by James O’Barr
Spring creeps in slowly, one dogwood blooming over here, some skunk cabbage blossoming in the creek over there, and then bam, it’s bustin’ out all over. But, all due respect to Mother Earth, who will have her own day the following week, the official local marker for the arrival of spring in the South Sound is the posting of the schedules for the Luminaries Procession, the Procession of the Species, and Arts Walk. The weekend-end transformation of downtown Olympia into a city-scape of fantastical artistic creativity, parades, live music, street theatre, and a showcase for the very best of our local arts and art makers, culture and community — can there be a better case to be made for new life on the rise?
At Browsers Bookshop, there is always much ado about everything related to the literary arts, and Arts Walk weekend will be no exception, just more so, what with the celebration of National Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday. Friday evening, before the Luminaries Procession lights up the night, award-winning children’s books illustrator Amy Schimler-Safford will be on hand to talk about her work, with some of her illustrations displayed along the stairwell. Up in the loft, genderqueer writer, filmmaker, and multi-media phenom Jonah Barnett will be performing a series of readings from their 2021 short-story collection, Moss-Covered Claws. Barnett has worked as, among other things, a literary magazine and anthology editor, journalist, screenwriter, film director, bookseller, and art archivist. As a writer, says Bryan Willis of the Northwest Playwrights Alliance, “Jonah has that thing so many writers covet: a voice. It is intelligently snarky, insightful, and compelling.”
Moss Covered Claws, we are told, “mashes dreams and reality together in 11 macabre tales of speculative fiction … tales of anxiety-feeding demons, anti-fascists that travel dimensions, and the vengeful spirits of dead seabirds.” That said, it will come as no surprise to reveal that, in a performative reading of one of the stories from Moss Covered Claws, every half hour from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Barnett will be accompanied by a shoulder-mounted monster puppet.
First published in 2021 by Blue Cactus Press and now out in an expanded 3rd edition, Moss Covered Claws will be available for purchase at the counter — Browsers will be open later than usual, until 9 p.m. Barnett’s work has also been published by Forest Avenue Press collections: in the Ursula K. Le Guin tribute anthology, Dispatches From Annares, and in Gigi Littles’s love letter to the city of Portland, City of Weird.
WHAT:
Fantasy author Jonah Barnett in performative readings, accompanied by a monster puppet.
WHEN:
Friday, April 25, at 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Browsers Bookshop, 107 Capitol Way N, Olympia
LEARN MORE
https://browsersolympia.com/events (360) 357-7462
https://bluecactuspress.com/product/moss-covered-claws
https://stuffjonahmade.com/