2019 Readings

January 25, 2019 — Melanie Noel (Redmond poet laureate)

Melanie Noel is the author of The Monarchs (Stockport Flats, 2013), a book of poems, and the forthcoming chapbook A Ringing. She is honored to serve as Redmond’s poet laureate for 2018–2020. Her website is http://www.lovepossum.com/possum.html.

February 22, 2019 — Gloria Burgess (nonfiction, fiction, poetry)

Gloria Burgess’s poetry, stories, and scholarship celebrate her diverse heritage. She’s poetry fellow with Cave Canem, a prestigious collective of poets and writers of the African Diaspora. Her work appears in several anthologies, including The Ringing Ear, Gathering Ground, and From My Soul to His Spirit, and has been featured on the BBC, NPR, and PBS. One of Gloria’s most recent books is Pass It On!, a picture biography of her father’s life-changing relationship with Nobel Laureate William Faulkner. Her website is www.gloriaburgess.com.

See also “Redmond Association of Spokenword hosts award-winning author and poet Gloria Burgess,” posted to the Redmond Reporter website on March 4, 2019. Last two event photos below by Stephanie Quiroz.

March 29, 2019 — BookClub Seattle (short stories)

Helen Harris’s family moved to Seattle from Spokane in the early 40s. Her grandparents owned and operated a local hamburger joint close to Garfield High School, The Bulldog, until the mid-60s. Helen was born and raised in Seattle, graduating from Holy Names Academy in 1969. She has two sons and five grandchildren.

Doris Hill was born in Shreveport Louisiana, and moved to Seattle with her family when she was nine. After graduating from Garfield High School, she earned a BA from the University of Washington and MEd from Seattle University. Currently retired, she worked for more than thirty years in the work/life arena.

Jackie Roberts was born and raised in Seattle. She earned a BA from DC Teachers College and an MPA from the University of Puget Sound. She retired from Boeing in 2000 as an executive after holding many management positions. Jackie enjoys her retirement by playing tennis and senior softball, and volunteering.

April 26, 2019 — Raúl Sánchez

Raúl Sánchez is a poet and translator currently working on the Spanish version of his inaugural collection, All Our Brown-Skinned Angels, nominated for the 2013 Washington State Book Award in poetry. He is currently a poetry mentor for the Pongo Teen Writing Project in juvenile detention centers and a teacher for Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program. Raúl is also a Jack Straw poetry mentor at the Denny International Middle School.

May 31, 2018 — Joan D. Stamm (memoir)

Joan D. Stamm is the author of A Pilgrimage in Japan: The 33 Temples of Kannon (2018), and Heaven and Earth are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism (2010). She holds an MFA in writing and literature from Bennington College. Joan lives on Orcas Island. Please visit her website at www.JoanDStamm.com.

June 28, 2019 — Dianne Avey

Dianne Avey is a fifth-generation islander on Anderson Island, south of Seattle. She writes poetry where she can, often on the ferry while commuting to her work as a nurse practitioner. Her poems and essays have appeared in Wrist Magazine, Pulse, The Poeming Pigeon, Intima, and elsewhere. For six years, she has organized a summer writing retreat on Anderson Island. Her recent book, Impossible Ledges (The Poetry Box 2019) is a poetry memoir that tells the chronological true story of love and loss, using her natural seaside surroundings as solace and inspiration.

July 20, 2019 — Poets in the Park 2019: Celebrating the Land

Saturday, 20 July 2019 — FREE! At Anderson Park in Redmond

Environmental theme this year—see schedule on the Poets in the Park 2019 page.

July 26, 2019 — Joan Pasch

Joan Pasch began writing poetry at a summer poetry class taught with great enthusiasm by New York poet Bill Zavatsky. Later she joined a poetry class at the local senior center (although only 40), and she has written poetry off and on ever since, often on serious subjects. In the last six years she has self-published one book of poetry, The Abundance of Simplicity (2013), and three books of fiction.

August 30, 2019 — Jack Straw Writers: Dianne Aprile, Josh Axelrad, and Michael Schmeltzer (nonfiction, stories, poetry)

Dianne Aprile has authored and edited nonfiction books, including collaborations with visual artists and galleries. She teaches creative nonfiction on the MFA faculty at Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing. She can be heard reading her essay “Silence” at NPR’s “‘This I Believe” website, her poetry has appeared most recently in Raven Chronicles, and she’s a Hedgebrook alumna. Aprile was also part of a team at the Louisville Courier Journal that won a staff Pulitzer Prize.

Josh Axelrad is a writer and performer from Seattle via New York via L.A. via Hays, Kansas. His memoir, Repeat Until Rich, was published by Penguin Press. A regular at The Moth, he’s hosted StorySlams, appeared on stage nationwide, and been featured on The Moth Radio Hour. Josh’s website is http://axelrad.net/.

Michael Schmeltzer was born and raised in Japan. He coauthored the nonfiction book A Single Throat Opens, a lyric exploration of addiction and family. His debut book, Blood Song, was a Washington State Book Award finalist for poetry. He is a member of Seattle7Writers and currently serves as the president of Floating Bridge Press. Visit him at http://www.michaelschmeltzer.com/.

September 27, 2019 — Suzanne Warren (short stories)

Photo Credit: Melanie Masson

Suzanne Warren is a fiction writer and essayist whose work appears or is forthcoming in Narrative, Gulf Coast, The Cincinnati Review, Memorious, The Louisville Review, and Post Road, which selected her story “The Raspberry King” to appear in its Guest Folio. Her story “The Country of Husbands” won an Editor’s Reprint Award from Sequestrum. Other writing awards include fellowships at the Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle, the Mineral School, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Warren lives in Seattle and is currently at work on her first book, a collection of short stories entitled The Country of Husbands.

October 25, 2019 — B. B. Ullman (young adult fiction)

Born in Seattle, B. B. Ullman now resides in Duvall. She wrote The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood (nominated to four state awards for children’s literature) and Whistle Bright Magic (sequel to Nutfolk). Now it’s Bad Order, a middle-grade sci-fi story of four working-class kids, three holograph aliens, and two men in black. When negative thoughts threaten humanity, the biggest guns and smartest computers are useless. Here, hope lies in the strength of love. Visit Barb’s website at http://barb.bentler.us/.

November 24, 2019 — Salon Style Reading

Salon Style Reading — We arranged our chairs in a circle and took turns reading a poem, in no particular order. Then we invited spontaneous discussion (not critique) about what the piece meant or evoked or prompted. Another person read and we repeated, taking turns. We hope this was a relaxed and inviting way to orchestrate some of our future meetings.

December 6, 2019 — RASP Annual Holiday Party and Potluck

RASP Annual Holiday Party and Potluck, at Los Pajaros Studio Gallery (now called Centro Cultural Mexicano).

December 27, 2019 — Salon Style Reading

We had such a good time at our November salon-style reading that we’re going to do it again. We’ll arrange our chairs in a circle and take turns reading a single poem or other piece, in no particular order. Then we’ll invite spontaneous discussion (not critique) about what the piece means or evokes or prompts. Another person reads and we repeat. We keep taking turns as time allows, whether we read a longer or shorter poem or story, or work by another writer. We hope this will be a relaxed and inviting way to orchestrate some of our future meetings.