FisherPoets to bring poetry, song and stories to Pacific City and other Oregon Coast ports

The Oregon Coast’s commercial fishing community will soon enjoy a unique opportunity to join fisher- poets from Astoria’s annual FisherPoets Gathering plus local storytellers, poets and musicians at events in several ports up and down the coast.

With a stop right here in Pacific City, as well as other coastal locales, the FisherPoets Oregon Coast Tour, Oct. 23-27, seeks to celebrate Oregon’s vibrant coastal communities and encourage its creative voices. The Pacific City event, hosted by the Pacific City Dorymen’s Association, will be held Monday, Oct. 26, 7-9 p.m., at Kiawanda Community Center, 34600 Cape Kiwanda Drive.

West coast fisherman Rob Seitz, veteran deckhand Chelle Meyers, salmon troller Duncan Berry and other regular performers from the FisherPoets Gathering will join local talent for performances and panels organized variously by Port Orford Fishwives in Port Orford, Charleston Fishing Families in Coos Bay, Newport Fishermen’s Wives in Newport, Pacific City Dorymen’s Association in Pacific City, and FishHer Community Alliance in Garibaldi.

Amanda Gladics, of Oregon Sea Grant and an organizer of both the FisherPoets Gathering and the Oregon Coast Tour, looks forward to making more of the personal connections that knit coastal fishing communities together. A longer-term goal of this month’s tour is to recruit more coastal voices to participate in the FisherPoets Gathering. “The start of that,” she explains, “is making connections with kindred spirits on the coast who reflect and write about the work they are doing on the water, delivering or cutting fish, or making sure the books and the family are all set back on shore.”

Additional nearby stops include Garibaldi on Monday, Oct. 26, 1-2:30 p.m., held at Tillamook Bay Seafoods; and Lincoln City on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6 p.m., Pelican Brewing/Siletz Bay.

The Garibaldi event will be hosted by FishHer Columbia Pacific Community Alliance & Tillamook Bay Seafoods. At this event, Garibaldi’s commercial fleet is invited to meet the touring fisherpoets and swap stories; light refreshments provided.

The Lincoln City presentation will feature the world premiere of a film on the Biosphere Foundation’s 50th anniversary, fisherpoetry readings, and a custom “Biosphere” brew developed by Pelican.

Events further down the coast will be: Port Orford (Friday, Oct. 23, 5-6:15 p.m., Mr. Ed’s Underground Pub, hosted by Port Orford Fishwives); and  Coos Bay (Saturday, Oct. 24, 7-9 p.m., 7 Devils Brewery, hosted by Charleston Fishing Families).

With the exception of the ticketed Newport stop, all tour events are free and open to the public. Presented as “Saltwater Stories featuring FisherPoets;”admission to the Newport event starts at $15. It is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 25, 2–5 p.m., Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, 333 SE Bay Blvd. This event will benefit Newport Fishermen’s Wives and the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center. Tickets can be purchased by visiting https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-the-trawl-featuring-fisher-poets.

In 2027, The FisherPoets Gathering celebrates its 30th season, which will run Feb. 26-28 in Astoria. For more information visit fisherpoets.org.