Robert Lashley
You might not know this, but we have a nationally celebrated poet living here and he's got a new book out.
In Up South, his second book of poems, Lashley has gone deeper into the rituals, folklore, and ceremonies of Black Tacoma. This is a book about cities within cities, where the present has roots in decades of history, and the evidence of things unseen still guides people’s actions. In different forms, voices, and modes of rhetoric, Lashley paints complicated, moving pictures of environments, and people trying to survive in them.
Lashley is a semi finalist for the PEN/Rosenthal fellowship, 2016 Jact Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow and Stranger Genius Nominee. Robert Lashley has had poems published in such Journals as NAILED Magazine, Feminete, No Regrets , and Your Hands, Your Mouth . His work was also featured in Many Trails To The Summit , an anthology of Northwest form and lyric poetry. To quote James Baldwin, he wants to be an honest man and a good writer.