This Tender Geography: Poetry and Music
Award-winning poet-dramatist Cindy Williams Gutiérrez will read poems from her new collection, This Tender Geography, accompanied by classical guitarist Ben Wheeler and upright jazz bass player Dave Nolet. The collection explores the tender terrains of family, mortality and forgiveness. About the book, Washington State Poet Laureate Emerita Claudia Castro Luna writes, “This wonderful book… is a sort of remedy… for days when we might need a dose of beauty.” More information on the book from publisher FlowerSong Press can be found here: https://www.flowersongpress.com/books/p/this-tender-geography-by-cindy-williams-gutierrez
Dave Nolet
Dave Nolet is a Northwest Upright Jazz Bass player and sometimes guitar and bossa nova singer. He performs jazz throughout the Northwest and performs in The Jazz Train. Formerly a member of the Brazilian music group Arco Voz with Jim Nolet and Marcia Lopez, Dave performed in New York City and throughout the East Coast. He received a Performance Arts degree from Cornish Institute, studying with Gary Peacock, Art Lande and Julien Priester. He helped arrange, compose and record a Kirtan album with Steve Gold, “So much Magnificence,” which has received upwards of six million hits on Spotify. Dave currently enjoys life in Seattle and Winthrop, Washington.
Ben Wheeler
Ben Wheeler is Seattle-born and started playing classical guitar at age 10. Alongside a 40-year career as a classroom teacher, school administrator, curriculum developer, and wilderness guide, Ben has played both classical and jazz guitar professionally in a wide range of venues in California and Washington. He is a regular with the eclectic Seattle group Jazz Hands, featuring original adaptations of Romani hot swing jazz, French musette, bossa nova, blues, Latin jazz, and standards. Ben also performs in unique and enchanting jazz duos and trios, incorporating guitar, voice, accordion, bass, piano and vibraphone. During the pandemic, Ben played a series of six live-streamed classical guitar concerts, each benefitting a different non-profit organization. He is a volunteer musician offering special classical guitar performances for seniors and hospice patients. Ben lives and performs in Seattle and Washington’s Methow Valley.
Cindy Williams Gutierrez
Cindy Williams Gutiérrez is a poet, playwright, producer, educator and artistic collaborator. She is the author of three poetry collections and five produced plays. Her awards include: 2025 Humanities Washington Award for K-12 Education, 2018 Willow Books Editor’s Choice Poetry Selection, 2017 Oregon Book Award for Drama, 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship, 2015 International Latino Book Awards Finalist and 2014 Poets & Writers Magazine Notable Debut Poet. Cindy’s poems have appeared in Harvard’s Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, UNAM’s (the National University of Mexico’s) Periódico de Poesía, Portland State University’s Portland Review, and Benedictine University’s Quiddity, among others. Cindy is inspired by the silent and silenced voices of history, herstory and her own story. A former Seattle resident, Cindy enjoys being an active part of the artist communities in Portland, Oregon and Washington’s Methow Valley.
