Amber Tamblyn has stories to tell about her stint at last year's Girl Fest Hawaii.

She attended the annual Honolulu arts festival, aimed at ending violence against women and girls, on a whim and an invitation from friend and fellow poet Rachel Kann, who performed at the event.

Tamblyn found the weeklong fest of film, music, art, spoken word, dance, workshops, conferences and lectures by, for and about women pretty sweet.

And in the middle of it all, she unexpectedly ended up on stage in front of 800 people at First Thursdays, competing in her first-ever poetry slam.

"It was exciting and nerve-racking, all at the same time, because I had this really uberpersonal poem," said Tamblyn, who, though not scheduled to perform, was simply moved to get on stage. "Rachel was kind of coaching me through it, and she was, like, 'Read it faster!' And I'm, like, 'This is so scary!' "

The 24-year-old Tamblyn — perhaps best-known for her Emmy-nominated work as the titular heroine of the CBS television series "Joan of Arcadia" — laughed fitfully at the memory.

"It was really cool. And I got some pretty sweet scores. I was in first place," she recalled. "And then the last two girls slammed me down to third."

Tamblyn — who was a newcomer to slam, but had been writing and reading her poetry for audiences for almost as long as she'd been acting — left Girl Fest stoked by the experience. So when festival co-founder and director Kathryn Xian invited Tamblyn to return this year as part of Girl Fest's 4th annual lineup, Tamblyn was in.

Chatting by phone last week from the I-15 somewhere between her Los Angeles home and Las Vegas — where she was doing a handful of poetry shows with friends — Tamblyn chatted up her love of writing and performing poetry, subjects close to her heart, and why she intends to persuade girls at Girl Fest to avoid becoming actresses.

WHY THE LOVE OF POETRY?

Tamblyn has always loved writing.

"When I was younger, I was into creative writing of any kind," she said. "My dad ('West Side Story' and 'Twin Peaks' actor Russ Tamblyn) would sit around and write ridiculous stories with me."

Through her dad, Tamblyn was introduced to San Francisco poet and political activist Jack Hirschman, whose work she was immediately drawn to.

"I wrote this, sort of, ode to him — a poem called 'Kill Me So Much' that (was) a really silly little poem about war and the way people that are in war and affected by war look," Tamblyn said. "I wrote it when I was 12 years old, and Jack loved it. ... He ended up having it published in a section of the San Francisco Chronicle. ... I just kept writing after that."

Tamblyn's first book of poetry, "Free Stallion" — a collection of seven years of her poetry — was published in 2005.

TOPICS OF INSPIRATION

Asked to narrow down the subjects she tackles in her poetry, Tamblyn humorously struggled for an answer.

"Animals. Cookies. Dudes I hate. Sort of them all together," she said. "I don't know. I write about a lot of different stuff. I try to expand past things about love, and the heart, and things like that. But then the poem or whatever it is always ends up coming back to that.

"So that may be where I'm stuck. In that chakra."

Much of Tamblyn's work in "Free Stallion" centers on what it is to be female, and issues and pressures faced by young women. For Girl Fest, Tamblyn promised to pull out what she described as her "uber-lady poems."

SHE'S ALL OVER GIRL FEST

There's an opening-night reading tonight, and more readings throughout the week. Her film "Stephanie Daley" (which nabbed her a nomination for best actress at this year's Independent Spirit Awards) screens Nov. 16. And she's holding workshops with her mother, folk singer/instructor Bonnie Tamblyn.

"Then there's a workshop where I'm going to try to discourage girls from becoming actresses," said Tamblyn, laughing.

That would be "Pillow Talk," a girls-only workshop at The ARTS at Marks Garage from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

"One of the biggest questions that I get from young women ... is how to start in the business," said Tamblyn. "I (can) wrap up the whole thing in two words by saying: It's tough."

An actor since age 10, Tamblyn knows the subject well. After winning a six-year supporting role on "General Hospital" at age 12, she moved on to small parts in film ("The Ring") and television series ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Boston Public") before winning the role of Joan Girardi — a teenage girl who is regularly visited by God — in "Joan of Arcadia."

Since the critically praised but low-rated series was canceled in 2005, Tamblyn has pursued a film career that's included leads in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and "The Grudge 2."

Her 2008 films include a "Sisterhood" sequel, a fem-driven comedy with Parker Posey, Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch called "Spring Breakdown," and "Blackout," a psychological thriller from Mexican director Rigoberto Castañeda.

For the "Pillow Talk" workshop, "I talk a lot about the whole weight issue — with having to maintain certain sizes and certain images. About how hard it is to even get an agent. And the countless times that you get rejected, being able to deal with that and how you have to really grow an armored plate around yourself to do it, withstand it and do it for years and years," she said.

GIRL FEST IS A FIRST

Though Tamblyn has been reading her woman-centered work in front of audiences for years — with poet friends such as Kann and Derrick Brown — her participation in an event like Girl Fest is a first for her.

"What's great about Girl Fest is that it is very open specifically to poetry over anything else as a festival," she said.

And poetry is something Tamblyn finds herself enjoying as much as acting these days.

She may even try her hand at some Honolulu slam again.

"I've got a pretty sweet slam poem ... that's not nice," said Tamblyn, somewhat deviously. "So we'll see."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.