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RASP: Poetry Anthology: Here, There, and Everywhere

Celebrating literary arts and poetry in Redmond for more than 25 years

RASP was founded in 1997 to promote literary arts and activities in Redmond, Washington, and the surrounding area. We meet on the last Friday of each month from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Pacific time) for a featured presentation and an open-mic reading at the Mi Casa gallery of Centro Cultural Mexicano. RASP also holds a monthly writing critique group via Zoom on the second Tuesday of each month from 6:30 PM to 8:45 PM (Pacific time). All events are open to the public and usually free. Please join us!

While literature is one of our best avenues for dealing with difficult subjects, remember that our meetings are open to a diverse audience, including young people. We ask that your reading does not attempt to normalize discrimination or mistreatment of others.

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Here, There, and Everywhere

In August 2013, the Redmond Association of Spokenword published Here, There, and Everywhere, a collection of 120 poems by 70 poets who have participated in RASP's monthly reading series as featured or open-mic readers. The book's poems appear in three sections—here, there, and everywhere—that celebrate a full range of poetry from this active region of the Pacific Northwest. Editor Michael Dylan Welch has been curator for RASP readings since 2008.
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Contributors

The following poets have contributed poems to the RASP poetry anthology, Here, There, and Everywhere. Thank you to these poets for their contributions. Links to sample poems by selected poets will be added later.

How to Order

Copies of the RASP poetry anthology, Here, There, and Everywhere, are available at RASP's monthly readings. You can also order copies through Amazon ($15.00 each plus shipping). For contributors, a limited number of discounted copies are available (for more information, please contact Michael Dylan Welch ).

Acknowledgments

Many hands contributed to this anthology. Michael Dylan Welch first proposed the project, and the entire board of the Redmond Association of Spokenword refined the details of his proposal. This included setting a length limit of thirty lines, the practicality of which precluded longer work that would more accurately represent the range of our contributors. RASP president Michael Heavener initially publicized this project through the group's website and mailing list. He had extensive help from Laura Lee Bennett and Elizabeth Carroll Hayden who contacted key participants of the Redmond Association of Spokenword, past and present, including featured poets at our many monthly readings. Assistant editors Laura Lee and Liz then worked long hours to receive and compile the submissions. Except for a number of last-minute submissions, all poems were scored anonymously by a team of reviewers, using a scoring rubric developed chiefly by Laura Lee and Liz. Michael Dylan Welch also read all submissions anonymously and then made final selections after comparing his preferences with the average scores and comments of the review team. The team's scores frequently pushed selections in one direction or another, but all final selections were Michael's, who sought to be as inclusive as possible. Many thanks to the review team, which consisted of Rebecca Meredith, Allison Ohlinger, Heidi Stahl, and Vonnie Thompson (who did not score their own poems), and to RASP board members not already named: Pamela Denchfield, Bill Hayes, and Mike Meredith. And thanks again to Laura Lee and Liz for going above and beyond by tightening many of this book's nuts and bolts. They did a stellar job of pulling everything together from here, there, and everywhere. But above all, thank you to the ever-surprising and talented RASP community for offering its poems for consideration and for supporting this lively literary arts organization through thick and thin for sixteen years.