Poets: Ande Finley & Kathleen Holliday, 5/22 @ 6 pm

How does poetry describe and shape the world? This decades-long collection, What I Almost Missed, from poet Ande Finley attempts to answer that question through sense-filled images and evocative language. Paying close attention to the natural world can yield precious guidance and map the most creative route moment by moment.  Details tend to stand out in high relief, providing depth, texture, and rhythm to poetic sensibility.  With a particular piece of island paradise to ponder, she is fortunate to have an endless source of inspiration and surprises.

I have been a writer all my life, mostly for my own gratification and a very small audience of family and selected friends. My teacher, Vedika Dietrich, once told me, “It’s none of your business what you write.”  This has been my guiding philosophy – to get out of my own way and allow the flow of creativity for which I am merely a conduit.  When I adhere to this principle, issues of ego tend to be minimal and writer’s block is virtually never a problem. Some of my work has appeared in Uncapped, Satsang, and Shark Reef and as a member of Lopez Poets Only, in their two chapbooks, How to Save the World and Refuge on the Rock. My first book, Simply Love, came out to familial acclaim. What I Almost Missed is my second collection.

Description for A Cage in Search of a Bird

In her third chapbook, Kathleen Holliday continues to explore themes of love, family and island life. Her poems are rich with imagery, irony, and word-play; some narrative, some brief, but with startling impact. The natural world appears, though in less usual circumstances, as well as eros. There are poems on family and death. The final poem is a gesture toward connection in these dark times. Several of these poems appeared first in literary journals. Running in the Dark was awarded first prize in Common Ground Review’s Poetry Prize 2022 and the title poem was long-listed in the Fish Publishing Prize 2022, judged by Billy Collins, former US poet laureate.

Kathleen Holliday has lived on Lopez Island since 2008. Her writing has appeared in several literary journals including The Bellingham Review, Cathexis Northwest Press, Common Ground Review, Poetry Super Highway, SHARK REEF, and The Write Launch. She is a graduate of Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN. Her chapbooks, Putting My Ash on the Line (2020), Boatman, Pass By (2023) and A Cage in Search of a Bird (2025) were published by Finishing Line Press.