Board of Directors

"Leave a space for the reader at the end of a poem." - Brian Turner

The OPN Board  helps steer the Olympia Poetry Network's direction, MC's our monthly General Meetings and readings, invites featured readers and recruits workshop facilitators. The Board is composed of eight local poets actively producing work, introduced below.

Carrie Beth Born
Workshop Coordinator
As a retired heavy equipment operator
and long-haul truck drive with a
Master's degree, Carrie  enjoys writing
poems and stories about construction,
trucking, typewriters and cats. 

Carrie has two poetry collections, Diesel Cat Poems and Diesel Lady Poems,. in zine form at the Olympia Timberland Library. 

Patrick Dixon
​Web Design and Maintenance
Patrick Dixon is a writer and photographer retired from careers in teaching and commercial fishing. He was raised in Indiana, grew up in Alaska, and spends his time winding down in Olympia, Washington. He has been published in Cirque Literary Journal, Raven Chronicles, The Journal of Family Life, National Fisherman magazine, Linden Avenue Journal,, Oberon Poetry Journal, The Tishman Review and others. He is the editor of the seven-book set Anchored in Deep Water: The FisherPoets Anthology (2014). His chapbook Arc of Visibility won the 2015 Alabama State Poetry Morris Memorial competition.
 
His work may be seen at patrick dixon, writer and on the fisher poetry archive,
​In The Tote.

Terri Cohlene
​At Large/Special Events
Terri Cohlene grew up in Skyway, a suburb of Renton, Washington where she competed with her two brothers in polliwog-catching, berry-tossing and slug-handling.  Her work is influenced by car trips to Eastern Washington and visits to her grandparents’ apple orchard in Cashmere. 
           
She is the author of nine books for children including Won’t Papa Be Surprised! Something Special and Witch’s Brew, and she wrote and assisted in the production of Clique, a stage play for young adults.  Her poetry has appeared in such publications as:  Godiva Speaks, Pontoon 8 & 9, Floating Bridge Review,  Arnazella,  Stories with Grace,  Switched on Gutenberg, and the anthology, America at War.  She collected and edited two adult poetry anthologies, Godiva Speaks I & II.
           
A former art director and editor of her own award-winning imprint, Terri has taught at Richard Hugo House, Shoreline & Whatcom Community Colleges and Hypatia-in-the Woods.  Currently, she serves on the board of Olympia Poetry Network, and is a freelance editor in Olympia, Washington. 

​Terri's work may be seen at  TerriCohlene.com.

​Chris Dahl
​Newsletter Editor
Chris Dahl's chapbook, Mrs. Dahl in the Season of Cub Scouts, was published by Still Waters Press after winning their Women's Words competition.  She has been published in journals such as Poetry Northwest, Seattle Review and Cascadia Review--who nominated one of her poems for Best of the Internet.  She completed her M.A. (M.F.A. equivalent) at the University of Washington.  Currently, she lives in Olympia, Washington where she serves on the board of the Olympia Poetry Network and edits their newsletter.

Cynthia Pratt
​Treasurer/Membership
Cynthia Pratt is a founding member of the Olympia Poetry Network’s board.  Her poems have appeared in WPA’s anthology, Tattoos on Cedar (2006), Crab Creek Review, Steelhead Special, Raven Chronicles, Bellingham Review, and other publications. Her poetry appeared in the anthology, Godiva Speaks. One of her poems was accepted for display at the Seattle Salmon Strategy Summit 2005, and a couple of poems have had the honor of riding around in Tacoma and Metro buses.  Her manuscript, Celestial Drift¸ was published in 2017. She is the Deputy Mayor of the City of Lacey.

Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis
​Secretary
​Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis is an associate professor at Saint Martin’s University and has published poetry in OccuPoetry, Social Policy, Penny Ante Feud, Dark Matter, That Literary Review and  In Layman’s Terms and is submitting her first collection of poetry for consideration for publication to various presses. She is also writing a second collection and is learning the classical guitar in order to write lyrics and compose music for the guitar. Nathalie is passionate about issues related to climate change and social justice and finds inspiration in writing poems about the beauty of nature in the Pacific Northwest.  Half French-Canadian, Nathalie speaks French and is an ardent traveler having lived in Quebec, Japan, and the Czech Republic.

Wesley Jones
Board Member At-Large
Wes Jones grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, liked school, and stayed in it most of his life, retiring from college teaching in 2014. He began writing poetry again in 2010 after a lengthy hiatus, a penance for his high school and college work. He moved to Olympia after retirement primarily to join OPN, but also because he and his wife missed trees, mountains, and an ocean, and they had family here anyway. His poems reflect his fascination with deep time, loss and continuity, and the ironic dislocations of humor.

Dennis Connolly
Board Member At-Large
Dennis Connolly grew up on the north Coast of Ireland where he was an avid fly fisherman. His passion eventually led to writing for the enhancement of River Bush salmon. He worked briefly for the Peace People, where he met his future wife, Patricia. They were married in 1995, and soon afterward, moved with his new family to Baltimore, MD. Eight years later Dennis moved to Olympia, WA. His poems have appeared from Northern Ireland to America, in such eclectic publications as the Coleraine Chronicle and Olympia Food Coop Newsletter. After more than a quarter century as a poet, Dennis continues to write and enjoy the bardic tradition of spoken word poetry.