Poetry at the Rainbow Café presents the works of Risa Denenberg and Ann Tweedy on Monday, July 3.

The program is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the café, 112 E. Main St.

Coffee and conversation follow readings. It is an open mic opportunity. The public is invited.

About the poets

Denenberg lives a quiet life in a place of stunning beauty on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state and earns her keep as a nurse practitioner. She is a co-founder and editor at Headmistress Press, publisher of lesbian poetry.

Her publications include: Whirlwind @ Lesbos (Headmistress Press, 2016); In My Exam Room (The Lives You Touch Publications, 2014); blinded by clouds (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2014); Mean Distance from the Sun (Aldrich Press, 2013); and What We Owe Each Other (The Lives You Touch Publications, 2013).

Tweedy has always been plagued and blessed by wanting to be and do many things at once – from artist and scientist as a small child to her vocations of poetry and other creative writing, legal advocacy for Indian tribes, and legal scholarship.

Lately, inspired by poet Brenda Hillman’s advice to embrace one’s dualities, she has been trying to learn to relish all of her internal contradictions and tensions. She resists categories and finds it hard – and somewhat distasteful – to describe her work. You could say that in her poetry and essays she seeks to understand and that in her legal work she aims to further justice, but that seems too simple.

Other things she loves to do include exploring nature, traveling, beading, taking pictures and looking at art. She lives with her family and three black cats in Washington state.

The Rainbow Cafe, Striped Water Poets, the NorthWest Renaissance, Auburn Arts Commission, City of Auburn, and King County 4Culture make the program possible.