please (t)read with me
IMPORTANT APRIL INFO
April’s please (t)read with me event will be at a new location: Common Area Maintenance. You can RSVP here.
CAM’s address is 2125 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
April’s event is a music and art takeover featuring music by Pansy with an opener by Madi G. Victoria Scott’s photography will be displayed throughout.
Check out Victoria’s photobooks
See you there!
Some Reflections on please (t)read with me
In January I started hosting a monthly reading series at a local bookstore. The idea was simple: create a space where the scattered writers and artists in Seattle could regularly share their work and interact face to face. Over the first three monthly events, I refined the format into what I think is a decent combination of structured and free form interactions: a thirty minute open mic sign up and free conversation at the beginning, thirty minutes of open mic, a 15 minute break, a featured guest reading for ~15 minutes, and then another half hour to talk. I’ve had more than 21 readers so far over the three events in addition to the guests (Victoria Scott, Meysha, and Katherine Cross). Attendance for March’s event was just under 30 people. If you build it they will come. There is an enthusiasm and eagerness that this event is tapping into, and I’m excited to see how it continues to develop.
So I now find myself as an unofficial event coordinator, editor, and publisher, in addition to my continued attempts at being a writer (more on what I’ve been up to with that later). I enjoy learning how to accomplish something that is not a usual part of my day to day, and both the reading series and zine series, while requiring a lot of time and effort, are rewarding in a different way than getting my own work published. There is so much creative work that exists outside of the narrow paths to visibility that traditional avenues, beholden to the constraints of capitalism, allow, and I’m happy to help in some small way provide an alternative.
Yet I cannot help but scheme and plan for ways to expand this series. To that end, I am planning to host a launch party for TRANSplants Issue 3 in June with featured readings by local contributors at a very cool new venue. More on that soon.
