The Castalia Reading Series

Castalia Audio: January 2012

2012-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Castalia Audio: December 2011

2012-01-19T11:29:00.001-08:00

February Castalia

2012-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Get ready for February Castalia! This month we have a full line-up, featuring first year poet Jay Yencich. The second year ladies have a bit of a monopoly, as we'll be hearing from poets Erika Wilder and Katherine Eulensen, as well as prose writer Piper Daniels. We'll get another dose of poetry from alum Emily Beyer. Beyer is a poet living and working in Seattle, Washington. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa and a BA in English from the University of Washington. Her poems have appeared in The Seattle Review, Mare Nostrum, The Diagram, Prairie Schooner, and other publications.

Our featured faculty writer this month is David Shields whose recent book Reality Hunger has put nonfiction on the map and made us reconsider our genre boundaries. He has been hailed by the New York Times as "mind-bending." He has authored eight other books, has been a finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and has won the PEN/Revson Award and the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. This past year he co-edited The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death and he has several books forthcoming. Read more at http://www.davidshields.com/index.html

January Recap

2012-01-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

January Castalia rang in the New Year in the best of ways. First year Kristine Greive gave us snippets of a life lived with nausea and a plastic bag always at hand. Fellow first year Matt Perez gave us a moving story based on family experiences. Second year Kate Lebo charmed our ears with her pie poems and our bellies with her warm pie that she served at intermission. Poet and alum Matthew Nienow impressed us after the break with some of his newer work that taught us something about fatherhood and boat-building. Our own Pimone Triplett rounded out the evening with wonderful poems about refrigerators and Now and Laters (or is it Now or Laters?).

January Castalia Photos!

2012-01-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

January Castalia, 2012

Audio Recordings of November Castalia Reading

2012-01-04T13:25:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Castalia reading series is ringing in the new year with more great poetry and prose on Tuesday January 3rd! Kicking off the January event are first year prose writers Kristine Greive and Matt Perez. Our second year reader is famed pie-poet Kate Lebo. Be sure to bring cash & an appetite because she'll be selling slices of her scrumptious pies tomorrow night, too! For our alum reader this month, we are happy to present poet Matthew Nienow, who has published three chapbooks, including The Folded Map, which came out in 2011. He has received awards from such places as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Foundation. For our featured faculty reader, we are fortunate to have Professor and Director of the Creative Writing Program: Pimone Triplett. She has published three books of poetry: Rumor in 2009, The Price of Light in 2005, and Ruining the Picture in 1998. She has received the Levis Poetry Prize and the Hazel Hall Poetry Prize, and has also co-edited the collection of essays Poet's Work, Poet's Play.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Castalia Reading Series
Richard Hugo House
8 pm
Tuesday January 3rd, 2012

December Castalia Photos

2011-12-12T00:08:00.001-08:00

December Castalia 2011

December Castalia

2011-11-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER CASTALIA!

What: The Castalia Reading Series
Who: Writers: Shawn Wong, Megan Snyder-Camp, Nicholas VandenBos, Fonda Fan, Thomas Grout, Emily Sketch Haines
Where: Richard Hugo House, Capitol Hill, Seattle
When: 8 pm

Get ready for the last Castalia of 2011! The theme for December is Lights. The lineup features first year prose writer Fonda Fan and first year poets Thomas Grout and Emily Sketch Haines. Nicholas VandenBos, 2nd year fiction writer, will be returning fresh from the Montana forest, with the glow of the northern lights still in his eyes. . .

We are lucky enough to count alum and poet Megan Snyder-Camp (2004) among our star readers this month. Her first collection The Forest of Sure Things won the Tupelo Press/Crazyhorse First Book Award, and she has received a 2010 Individual Artist Award from Washington’s 4Culture Foundation, as well as scholarships and residencies from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Espy Foundation, Djerassi Resident Artist Program, and the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Her poems have appeared in the Antioch Review, Field, ZYZZYVA, the Sonora Review, the Cincinnati Review, 88, and elsewhere.
You can find her online at http://snydercamp.com/.

But of course, no one can hold a candle to our featured faculty writer, UW professor Shawn Wong, whose works include the novels American Knees (recently made into the IFC film Americanese, on which Shawn served as associate producer) and Homebase, winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Governor's Writers Day Award of Washington. He has co-edited and edited six Asian-American and American multicultural literary anthologies and has been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship and a Rockefeller Foundation residency in Italy.

See you there!

As always, fabulous drinks will be served at the RHH bar!

IN 2012: On Tuesday, January 3rd, the spotlight will be on alum poet Matthew Nienow, poet & faculty member Pimone Triplett, first-year writers Kristine Greive and Matt Perez, and second-year poet Kate Lebo!

December Castalia Poster

2011-11-18T09:55:00.001-08:00

November Recap!

2011-11-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

That's a wrap folks! Last month's Castalia was a raging success featuring first year poet Luke Laubhan who gave us a stirring collage account of his experiences on the Oklahoman range. He was followed by first year prose writer Tara Atkinson who gave us a brief but memorable peek into her novel-in-progress beautifully detailing the complications of a father-daughter relationship. Second year poet gentleman and scholar Peter Moench stole the show in the first act. Via his verse he delved into the life of another scholar and schooled us all on Linear B.

After a brief intermission, we got back to business and boy was it busy! Alum Marcia Woodard surprised us with her off-genre canine journalism. She shared two pieces with us, offering new insights into the world of the AKC and a new understanding what it means to be a pet owner. Following Marcia was her fellow alum, Amanda Laughtland. Amanda shared short poems inspired by a box of forbidden postcards, dug up out of the depths of her neighbor’s basement. Then she got the crowd a buzzin’ with her bee poems. Finally, our best and most distinguished reader Andrew Feld arrived with his pet falcon. Kidding! Guided by the metaphorical possibilities of falconry, he captivated us with poems from his new book Raptor.

November Castalia Photos

2011-11-02T11:00:00.001-07:00

New Poster for November Castalia

2011-10-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

created by Jean Burnet

2011-10-24T15:47:00.002-07:00

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

2011-10-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

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.

Castalia Audio: October 2011

2011-10-19T18:57:00.001-07:00

October Castalia Photos!

2011-10-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Castalia is back!

2011-09-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Don’t miss the first Castalia of the 2011-2012 year! The October event will feature a number of great readers including UW Professor Maya Sonenberg, whose first collection of stories, Cartographies, won the Drue Heinz Prize. Her second, Voices from the Blue Hotel, was published in 2007, and some of her recent work has appeared in Fairy Tale Review, Web Conjunctions, New Ohio Review, and Hotel Amerika. Also reading will be UW MFA alum Daniel Orozco, who has been published in a bevy of anthologies and journals including Best American Essays, Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize anthologies as well as in Harper’s Magazine and McSweeney’s among others. The series will also highlight current MFA candidates, including 2nd year fiction writer Paul Vega, recently returned from the wilds of Alaska, 1st year prose writer Darren Davis and 1st year poet Rich Smith.

WHEN: Monday*, October 17, 8 pm.
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue

Free and open to the public!

The reading series will once again be held at Hugo House on Capitol Hill, which features a stylish cafe with a good variety of beverages and very good prices.

Books will be available for sale with proceeds going to support the reading series, so bring some cash if you don't want the night to end.

*Note: While this month’s Castalia is on a Monday night, all other Castalia readings will be on the first Tuesday of each month.

May Castalia Audio

2011-05-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Our final Castalia of the year! It went by so fast and luckily, we went out with a bang. Thanks to everyone who read and shared their work over the past season! First-year fiction writer Paul Vega began the May reading with a fiction piece about a man and his drug-addled ex-wife; second-year poet Jessica Tyson, inspired by life in the restaurant biz, empathized with the plight of an octopus dipped in marinara sauce; first-year fiction writer Jean Burnet read a nonfiction piece about her family and paid homage to her Ecuadorian roots; during the intermission, audience members worked on erasure poems based on the bios of the night's readers; poet and UW alum Jason Whitmarsh doled out the advice of "If you're going to kiss a vampire, you shouldn't kiss a vampire"; the night ended with poet Cody Walker, who informed the audience of the fate of Abbott and Costello.

April Castalia Audio

2011-05-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

April's Castalia began with first-year poet Katherine Eulensen who was inspired by travels across Spain; first-year nonfiction writer Piper Daniels explored the many manifestations of cannibalism; second-year poet Mia Malhotra went in search of the "spirit underneath the language" of archives from her family's history; UW alumni Bond Huberman explained why "Not Everyone Can Sing," ("among other injustices"); finally, UW poetry professor Pimone Triplett discussed and ruminated on the shifting of stories and rumors.

May Castalia

2011-04-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

We're closing the 2010-2011 season of Castalia with a bang! This May we're pleased to present: Jason Whitmarsh, Cody Walker, second year MFA poet Jessica Tyson Huset, and first year MFA prose writers Paul Vega and Jean Burnet. Don't miss it!

WHEN: Tuesday, May 3, 8 pm
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue
FREE
Co-Sponsored with Richard Hugo House

April Castalia

2011-03-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Join us for the April installment of Castalia! This month we're delighted to present Pimone Triplett, Bond Huberman, Mia Malholtra, Piper Daniels, and Katherine Eulensen.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 5 at 8 pm
WHERE: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue
FREE
Co-Sponsored with Richard Hugo House

As always, we'll have books from current and past readers available for sale. The Hugo House has a lovely cafe with a plethora of beverages, so bring some cash!

More on our readers below:

Pimone Triplett is the director of the creative writing program at the University of Washington. The author of three books of poems, Rumor (2009), The Price of Light (2005) and Ruining the Picture (1998), Pimone Triplett is also coeditor of the essay anthology, Poet's Work, Poet's Play (2008). She has been the recipient of the Levis Poetry Prize and the Hazel Hall Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared many literary journals, including Poetry, Paris Review, Ploughshares, Agni, Yale Review, Triquarterly and New England Review. Frequently appearing in anthologies, her work has been featured in Legitimate Dangers, Contemporary Voices from the East, and New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology.

Bond Huberman grew up in the shadow of a Maxwell House coffee factory in the East End of Houston, Texas. She didn't become a coffee drinker until she moved to Seattle in 2005, where she would enter UW's MFA Creative Writing program as a fiction writer - and come out a journalist. (Because that totally makes sense.) An editor and reporter at City Arts magazine until recently, Bond is now making her way in the wild west of freelance writing and entrepreneurial arts production. As co-founder of the nonprofit organization, The Heroes, she helps produce compelling events that cultivate new audiences for emerging artists' work. Her current projects include reinventing Dada cabaret for modern audiences (Barnstorm), staging a 5K run that is also an art show (NEPO) and writing a comedic play about a world in which homosexual love is the "norm". When she's not procrastinating or collaborating, Bond watches TV and writes creative essays that reveal way too much personal information. Contact her via hiredgunenterprises.com.

Mia Malhotra is a second-year poet from the San Francisco Bay Area. She was raised in Laos and Thailand and, like Elizabeth Bishop, sometimes feels a little "land-sick continent-sick." Unlike Bishop, however, who traveled south from Nova Scotia to Florida to Brazil, she has spent her life moving to progressively colder climates--bringing her here to Seattle for poetry, the MFA, and the company of wonderful friends.

Piper Daniels was born and bred on the outskirts of that now ghostly dystopia, Detroit, Michigan. She received her BA in creative nonfiction from Columbia College Chicago. Piper has served as editorial whipping girl on such publications as Echo Magazine, Columbia Poetry Review, Hotel Amerika, and Nightboat Books. Currently she is an MFA candidate at the University of Washington. A passionate advocate for emerging nonfictive forms, she believes in lyricism, collage, and the Shieldsian way.

Katherine Eulensen is a fine vintage. Born in a good year, still fresh with the flushes of youth, a sensitive palate will detect the traces of various soils in her bearing, presence, and work: her native Brazil, the wilds of Oregon, where she took refuge in later years, and Spain, a place she visited. Like the wines her family has nurtured for generations, Katherine’s poetry is often spare, but always unsparing, earthy in its reflection, and far-reaching in its understanding. Whether meditating on the bonds of familial relationships or terrifying us with portraits of serial killers (a favorite topic), Katherine’s poems never rest on their laurels but delight in vining us in.

March Castalia Audio

2011-03-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

This month we kicked off Castalia with a reading by first year prose writer Cecilia Kiely, who questioned our public bathroom symbols; second year poet Zebulon Huset continued the trend of signage with his poem "Lol No Lifeguard"; second year poet Matt Muth recalled his night on 17th with Oscar; UW alumni Peter Mountford read two passages from his forthcoming novel; and UW faculty member David Shields shared some of his newest works in progress.

February Castalia Audio

2011-03-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

First up at this month's Castalia reading was second year poet Rachel Welty, who emulated the catalog poems of William Carlos Williams, among other artful pieces; second year fiction writer Anca Szilagyi read two short pieces, one about a tasty meal of glass; and UW alumni Johnny Horton paid homage to Charlie the Chimp.

March Castalia

2011-02-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

We have another fabulous line up for Castalia in March: UW professor David Shields, alum Peter Mountford, first year MFA prose writer Cecilia Kiely, second year MFA poet Matt Muth, and second year MFA poet Zebulon Huset.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 1, 8 pm
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue
FREE and open to the public.
Co-sponsored with Richard Hugo House

More on our readers below:
David Shields’s most recent book, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto (Knopf, 2010), was called “mind-bending” (The New York Times) and “the most provocative, brain-rewiring book of 2010” (GQ); it was also named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus Reviews, the Guardian, New Statesman, and two dozen other publications. His previous book, The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead (Knopf, 2008), was a New York Times bestseller; Amazon, Artforum, Salon, TimeOut Chicago, and the Seattle Times named it one of the best books of 2010. He is the author of ten other books, including Black Planet, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Remote, winner of the PEN/Revson Award; and Dead Languages, winner of the PEN/Syndicated Fiction Award. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, Salon, and Slate. Shields’s work has been translated into fifteen languages.

Since earning his MFA from the University of Washington in 2006, Peter Mountford's short fiction has appeared in Best New American Voices 2008, Conjunctions, Michigan Quarterly Review, Phoebe, Seattle Review, and Boston Review, where he was the runner-up in the 2007 contest, judged by George Saunders. A 2010-11 writer-in-residence at Seattle Arts and Lectures, he is a two-time fellow of Yaddo and won 2010 grants from the city of Seattle and the Elizabeth George Foundation. Peter’s first novel, A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism, will be published on April 12 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Cecilia Kiely is a first-year MFA student at the UW. She is a New England transplant from the small town of Manchester-by-the-Sea. Her work frequently appears in such places as workshop classes and late-night emails. She serves as the editor of the Pacific Northwest’s premiere sailing club e-newsletter. Receiving national recognition for her work, Cecilia has been awarded several Stafford Loans.

Matt Muth is a narcissist, and often refers to himself in the 3rd person. His activities include being handsome, making Italian hand gestures, and hating on hipsters. Matt was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will lecture you freely on why you should buy American automobiles, and is a proud member of UAW Local 4121. His attempts at collective bargaining his thesis requirements have been rebuffed, and he is plotting a sit-in in the graduate lounge as a result. When not preening, he teaches Intro to Poetry at the UW, plays hockey, and wastes time on the internet like there will be no more internet in the near future. Matt's lifelong ambition is to be Mr. Halle Berry.

February Castalia

2011-01-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

Come to the February installment of Castalia! This month we're delighted to present Heather McHugh, Johnny Horton, Rachel Welty, and Anca Szilágyi.

WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue
WHEN: Tuesday, February 1, 8 pm

As always the Hugo House Cafe offers a variety of drinks to keep you well hydrated throughout the evening. We'll continue to have books for sale — so bring some cash!

The reading is FREE and open to the public. Co-sponsored with Richard Hugo House.

More on this month's readers below:

Heather McHugh is a dual citizen of Canada and the US, and a resident of Washington state. She has been teaching at the UW since 1983, and before that she taught ten years elsewhere. Her most recent collection of poems is Upgraded to Serious, from Copper Canyon; she's done seven or eight poetry collections, a lot of translations; and a collection of essays called Broken English: Poetry and Partiality. In 2000 she was made a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2009 was named a John D and Catherine T MacArthur fellow.

Johnny Horton teaches writing and American Lit at Seattle Central Community College. He's published poems or recently had poems accepted by Indiana Review, Notre Dame Review, Fourteen Hills, The Laurel Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, The Seattle Review and other magazines. He's been the recipient of a Washington Artist Trust GAP grant and residency fellowships from The Espy Foundation, The Ragdale Foundation, and The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. In 2009 and 2010 he co-directed the University of Washington's summer creative writing program in Rome.

Rachel Welty is a second-year MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Washington. Rachel is one of those girls who is defined by her lovers, among them: King David, George Herbert, William Carlos Williams, Martha Stewart, and NPR's Paula Poundstone. Even though William Carlos Williams once advised her, “no ideas but in things!” old habits die hard; she can't stop writing on abstract ideas, among them: verbing proper nouns, prayer, the midwest, and HOME.

Anca Szilágyi is a Brooklynite living in Seattle. Her stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Western Humanities Review, and The Antigonish Review, among other publications. Chocolate pudding has fueled the writing and rewriting of much of her first novel. She is a second-year MFA candidate in prose.

January Castalia Audio

2011-01-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

New year, same fabulous reading series! First year fiction writer Valerie Arvidson kicked off 2011 with a series of short narratives based off of old family photos; first year poet Peter Moench shared with us his love of toasters and Abraham Lincoln; second year fiction writer Ben Wirth showed the audience the ups and downs of the dangerous world of gambling; UW alumna and poet Sierra Nelson invoked Groucho Marx and took the audience on a "choose your own adventure"; and UW creative writing faculty member Maya Sonenberg closed out the evening with two experimental short fiction pieces.

January Castalia

2010-12-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

Join us for the first Castalia of 2011! Featuring Maya Sonenberg, Sierra Nelson, Ben Wirth, Peter Moench, and Valerie Marie Arvidson.

WHEN: January 4, 8 pm
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122

Co-sponsored with the Richard Hugo House.
FREE and open to the public!

As always the Hugo House Cafe offers a variety of drinks to keep you well hydrated throughout the evening. We'll continue to have books for sale by current and former featured readers—so bring some cash!

More info on our readers below:

Maya Sonenberg's first collection of stories, Cartographies, received the Drue Heinz Prize. Her second, Voices from the Blue Hotel, was published by Chiasmus Press in 2007. More recent fiction and nonfiction is appearing in Fairy Tale Review, Web Conjunctions, New Ohio Review, and Hotel Amerika. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Washington.

Sierra Nelson earned her MFA from U.W. in 2002 and her poems can be found in Crazyhorse, Poetry Northwest, Fairy Tale Review, Forklift, Thermos, and other locations. Co-founder of the Vis-à-Vis Society and The Typing Explosion, her collaborative graph installations can be found in Cal Anderson Park, and the new Vis-à-Vis Society statistical musical will debut at the NW Film Forum this May. Sierra’s chapbook with artist Loren Erdrich, I Take Back the Sponge Cake, recently won NYU’s Collaboration Award. She hearts typewriters, Icelandic sagas, and cephalopods.

Ben Wirth is a second-year MFA candidate at the University of Washington. He was the recipient of the Joyce Waddell Fund for Talented Writers and runner-up for the Loren D. Milliman Scholarship. His work has received rave reviews from his peers, including: "If Ben's story is the future of fiction, I'm going to cry" and "I feel as though this story hates me." As the Castalia photographer, it has been his honor to shoot so many great readers in our community, and is proud to be invited to read along with them.

Peter Moench was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Ithaca of the upper Midwest. Like many young men of his generation, his childhood was spent exploring the wooded banks and bluffs of the Mississippi River. He fished for its bounty of catfish, chased the light bulb sun across the birch infested sky, sang with the crickets and mosquitoes. When night fell and he slept at last, the woods blanketed him in oak leaves and wreathed him in holly, while the northern lights bathed his dreams in their Christmas police siren glow. From the whitetail deer he learned to sniff trouble on the wind, the sense to flee at the first sign of anything. The snow taught him its quiet wisdom, the unstirred grace of yogurt. Then, at age six, his father packed the family’s trunks and moved them south in search of their fortunes. There, in the suburbs, Peter learned of books, driveways with their own basketball hoops, and CD-ROMS, but the wilderness of the city always stayed in his heart.

Valerie Marie Arvidson is originally from Massachusetts. She writes fiction, creative non-fiction, and "mixed-fiction"/blurred genres. She is also a print-maker and visual-artist. Her personal essay about childhood and family, titled “Birds Have Eyes”, was the winner of the 2009 Hunger Mountain Creative Non-Fiction Writing Contest, judged by author Robin Hemley. Valerie is currently teaching writing composition and earning her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Washington. Fun fact: she's getting married in 2011!

December Castalia Audio

2010-12-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous holiday treat to sit in cozy Hugo House, nursing (or chugging) a glass of wine or a bottle of beer, and enjoying some fine poetry and prose. First year poet Erika Wilder kicked off the night with an abundance of intriguing imagery and wordplay; second year prose writer Lisa Nicholas Ritscher’s essay was accompanied by her own fabulous clarinet music; second year poet Talia Shalev began her performance with a mention of Apollo and then followed it with a few more “geek out, Greek out,” poems; UW alumna and poet Chelsea Jennings taught us about Fado, the weather, and the “old Castalia,” including costumes and Box Wine,among other things; and UW professor and fiction writer Shawn Wong shared an excerpt from his new novel.

December Castalia

2010-11-23T22:43:00.000-08:00

Join us for our December reading! This month we're delighted to present UW professor Shawn Wong, author of the novel American Knees which has been made into the film Americanese, distributed by IFC Films, as well as Homebase which won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, as well as the Governor’s Writers Day Award of Washington; alumna Chelsea Jennings whose poems have appeared in Madison Review, Sycamore Review, Poet Lore, Best New Poets 2007, and Black Warrior Review, and who is a recipient of the 2010 Discovery/Boston Review Award; 2nd year MFA fiction writer Lisa Nicholas-Ritscher; 2nd year MFA poet Talia Shalev; and 1st year MFA poet Erika Wilder, whose poems have been published in the online reading series Back Room Live.

WHEN: December 7, 8 pm
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122

Co-sponsored with the Richard Hugo House.
FREE and open to the public!

November Castalia

2010-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

This month's Castalia fell on Election Day. Luckily, we weren't forced to cast a vote for the best one since they were all so great. First-year prose writer Kristen Millares Young shared the prologue and first few pages of her novel; first-year poet Kori Linn read some old work as well as pieces she's been working on this year; second-year prose writer Rebecca Ainsley read a short fiction piece about one woman's love of deep sea diving; UW alumna Elissa Washuta shared an excerpt from the book she is working on, about her identity as a Cowlitz Indian; and UW poetry professor Andrew Feld read a few pieces from his forthcoming book, centered around the unifying theme of falconry. Happy listening!

October Castalia

2010-10-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

How nice it is to have Castalia back in our lives! The 2010-2011 season opened with five great readings. First-year prose writer Nick VandenBos reminded us that once you learn how to ride a bike, you will never forget; first-year poet Kate Lebo left mouths watering with pumpkin pie poetry; second-year prose writer Tara Ebrahimi lamented over music festivals and hippies; UW alum Rebecca Hoogs traveled from a mythic land to the bottom of the ocean, then off to Rome; and UW professor Linda Bierds made us rethink our whole understanding of mirrors.

Next Reading: November 2

2010-10-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Can't get enough Castalia? Fear not! The next reading is next week, November 2. This month's line up features: UW Professor Andrew Feld, author of Citizen (HarperCollins 2004), a 2003 National Poetry Series selection chosen by Ellen Bryant Voigt, and whose poems have appeared in The Canary, The Iowa Review, Poetry, Tikkun, Triquarterly and many other journals; alumna Elissa Washuta; second year fiction writer Rebecca Ainsley; first year poet Kori Linn; and first year fiction writer Kristen Millares Young.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 2, 8 pm
WHERE: Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue East
Co-sponsored with the Richard Hugo House.
FREE

Castalia Kick Off

2010-10-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Come to the first Castalia of the 2010-2011 year! Featuring UW Professor Linda Bierds, four-time recipient of the Pushcart Prize and author of numerous books of poetry, including FLIGHT: New & Selected Poems, First Hand, and The Seconds, and whose poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and Poetry; alum Rebecca Hoogs, recipient of the 2010 Southeast Review poetry prize for her poem “Miss Scarlett,” author of the chapbook Grenade, and curator of the Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Poetry Series, whose poems have appeared in Crazy Horse, Poetry, and other journals; 1st year MFA poet Kate Lebo, whose poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Crab Creek Review, and other journals, and is a poetry editor for Filter; 2nd year MFA fiction writer Tara Ebrahimi, recipient of the 2010 Mary Rouvelas Prize for Fiction; and 1st year MFA fiction writer Nick VandenBos.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 19, 8 pm.
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue
Free and open to the public!

Come to the last Castalia of 2009-10!

2010-05-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Despite the temporary distraction of thesis deadlines, we can finally re-live May’s awesome Castalia with readings from first-year poet Mia Ayumi Malhotra, second-year prose writer Debs Gardner, first-year prose writer Lisa Nicholas-Ritscher, and special guests UW Professor Emeritus David Wagoner and UW alum Kevin Craft. Click on the audio links below for pure listening pleasure.

And be sure to mark your calendars for our last reading before Castalia grabs its Bermuda shorts and takes a summer vacation. The final show of the 2009-10 school year is next week, Tuesday, June 1st, at 8 pm. Have a great break, Castalia. You’ve totally earned it. Seeing how you work a whole one night a month and everything.

April Castalia

2010-04-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

At April's Castalia, second-year poet Evan Klavon posed riddles and demonstrated the difference between countable and uncountable infinity; first-year prose writer Ben Wirth went behind the scenes in the business of funny business; second-year poet Elizabeth Cooperman conjured images of both film and dating from a collection of mini-essays; and special guests Sonya Chung and UW professor Shawn Wong read from their new novels.

April Castalia

2010-03-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Everything is coming up Castalia! April may have been dubbed the cruelest month, but we're here to curtail some of that old angst with fabulous readings from current MFA writers: Elizabeth Cooperman, Evan Klavon and Ben Wirth, UW alum: Sonya Chung, and UW professor: Shawn Wong.

We'll continue to have books for sale by current and former featured readers—so bring some cash! As always the Hugo House Cafe offers a bevy of beverages to keep you well hydrated throughout the evening.

Don't let this one pass you by!

When: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 8pm

Where: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

March Castalia

2010-03-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

At this month's Castalia, second-year poet Katharine Ogle led us through a museum displaying the real life of childhood and the death of rats, among other exhibits; second-year prose writer Sarah Shotwell took us to China for plum rain season and to the streets of San Luis Obispo for a quick bake in the sun; second-year poet William Fox Camponovo invented the silent S and showed us a view of Miami from Buenos Aires; we stopped into Bolivia for dinner with UW alum Peter Mountford, reading from his forthcoming novel; and UW professor David Shields, with his new book Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, brought us home again for an inspection of fact, fiction, and our own nervous desire to know which is which. Enjoy the trip.

2010-02-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

Wow. The March Castalia is going to be awesome—as the poster clearly indicates! Not much else to say, except, "BE THERE."

Sarah Shotwell. (Geez, she's cool). William Fox Camponovo. (Dude. He has an animal in his name). Katherine Ogle. (Her last name is a verb, people). Peter Mountford. (Classy and with a novel on the way from Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt). David Shields. (This guy is hot stuff and is reading from his highly acclaimed new book: "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto).

The line up says it all.

Remember, Hugo House has a fabulous little cafe with a variety of drinks to keep you content. We'll continue to have books for sale, so bring some cash.

When: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 8pm

Where: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

February Castalia

2010-02-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

This month's Castalia considered the genesis of things, in a sense: Second-year poet Matthew Ian Kelsey breathed life into a Golem; second-year prose writer Anthony Manganaro sparked new ideas about the strange future of politics, the media, Libertarians, and literature in general; third-year poet/prosist Sarah Erickson and her friends brought the first Chorus (as far as we know) to Castalia's stage; special guest UW alum Rebecca Hoogs celebrated her birthday with odes to Rome and the (partial) cast of the boardgame Clue; and UW professor Richard Kenney reflected on the remarkable origins of human language--and of Anthony Manganaro. Enjoy.

February Castalia

2010-01-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

February, the month of Groundhogs, Valentines and cherry blossoms, also brings another round of Castalia, sponsored in part by the lovely Hugo House. This month we're proud to feature current UW writers: Sarah Erickson, Matthew Ian Kelsey and Anthony Manganaro; Featured alumna: Rebecca Hoogs; and UW faculty poet: Richard Kenney.

Remember, Hugo House has a fabulous little cafe with a variety of drinks to keep you content. We'll continue to have books for sale, so bring some cash.

When: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 8pm

Where: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

A New Year's Castalia

2010-01-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

For our first Castalia of 2010, second-year prose writer Jenny Dolan gave testimony as to why Tina Fey should be compared to her, first-year poet Zebulon Huset took us on a savage journey to the heart of Las Vegas, and UW alums Aaron Barrell and William Bernhard--former caretakers of our series--proved their curation skills are rivaled only by their talent for verse. Enjoy.

Come Ring Out the New Year with Castalia 2010!

2009-12-13T19:18:00.000-08:00

Kicking off the new year, we're lucky to have current MFA writers Rachael Armstrong, Jenny Dolan and Zebulon Huset, as well as a featured alumni twofer: poets (and former Castalia curators), Aaron Barrell and William Bernhard.

Remember, Hugo House has a fabulous little cafe with a variety of drinks to keep you content. We'll continue to have books for sale, so bring some cash.

When: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 8pm

Where: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

December Castalia

2009-12-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

Closing out 2009 Castalia (we’ll be back January 5th, 2010, don't worry), second-year prose writer Jess Corozza brought us poetry from her younger days and gave reasons why hugging sucks; first-year poet Talia Shalev offered us a trip to the seashore with Medusa and collages built from Alan Dugan; second-year prose writer Paige Eve Chant explored mysteries of family, youthful devotion, and sand dollars; second-year poet Sarah Kate Moore took us from the moon to Buenos Aires and reflected on the endings of things; and special guest reader, UW professor Maya Sonenberg, walked gracefully the boundaries of poetry and prose with most satisfying results. Enjoy, see you in the New Year.

Sarah Kate is up for a Pushcart!

2009-12-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Sarah Kathryn Moore, one of tomorrow's featured readers, has a great poem up on Linebreak, which the editors just nominated for the Pushcart Prizes.

Come out tomorrow to hear her, and our other talented writers!

Last Reading of the Decade: A Very Special One-Time-Only Wednesday Castalia

2009-11-26T01:35:00.000-08:00

The UW Creative Writing Program and the Richard Hugo House are now in cahoots sponsoring our wildly popular reading series, so come on out for the only Wednesday reading of 2009-10 Castalia! This month will feature prose writers Paige Chant and Jess Corozza, poets Sarah Kate Moore and Talia Shalev, and our special guest reader, UW professor Maya Sonenberg.

When: Wednesday, December 2nd, 8pm

Where: 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle, WA

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

November Castalia

2009-11-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

This month, second-year poet Johnathan Calavitta showed us another side of falcons; first-year prose writer Tara Ebrahimi evoked a life like the roaring Twenties; first-year poet Matthew Muth took us swimming in his letter pool; second-year fiction writer Joshua Parish told a transgressive tale of loss and prehistoric birds; and special guest UW alumnus, poet John Marshall, leapt in a narrative arc and let us eavesdrop on conversation with the hummingbird. Enjoy.

November Reading

2009-10-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

We kicked this thing off with a bang.

For all those who attended, thank you. For those who couldn't make it, come out this round! The first reading boasted a very full house and we'd like to keep that going.

This month we're delighted to have first year poet Matthew Muth, first year prose writer Tara Ebrahimi, second year poet Jonathan Calavitta, second year prose writer Joshua Parish and featured alumni poet, John Marshall.

Remember, Hugo House has a fabulous little cafe with a variety of drinks to keep you content. We'll also have books for sale once again, so bring some cash and the words of the evening will linger even longer.

When: Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 8pm

Where: Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

First Castalia of the 2009-10 Reading Series

2009-09-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Come out for the first reading of the 2009-10 Castalia reading series, featuring current MFA readers: Brian Larsen, Matthew Nienow and Anca Szilagyi; alumna: Elissa Washuta; and UW professor: Andrew Feld.

The reading series will once again be held at Hugo House on Capital Hill, which features a stylish cafe with a good variety of beverages and very good prices.

Books will be available for sale with proceeds going to support the reading series, so bring some cash if you don't want the night to end.

When: Tuesday, October 6th, 8pm

Where: 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle, WA

The reading is FREE and open to the public.

Farewell

2009-06-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

The Castalia Reading Series will be on hiatus for the summer, but will return this fall in the capable hands of William Camponovo, Matthew Kelsey, Matthew Nienow, and Josh Parish.

And with that, we'll let Prospero's farewell be ours, to you:

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,

And what strength I have's mine own,

Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,

I must here be confined by you,

Or sent to Naples. Let me not,

Since I have my dukedom got

And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell

In this bare island by your spell;

But release me from my bands

With the help of your good Hands:

Gentle breath of yours my sails

Must fill, or else my project fails,

Which was to please. Now I want

Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,

And my ending is despair,

Unless I be relieved by prayer,

Which pierces so that it assaults

Mercy itself and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardon'd be,

Let your indulgence set me free.

-Aaron Barrell, William Bernhard & Elissa Washuta, curators, 08-09

June Castalia

2009-06-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

In the first half of this evening's reading, we hear from first-year poet Constance Hansen about the lessons of brotherhood a little sister learns; from second-year fiction writer Daisy Wilson-Morrow, whose voice--hers and her story's--carries us along unsuspecting until the moment we begin to feel ourselves, feeling; and from poet and Professor Emeritus David Wagoner, whose studied, compassionate poems observe the inner landscape no less intensely than the outer.

In the second half of the evening, we learned of the importance of batteries. Juice. Power. Devices that depend on them to work and record--or, as the case may be, not record--voices. As in, the voices of our final two readers: Simone Sachs and Evan Klavon.

Second-year writer Simone Sachs captures her self, and a not-so small piece of the world, on the page, hooking both up to a lie detector whose needle marks a steady, unwavering line. Putting both to a test of words.

And first-year poet Evan Klavon, who ends the evening--and this year's reading series--with class; thoughtfully and with intelligence, Evan offers anecdotal & poetic evidence of origins and inspiration from fellow writers. In doing so he reminds us that what we do as writers we may often do alone, but that we must go out and be alone together, often as we can.

photos of June Castalia

Next Reading: 3 June 2009

2009-05-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Video Extra: David Bosworth

2009-05-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

From 2009 May Castalia

May Castalia

2009-05-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

This month, poet-essayist Brian Christian proposes a way of thinking about language and reality. It has to do with compression. You will feel heavy and light at the same time. Flash-fictionista Kirsten Rue mitigates, discovers, and sculpts. An unidentified fingerbone is involved. Poet Kary Wayson takes a walk in the sun with that little kid, the world. Poet Elizabeth Cooperman is "doomed by well-meaning photography always to have an expression." Professor David Bosworth reads from his essay "Auguries of Decadence: American Television in the Age of Empire." It requires contextualization. Be prepared for reality TV, TBN, the Iraq war, embarrassment, and glossolalia.

photos of May Castalia

Next Reading: 5 May 2009

2009-04-28T22:41:00.001-07:00

April Castalia

2009-04-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

The songs of Spring are here! This month, prose from first year writer Jenny Dolan; poetry from first year student Katie Ogle; fiction from first year student Josh Parish; and poetry from UW alums Mischa Willett and Kevin Craft.

photos of April Castalia

Next Reading: 7 April 2009

2009-03-16T13:09:00.001-07:00

March Castalia

2009-03-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

This month, a special video edition of the Castalia blog.

First year writer Debs Gardner starts off the evening with a moment of human touch amid turbulence:

Second year fiction writer Chris Mohar shows us the bogeyman's sensitive side:

First year poet and maestro William Camponovo does what only he can do:

And David Shields, UW Professor and genre-leaper, reads from his recent work The Thing About Life is That One Day You'll Be Dead:

Debs and Chris' readings are offered here in (unintentionally) abbreviated form--and incomplete as they are, they are more than worth a listen. Our apologies to them; and also our thanks, to them and to all the readers this month, for sharing their words.

photos of March Castalia

Next Reading: 3 Mar 2009

2009-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Video Extra: Maya Sonenberg

2009-02-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

From February Castalia:

Listen to all the evening's readers here.

Also: Castalia in the news.

Video Extra: Richard Kenney

2009-02-20T00:22:00.000-08:00

From January Castalia:

Listen to the complete reading here.

February Castalia

2009-02-06T00:33:00.001-08:00

This month, Nicole Corbo specializes in all styles; poet Matthew Kelsey gets his ocular rebellion on; fiction writer Jess Corozza is 72% factual and 100% truthful; poet Scott Provence reads on how the body bends (special bonus: Kate Lebo’s spoonerism); and professor & fiction writer Maya Sonenberg visits the bones of whales and other forms.

photos of February Castalia

Next Reading: 3 Feb 2009

2009-01-25T00:43:00.000-08:00

January Castalia

2009-01-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

This month, a wild and mystic Roman gathering: Fiction writer Paige Chant gives us the time when intimacies change hands; poet Sarah Kate Moore has us at sestina; fiction writer Kara Weiss escorts us to the Bacchanal (in Saigon); poet William Bernhard channels the ancients; and poet Richard Kenney reads for hearts and minds.

photos of January Castalia

Next Reading: 6 Jan 2009

2008-12-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

December Castalia

2008-12-10T00:50:00.000-08:00

Paullette Gaudet: "More proof that for the rich, crazy is called eccentric; for the poor, it's called being institutionalized; but in the south, it's called Tuesday."
Matt Nienow: "asking the question / rivers are always asking: why?"
Sarah Shotwell: "Communion will include real wine."
Elissa Washuta: "I'm so impressed by everyone in this program. I feel really good right now."
Brian Larsen: "I've paced this land and placed it. Here, hand that pen. I'll press it."
Stacey Levine: "Demonstrating this condition of being an odorless, Coke-drinking person by drinking further Cokes."

photos of December Castalia

Next Reading: 8 Dec 2008

2008-11-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

November Castalia

2008-11-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

This month, host Elissa Washuta keeps things running as efficiently as a Catholic schoolyard; Johnathan Calavitta steps through the fourth wall, Leah Kaminsky has a few things to say about the fourth grade, anti-Sarah Erickson walks the uncanny valley, Anthony Manganaro skips the part about the orgy, and guest reader Johnny Horton pursues a confederate colonel to the island of Capri.

photos of November Castalia

Next Reading: 19 Nov 2008

2008-11-08T17:40:00.001-08:00

October Castalia

2008-11-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Here's the audio from this year's inaugural reading. (A little distortion: we're working on it!)

Thanks to all who came out! Thanks also to our host, Chris Mohar, to the readers, Aaron Barrell, Callie Connor, Elissa Washuta, Tina Kimbrell, and special guest Rebecca Hoogs.

photos of October Castalia