The Stafford Challenge 2025-26 Anthology Book Launch
The Literary Arts Bookstore and Wild Poet Events are delighted to present “The Stafford Challenge 2025-26 Anthology Book Launch.” Join us for a night of readings from this year’s anthology! This event is free and open to all ages.
Learn more about the anthology at: https://wildpoetpress.com.
About The Stafford Challenge
The Stafford Challenge is a yearlong international poetry project inspired by the daily writing practice of poet William Stafford. Launched on January 17, 2024 – Stafford’s birthday – by poet and storyteller Brian Rohr, the challenge invites participants to write a poem every day for a year. In the inaugural year, over 1,150 poets from 28 countries and 49 U.S. states (plus DC) signed up to participate. Now in its third year with over 1,450 participants, this challenge is a celebration of daily creativity, community, and the belief that poetry can help us navigate and make meaning of the world around us. The project is free to join and welcomes writers of all levels.
Learn more at staffordchallenge.com
Brian Rohr
Brian Rohr is a poet, storyteller, and founder/director of The Stafford Challenge, an international poetry project which has encouraged thousands of participants to write a poem every day for a year, inspired by the late great poet, William Stafford. His writing appears in a number of publications and anthologies, including Timberline Review, These Mosaics, Switchback, and Fruits of Yitzak’s Tree. His debut book, Shaken to My Bones: A Poetic Midrash on the Torah, was published by Ben Yehuda Press. Rohr’s work explores culture, roots, mythology, mysticism, and the transformative power of story. He’s a proud father, husband, and loves green and herbal teas.
Jone Rush MacCulloch
Jone Rush MacCulloch is an award-winning poet, artist, and retired teacher living in the Pacific Northwest. Her debut middle grade verse novel, Tilt was published earlier this year. When she isn’t writing, Jone is taking photos, creating mixed-media art, taking road trips, and enjoying as much time outdoors as possible.
Richard Robbins
Richard Robbins was raised in California and Montana, taught for many years in Minnesota, and recently moved back west to Oregon. His most recent book is The Oratory of All Souls (Lynx House Press, 2023) His website is https://www.richardrobbinspoems.com
Jennifer Pratt-Walter
Jennifer Pratt-Walter (she/her) is a Crone who finds awe in the simple daily miracles of life. Jennifer is a professional harpist, poet and self-taught photographer, and runs a small farm. She has had poetry and photography published in a number of print and on-line journals, including VoiceCatcher, Calyx, SageWoman and Palette. Jennifer has three grown children and husband and lives in Vancouver, WA.
Phyllis Brown
Phyllis Brown is a retired Ob-Gyn and lives in Portland Oregon. She is grateful to her beloved family, goofy golden-lab mix, rewarding career and the beautiful place she calls home, all of which gives her plenty of material for her writing. In addition, she is grateful to her small Stafford Poetry group led by Shane Morin who inspires her every day.
Kevin Peterson
A Portland engineer, Kevin Peterson crafts poetry and graphic art to bridge the gap between traditional ideas and modern chaos. His work offers a quirky yet deeply contemplative response to the complexities of contemporary life, mixing classic aesthetics with bold, digital visuals. He invites all to pause and find meaning in the beautiful contradictions of the modern world.
Sherry Weaver Smith
Sherry Weaver Smith is a writer based outside Portland, Oregon. Her poems have appeared in The Heron's Nest, The Seventh Quarry, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitational, Naugatuck River Review (Narrative Poetry Contest Semifinalist), Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place and Nature; The Amethyst Review, and EcoTheo Review (forthcoming).
Trina Gaynon
Trina Gaynon previously volunteered for literacy programs and WriteGirl in California. Currently she leads a group of poetry readers and a writing salon at the Senior Studies Institute in Portland. Her poems appear in a number of anthologies, including Just Imagine: Oregon Horizons, and journals. Published volumes include An Alphabet of Romance from Finishing Line and Quince, Rose, Grace of God from Fernwood Press.
Michael Zinkowski
Living in Oregon but raised in Massachusetts, Michael Zinkowski teaches English and Writing to incarcerated high school and college students. He is a published poet and writer who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Greensboro and a BA from Syracuse University in English & Textual Studies and Psychology. Michael and his family immensely enjoy being in their garden, hiking to waterfalls, and cooking together.
Allison deFreese
Allison deFreese (she/her/ella) is president of the Oregon Society of Translations and Interpreters (OSTI), a regional coordinator for #ALTA49, and also teaches nearly everywhere so her senior rescue cats (who have their own catio, and are never, ever in the proximity of migratory birds) can continue eating the organic, grain free cat food to which they have become accustomed. In her leisure time, she has also published a few books. Her poems and poetry translations appear in Hunger Mountain, The Kenyon Review, and Many Mountains Moving. Her translations of Irma Torregrosa's verse will be featured in PEN America's 2026 Women in Translation Month Reading Series this August.
