By Molly Walsh On September 21, all five past and present Washington State Poets Laureate will gather for a day of poetry-centered conversation and celebration at Laureate Fest. Organized by the Olympia Poetry Network, Laureate Fest is the first event of its kind in the state and the first time all five Washington State Poets …
By Ellis Boran Detective Pikachu, nominated for three Teen Choice Awards in 2019, is based in a fictional city inhabited by creatures called Pokémon. The movie is about a young man who hopes to find his dad. His dad was/is a detective, and he’s presumed dead from a car accident. The protagonist, Tim, and his …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS It is rare when a work of art balances commentary and beauty. It is rarer still when an exhibition with works by nine different artists in a variety of media and styles manages to attain that level of balance between the conceptual and the aesthetic. Such is …
By Ned Hayes and Billy Thomas On August 24, OLY ARTS helped organize a day-long reading of Volume I of the Mueller Report at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. A number of local, theatrical artists and elected officials participated in the successful event. Some in the artistic and reader communities have asked why our organization involved …
By Melinda Minton New Traditions Fair Trade — the classic, loving, healthy venue for good eats and music — is set to host a benefit run in downtown Olympia. Locals are encouraged to run, walk or stroll. “In fact, bring your beautiful babies in a stroller, an international baby wrap or anything that makes that young …
By Alec Clayton Local comedian Sam Miller has teamed up with storyteller and StoryOly co-founder Elizabeth Lord to bring to Olympia “Choice Comedy,” an evening of all-female standup comedy to benefit reproductive rights in Alabama. The show will be hosted by Lord and will feature Amanda Biddle from Olympia plus Jill Silva from Tacoma, and Portland’s Tory …
By JONAH BARRETT The Olympia Film Society is now accepting submissions for its 36th-annual Olympia Film Festival. Filmmakers are welcomed to submit their films online until the deadline of December 23, 2019. Named one of the “Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine in 2018, the Olympia Film Society has hosted the …
By Alec Clayton The Chinese dragon mural in downtown Olympia will be dedicated Saturday, August 24 to honor Chinese-American history. The public is invited to attend the dedication at noon on the corner of Fifth Avenue SW and Columbia Street SE. Dragon Mural Committee spokesperson Anna Schlecht said, “In 2015, I was inspired by a …
By Alec Clayton The storytellers at StoryOly are at it again. The fourth-annual StoryOly Grand Slam competition will be held at Rhythm & Rye Saturday, September 7. StoryOly is Olympia’s premiere story-slam event. Community members come together every month to share, compete and tell true stories based on a monthly theme. Past themes have included …
By Ellis Boran Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is another amazing film by the Japanese writer/director Hayao Miyazaki. This movie is about Nausicaa, a young woman who risks her life to protect her home in the Valley of the Wind from a toxic jungle. The complicated part of the story is that, even …