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January 2015
Word Works: Randall Kenan on Place
Just as your own life is shaped by the places in which you choose to rest and move and exist, so are your character’s lives by the places in which you choose to plop them down. As a man who is black and gay and raised in North Carolina, Randall Kenan is intimately familiar with the tie between person and place. He'll talk about place and how it affects the characters moving through your stories and poems. Fiction writer Jeff…
Find out more »New England Review at Hugo House
Hugo House is holding the release party for the New England Review! Readers include Kelli Russell Agodon, Kevin Craft, Michelle Peñaloza, Susan Rich, and Christopher Robinson. The brand-new poetry editor of NER, Rick Barot, will emcee, and copies of the new issue will be available. Kelli Russell Agodon is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor from the Pacific Northwest. Her most recent collection is Hourglass Museum (White Pine Press, 2014) and The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practice,…
Find out more »February 2015
Be My Valentine (Or Not): Michelle Peñaloza’s landscape/heartbreak Release Party
What kind of story can a city tell if this isn't just the corner of Broadway and John, but the corner where X learned that Y never really loved him? Or if this isn't just the hospital across the street, but the place where Z told her mother she loved her for the very last time? With poems and maps, Michelle Peñaloza's landscape/heartbreak creates a literary cartography of heartbreak in Seattle. The week of Valentine's Day, commemorate hearts broken and…
Find out more »April 2015
Buddy Wakefield: Riled Up and Wasted on Light tour
Award-winning spoken-word artist Buddy Wakefield is touring! Come see his electrifying show here at Hugo House. Tickets are $10, $5 for students. About Buddy Wakefield BUDDY WAKEFIELD is a three-time world champion spoken word artist featured on the BBC, ABC Radio National, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, NPR and most recently signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. In 2004 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear then successfully defended…
Find out more »May 2015
Word Works: Dorianne Laux on Music
In this talk, poet Dorianne Laux examines the musical patterns of poetry. Though there are many formal names for the poetic devices that bring together written word and sounded pattern, the emphasis will be on the syllable and the line. You'll learn to generate new work with rhythm and music of the line as a guiding force. Dorianne Laux’s fifth collection, The Book of Men, is currently available from W.W. Norton. Her fourth book of poems, Facts about the Moon,…
Find out more »Wage Slaves: Tales from the Grind
Seattle’s favorite reading series about work returns to Hugo House. Elizabeth Austen, Jonathan Evison, Daemond Arrindell, and Jennifer Longo share their stories and poems about labors of love and commerce—from cubicles and classrooms to cemeteries and correctional centers. Sierra Golden and Michelle Goodman emcee. The event is free and the bar will be open serving beer, wine, and cocktails. In keeping with Wage Slaves tradition, free donuts will be served. Readers Elizabeth Austen is the Washington State Poet Laureate for…
Find out more »Hugo Lit Series: One Hour [Meg Wolitzer, Justin Torres, Amelia Gray, Abi Grace]
A lot can happen in an hour. Tobias Wolff’s famous short story “Bullet in the Brain” takes place over the span of a few minutes; the second half of the story, in fact, takes place over a fraction of a second. Great storytelling is, in a sense, about managing time within the story—the writer needs to choose when to slow time down, when to speed it up, and when to march along in step. In this unique evening of the…
Find out more »I THINK YOU’RE TOTALLY WRONG | David Shields/James Franco | U.S. Film Premiere
Screening Dates: Saturday, May 30, 7 pm Sunday, May 31, 7 pm Monday, June 1, 7 pm Hugo House will hold three screenings of James Franco’s film adaptation of David Shields’s and Caleb Powell’s book, I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel. The screenings will begin at 7 p.m. and be followed by a Q&A session with Shields and Powell. The Hugo House screening will serve as the U.S. premiere of I Think You’re Totally Wrong, which had its international…
Find out more »June 2015
Are You There God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter
~We long to be Close to You~ Come get your “Ticket to Ride” back to the year 1973 with an unexpected mashup inspired by The Classic book about growing up “Are You There God? Its me, Margaret.” And the music of the Carpenters. A Story about innocence in an age before the internet where the only way we were exposed to celebrities were either by Rabbit Ear antennas on our new Color Televisions or on that AM/FM radio mom and…
Find out more »Book Launch Party for Greg Stump’s DISILLUSIONED ILLUSIONS
+ ART SHOW + BOOK RELEASE + SIGNED BOOKS In June, Fantagraphics is releasing Greg Stump’s debut graphic novel, Disillusioned Illusions, on its Fantagraphics Underground Press imprint – described as a line for “innovative, quirky, idiosyncratic, oddball, experimental, or downright crazy” work. We’re happy to host the (free) book release party for Disillusioned Illusions. Signed books will be available for purchase, and an exhibit of original art will be on display, tracing the evolution of the characters from mini-comics inception…
Find out more »July 2015
Book Launch Party for Sonya Lea’s WONDERING WHO YOU ARE
Sonya Lea's new memoir, WONDERING WHO YOU ARE, braids the story of Lea's and her husband's relationship before and after he emerges from a surgery with no memory of their life together. The story follows their exploration of a marriage no longer grounded in shared memories. "An amazing accomplishment. Every page sparkles with wisdom, candor, insight, and love." Christopher Ryan, author of Sex At Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What it Means for Modern Relationships Hugo House…
Find out more »SIDEWINDERS by Basil Kreimendahl
In the Northwest premiere of this existential transgender wild western by award winning playwright Basil Kreimendahl, Dakota and Bailey find themselves stranded in a strange barren land. While Dakota worries about how the two get home, Bailey is more concerned with the matter of their sexual identity. Guided by the majestic gender sherpa Sandy and their servant Sam, the two discover that true love does not come from your genitalia, but from your heart. Tickets are $10 - $15 online…
Find out more »SIDEWINDERS by Basil Kreimendahl
In the Northwest premiere of this existential transgender wild western by award winning playwright Basil Kreimendahl, Dakota and Bailey find themselves stranded in a strange barren land. While Dakota worries about how the two get home, Bailey is more concerned with the matter of their sexual identity. Guided by the majestic gender sherpa Sandy and their servant Sam, the two discover that true love does not come from your genitalia, but from your heart. Tickets are $10 - $15 online…
Find out more »September 2015
Wage Slaves: Tales from the Grind
Seattle’s favorite reading series about work is back with another installment. Anastacia Renee Tolbert, Bruce Barcott, Kate Lebo, Sam Ligon, and Brian McGuigan share their stories and poems about labors of love and commerce—from pot shops and pie racks to racism, parenting, and the local lit scene. Sierra Golden and Michelle Goodman emcee. The event is free and the bar will be serving beer, wine, and cocktails. In keeping with Wage Slaves tradition, free Top Pot donuts will be served.…
Find out more »David Schmader’s One-Man Show: A Short-Term Solution to a Long-Term Problem
O N E N I G H T O N L Y A whipsmart comedy about unfunny things, A Short-Term Solution to a Long-Term Problem is writer and performer David Schmader’s solo play, first performed in 2012. The play is about the dramatic life upheaval that drove Schmader to spend a decade “living every day like it’s your last!” Based on Schmader’s autobiographical performance at a Hugo House Lit Series event, the play was commissioned to share Schmader’s profoundly ridiculous…
Find out more »October 2015
A Salty Reading
An APRIL reading by well-seasoned writers Sonya Vatomsky, Richard Chiem, and Princess Charming, discussing all things salty and salt-related. Free salt & vinegar chips! For the complete Lit Crawl Seattle line-up, please go here: http://litcrawl.org/seattle/2015-schedule About the Writers Cabaret queen Princess Charming and her quirky accompanist have delighted audiences with their enchanting blend of story and song at venues/events such as Chop Suey, Bacon Strip, Pony Bar & Patio, and APRIL Festival’s “A Poet, A Playwright, A Novelist, and A…
Find out more »November 2015
Jonathan Lethem in Conversation with David Shields
Jonathan Lethem, MacArthur fellow and New York Times best-selling writer, will discuss and read from his current project, a book involving surgery, the body, and mortality. Later, David Shields, New York Times best-selling author of The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, will join him in conversation. The two also shared space in a famous Lethem essay for Harper’s called “Ecstasy of Influence.” The event is $10 general admission, $5 for members. The bar will be…
Find out more »May 2016
LAST EVENT AT OLD HUGO HOUSE: Literary Series
Cliché: The Writing’s on the Wall Meaning: a premonition or indication of the inevitable This is it! THE LAST EVENT at the old Hugo House building. Bring a writerly friend or five to celebrate the life of Hugo House. After the show, feel free to stick around to have a drink and perhaps break into a spontaneous rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Before we bid adieu, though, we have a stellar lineup of writers presenting new work: novelist Jenny Offill;…
Find out more »August 2016
Hugo Housewarming & BBQ
Now that we're settled into our new space on First Hill, we're throwing a housewarming—and putting our new backyard to good use! We'll be grilling up food generously provided by our new neighbors, George's Sausage & Delicatessen and Stockbox Neighborhood Grocery. Plus, PBR will be plentiful for just $1/can. Play some yard games and win prizes, then wander inside for an impromptu tour. Staff will be on hand to answer questions or help you decide which fall class you should…
Find out more »September 2016
TransFics + Love Bites at Hugo House
Join us at Hugo House for an evening celebrating LGBTQ stories with the two programs--TransFics & Love Bites. This event is free and open to the public. TransFics – 7pm – 8pm Join us from 7pm – 8pm as we celebrate the fiction of trans, genderqueer, and nonbinary authors. Enjoy hearing the tall tales, luscious lines, and sexy stories from this truly transfixing group of writers as they share short reading from their work. Readings by authors Austin Chant, Tobi…
Find out more »October 2016
Contagious Exchanges: Rebecca Brown and C. Davida Ingram
The first event in a new monthly series, CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES: Queer Writers in Conversation, hosted and curated by Lambda Literary Award-winning writer Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Tonight features the prolific Rebecca Brown (The Gifts of the Body; American Romances: Essays) with artist, co-founder of the Seattle People of Color Salon, and Stranger "Genius" C. Davida Ingram. Both will present their work followed by an on-stage conversation with Sycamore. CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES features two dynamic writers bridging genre, style, sensibility, and all the…
Find out more »November 2016
CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES: Vivek Shraya and Chase Joynt
The monthly series hosted and curated by Lambda Literary Award-winning writer Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore continues with November’s installment, featuring Toronto-based moving-image artist and writer Vivek Shraya and Toronto-based artist, filmmaker, and writer Chase Joynt. The Globe and Mail called Chase Joynt’s new book, You Only Live Twice: Sex, Death and Transition, “an intellectually expansive, emotional gut-punch of a memoir.” In this genre-transcending book, Joynt and HIV-positive movie artist Mike Hoolboom come together over the films of Chris Marker to exchange…
Find out more »Ed Skoog: ‘Run the Red Lights’ Book Launch
Washington State Book Award-winning poet Ed Skoog reads from his newest collection, Run the Red Lights (Copper Canyon Press). “Run the red lights” were the last words the musician Alex Chilton spoke to his wife on the way to the hospital. In Skoog’s new book the poems are running all the lights, the way that talking casually runs and flows over itself and intertwines with what others are saying. These plainspoken poems rediscover the relationship between talking and thinking, as…
Find out more »January 2017
Contagious Exchanges: Sarah Galvin and David Schmader
Local lit favorites Sarah Galvin and David Schmader join host and curator Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore for CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES: Queer Writers in Conversation, a reading series that takes place the first Wednesday of every month. Galvin is the author of the collection The Three Einsteins (Poor Claudia) as well as a book of essays, The Best Party of Our Lives (Sasquatch Books), inspired by The Stranger‘s Wedding Crasher column. Schmader is a writer and performer known for his solo plays (Straight,…
Find out more »April 2017
Contagious Exchanges: Wendy C. Ortiz & Jennifer Natalya Fink
CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES, the monthly reading series hosted and curated by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, continues with Los Angeles-based writer and author of the recent "dreamoir," BRUJA, Wendy C. Ortiz, joined by novelist and disability advocate Jennifer Natalya Fink. Both writers will read from their recent work, followed by an onstage conversation with Mattilda. Free to the public. Information on Hugo House and accessibility can be found on our FAQ page: http://www.hugohouse.org/about/faq/ --- ABOUT THE WRITERS Wendy C. Ortiz is the author…
Find out more »May 2017
Contagious Exchanges: Corinne Manning with Matthew Schnirman
Corinne Manning—writer and founder of The James Franco Review, an online journal dedicated to the visibility of underrepresented artists through reimagining the publishing process, as well as the The Furnace Reading Series—joins poet and former Made at Hugo House fellow Matthew Schnirman for this monthly reading series hosted and curated by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Both writers will read from their work followed by an onstage conversation with Sycamore. --- ABOUT THE WRITERS Stories from Corinne Manning‘s collection, We Had No…
Find out more »June 2017
Contagious Exchanges: Chavisa Woods, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Join us for the LAST CONTAGIOUS EXCHANGES OF 2017 featuring Brooklyn-based poet and fiction writer Chavisa Woods. Celebrating the launch of her critically acclaimed collection of stories, THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU'RE GOTH IN THE COUNTRY (Seven Stories Press), Chavisa Woods joins series host and curator Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore for a reading and onstage conversation. THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU'RE GOTH IN THE COUNTRY is a surreal and sardonic look into the heart of the rural poor. National Book Foundation…
Find out more »October 2017
Lambda Literary Fellows Reading
Six queer writers—each a recipient of a Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Fellowship—will read new work in a fiery evening spanning genres, geography, and gender. Emceed by Hugo House writer-in-residence Amber Flame, the lineup includes Tennessee Jones (New York), Natalia Vigil (San Francisco), Taylor Johnson (Washington, DC), Molly Thornton (Seattle), Kathleen Nacozy (Seattle), and Elaina Ellis (Bellingham). --- BIOS Tennessee Jones is a Brooklyn-based writer from southern Appalachia. Jones is the author of the short story collection Deliver Me From Nowhere…
Find out more »September 2018
Opening Celebration: New Hugo House
We’re opening the doors to Seattle’s new home for words! Join Hugo House on September 22 as we open the doors to our new home — 10,000 square feet designed for writers and readers. Explore all the nooks and crannies, catch pop-up readings, and find literary experiences around every corner. NEW HUGO HOUSE 1634 Eleventh Avenue (on the corner of Eleventh & E Olive) Featuring: Special guest MARIA SEMPLE and emcee NANCY GUPPY Performances and installations from VIS-à-VIS SOCIETY and…
Find out more »December 2018
Rebecca Makkai: Researching into the Void
Unless every character you write is exactly like you, fiction involves writing across difference. Those differences might be ones of identity and demographics, or they might be ones of knowledge, experience, setting, and historical era. With so much valid concern and debate around the touchy issue of appropriation, writers can find themselves crippled by fears: Do I have permission to write this? What if I get it horribly wrong? Even if I do it well, will people be upset that…
Find out more »January 2019
Writing South Asian LGBTQ Lives
In this panel, the following authors will read from their latest writings and discuss their major challenges as LGBTQ writers of color in the US and India: - S J Sindu (Sri Lanka, US): Marriage of a Thousand Lies (2018) - Minal Hajratwala (India, US): Out: Stories from the New Queer India (2018) - Sasha Duttchoudhury (India/US): Moving Truth(s): Queer and Transgender Desi Writings on Family (2015) Moderator: Chandan Reddy is Associate Professor of English and Gender, Women and Sexuality…
Find out more »February 2019
How the Body Holds its Stories @ Hugo House
How do our bodies hold onto experiences? How do generations of people of color, queer and trans people, and others who have experienced marginalization carry those stories over generations? Join writers Jordan Alam and Tessa Zeng for a reading and conversation on feeling a story in your bones and translating it to the page. Musician Lex Gavin will also perform. This reading is generously supported by 4Culture. ABOUT THE PERFORMERS Jordan Alam is a queer Bangladeshi-American writer, performer, and social…
Find out more »November 2019
Original music inspired by Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Head into the kitchen with Bushwick with a cookbook that breaks the mold & invents new ways to think about food itself. Adapted into a hit Netflix show, Samin Nosrat’s bestselling book explores eating through a joyous celebration of four central ingredients: salt, fat, acid, and heat. “This beautiful, approachable book not only teaches you how to cook, but captures how it should feel to cook: full of exploration, spontaneity and joy.” – Alice Waters Featuring original music by: Sierra…
Find out more »December 2019
World AIDS Day at The AMP
You are invited to commemorate World AIDS Day with The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway. A short program at Hugo House will be followed by a walk to the future site of The AMP on the north edge of Cal Anderson Park. Doors open at 3:30pm, allowing an opportunity to meet the artists of The AMP, who will reveal their artwork concepts. The program at 4pm will explain the memorial, share a video from those collected, and have music performed by…
Find out more »Word Works | Michael Cunningham: The Problem Is Never the Plot
A writer’s main concern should not be with making a story happen. When a writer has taken the time to create characters who are deeply human, those characters, with all their needs, desires, and actions, in turn take care of the plot, all by themselves. In this Word Works: Writers on Writing lecture, Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours, will discuss the different methods a writer can use to discover and thoroughly get to know their characters.…
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