Kathleen Flenniken began her career as a civil engineer and didn’t discover poetry until her early 30s. Her collection, Plume (University of Washington Press, 2012), a meditation on the Hanford Nuclear Site and her home town of Richland, Washington, won the Washington State Book Award and was a finalist for the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards. Her first book, Famous (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry and was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association.
Her other honors include a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and Artist Trust. She was the 2012 – 2014 Washington State Poet Laureate.Kathleen teaches poetry in the schools through arts agencies like Writers in the Schools and Jack Straw, and Seattle University. For 13 years Flenniken was an editor at Floating Bridge Press, a nonprofit press dedicated to publishing Washington State poets. She currently serves on the board of Jack Straw, an audio arts studio and cultural center. Flenniken holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering.
2019 Writers Program (Curator)
Seattle World School 2012: Poetry Moments READ MORE >
Seattle World School: Holiday Moments 2014 READ MORE >
Meany Middle School: Favorite Places and Memories 2017 READ MORE >
Broadview-Thomson Audio Myths 2015 READ MORE >
Broadview-Thomson Audio Myths 2013 READ MORE >
Broadview-Thomson Audio Myths 2016 READ MORE >
Broadview-Thomson Audio Myths 2017 READ MORE >
TOPS K-8: Family Cultural Celebrations 2008 READ MORE >
The Jack Straw Writers Program is still going strong in its 28th year, and we are proud of the work our program alumni continue to produce. The Jack Straw Alumni Poetry Series is a chance to catch up with some of our poet alumni and celebrate their recent books. We are amazed – and yet […]
Categories: Writers Program
Putsata Reang: Resisting Erasure through Storytelling
Putsata Reang discusses the dangers of dwelling on differences and encourages audiences to share their personal stories as an antidote to erasure.
Tuesday, December 3, 7:00pm
7pm in person, on Facebook, or YouTube. Free.
Jack Straw Cultural Center
Shin Yu Pai: Ten Thousand Things: Artifacts of Asian American Life
In this talk enriched by audio clips, Pai shares intimate stories from Asian American communities drawn from two seasons of her chart-topping podcast.
Tuesday, December 17, 7:00pm
7pm in person, on Facebook, or YouTube. Free.
Jack Straw Cultural Center
An anthology and reading from Jack Straw Cultural Center and Raven Chronicles celebrating the first twenty years of the Jack Straw Writers Program, 1997-2016
