Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Monday, October 24, 2011

Get ready for November Castalia, ya'll, as we head into another month of great readings featuring UW MFA students and friends.  This month features first year poet Luke Laubhan, first year prose writer Tara Atkinson, and second year poet Peter Moench. This month we're lucky enough to have two featured alumni readers, poet Amanda Laughtland whose first book of poems Postcards to Box 464 was recently published by Bootstrap Press, and prose writer Marcia Woodard, whose first book Collected Kona: Brief Takes on a Basenji was runner-up for the Association of Purebred Dog Writers Book of the Year award for 2010. Closing out the evening will be UW professor Andrew Feld, whose accomplishments include a Stegner Fellowship, the Nation Award, and two Pushcart Prizes.  He is the author of Citizen, a 2003 National Poetry Series selection, and in addition to teaching at the UW, he is the poetry editor at the Seattle Review.

October Castalia Recap

On October 17th we kicked off the Castalia season with some great readings: first year prose writer, Darren Davis meditated on woodpeckers and heartbreak; first year poet Rich Smith gave us a few laughs along moments of insight with his musings on fathers; and second year prose writer Paul Vega's fisherman's tale carried us all away to Alaska. Visiting alum Daniel Orozco read from his collection of stories, giving us a wonderful interpretation of a blind date and an ethical dilemma, and UW's own Maya Sonenberg allowed the audience to participate in choosing her readings. She read a linked haiku and a five paragraph essay, featuring the themes of nature, motherhood and the motifs of fairytales.