2023 Readings

The Redmond Association of Spokenword held the following readings and other events in 2023. See other past readings.

January 27, 2023 — Hugo House Staff:
Caitlin Andrews, Jasmine Plaskon, and Ankober Yewondwossen

Hugo House is a nonprofit writing center in Seattle, Washington that helps writers realize their visions, and helps experienced writers become teachers. Tonight’s reading features three Hugo House staff members from the events and community support teams: Caitlin Andrews, Jasmine Plaskon, and Ankober Yewondwossen.

Caitlin Andrews is originally from the one-light town of Phoenix, Maryland, and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Miami. Her thesis was a finalist for the Marianne Russo Award for a novel-in-progress, and she has been awarded scholarships and fellowships from GrubStreet and the Chesapeake Writers’ Conference. She continues work on her first novel, a braided queer historical narrative set during the Irish War for Independence. Her website is caitlinmandrews.com.

Jasmine Plaskon is a Black educator, poet, performer, and events curator at Hugo House in Seattle, Washington. She received her MFA from Spalding University and you can read her work in Fourth River Review, The Sante Fe Literary Review, Peach Velvet Mag, Sundress Publications, and Winter Tangerine. Stay up to date with Jasmine’s latest writing at jasminesarahplaskon.com, or on her Facebook/YT @jspiswriting.

Ankober Yewondwossen is an Ethiopian born and raised in Seattle who writes braided nonfiction essays and poetry and is interested in experimental genre-mixed confessional free-verse. Her work explores concepts founded in migration studies, womanism, healing (internal alchemy), and narrative medicine. Ankober is a “mule of the world” in recovery. You may ask her what she means when you see her. Find her poetry at ankober.wordpress.com/ and her nonfiction essays and think-pieces at medium.com/@ankober.

February 24, 2023 — Priscilla Long

Photo by Anne Herman

Priscilla Long is a Seattle-based writer of poetry, creative nonfiction, science, history, and fiction, and a long-time independent teacher of writing. Her seventh book is Dancing with the Muse in Old Age (Coffeetown, 2022). Her two poetry books are Holy Magic (MoonPath Press) and Crossing Over: Poems (University of New Mexico Press). Her how-to-write book is The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writer’s Life. She grew up on a dairy farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For more info go to www.priscillalong.com

March 31, 2023 — Dierdre Lockwood

Deirdre Lockwood is a poet and fiction writer based in Seattle. Her poems have appeared in The Threepenny Review, The Yale Review, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. She has an MFA in poetry from Boston University and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Washington. She has received support from the Fulbright program, Hugo House, the Elizabeth George Foundation, Artist Trust, Marble House Project, Willapa Bay AiR, and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and is working on a novel. Visit her at deirdrelockwood.com.

April 25, 2023 — Eastside Poets: RASP at Hugo House

Catherine (Kyle) Broadwall, Balin Lusby, Darren Nordlie, Kari Tai, Michael Dylan Welch, and Iz White draw upon their varied lived experiences as a magician, dancer, world traveler, comics professor, rapper, and artist recognized by the Empress of Japan, these writers offer distinctive and unique voices curated into a show like no other.

April 28, 2023 — Jeanine Walker (poet)

Jeanine Walker is the author of The Two of Them Might Outlast Me (2022). She has received writing fellowships from Artist Trust, the Jack Straw Cultural Center, Wonju, UNESCO City of Literature, and Inprint. Her work has appeared in Bennington Review, New Ohio Review, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. A poet with a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Houston, Jeanine is a long-time poetry teacher and most recently taught English at Kangwon National University in Chuncheon, South Korea.

May 26, 2023 — Suma Subramaniam (children’s literature, poetry)

Suma Subramaniam’s interests in writing for children are centered around STEM/STEAM-related topics as well as India and Indian heritage. When she’s not recruiting by day or writing by night, she’s volunteering for We Need Diverse Books and SCBWI or blogging about children’s books. Suma is the author of Namaste Is a Greeting, She Sang For India, and other books for children and young adults. Her poems have been published in Poetry magazine. She lives in Seattle with her family and a dog who watches baking shows. Learn more at https://sumasubramaniam.com.

June 30, 2023 — Eva Moon (writer)

Eva Moon is an author, humorist, songwriter, playwright, screenwriter, performer, and former Huffington Post blogger. Her plays and musicals have been staged across the US and UK, and her solo musical show, “The Mutant Diaries: Unzipping My Genes,” is streaming on Amazon. Her screenplay, “House Odds,” was a Page Awards finalist and was optioned. She has released five music CDs and her music has appeared in feature film soundtracks. Her first novel, Pinocchio’s Guide to the End of the World, which follows the adventures of a grown-up, human Pinocchio in fascist Europe between the world wars, is set to release in March 2023. More at https://evamoon.net.

July 28, 2023 — Mary Lou Sanelli (essayist, memoirist)

Mary Lou Sanelli, author, speaker, and master dance teacher, has published five collections of poetry and four works of nonfiction. Her latest collection of essays, Every Little Thing, has been nominated for a Pacific Northwest Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a Washington State Book Award. Her first novel, The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs, was released in 2020 and her first children’s book, Bella Likes to Try, will be published in the spring of 2022. For more information about her and her work, visit www.marylousanelli.com.

August 25, 2023 — Amber Flame (poet)

Amber Flame is an artist and performer whose work has garnered artistic merit residencies with Hedgebrook, The Watering Hole, Wa Na Wari, Vermont Studio Center, and Yefe Nof. Flame served as the 2017–2019 poetry writer-in-residence at Hugo House in Seattle and is a queer Black dandy mama who falls hard for a jumpsuit and some fresh kicks. https://www.theamberflame.com/

September 29, 2023 — Ken Mochizuki (children’s literature / graphic novels)

Ken Mochizuki, from Seattle, is the author of the picture books Baseball Saved Us, Heroes, and Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. He is also the author of Be Water, My Friend: the Early Years of Bruce Lee, the graphic novel Those Who Helped Us, and the biography, Michi Challenges History, among other publications. Visit his website at http://kenmochizuki.com/.

October 27, 2023 — Alma García (fiction)

Alma García’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in Narrative Magazine and most recently in Phoebe and the anthology Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. She is a past recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Originally from El Paso and later from Albuquerque, she now lives in Seattle, where she teaches fiction writing at Hugo House and is a manuscript consultant. The University of Arizona Press will publish her first novel, All That Rises, in October 2023. Her website is https://almagarciaauthor.com/.

November 17, 2023 — DigiPen Creative Writing Students

DigiPen Institute of Technology, located in Redmond, is home to many emerging creative writers. DigiPen is well-known for its video game design programs, and its students write groundbreaking sci-fi and fantasy as well as literary fiction and poetry. Ever wonder what creativity looks like at the intersection of writing and game design? Come hear these young writers share their work.

Rian Bannick graduated from DigiPen Institute of Technology in December of 2022 and has since been working as a narrative game designer. He currently works at Visual Concepts Entertainment under Take-Two Interactive as a story designer. For Rian, storytelling is the most exciting part of game design. He also writes as a hobby.

Tyla Bryant is currently a freelance character artist and animator who creates from Denver, Colorado. Storytelling has always captured her attention, whether in the video games and movies she indulges in or in her own works that she shares with those around her. She hopes to one day have her stories reach audiences from the big screen and bring joy to others from a new perspective. Her website is https://tylabryant1117.wixsite.com/portfolio/about.

Annabel Sun is a senior-year digital art major at DigiPen. They’ve always loved writing and storytelling, but over the last two years, they’ve especially embraced it as an outlet for creativity (and as a way to take a break from their art homework). They are the president of DigiPen’s writing club and love being a part of creative communities.