Along with Joe Keppler, Tom Parson, who also started the Bumbershoot Small Press Fair in 1977,[4] and Judith Roche, whose home was used as a meeting place to plan Red Sky Poetry Theatre, Wilsun formed the core of what would become Red Sky Poetry Theatre.
Charlie Burks, the coordinator of the first Bumbershoot Writers in Performance Competition in 1981,[21] was not officially on the board but collaborated with Red Sky Poetry Theatre on a regular basis.
[23][24] Red Sky Poetry Theatre joined Burks in judging the Writers in Performance contests that would decide who, out of hundreds, would read at Bumbershoot.
[26] Bill Shively edited the very first Open Sky in which writers and visual artists of any sort could contribute 400 pages to be included in the magazine.
Red Sky Poetry Theatre considered its collective efforts to be more conducive to the creative process, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Charlie Burks added a 'Sunday Supplement' one month when he was guest editor that was much admired by the Pacific Northwest literary public.
[30] Parallel Discourse soon spun off of Red Sky Poetry Theatre completely and was solely published by Bosché and Maloney.
Swale Magazine was edited by Bosché and Roberto Valenza but it was not actually a Red Sky Poetry Theatre publication.
When Don Wilsun withdrew from regular participation in Red Sky Poetry Theatre, the Secretary of State of Washington State listed Elliott Bronstein as the acting Agent for Red Sky Poetry Theatre and Marion Kimes as the acting President and Treasurer.
[38] From there, Red Sky Poetry Theatre stayed in the Pike Place Market and started reading in December, 1983 at the Soup and Salad Cafe overlooking Puget Sound.
Michael Hureaux, who was an active member of Red Sky Poetry Theatre, was the instigator that convinced Red Sky Poetry Theatre to move to the Five-O Tavern on Capitol Hill in December 1984,[38] thus changing the ambiance of the performance stage, when the Soup and Salad turned into the Soundview Cafe.
[46] The renowned Pioneer Square Theater[47][48] hosted Red Sky Poetry Theatre Works In Progress such as Charlie Burks "War Babies", in 1983 and 1984.
[51] Matt Lennon hosted a monthly reading at the Comet Tavern, where Red Sky Poetry Theatre would cross pollinate with the Actor's Table.
Joe Keppler hosted readings at the Greenwood Gallery[52] before he left in 1983 to form "Poets, Painters, Composers"[38][53] It was this flexibility which made it so easy to move venues as needed without harming the free-spirited, collaborative nature of Red Sky Poetry Theatre.
[18] Members of Red Sky Poetry Theatre were instrumental in creating An Alternative To Loud Boats,[67] which was a Performance Art event that coincided with the Seattle Seafair Albert Lee Cup Hydroplane Races, started in 1985.
[71] Many musicians worked with Red Sky Poetry Theatre, including Wally Shoup, who improvised saxophone on stage with poets and Michael Monhart, also a saxophonist.
For all of the influence Red Sky Poetry Theatre had on the West Coast and national literary world, it was still considered "underground" by the academic establishment.
[76][77] This was due to the controversial nature of many of the performers as Red Sky Poetry Theatre allowed anyone to openly state anything about the society within we live.
The list of influential or award winning poets who read at Red Sky Poetry Theatre is extensive.
While Red Sky Poetry Theatre was housed at the Ditto Tavern in the early 1990s, it had such an effect on the Belltown neighborhood that the local art magazine, Belltown's Brain Fever Dispatch would dedicate a full page to Red Sky Poetry Theatre for several months in the early 1990s.
Stephen Thomas,[88][89] who owned Cabaret Hegel which was a performance venue from 84 to 87, would become active in Red Sky Poetry Theatre.
Paul Nelson, who was also a DJ at KPLU-FM and KNDD-FM as well as other stations, would become a Red Sky Poetry Theatre board member in 1997.
[97] Minkert recorded readings at the Globe Cafe and released a CD called Red Sky At Night: Poets in Seattle in 2002.
Don Wilsun, who according to Trudy Mercer was the 'Father of Red Sky Poetry Theatre', stayed on the board until 2001 although he started to participate much less after 1991.
[104][105] Marion Kimes, the Grande Dame and guiding light of Red Sky Poetry Theatre, died on March 13, 2014.
[107] The works of everyone affiliated with Red Sky Poetry Theatre or nine muses books is being archived at the University of Washington.
Once the Ditto Tavern folded, Red Sky Poetry Theatre moved back up to Capitol Hill to the Globe Cafe.