posts about books, literature, storytelling, stories, story slams, poetry slams, word performances, readings, etc.
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia’s ever-surprising art gallery Salon Refu is instituting story time for the holiday season. Local poets, writers, storytellers and, as gallery owner Susan Christian puts it, “people of good will and excellent language skills” will read their work every Thursday through Sunday in December. During the month of December …
Writing in the Rain With Olympia’s Poet Laureate UPDATED Nov. 23, 2016: City Arts Program manager Stephanie Johnson announced that the Olympia City Council approved Amy Solomon-Minarchi as Olympia’s first poet laureate. Solomon-Minarchi is in her fourth year of teaching at North Thurston High School. She grew up on the Jersey Shore and moved to …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Political activist and author Iyad Burnat is touring the Pacific Northwest this week to speak about his new book, Bil’in and the Nonviolent Resistance, which addresses peaceful protests in the West Bank and the author’s lifelong struggle for justice and freedom in Palestine. Burnat’s reading at Traditions Fair Trade …
UPDATED JAN. 17, 2017: One correction and one addition were suggested by Ms. Lohmann’s daughter, Karen Lohmann. We apologize for any misinformation or confusion in our original article. In the aftermath of poet Lucia Perillo’s death, OLY ARTS was saddened to learn of the passing on September 26 of renowned Olympia poet Jeanne Lohmann. Lohmann, …
Renowned author and poet Lucia Perillo died in her Olympia home October 16 of unknown causes. Her passing was reported by her publisher, Port Townsend’s Copper Canyon Press. She was 58. Perillo’s 2009 poetry collection, Inseminating the Elephant, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the Library of Congress’s Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National …
(UPDATED October 18, 2016) On the third Tuesday of each month, Rhythm & Rye hosts StoryOly, Olympia’s most beloved “story slam” event. Half the suggested donation to compete or listen goes to Olympia SafePlace. Starting at 5:30 p.m., volunteers throw their names in a hat, and 10 are invited to tell an eight-minute autobiographical story …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS The photo book Banned in DC, about the punk scene in the nation’s capital, was published in 1988—so quickly that some questioned whether it was too soon to document the scene. Nearly three decades later, co-author Cynthia Connolly has produced a seventh edition and is making stops around the …
by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Once upon a time, Nikki McClure hung out with Olympia’s own “riot grrrls.” She danced on stage at Nirvana’s early performances and labored alongside K Records founder Calvin Johnson on a light table used for music newsletters. Over time, McClure also became a well-regarded papercut artist and began selling …
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded Saint Martin’s University associate professor and dean of English Jamie Olson a Literature Translation Fellowship to support his translations of the works of contemporary Russian poet Timur Kibirov. “This is a highly competitive program,” said Jeff Crane, dean of St. Martin’s College of Arts and Sciences, …
Saint Martin’s University welcomes award-winning Portland, Oregon writer Molly Gloss to its annual Les Bailey Writers Series. She’ll meet with university students in English classrooms to discuss the craft of writing. That evening, in her public presentation, “Romancing the West: Rethinking and Rewriting the Great American Mythos,” Gloss will discuss her longtime passion for Western …