Date: September 15, 2022
Dear Reader,
Autumn is almost upon us and here in the Pacific Northwest the change of season is quite abrupt. I love the long days of summer but I am looking forward to the cool mornings, sprinkling rain drops, and the changing colors of the leaves in the riot of Fall.
Announcements
Tacoma Arts Month is celebrating 21 years this October and the events kick off on October 5th with Kaleidoscope - Tacoma Arts Month Opening Party, 6:30pm to 9pm, at the Star Center. There are so many events to see, all month long (and even some that start in September), that you need to check out the calendar page to find out more!
The Tacoma Arts Commission has opened up opportunities to serve on the Tacoma Arts Commission. Individuals who are interested in supporting, enhancing, and providing leadership for the arts in Tacoma are invited to apply to serve on the Tacoma Arts Commission (TAC). Applications due by Sunday, October 2, 2022.
GatherINK #4 is tonight! Come celebrate the beginning of the 2022-23 school year with a special BIKE-TO-SCHOOL run of prints! There will be a print designed by Noah Struthers & carved by Yulan Suk, a special bike sticker designed by @springtidepress, & a spoke card for your wheels!
Join Creative Colloquy for Bullet Journaling for Writers: How to Get Inspired and Increase Your Productivity With Creative Planning with Olivia Couture on Thursday, September 22, at 7 pm.
In this bullet journaling and creative planning workshop, writer and coach Olivia Couture will help us identify our planning needs and build a system that works. She’ll walk through the various forms of creative planning and will teach us how to use creative planning to get inspired and organized. Plus, Olivia will show how to use personalized trackers to identify patterns in life and use those patterns to our advantage. It will leave us with a better understanding of our own unique planning style, a list of potential bullet journal spreads, and a concrete plan to implement the new system.
Creative Colloquy continues to offer Open Mic and Literary Readings and will be at Pint & Pie Public House on Monday, September 19, 2022 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Featured Readers this month include Christian Carvajal, James Smith, Lory French, & Jimmy Gilletti.
Poetry, Essays, Short Stories- all are welcome!
Join Blue Cactus Press in celebrating the publication of Anatomy of My Mixed Body, a poetry chapbook by Katharine Threat, tomorrow night, Friday, September 16th, at 6pm at King's Books.
Join the gathering to listen to poetry by Katharine and a guest poet, to hear the author talk about her work, and to mingle during a casual book signing. Light refreshments will be served. This is a free and public event.
Come sign the guestbook, peek "behind the scenes" and learn how the chapbook was produced and printed locally, and connect with likeminded artists. Even if you can only pop by for a few moments, it would mean a lot to the bookstore, author, and the press! Come support local poetry and independent books!
Blue Cactus Press is launching a years-long poetry collection by BCP publisher and poet Christina Vega and Winter Texts publisher Conner Bouchard-Roberts entitled Decay. The launch event, a poet’s salon, (The Back of the Book | Decay) is on October 4th at 7pm, and is an opportunity to hear the poets and others read their work.
Updates
Ever since I first heard about it, I have been interested in supporting Write253. I have been drawn by the core mission of the organization: “to offer meaningful and transformative writing experiences for youth in the Tacoma area, especially youth facing difficult situations”.
I support Write253 for a personal reason; when I was a kid I had a penchant for getting in trouble and writing was how I coped with the storm and stress going on in my head. I identify with someone who is seeking their creative expression, their true reason for being, and helping them to discover a creative literary outlet for these feelings speaks to who I am.
Growing up I frequently was in trouble for doing things which were stupid and often dangerous. What saved me was poetry. I was inspired by the music I listened to and that was what led me to first read poetry on my own. Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison (the Doors), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Simon & Garfunkel, and others, wrote songs that were poems when stripped down to the words.
As I learned more about these artists I also learned about the poetry which inspired them, which I then read. I would have never read Rimbaud if I hadn’t heard that Morrison read his work. Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg - the poets who inspired Dylan - became new favorites of mine. This interest in the written word led me to begin writing every day; sometimes writing in earnest and with purpose, sometimes just a smattering of incoherent ideas, but always with the knowledge that I have a way to share what would otherwise have been bottled up inside me.
So you can imagine how excited I was asked to join Write253’s Board of Directors this past August! I am looking forward to helping the organization continue to inspire and encourage the expression of ideas within the youth in our area. I am honored to be able to give back something to future generations that has the potential to mean as much to them as writing has meant to me!
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