In honor of National Women’s History Month, Tacoma poet Tammy Robacker will be reading from her new book “The Vicissitudes” at Vinum Coffee & Wine Lounge March 12. The event and reading are free and open to the public. Robacker will also be selling and personally signing copies of her recently published book at the event.
“I have had a pretty nomadic first few decades,” Robacker says. “I was actually born in Germany, raised in Pennsylvania, then moved to Washington at age 12. I have lived in Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle and Lacey too while an adult.”
Currently Robacker lives near Stadium District, where much of the imagery and landmarks of the neighborhood are integrated into her poetry.
Robacker studied creative writing and poetry at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. She is actively involved in the South Sound writing community as a poet, a freelance writer and a volunteer, and also serves as secretary of the board for Puget Sound Poetry Connection and secretary of the board for Exquisite Disarray Publishing, a non-profit literary arts organization that publishes Northwest writers.
In her first published book, Robacker chronicles subject matter such as divorce, cancer, death, loss and love. “My writing style is candid, direct and courageous,” Robacker says. “I deal with some heavy themes in my work.”
When she received her first book of poetry, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” it inspired her to become a writer. “It was a language that really connected to my heart and soul. I wanted to do that very thing with words, to write what I think and be able to draw people deeply into my world.”
Her poetry has appeared in Plazm, Floating Bridge Review: Pontoon, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Word Salad, Pens on Fire and the Allegheny Review. Robacker’s poetry manuscript, “We Ate Our Mothers, Girls,” was selected as a finalist in the 2009 Floating Bridge Press chapbook contest in Seattle.
About her feelings on getting her first book published Robacker says, “For any writer, publishing a first book is a lifetime achievement. So, publishing ‘The Vicissitudes’ recently has been quite a dream come true for me. I set a goal for myself about two and a half years ago that I wanted to publish a book by the time I turned 40.”
Robacker will be teaming up with the nonprofit organization Shared Hope International at her reading to help raise funds for and bring attention to the important work done to help rescue and restore women and children in crisis through their worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery through education and public awareness. Donations will be accepted for Shared Hope at the event and for more information, visit www.sharedhope.org.
The reading will begin at 8 p.m. and this event is recommended for guests 13 years and older, but children are welcome. There will be an open mic following Robacker’s reading at 9 p.m. Readers, poets and spoken word artists are encouraged to come share poetry that addresses topics of women, women’s history, women’s issues, women’s roles and challenges that face women.
Vinum Coffee & Wine Lounge is located at 1001 Pacific Ave. For more information on Robacker and her reading, visit her website at www.tammyrobacker.com.
