Birdhouse Books and Christopher Luna welcome poets Willa Schneberg and Brian Rohr for November’s First Friday Poetry Night!
First Friday Poetry Night! is a poetry series featuring an ever changing slate of talented local poets hosted by Birdhouse Books and Christopher Luna. Catch us each First Friday at 7pm in the heart of VDA’s Art Walk. Drop by early to browse the books, soak in the art, and pick up some delicious treats upstairs at Short & Sweet before the show.
Willa Schneberg is a poet, ceramic sculptor, and curator. The Naked Room, her sixth poetry collection, is a true synthesis of her life as a psychotherapist, and her life as a poet. Among her honors are the Oregon Book Award in Poetry, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award, Second Place in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, Kathmandu, Nepal and Glasgow, Scotland, and poems on the Writer’s Almanac. Her poetry has been translated into Hebrew, Arabic, Nepali and Korean. Willa was chosen by the Oregon Poet Laureate Selection Committee to be the 2022 Oregon Poet Laureate. However, because of Covid’s persistence a late decision was made to give the then Poet Laureate a second two-year term. In 2024, she presented at the Skagit River Poetry Festival in La Conner, WA. willaschneberg.org
Brian Rohr is a poet and performative storyteller residing in the Pacific Northwest. His work has been featured in the Jewish Literary Journal, The Word Faire, Blink Ink, and his essay, “On Being a Story-Carrier’’ was published in the two-volume book set about Jewish Storytelling, P’ri Etz Yitzhak, Fruit of Yitzhak’s Tree. He is the founder and director of “The Stafford Challenge,” an international poetry project inspiring over one thousand participants to write a poem every day for a year, influenced by the legendary poet William Stafford. As a storyteller and performative poet, Rohr has taught and performed at major conferences, high schools, universities, synagogues, libraries, and solo concerts. His debut book, Shaken to my Bones: A Poetic Midrash on the Torah, was published by Ben Yehuda Press as part of their Jewish Poetry Project series. He is a proud father and husband and loves green and herbal teas. https://brianrohr.com
Visit the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education on October 30 for Oregon Jewish Voices, an annual event organized by Willa Schenberg that features readings by prominent Oregon Jewish poets and writers. This year, the annual series celebrates a quarter-century of showcasing Oregon Jewish Writers! To purchase tickets, please visit: