“STILLS” Poetry Book Launch & 10-Year Anniversary
“Ravenna Press and CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival, in a unique collaboration, asked poets to create new works—poems, prose poems, short poetic essays, or other art—in response to the films shown at the 2025 Festival. STILLS is dazzling testimony to the power of film to inspire and transform, and indeed to the very wonder—on screen or on page—of art-making.”
-Sati Mookherjee, author, poet and CASCADIA Board Vice President.
LISTEN: Interview with KMRE 88.3 FM
Interview With Arts & Entertainment Host Margaret Bikman
Arts & Entertainment Spotlight Host Margaret Bikman talks with Cheryl Crooks and Sati Mookherjee about Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival’s special collaborative poetry book launch celebration at Aslan Depot. Listen here!
“STILLS” is an exciting and unique contribution to the literature of film and poetry about film. With an introduction by Stefania Heim, poet and Associate Professor of Literature and Director of Graduate Studies in English, Western Washington University, this anthology connects the work of film directors who presented at the 2025 CASCADIA festival to poetry, prose and art by noted poets from the Pacific Northwest and across the country, including: Tobey Hiller, Julie Gard, Luther Allen, Arlene Naganawa, Jed Myers, Nikhil Harle, Jeff Alessandrelli, J. I. Kleinberg and other well-published contributors.
All poems stem from viewing the festival’s films, providing not only an entertaining read but also valuable input for directors assessing the impact of their work. Books purchased through December will also receive a discount code to watch the short films featured in the book during the month of January. Just click the return to website link after completing your purchase to receive a message with the code from CASCADIA.
“STILLS conjures the profoundly communal experience of the dark theater–bodies in proximity, voices hushed . . . in the glow of this book, we are multiplied.” -Stefania Heim
CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival is a Bellingham, Washington-based festival dedicated to discovering, developing and showcasing emergent and expert women filmmakers and promoting the Pacific Northwest as a destination for film production and filmgoing audiences. Our annual film festival and cultural and educational programs throughout the year champion the arts, community and diverse perspectives.
Stories told by women have the power to entertain, enlighten and inspire. CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival brings international cinema, artists, filmmakers and moviegoers together—building community locally and within the film industry nationally and worldwide—in celebration of the transformative power of women’s filmmaking.
Ravenna prides itself on bringing together the discerning reader and the stimulating book. Their titles have been reviewed at The American Book Review, Rain Taxi, Bookslut, New Pages, Kirkus and others. Publishing since 1999, they offer their high standards, editorial good sense, innovative and independent nature, commitment to the written word and determination to put forward high quality work in prose and poetry and other media that too often is not supported by mainstream, profit-driven publishers.
Contributors: Jeff Alessandrelli, Luther Allen, Michelle Ballou, Greg Bem, Deepa Bhandaru, Kipling Bose, Jennifer Bullis, Gregory K. Cole, Julie Gard, Soramini Hanarejima, Nikhil Kiran Harle, Tobey Hiller, Rachel Karyo, J. I. Kleinberg, Jeanne Morel, Jed Myers, Arlene, Naganawa, Arlene Plevin, Kathryn Rantala, Bethany Reid, Ann Reinhart, Ann Spiers, Joannie Stangeland, Mark Stroschein, Ann Taylor, Ashley Varela
Book cover credit for Stills: Amy Kaufman