5/11/2023. We hosted a reading of Beth Bentley’s poetry from her posthumously published work, “Missing Addresses” (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2023).
The readers were Julian Bentley Edelman, Beth Bentley’s daughter, David Edelman, her son-in-law, and poet Sherry Rind.  It was a lovely evening celebrating the life and writings of this dedicated and accomplished poet, playwright and teacher. You may view the recorded event on our facebook page, here, any time you wish.

Just published April 5, 2023, "Missing Addresses" is the long-awaited final collection assembled by poet Beth Bentley, who passed away in 2021 after a lifetime devoted to poetry. Her wide-ranging poems reflect on her deep love of art and philosophy, crystalline remembrances of family, and on the lives of cultural figures from history. They explore her Jewish heritage, her fierce feminism, and her perception of herself from an early age as an “outsider.” "Missing Addresses" evokes our losses, via age and happenstance, lending insight into the touchstones of our existence: our friends and families, our memories, our identities.

A very small selection of her poetry-life highlights:

Beth Bentley’s work has been published in dozens of journals and anthologies, including The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, Paris Review, Poetry Northwest, The Nation, Saturday Review, Seattle Review, and Fine Madness. Her awards and honors include: Montalvo Award, 1987; Washington State Governor’s Award; Bookseller’s Award; and a National Endowment of the Arts fellowship, 1976/77. She was a fellow of the NEA in 1978 and that same year read at the Library of Congress. Her play about the Bronte sisters, “Speak, Radiant Angel,” was produced by Seattle’s Readers’ Theater. She taught poetry in the Northwest and elsewhere for over 30 years, including the course “Writing Contemporary Poetry” at the UW from 1980 to 1992. She also founded and directed the Northwest Poets’ Reading Series at the Seattle Public Library from 1960 to 1974, and taught poetry to children at the Kirkland Arts League, as a Poet-in-the-Schools for Tacoma Public Schools and Lake Washington School District, and at the Cornish College of the Arts in the 1970s.

More information about her book is here.

A lovely mention of Beth Bentley on KUOW, amidst the celebration of National Poetry Month, here.

Each day during the month of April, KUOW is highlighting the work of Seattle-based poets for National Poetry Month. In this series curated by Seattle Civic Poet and Ten Thousand Things host Shin Yu Pai, you'll find a selection of poems for the mind, heart, senses, and soul. Here.