Emilie Lygren

We first met Emilie Lygren (@emlygren ) after she enrolled in an Introduction to Letterpress class, then we hosted her for an evening poetry reading at the printshop, and now we are lucky to have her on the path to Studio Printer membership! Be warned: step through NBLA’s doors once and you may find yourself never wanting to leave… Head in to the printshop to peruse & purchase Emilie’s published books and see her recent poetry broadside completed during training, and save the date for a March 25th poetry reading at Green Apple Books (9th Avenue, SF location - 7pm) with Deema Shahabi!

One week from today! We are excited to welcome poets Emilie Lygren and Deema K. Shehabi to celebrate their latest collections ONCE I WAS A STONE and WATER TO WATER: GAZA RENGA (co-authored by Marilyn Hacker). Join us here in-person at 9th Ave in the Inner Sunset. Free to attend, please RSVP. Swipe to see details, or go to the link in our bio or greenapplebooks.com/events. See you then for a splendid evening. ⚪️About Once I Was a Stone⚪️ Once I was a stone is an intimate portrait of gender nonconformity rooted in the context of childhood and the natural world. With an honest and hopeful tone, Emilie Lygren grapples with the complexities of selfhood, power, and loss, offering insight on our intricate relationship with Earth’s ecosystems. 🔵About Water to Water: Gaza Renga🔵 In 2009, prompted by the Israeli siege of Gaza, poets Marilyn Hacker and Deema Shehabi started a correspondence. It took the form of responding to each other’s poems. They resumed their poetic dialogue by email after Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. Their project involved an alternate call and response between them in the tradition of the Japanese renga form, each poet picking up a word, phrase, or image from the poem preceding. The result is a fascinating poetic conversation. [image descriptions in comments]

Very excited to read poems with Deema Shehabi at Green Apple Books in March! SF friends, I’d love to see you there. 7pm on Wednesday, March 25th 1231 9th Avenue @deemashehabi @greenapplebooksonthepark greenapplebooksonthepark @greenapplebooks

Take time in community to write and create as the depths of winter draw closer. Join me for a one-night virtual writing workshop on Tuesday, January 7th. We will engage in reflective conversations and writing prompts to spark our creativity. We’ll also set intentions for how we want to engage with our writing in the coming months. Tending the Hearth: Winter Poetry Writing Workshop with Emilie Lygren Wednesday, January 7th, 5:30-7:30pm Zoom Fees for the workshop are on a sliding scale, $60-85 for each participant, sliding scale. The class will be limited to 16 participants. Check it out in the link in my bio, or DM me and I’ll send you the registration link! #naturepoetry #solsticeritual #poetry #poetrywriting

Reading at North Bay Letterpress Arts in Sebastopol with Danusha Laméris Thursday, December 4th, 6-8pm In December I’ll be reading with wonderful poet (and wonderful human) Danusha Laméris at North Bay Letterpress Arts in Sebastopol! Join us for an evening of poetry and conversation. We’d love to see you there! And bring a journal or paper and a pencil or pen. We may invite the audience to do some writing of their own. @dlameris @nblaorg #poetsofig #naturepoetry #lgbtqpoetry #writinginspiration

Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back poet Emilie Lygren of California with "Book of Records," a poem exploring the relentless competitive drive our culture instills in children. Remembering elementary school and the way her classmates made up records for all sorts of things, Emilie wishes we told children there is more to life than being the best, first, or most.  "...you are the first at anything you try/ and also the last, and every moment you remember this/ tastes a little sweeter and more precarious,/ like the sun dancing off your shoelaces/ the first time you knotted them all by yourself." Emilie's deep honesty and willingness to see what lies beneath our culture's preoccupation with performance is mind-blowing. How would our culture be different if we were present and engaged in learning and living rather than trying to meet some benchmark? How much time do we waste dreaming about things that don't matter and that don't recognize our individuality?  We continue to sacrifice our joy and individuality to meet expectations. In "Book of Records," Emilie returns us to the wonder of being alive. The poem is shaped by repetition, beginning with anxious, compressed phrases which broaden as it affirms a deeper, individuated sense of self.  Read "Book of Records" in Synkroniciti’s “Dreams” issue, available for purchase here: /the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. Emilie Lygren is a poet and outdoor educator who is deeply curious about spiderwebs, people, and moving water. In her teaching and writing, Emilie focuses on the intersections between scientific observations and poetic wonder. She also loves cooking, walking, napping in hammocks, and talking to strangers. If you ever meet Emilie, she would love to hear a story about a special tree you've met at some point in your life. In return, she will tell you about a sycamore. Emilie is the author of two collections of poetry: What We Were Born For (Blue Light Press, 2021) and Once I was a stone (Wayfarer Books, 2025).

One week from today! Tuesday, November 4th, 7pm Poetry with The Hive at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Due to a family medical event, Stephen Kuusisto is unable to attend. I’ll miss hearing his work but am looking forward to reading with William Bard Butler, the Poet Laureate of Los Gatos.

Chrysalis from Emilie Lygren’s new collection Once I Was A Stone.#poetry

Updated mini book tour announcement with more events (plus a corrected date for reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Reading at East Village Café in Monterey, CA with Marie Boucher October 23rd, 5:30pm–– this Thursday! Reading at the Local Economy in Oakland with Deema Shehabi and Marylin Hacker Sunday November 2nd, 3pm Reading with The Hive Live! at Bookshop Santa Cruz with Steve Kuusisto Tuesday, November 4th, 5:30pm (date correction from last month’s newsletter) Crosscurrents: An Evening of Poetry and Song 7:30pm, The Lost Church, San Francisco music by Victoria Sol & April Nicole; poetry by Clio, ollie mills, and Emilie Lygren Reading at North Bay Letterpress Arts in Sebastopol with Danusha Laméris Thursday, December 4th, 6-8pm #poetrycommunity #californiapoet #naturepoetry #lgbtqpoetry

***An invitation: join me on Patreon*** I love writing poetry, making things, and sharing them with others. And I tend to show up more creatively when I know someone is listening. In today’s publishing sphere, it can take a very long time before a poem I write makes its way into the world in a formal way. Getting a poem published in a literary journal usually takes months. Publishing a book takes years. Of course, I could share poems immediately on social media, but being on those networks has felt increasingly bad for my mental health. And, there’s a lot of pressure these days on artists to be “content creators” on social media, posting constantly. This doesn’t motivate me to make art. I’ve been thinking for a while about starting a Patreon page, and last week I decided to go for it! Patreon is a web platform that allows creators to crowd-source financial support for their work through monthly subscriptions. Patreon has been a huge boon to many artists, and to their subscribers. Subscriptions can be as low as $3, or as high as a subscriber feels like offering. The financial support will be helpful and welcome to sustain my work as a writer. I want to make stuff– poems, art, books, writing prompts and invitations– and I want to share it with people who want to listen. It feels exciting to me to have a circle of supporters on Patreon with whom I can share works-in-progress, just-born poems, random musings, and reflections. This is an opportunity to be on the journey with me, seeing my creations as they happen. Of course, I’ll continue to share occasionally here, and monthly-ish updates about events, poems, and reflections on my newsletter, which will always be free. Learn more at the link in my bio. 💚 #poetrycommunity #naturepoetry #poetlife #writersofinstagram

My mini book tour is coming up! Join me at one of these events in Monterey, Oakland, and Santa Cruz. I’m looking forward to reading with all of these outstanding poets and connecting with all of you! Reading at East Village Café in Monterey, CA with Marie Boucher, hosted by the International Poetry Gathering of Monterey October 23rd, 5:30pm Reading at the Local Economy in Oakland with Deema Shehabi and Marilyn Hacker Sunday November 2nd, 3pm Reading with Steve Kuusisto at the Hive Live! at Bookshop Santa Cruz Tuesday, November 11th, 5:30pm #poet #poetrycommunity #lgbtqpoetry #booktour

Once I was a stone is out today! I’m excited for the poems to move out into the world and have their own lives. I’d be honored if you gave it a read. Announcements about events and readings to come!