October Castalia

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.