Featured Events in Bellingham in February, 2025(December Updated)

If Nothingis an honest reckoning with the grip of addiction, the expectations of masculinity, and the tug of family. When mid-life collides with the precariousness of alcoholism, the vulnerability of opening oneself to a second coming-of-age becomes an ecstatic cry in poems that confront pain and the need for forgiveness. An unvarnished and direct accounting of the journey to sobriety, of struggles with mental health, and with the challenges of longing and loss, If Nothing traverses the sting of shame, the earnestness of joy, and the desire for absolution. Kavah Akbar, author of Martyr! and Calling a Wolf a Wolf, says: Matthew Nienow shows us in If Nothing that he is a poet of birth, of making and making anew... This is powerful medicine, salve for earnest souls in an era of ethical infantilization. There is grace here, real grace made wise by having known real grief; If Nothing is a lasting book. Matthew Nienow's debut collection, House of Water, was published by Alice James Books in 2016. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in such venues as 32 Poems, Georgia Review, New England Review, and Poetry. A former Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellow, he has also received fellowships and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Elizabeth George Foundation, Artist Trust, and 4Culture. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington with his wife and two sons where he is pursuing a degree in Mental Health Counseling. Cori A. Winrock is a poet and multimedia essayist. Her second collection, Little Envelope of Earth Conditions (2020), was awarded Editor's Choice for the Alice James Books Prize. Her book-length essay, Alterations, was recently published by Transit Books. She is the winner of the Boston Review Poetry Prize and her essay on twins was selected as a notable essay in Best American Essays. Her work has appeared in POETRY, the Best New Poets anthology, Bennington Review, Black Warrior Review, West Branch, Fairy Tale Review and elsewhere. Winrock holds an MFA from Cornell University and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from University of Utah. She is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Poetry at Western Washington University. Information Source: Village Books | eventbrite

Join Village Books in welcoming local author, technical communications consultant, and travel writer Cheryl Landes for her new memoir, The Best I Can Do! Author Cheryl Landes' husband, Tom, struggled with an undiagnosed mental health condition during the last 20 years of his life. The Best I Can Do is a raw, compelling account of the challenges Cheryl and Tom faced with mental illness and homelessness, and Cheryl's journey to recovery as a caregiver. Cheryl Landes is a technical communications consultant, travel writer, and author of six books. Her new memoir, The Best I Can Do, received the Gold Book Award for Nonfiction from Literary Titan and the Silver Book Award for Nonfiction from the Nonfiction Authors Association. She has published essays in The Columbian newspaper and HuffPost. Cheryl lives in Vancouver, WA, where she enjoys hiking, photography, listening to music, reading, and hanging out with cats (with their permission, of course). Twitter/X - @landesc BlueSky - @clandes.bsky.social Instagram – @cheryllandes LinkedIn -linkedin.com/in/clandes Information Source: Village Books | eventbrite

Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail. In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied Hippie Trail from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world. This book contains edited selections from Rick's journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey changed his life. Stow away with Rick Steves on the adventure of a lifetime through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about four months a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves' Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy, daughter Jackie, and his grandson...baby Atlas. Find out more about Rick at www.ricksteves.com and on Facebook. Connect with Rick: facebook.com/RickSteves twitter: @RickSteves instagram: ricksteveseurope Information Source: Village Books | eventbrite