SPLAB

You can read your own work. To other writers! They listen & tell you what they think! What is better than that? (Besides sex?) Don’t answer, just come to Living Room tonight (Tuesday 2.2.10, Groundhog Night, 7PM) at the Columbia City Cinema, 4816 Rainier AV S. 2nd Floor Lounge. Did we mention comfy sofas and the availability of popcorn?

Sorry to report, this, from James Melvin:

Sadly, Roberto Valenza passed away yesterday afternoon (Jan 19th)  in Spring Hill, FL. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to see him just two weeks before on New Years Eve and to have been able to say goodbye to him. I want everyone to know the clarity and courage he faced his death with.
Roberto taught me more about living and dying with dignity than I can
ever express.

But I will let his own words speak for him:

And I say in a thousand ways I long
to have a word beyond me.
I love you all and want you and what it is
that is wanting is love letting go and
loving almost unconditionally all that is in this circle.
LOVE is beyond us.
It cannot be owned, impossible to hold, not made
for only flesh.

-I will miss him, as we all will.

—
—
James Melvin

Amalio Madueño comes to the NW!

One of my favorite poets whose use of Spanglish is unparalleled in North American Poetry, Amalio brings his keen wit, living poetics and sharp perception to Tacoma, Doe Bay and Elliott Bay Books.

• Amalio will read from Lost in the Chamiso on Friday, Feb 5 at Elliott Bay Books at 7P (along with your wily SPLABman.)
• He does the Artsmith Series at Doe Bay on Orcas Island, Monday, Feb 8 at 7P.
• He’ll appear in the SPLAB Living Room, Tuesday, Feb 9 at 7PM, at the Columbia City Cinema, 4816 Rainier AV S, in the 2nd floor lounge.
• He’ll do a reading as part of the Distinguished Writer’s Series at King’s Books at 7PM, Friday, Feb 12 at 7PM, with open mic.
• A workshop, the following day at 10:30, also at King’s Books, is only $15. (He ran the Mexican Bob’s Poetics Camp at the Taos Poetry Circus for many years.

I hope you’ll turn out to one of these events.

Cheap Beer and Prose Returns

From Brian McGuigan:

By now you’ve recovered from your New Year’s hangover—just in time for
another “Cheap Beer and Prose,” next Thursday, January 28, 7 p.m. at
Richard Hugo House.

The featured readers are former “Arrested Development” writer and author
of “This One Is Mine,” Maria Semple, Matthew Simmons, author of “A Jello
Horse,” Midge Raymond, author of “Forgetting English,” and McSweeney’s
martial arts writer Rory Douglas.

Thursday Night, January 28,2010 Auntmama’s Storycorner Returns to Madison Park Starbucks

Readings from 7 PM to 8 PM by:

Kathya Alexander, Playwright, actress, manager of Rainier Valley Cultural Center

Paul Nelson, Teacher, Poet, founder Global Voices Radio and author of “A Time Before Slaughter” (a poem re-enacting the history of Auburn, WA)

Mary Anne Moorman, Storyteller, Consultant, KBCS.FM’s Auntmama

Three writer’s look back to move forward into a new decade.

Madison Park Starbucks, 4000 E Madison, Seattle, WA.

(North side of Madison just before the little village) Need more? Check out Auntmama.com or call 206 473 9522)

Interesting interview on a Duncan Poem

From Al Filreis: Today we release episode 27 of the PoemTalk series. Jeffrey Robinson, Charles Bernstein, Jerome Rothenberg and I discuss Robert Duncan’s poem, “Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow,” which served as the prologue-poem to Duncan’s 1960 book, The Opening of the Field.

http://www.poemtalk.org
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/audio.html?show=Poem%20Talk

Hope to see you at Open Books, 3PM Sunday, Jan 24, as I read from A Time Before Slaughter. It will be one of the most important readings I’ll give in a good, long while.

Your Wily Splabman

Dear SPLAB-Fan,

We’re gearing up for the resumption of Living Room at the Columbia City Cinema on Tuesday, Feb 2 at 7PM. We meet upstairs in the 2nd floor lounge. The address is 4816 Rainier AV S and the suggested donation is $3-$10. Please come to read new work, the work of someone else, or come just to be in the engaging company of other writers.

Here are some local events which may interest you:

Your Humble Splabman reads from his new book A Time Before Slaughter this Sunday, January 24 at 3P at Open Books: A Poem Emporium.

One of only two All Poetry bookstores in the U.S., please consider attending this reading and helping the cause of John Marshall and Christine Deavel. What they do is a tremendous service to the local poetry community and deserve our support.

New Anthology: The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry
I just got my copy this week and it is a remarkable achievement by Mark Weiss. I’ve only thumbed through it, but what a necessary volume! Read the intro here. We’ll certainly be reading work from this in the Living Room.
ARTSPACE EVERETT LOFTS NOW LEASING
Artspace is officially entering into the pre-leasing phase of the application process for the new Artspace Evererett Lofts located at 2917 Hoyt Avenue, Everett, WA. Applications are available at: http://www.artspace.org/properties/everettwa/

Red Sky Reunions continue at Hugo House.

The 2010 Red Sky Reunion has been named Stormy Mondays since only Mondays were available at Hugo House. The first one, Jan 25th, will feature JT Stewart and Deborah Woodard. Showtime 7P. Signup 6:30.

Here’s some exciting news about an upcoming TV special all about the North Cascades, including a story on their Mountain School program that was filmed at the Learning Center last fall!

“KCTS 9 is proud to present the premiere of ‘North Cascades: People, Places and Stories’, a TV special showcasing the breathtaking park through the words and actions of Washingtonians of all ages. Airdates are Wednesday, January 20, at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 31, at 4:30 p.m.

From Amanda Earl:
i invite you to send poems once again this year for the AngelHousePress site nationalpoetrymonth.ca plus and updated bio and photo if we don’t already have one from last year.
the deadline for submission is February 28, 2010.

thanks,
Amanda

Thanks for reading this far down the post, or email. We hope you’ll browse the splab site, and attend one (or more) of the Michael McClure events.

Ciao,

Your Wily Splabman