Jump Start: A Northwest Renaissance Anthology

Compiled by Northwest Renaissance Poets

Poetry $14.00

Jump Start is a poetry anthology celebrating the Jump Start Workshops, held from 2000-2006 by Northwest Renaissance, a non-profit literary and performing arts organization with a thirty-year history. Notable contributors include Washington State Poet Laureate Samuel Green, Kevin Miller, Pesha Joyce Gertler, Allen Braden, Alice Derry, and Peter Pereira (among many others).

Praise For Jump Start: A Northwest Renaissance Anthology

"What I like most about this little anthology is the generosity of spirit behind it. In a time when too many poets approach 'the poetry biz' as a competitive arena, it's refreshing to see a project founded on the presumption that we can learn from one another."
"The range of poets is remarkable, demonstrating full the organizers' commitment to diverse approaches. It's a collection worth celebrating"
—Samuel Green, first Poet Laureate of the State of Washington

History of the Jump Start Workshops

The Jump Start Your Writing series began with a conversation between Lonny Kaneko and Susan Landgraf. Both teach at Highline Community College and are board members of The Northwest Renaissance, a non-profit literary and performing arts organization with a thirty-year history. They proposed a partnership with the college through the Center of Extended Learning to offer poetry workshops lead by a different poet or artist each month.

The series began with poet Muriel Nelson in October 2000 and finished with poet Susan Landgraf in May 2006. Workshops for community writers, as well as Highline students, staff, and faculty, were held once a month in October and November, and January through May. Each featured a lecture or presentation, sometimes with video and audio, and writing in response to exercises.
Participants were encouraged to share their work (most enthusiastically did so), and some wonderful pieces came out of those workshops. Some highlights were postcard poems taught by Washington State's first Poet Laureate Sam Green, cut-and-paste visual poetry introduced by Arlene Naganawa, chapbooks presented by Ann Spiers, and comics poetry taught by Craig McKenney.

The series was organized by Susan Landgraf, and she and Sharon Hashimoto hosted the seven years of workshops.

The Northwest Renaissance Board

• Pat Curran
• Tom C. Hunley
• Lonny Kaneko
• Susan Langraf
• Muriel Nelson
• Marjorie Rommel
• Donna Frisk (until her death in 2003)