Life In Writing…
Welcome to my writing site, full of stories, fresh poetry, and adventures. Have fun! Explore!
Photo: editing at the Lettered Streets Cafe
“We are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
~ Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy
Can a life change in an instant? Yes. In 2008, after a traumatic event, I began to invest time and energy in poetry. At first, I was only trying to get constructed emotion onto the page, find my feet, rediscover what it was like to be happy, dance with the muse, and breathe! I started writing and haven’t stopped. Writing helped. Well, it did more than help, it saved me; poetry saved me. From my first shaky reading at a Friday Harbor open mic, I was hooked! Poetry carried me over the Salish Sea into Bellingham. I am immensely thankful to meet and network with other creatives and talents around the Pacific Northwest and beyond!
(Above Photo: 2018 4th grade poetry presentation, Kendall Elementary)
Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat “Fortunes Favors the Bold.”
This website was launched in 2008 with one purpose, to build a platform to promote
my first poetry book, Madrona Grove. It was a bit of an experiment and a personal challenge in support of my mental well-being. Websites require content which is a pretty broad prompt for writing, I must say, but the content was indeed created. From 2012 to 2019 I released three poetry books and an audio album, promoting them all on shannonplawswriter. Over time as my life in writing has developed so has the site. I’ve promoted radio programs, poetry writing groups, poetry events, author book launches & interviews, posted first drafts, and flash fiction. So, in a nutshell, this website’s purpose is to sell my poetry books and introduce myself to whomever visits. My Fools Journey has taken me to interesting places, meeting fascinating, inspiring people along the way and honestly, I simply want to share it with you.
RECENT COMMUNITY PROJECTS
During the pandemic (2020-22) the monthly in-person poetry discussion group Poetry Club (est. 2015) began to meet on Zoom. We started recording the programs in the fall of 2020. The podcast “Poetry Club Talks…” was born.
For the post-pandemic year, I published “Corridor”. This simple staple-bound, ten-page found-art zine was left at local shops, bookstores, and libraries for folks to find as they gently returned to the outside world. The monthly limited edition zine ran from Poetry Month to Poetry Month, April 2022 – April 2023, took a break then picked up again in April 2024.
In January of 2025, support had increased for the zine. Support increased in the number of folks that deliver it, contributors increased to 52 artists and poets in total, and people began dropping off ink and paper at my door. The Corridor Collective has decided to print the zine throughout the 2025 year. In January 2026 we will reevaluate the situation and, heck, if it’s still fun to do and people support it, we will go another year. Teamwork makes the dream work!
In Spring 2025 a new poetry book is set to be released. More details will come later.
(two drawings below: L-Frank, poet/artist, drew me at Village Books Poetry Group, with the signature Frazee nose, while I am reading a draft of a horrendously abandoned poem, R-Bob’s drawing of me at Village Books Open Mic while reading “Christopher Titus Save Me”. That year Bob, children’s book writer/poet, was new to the B’ham poetry scene and “broke the ice” by quick-drawing every reading poet at events. Bob, consider the ice broken)
by Frank Frazee, 2013
by Erica Reed, a birthday gift
by Bob Zaslow, 2018
PAST PROJECTS
Radio has been a huge part of my life for the past eight years, and I’m incredibly grateful for the journey it has taken me on. Producing programs for the SPARK Museum, KZAX 94.9 Make.Shift Radio, and KPNW-DB Radio has been an honor, and each show I’ve created—Boosie’s Playhouse Classic Blues, The New Americana Hour, and Bellingham Art Beat—feels like one of my children. I’ve poured my heart into them, and I hope they’ve brought as much joy to listeners as they have to me.
If you’d like to explore my work, my archived programs are available under the RADIO drop-down menu, ready to play. If you do give them a listen, please consider leaving a “like” or letting me know you stopped by—it truly means the world to me. And if I ever interviewed you and you’re searching for that program, most of the episodes are still online. But if you can’t find it, just reach out—I have all the originals on hand.
GOING FORWARD – THANK YOU
As time moves forward, so does my work. I’m slowly transitioning my radio programs, podcasts, and new projects to my YouTube channel, Channel Chickadee (link here). It’s an exciting new chapter, and I’d love for you to join me there.
I also want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to the City of Bellingham for recognizing my work with two Mayor’s Arts Awards (2014, 2017) and to the Writer’s International Network of British Columbia for honoring me with the Community Champion Award for my involvement with World Peace Poets. These acknowledgments remind me of the power of creativity and community, and I am beyond thankful for the support that has surrounded me along the way.
Thank you for visiting, listening, and being part of this journey. Your support keeps the projects forming, the stories unfolding, and the poetry alive.
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Copyright ©Shannon P. Laws ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This blog contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.
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