John Willson is a poet to whom the visual world — both the world of nature and the world of art — is a source of inspiration and comfort.
It was at Lewis and Clark College that John began taking poetry workshops and writing his own poems. One of his first published works was awarded the Pushcart Prize. He has been honored subsequently by many other organizations including the Academy of American Poets, the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, and Artist Trust of Washington.
Arriving on Bainbridge in the 1980s with his wife, Kim, John soon became part of the Island poetry community, leading still ongoing workshops through the Island’s Parks District and participating in local poetry events. Besides his own chapbook, The Son We Had, John has published scores of poems in literary journals across the country. At Eagle Harbor Books, where he has worked since 1991, he oversees the many outreach tasks that enrich the lives of readers.
John is a quiet man who spends a great deal of his time encouraging and mentoring others in the pursuit of poetry — when he is not himself engaged in spinning words out of straw. As one long-time participant in his workshop said, “His reach may be narrow but his influence is profound and deep.” He brings us messages that add meaning to our lives.