2007 Readings

January 20, 2007 — Jason Zions (poet)

[no bio]

February 17, 2007 — Carolyne Wright/Eulene and James Parrott/Al Q Kaedah (poets)

Carolyne Wright (aka Eulene) has published eight books and chapbooks of poetry; a collection of essays; and three volumes of poetry in translation from Spanish and Bengali, which have won awards from the NEA, Seattle Arts Commission, and Witter Bynner Foundation. Her new collection is A Change of Maps (Lost Horse Press, 2006), finalist for the Idaho Prize and the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award of the Poetry Society of America. Her previous book, Seasons of Mangoes and Brainfire, (Eastern Washington U Press/Lynx House Books, 2nd edition 2005), won the Blue Lynx Prize and the American Book Award. Forthcoming are an anthology of translations from Bengali, Majestic Nights: Love Poems by Bengali Women (White Pine, 2007); and Woman, Money, Watch, Gun (another Idaho Prize finalist), a book-length sequence of poems featuring the culturally challenged alter-ego “Eulene.” Carolyne Wright teaches for the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Program and for Hugo House, and serves as Translation Editor for Artful Dodge, and on the Board of Directors of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

Born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa, James Parrott (aka “Al Q. Kaedeh”) was educated at the University of Iowa (East Asian Languages and Literature) and has lived and worked in San Francisco, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, among other far-flung locales. Disguised as a mild-mannered paralegal during the day, at night he transforms to artist, activist for peace and social justice, film buff, and more recently, composer of poetry, some of it featuring his subversive alter-ego, “Al Q. Kaedeh.” He and Carolyne Wright met in 2003 in Ohio, got tied up in a metaphorical knot in 2004, and moved to Wright’s native Seattle in mid-2005.

March 17, 2007 — RASP RETURNS TO REDMOND

The “RASP RETURNS” Celebration and St. Patrick’s Day party, March 17, 7:00 p.m. until closing, at the Stone House Café in Redmond. RASP is delighted to announce its return to Redmond [after some years of meeting in Woodinville, Washington], and proud to call the Stone House Café in historic Old Redmond our new home. Join us for revelry, ribaldry, and a rousin’ good time to be had by all—to celebrate the RETURN OF RASP TO REDMOND! Join us for an Irish celebration, including the First Annual RASP TEAM LIMERICK WRITING CONTEST.

April 21, 2007 — Corrina Wycoff (fiction)

Corrina Wycoff’s fiction and essays have appeared in Other Voices, New Letters, Coal City Review, The Oregon Quarterly, Brainchild, Out of Line, Golden Handcuffs, and the anthologies: Best Essays Northwest and The Clear Cut Future. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and an MA in English from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She lives with her son in Seattle, Washington, and teaches English and writing at Pierce College. See O Street.

May 19, 2007 — Jennifer Munro (writer)

Jennifer D. Munro grew up in Hawai’i as a fourth-generation islander and now makes her home in Ballard. Her credits include Zyzzyva, Massachusetts Review, and inclusion in Seal Press anthologies on body image, women’s friendships and motherhood. As Dawn O’Hara, her erotica has appeared in “Best American Erotica,” “Best Women’s Erotica,” “Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica,” “Shameless: Women’s Intimate Erotica,” “Ripe Fruit: Erotica for Well-Seasoned Lovers” and many others. She was a Hedgebrook resident and an Artist Trust GAP grant recipient.

June 16, 2007 — Clarice Keegan (poet)

Clarice Keegan has faith in poetry as a magical interaction between the poet and audience. She is the winner of the first annual Bart Baxter Award for Performance Poetry from the Washington Poets Association (WPA) and was a board member of Red Sky Poetry Theatre. Clarice was born in Saratoga Springs, NY, but has spent most of her life in Seattle, where she attended the U of W. She has a Master’s degree in philosophy, but earns her living as a freelance writer. Although she has written most of her life—everything from novels to environmental impact statements—Clarice only began to write poetry in 1994. Her first chap book, Seat of Desire, presents her vivid images of love, desire, and freedom. Her second book, Why I Was Adopted, explores the tensions of family. Keegan sits on the WPA board.

July 16, 2007 — Rebecca Loudon (poet)

Rebecca Loudon lives and writes in Seattle. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Tarantella and Radish King, both from Ravenna Press, and a chapbook, Navigate, Amelia Earhart’s Letters Home from No Tell Books. She teaches violin lessons to children.

August 18, 2007 — Dobbie Norris (poet)

Dobbie Norris is a Former Seattle poet laureate. He has read his work in a variety of venues, including Poets West and the Seattle City Council’s Words’ Worth Poetry program, where he has also served as guest poetry curator. His work has appeared in numerous journals. Norris coordinates and hosts the poetry readings at Barnes and Noble, University Village, providing opportunities for aspiring and established poets, and promoting Art as an essential element of Life.

September 22, 2007 — Cora Goss-Grubbs (poet)

Cora Goss-Grubbs is cofounder and advisory council member of the Redmond Association of Spokenword. She is a Hedgebrook alumna and 2003 Jack Straw artist-in-residence. Her essay “Becoming Mother” was published in the Winter ‘05 issue of Calyx. Other publication credits include String Town, hipMama, Synapse, Silver Quill, and a monthly column in Victory Review. Awards include first place in the Eastside Writers Association short fiction contest and a work-in-progress grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is seeking a publisher for her two young adult novels. Cora lives in Woodinville, with her spouse David her sons Henry and Simon.

October 20, 2007 — Kevin Mooneyham (poet)

Kevin Mooneyham lives in a swamp southwest of Eugene, Oregon. He was a cofounder of the Eugene Poetry Slam and a member of the Experiment, a Eugene/Portland based cooperative of artists whose aim was to create wild multimedia sensations wherever and whenever possible. This urge culminated in the Inside/Out Festivals, the second of which was held over two days at the 800 seat McDonald Theater in downtown Eugene. For the second festival, Mooneyham served as poetry director. He has performed at bookstores, coffee houses, and bars in Eugene, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco. His poetry has appeared in print and online. In addition to publishing several Eugene-area poets, he has published three chapbooks and one CD on his American Mongrel Micropress imprint. His current interest is in exploiting Microsoft PowerPoint to create multimedia presentations of his work that can be used both in live performance and purchased and enjoyed on home computers. He hopes to have his first such project completed by early 2008.

Casey Robbins, a.k.a. the Kyd, is the drummer from the Ol Howl and Smash an up and coming Eugene area rock band. He is also the one man sensation behind Mr. K’s Orchestra, through which he recorded over 40 albums, which are available for purchase at http://www.mrksorchestra.com. His artistic association with Kevin Mooneyham began in the summer of 2005 when he recorded and collaborated with Mooneyham on the Trainyard CD. More about Kevin at WRITEGALLERY.

November 17, 2007

[no reading scheduled, or we do not have a record of it]

December 15, 2007 — Holiday Carol Parody Contest

It’s time to start thinking about the December get-together. On paper, it looks like this: Holiday Carol Parody Contest. Jingle bells and jingle smells! Are you the next Weird Al Yankovitch? Maybe, if you’re our age, the next Allan Sherman? If you’ve never heard of him, he wrote “The Twelve Days of Christmas”: On the Twelfth day of Christmas, I’m going to exchange . . . (a whole bunch of weird stuff from relatives). We’re guessing that you should write parodies of popular seasonal songs, whether traditional carols, hymns of the season, or modern songs (i.e., “Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and So Is Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”). And then, if you’re comfortable, you can read your parody at the December Open Mic (or get one of your friends to read it for you). And if you’re really brave, you can SING your parody. If you’re timid, just come, listen, and enjoy. It’s likely there will be seasonal drinks (hot but nonalcoholic toddies, and apple cider, etc.), and you can bring your own cookies and such. We originally discussed pleading extreme seasonal busy-ness, since we don’t have a featured reader. But on reflection, we’ll still meet and have fun together.