1st Living Room

There was a small group for the 1st Living Room in our comfy new space. Maryna Ajaja had an excellent poem entitled Vertigo, based on dream imagery. Her film background is quite an asset for her verse. (She works for SIFF). She read a piece by William Carlos Williams, Russia, which added to the theme of dream imagery and the consciousness which produces it.

Is this what the poet is after? Creating this state, a dream or dream-like state? Perhaps it’s one mode.

Monica Schley workshopped a new sestina based on the odd directions Erik Satie would use to guide performance of his compositions. Sestinas are difficult forms. Paul Hunter said they were “poems poets write for other poets.”

Your Wily Splabman read a piece from his latest series Kozer Variations, as well as a poem from the brand new book A Time Before Slaughter.

We left just as folks were getting in for the 9:30 showing of the new Michael Jackson film.

We hope to see you Tuesday night at 7, in the 2nd floor lounge of the Columbia City Cinema, 4816 Rainier Av S.

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Open Books Schedule

Open Books, one of two all-poetry bookstores in the U.S. (The only one west of Cambridge, MA.)

Three important upcoming readings:

Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 07:30 PM

BRENDA HILLMAN

Brenda Hillman reads from Practical Water (Wesleyan University Press), the third volume, following Cascadia and Pieces of Air in the Epic, in her series of meditations on the elements. She is the author of eight collections of poetry and, with Patricia Dienstfrey, the editor of The Grand Permission: New Writings on Poetics and Motherhood. She is the Olivia Filippi Professor of Poetry at Saint Mary’s College and works with CodePink, a social justice organization against war. Ms. Hillman received the William Carlos Williams Award for Pieces of Air in the Epic.

Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 07:30 PM

THOMAS PRUIKSMA

Thomas Pruiksma joins us to present Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar (to be published in November by Red Hen Press), a bilingual selection of poems he translated from the work of the 12th century Tamil poet Avvaiyar, considered one of the most important female poets in Tamil’s 2500-year literary history, and one of the best known of either gender. He will read the poems both in English and in Tamil. A resident of Vashon Island, his other books include A Feast for the Tongue: Forty Servings of Spoken Tamil with Helpings of Equally Spoken English, co-authored with Dr. K.V. Ramakoti, and The Body and the Earth: Notes from a Conversation, with the artist C.F. John.

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 07:30 PM

MAGED ZAHER

Maged Zaher joins us to read from Portrait of the Poet as an Engineer, published by Pressed Wafer. A resident of Seattle, he was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned an M.Sc. degree in structural engineering, specializing in computer aided design. In 1995, he led the team that did the analysis of the seismic effect on the Meridian high rise hotel in Giza, Egypt. In 1998 he earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Akron, Ohio. He has worked at many large software companies, and participated in building products such as AutoCad, Hotmail, Windows Presentation Foundations, and Microsoft Student. His main areas of interest are API (Application Programming Interface) design and building scalable and flexible SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) systems. His collaboration with Pam Brown, Farout Library Software, was published by Tinfish Press in 2007.

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Living Room

Want intelligent feedback on your writing, or a critique on a poem or bit of prose? Join us for SPLAB’s acclaimed writer’s critique circle, Living Room.

Writers of all ages and skill levels gather in the 2nd floor lounge of the Columbia City Cinema, at 4816 Rainier AV S, Tuesdays at 7P to read new work, the work of someone else or to just be in the engaging company of other writers. You suggested donation of 3-$10 helps SPLAB put on special events and expand programming.

Starting Tuesday, October 27 and running each Tuesday until December 15th and again every Tuesday night in February through the end of May, it’s Living Room. Writers are encouraged to continue the dialog during the week at this here website.

Our thanks go to Paul Doyle and the Columbia City Cinema.

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Come to SPLAB’s re-launch/coming out party!

SPLAB’s coming out party is Sat & Sun, Oct 24-25, at Bookfest, Columbia City Event Center, 3528 S. Ferdinand, one block from the Columbia City light rail station. Come see us at our booth near the poetry stage, at the stage itself (which SPLAB is coordinating), or attend our Panel Discussion on Sunday at 1 PM.

Topic: “Is Seattle Hostile to Literary Innovation?”
Panel: Sam Hamill, Judith Roche, John Olson, J.W. Marshall (of Open Books) and Sarah Mangold. Sam Hamill’s appearance at Bookfest is made possible by a grant from Poets & Writers.

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