Carla Shafer’s project for the 2023 Jack Straw Writers Program is a collection of poems exploring the themes of family, the natural world of the Pacific Northwest, and social justice. In her interview with curator Priscilla Long, she talks about the relationship between political activism and art, the founding of Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater Open Mic in Bellingham, Washington, and the time she’s spent outdoors in the Pacific Northwest. “[My father] would say, ‘Carla, these are really good ideas, but I don’t think people are ready for them yet.’ So I interpreted that to mean it was okay for me to take a stand and to speak out. But then I had to find a way to do that. And poetry seemed like a really good way to do that.”

Music by Bryan Smith, produced through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.