Danny Sherrard, international award-winning poetry performer and co-founder of the Island Verse Literary Collective non-profit, is releasing the latest iteration of his written art entitled “Cast Your Eyes Like Riverstones Into The Exquisite Dark” on March 22 and will be hosting a book launch event at Waterworks Gallery at 5 p.m.

“The event is gonna be dope,” Sherrard smiled. “It will be partially a mini IVLC-showcase; so some of the members who are in Island Verse, and help make the magic happen, are going to share their craft; be that craft music, comedy, poetry, or poetry performance. We’re going to have DJ Pseko spinning. My girl Nina, who is cheffing down the street at Jima, is going to make some amazing food. I’m going to have some musicians play with me while I read and do some performances from the book. It’s going to be a dynamic adventure.”

Performers will include IVLC members Essine Kilpatrick, Nicole Santora, Nate Fihn, Shari Garzonetti, and Shauna Burrows. Maria Michaelson of the Alchemy Art Center will be introducing Sherrard, and Casey Reagan will be on the Ukelele and flute (not simultaneously, Sherrard jokingly clarified).

Sherrard, a PNW-native, is the youngest artist to have won the US National Poetry Slam (2007) and the World Poetry Cup in Paris (2008). The first version of “Cast Your Eyes…” was released right around the same time, and Sherrard found himself touring the globe performing, teaching, sharing, and writing poetry. Last year, his publishing company called to see if he’d want to do a re-release.

“What it turned into is essentially 75% new poems and 25% old bangers,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting. We took old poems that withstood the test of time, alchemized them with fresh new line breaks and punctuation, and I got to throw in a bunch of new work. So it’s kind of a collection of my work that fits with the name of the book – this idea of impelling yourself into the mystery.”

A writer since childhood with self-described “literary” parents, Sherrard’s language is beautiful even when casually explaining why he liked this version of art as a child amid Tae Kwon Do, full-contact-fighting, sports and competitive gymnastics. His attention deficit disordered brain and body were difficult to nail down, and his teachers felt the same relief he did when he realized he loved to write.

“It distracted me from whatever mischief I wanted to get up to, and they liked that,” he said. “It was a tangible way for me to create a world I could wander into.”

Writing as a child led to hip hop, which led to rapping, eventually leading to open mics and slam poetry. Slam poettry would ultimately his ticket around the world.

“After a while, I found myself just always sort of longing for the PNW,” Sherrard recalled. He helped his parents move full-time into their vacation home in Friday Harbor and decided to stay. “I began rebuilding on the island. I showed up at Open Mic and had no idea who anybody was. I pop in, do a poem, everybody lost their minds.”

He learned very quickly that the islands are packed with artists. After a year of creating with and around many of them, he had the idea to start a literary non-profit for the islands.

“I wanted to follow Alchemy’s lead with what they’re doing with the visual arts,” he said. “There’s this same need for the literary arts. These islands are crawling with amazing writers – all we have to do is connect everybody.”

Sherrard’s non-profit, IVLC, is having a launch of its own and a larger showcase on April 5. But for now, he’s focusing on his book launch at Waterworks on March 22.

“What I know more than anything is how to get down with a community of people who love stories, poetry, and storytelling,” Sherrard said. “Flyer says doors open at 5. When it feels like it’s time to get the show started, we will start it. And then afterwards, if people wanna kick it, we’ll kick it.”

“We’re gonna get down,” he laughed. “You know? Hopefully, it’ll turn into a good old-fashioned San Juan Island dance party.”