Call it a well-versed road trip
The independent Seattle-based press, Wave Books, is launching a mythical 50-cities-in-50-days Poetry Bus Tour beginning Monday in its hometown.
On Tuesday, a dozen poets will arrive in Spokane onboard their customized MCI 40-foot touring coach when it rolls into town for two events. (See Factbox, Page E4)
“It’s the biggest literary event of 2006,” said Monica Fambrough of Wave Books, “and certainly the most ambitious poetry tour event attempted.”
The folks at Wave Books hope to take poetry to new audiences and expand the idea of what poetry means and where it belongs.
“We are trying to establish an environment where we can do our work and be appreciated and read,” poet Matthew Zapruder saud by telephone from the Wave Books office in Seattle. “The best way to do that is to go places and read our work and show people what we do.”
More than 200 poets, along with musicians, filmmakers and journalists, are expected to participate in events as the bus traverses North America.
In Spokane, poets Tod Marshall and Melanie Noel will be among those reading at 7:30 p.m. in Auntie’s Bookstore.
“It’s a fun idea to have all these poets involved,” said Lois Hughes, events coordinator for Auntie’s Bookstore.
After the Poetry Bus leaves Auntie’s and Spokane, it heads east to Missoula, then south to Boise and off to Salt Lake City.
By the time the tour concludes back in Seattle on Oct. 27, it will have circled much of the nation and slipped over the border into Canada for three gigs.
There are stops planned in major urban areas such as Chicago, Boston, New York City and Los Angeles, along with smaller venues including Asheville, N.C.; Marfa, Texas; and Roden Crater, Ariz.
A number of different poets are scheduled to clamber onto the bus for various legs of the tour. Only three will do the complete tour: Zapruder, poet and Wave Book editor Joshua Beckman, and tour manager Travis Nichols, who will be blogging along the way.
The rig
To successfully navigate more than 12,000 miles in 50 days, Wave Books chartered a special coach from Green Tortoise Adventure Travel out of San Francisco.
“They requested a bus that can burn biodiesel,” said Lyle Kent of Green Tortoise, when reached at the bus barn in San Francisco. “How much they burn will depend on where they can find it.”
“The biodiesel option is very important to us,” said Zapruder. “We are going through some rigmarole to find out where all the biodiesel places are along the way. But we’ll figure it out.”
The interior of the bus features a series of bunks that suspend from the ceiling and booths and couches that easily convert into beds for up to 38 drowsy poets.
Because of the “sleeping coach” design, the rig can keep rolling at night, allowing the tour to cover great distances.
“It is an interesting bus with the tables and couches,” said Zapruder. “We wanted an environment where we could interact with each other on the trip and not just see the back of everyone’s heads.”
The bus, he said, is not just something to transport people from one place to next.
“It is a lot about what creative activities will happen on the bus between stops,” said the poet.
Information
“ Follow the Poetry Bus Tour online at www.poetrybus.com.
“ Find out more about Wave Books, by going to www.wavepoetry.com; or write 1938 Fairview Ave. E, Seattle, WA 98102; (206) 676-5337.
“ Contact Auntie’s Bookstore at 402 W. Main Ave., (509) 838-0206; www.auntiesbooks.com.
“ For a look at the Green Tortoise Adventure Travel schedule of tours jump online at www.greentortoise.com; or write to 494 Broadway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133; call (800) 867-8647.
Trailer Park Girls ‘Pig Out’
The closing act on Monday at 6:30 p.m. on the City Hall Stage at Pig Out in the Park will be the Trailer Park Girls. The band, lead by guitarist (and Spokesman-Review columnist) Doug Clark, performs 50’s rock sounds, along with original songs that make light of Spokane’s foibles, troubles and personalities.