Kathryn Humes
Poet ~ Essayist ~ Photographer
Welcome
My purpose is to inspire and connect with people who engage with art, stories and music as part of a meaningful life. Whenever possible, magnify grace!
I aim to keep developing in craft by capturing angles with my camera, assembling essays, and experimenting with poetic forms. Being part of a community is essential to the continuity of my creative work. I’ve been graced to step into and be shaped by some incredible circles of community, including: American Sign Language interpreters, local and regional Deaf and DeafBlind communities, fellow Rainier Writing Workshop writers, and a writing circle that generates and listens to each other’s work. As Stafford said, “You don’t ever let go of the thread.”
Monkey Puzzle Tree… an excerpt
“Locked in the dance.” Is that a phrase people use to describe taking care of a family member, or did I just make it up? It seems to accurately reflect the sense of not being able to step out of the role; if you do, the music plays on, the other person waltzes, then falters while you decide your next move. As the partners swing around the room, the dance is an art—a swing here, a side step there, an effort to stay connected. Dancing with one’s mother is an art of constant decisions, set to a continually changing beat.
About
Kathryn Humes writes poems and essays and has a draft of a memoir called Monkey Puzzle Tree. She received her Master’s in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University, where she was fortunate to study with Judith Kitchen, Stephen Kuusisto, Peggy Shumaker and Lia Purpura.
Her poems have appeared at the Bellingham Public Library, on city buses and at The Children’s Inn of the National Institutes of Health. Humes is a grateful recipient of writing residencies awarded by Centrum, Vermont Studio Center, and the Whitely Center.
Humes has worked with a dream-team of educators for over a decade, writing grants, producing videos and coordinating statewide services to increase access for kids who are differently abled, differently labeled, and always kids first.
Published Writing & Awards
“The Well-Being of the World” (pg 108), The Madrona Project Volume II Number 1, Keep a Green Bough: Voices from the Heart of Cascadia, Edited by Holly J. Hughes
“Spin“, Sue C. Boynton Poetry Prize, 2009.
When in Crisis, We Don’t Remodel, The Vital Signs Poetry Project of the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 1998. Edited by Davi Walders, NIH Clinical Center, April 2002.
Rest Stop at Indian Hill: Flight Path Writer’s Competition, Highline Community College, 1998.
Tulipomania, an experimental theatre production, staged at Seattle Mime Theater, July 1983. Written and directed by Joellyn Rock with poems by Kathryn Humes.
The Way It Is
William Stafford
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.