Gallery Programs

Poetry Book Launch

This Tender Geography by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez

The book launch of Cindy Williams Gutiérrez’s third poetry collection, This Tender Geography (FlowerSong Press), will be held on Wednesday, May 7th at 5:30 pm at The Confluence in Twisp. Cindy’s reading will be accompanied by classical guitarist Ben Wheeler and upright jazz bass player Dave Nolet.

Gutiérrez’s new collection “explores the tender terrain of the primal forces in our lives—family, mortality and forgiveness.” Washington State Poet Laureate Emerita Claudia Castro Luna offers this praise, “This wonderful book, full of inventive forms and gratitude, is a sort of remedy itself for days when we might need a dose of beauty.” National Book Award Winner Craig Santos Perez observes that throughout the book, Williams Gutiérrez “maps the thresholds of loss and love through carefully crafted narratives and haunting images. Every page feels like an ocean of emotions breaking open.”

Cindy Williams Gutiérrez is the author of three poetry collections and five produced plays. Her awards include: Poets & Writers Magazine 2014 Notable Debut Poet, 2015 International Latin Book Awards Finalist, 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship, 2017 Oregon Book Award for Drama and 2018 Willow Books Editor’s Choice Poetry Selection. A passionate educator, she has taught poetry to youth from K-12, most recently to middle schoolers at Liberty Bell Junior-Senior High School and Paschal Sherman Indian School. She is the cofounder of the Methow Valley’s Confluence Poets and of Los Porteños, Portland’s Latinx writers’ collective.