Wenatchee Valley College professors Derek Sheffield and Jack Johnson, accompanied by retired professor Michael Choman, will present “Six Strings and Two Pens: A Poetry Reading Woven with Guitar Music” as the first 2026-2027 WVC Speaks Lecture Series event. The public is invited to this free performance on Wed., Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. in the Music and Art Center’s Grove Recital Hall on the Wenatchee campus.
“Six Strings and Two Pens” is a musical performance and poetry reading, with poets Derek Sheffield and Jack Johnson sharing their poetry, accompanied by Michael Choman on guitar.
Sheffield is the current Washington State Poet Laureate and a 2026 Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow. His books include “Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry,” winner of the 2024 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award; “Not For Luck”; “Through the Second Skin,” runner-up for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award; and “Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy.” Sheffield teaches English at WVC, edits poetry for Terrain.org, and is the voice of Gouverneur Morris in the Netflix documentary “The American Experiment,” produced by Tom Hanks.
Johnson teaches English and poetry at WVC. In 2020, he published a book of poetry, “The Way We Came In.” His poems have also appeared in “Cascadia Field Guide,” Terrain.org, the NCW Arts Alliance newsletter, and elsewhere. This is Sheffield’s second time presenting for WVC Speaks. He and WVC Professor Dustin Clark collaborated to speak to what poetry and history tell us about the nature of walls in human culture in the original WVC Speaks series in 2017.
Choman taught business and accounting courses at WVC for over 30 years before retiring in June 2026. He continues to perform as a jazz guitarist for the Confluence Jazz Trio.
WVC Speaks began in 2015 and was held annually through 2019. Originally held in the afternoons, the series brought faculty, staff, and students together to develop an appreciation for a variety of disciplines and to share perspectives. The series returned in 2025-2026 to welcome our wider community to learn and connect with faculty, staff, and students. Learn more at www.wvc.edu/wvc-speaks.
About Wenatchee Valley College
Founded in 1939, Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington and delivers relevant, innovative, and experiential educational opportunities for thriving and healthy communities. Learn more at www.wvc.edu.
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Published September 15, 2026
Media Contacts:
Marcine Miller, Executive Director, Public Information Office, 509-682-6582, mmiller2@wvc.edu