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Elizabeth Bishop.

Jasmine Dream’s poems appear in Seattle Review, among other publications. Dream performs in the experimental folk collective Cabinet of Natural Curiosities and has a chapbook coming out this spring.

For more information, call Books by the Way at 463-2696.