2014 - William Stafford

Lake Oswego Reads was proud to join Oregon Reads in the statewide celebration of William Stafford’s centennial! Poet William Stafford had a close tie to Lake Oswego, having lived here for many years, and throughout the month of February we celebrated that tie by exploring some of his many poems and highlighting other works by this prolific author. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen weather conflicts, five events had to be cancelled, but we still hosted eighteen events that brought together community members to commemorate our venerable former Poet Laureate. Some of these events included a screening of the award-winning documentary Every War Has Two Losers with filmmaker Haydn Reiss, meet and greets with two artists that have created illustrations for Stafford’s works, a sold-out celebration at the Newmark Theatre, a presentation by Stafford’s son Kim (including a dessert hosted by the Lake Oswego Women’s Club), and several wonderful poetry readings and discussions, including one with Louisiana Poet Laureate Ava Leavell Haymon. People also had the opportunity to visit the Library and view a beautiful collection of handmade quilts inspired by Stafford’s poems, as well as a selection of some of Stafford’s own photographs.