Local writer wins poetry prize

Seattle writer J.W. Marshall is the 2007 winner of Oberlin College's prestigious FIELD Poetry Prize. He will get $1,000 and his manuscript will be published by Oberlin College Press next year. Marshall, 55, has published two earlier chapbooks, but this will be his first full-length collection.

The news of his win came during "a crazy week" for Marshall and his wife, Christine Deavel, co-proprietors of the Wallingford shop Open Books: A Poetry Emporium. They recently had to euthanize their beloved dog, which left them weeping on a Thursday evening — before getting the call from Oberlin on Friday.

"I can't quite be as ecstatic as I might be," Marshall said Wednesday. "But on the other hand I can't quite be as depressed as I might be."

Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times book critic

Longtime NW stage director heads to N.Y.

Tim Bond, a veteran Northwest stage director-administrator, has a new job. He will be producing artistic director of both the respected regional theater Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Department of Drama. Both are in Syracuse, N.Y.

Recently, Bond served for 11 years as associate artistic director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and has freelance-directed widely. He also has deep roots in Seattle, where he headed up the Group Theatre from 1991 to 1996.

Misha Berson, Seattle Times theater critic

Information in this article, originally published August 2, 2007, was corrected August 7, 2007. The winner of the 2007 FIELD Poetry Prize is Seattle writer J.W. Marshall, not "J.T. Marshall" as reported in a Thursday story about him.