SAMANTHA CLAIRE UPDEGRAVE
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Samantha Claire Updegrave (she/her/hers)
Writer. Teacher. Record store nerd turned
urban planner. List maker. Scorpio.
 

Notes on mamahood, music, and the writing life. 

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Looseleaf No. 3 -- Meet the Readers (Part 1 of 3)

8/2/2016

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The Looseleaf Reading Series is a new Seattle-based reading series co-founded by Spark A'wesome, Shelley Casey, Dawn Quinn (emeritus), Samantha Updegrave, and Suzanne Warren to create a space for woman-identified and non-binary emerging and established writers to step out of their binders and share the stage. Combining storytelling and music, the series is held at The Den in Chop Suey.  

The next reading is coming up on Tuesday, August 16, 2016. Doors at 7 pm, and it's gonna rule. The line up is stellar! In the first of the three part of these "Meet Readers" we have Yi Shun Lai (LA) and Suzanne Bottelli (Seattle). Check back for more from Stephanie Barbé Hammer & Ramona Shore, and Max Oliver Delsohn & Natasha Marin in the coming days. 


Fine print: The Den is a bar, so event is 21+. No cover. 

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YI SHUN LAI is a writer and editor living in southern California. She is the nonfiction editor for the Tahoma Literary Review. Her debut novel, Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu, is out now from Shade Mountain Press.



Meet Yi Shun Lai....

​What are you reading at Loose Leaf on 8/16?

I'll be reading from my novel, Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu. It's a story about an alternate American experience, and folks seem to think it's easily relatable. (Live readings are great. They give you a really accurate idea of what resonates and what doesn't!)
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exciting about their work?
Although I read her book Wives of Los Alamos months ago, I'm still noodling over it in my head: Tara Shea Nesbit did something amazing in this book, and I'm still picking apart just how she did it. 
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
While I was at a coffee shop in New York the manager insisted on playing the entire soundtrack to "Cats." I left after "Jellicoe songs to Jellicoe cats," but I still have the overture stuck in my craw. So yeah.  
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
We're still reading submissions for Tahoma Literary Review until August 31, so I'm looking forward to seeing more wonderful essays come across my desk. And my work-in-progress is burning a hole in my brain, so I need to start drafting some more scenes, stat! 
 
Where can we find you online?
Find me and my earworms on Twitter @gooddirt. 
And I'm trying desperately to keep up with my web site/blog: http://www.thegoooddirt.org. 

I'm a ShelterBox Response Team member. Learn more about what I do at
http://www.shelterboxusa.org

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​Suzanne Bottelli’s poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, The Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, West Branch and Fine Madness, among others. Her chapbook, The Feltville Formation (Finishing Line Press), was published in 2015. She has been awarded grants from Artist Trust and the Seattle Arts Commission, and has been a Jack Straw writer and a resident at Can Serrat, the Helen R. Whiteley Center, and the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. She teaches Humanities and Writing and coordinates an Environment program at The Northwest School in Seattle, WA.


Meet Suzanne Bottelli....

What are you reading at Loose Leaf ‪on 8/16?
I'm going to read a few poems from my chapbook and a few new poems as well. 
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
I have been (re)reading the amazing and now suddenly gone C.D. Wright. I've also been learning a lot from Roger Reeves and Robin Coste Lewis and Don Mee Choi. Choi's Hardly War takes a fascinating approach to blending historical artifact and personal history. She challenges me to think a lot more deeply about the language embedded in the "noise" of our upbringing. 
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?

A few weeks ago I saw Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and then Straight Outta Compton, back to back. I'm still thinking about them and about how little has changed in the realities those films depict. 
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
I've been traveling a lot this year, on a long awaited sabbatical from my teaching. I'm excited to be home now to carry forward some of what I've been writing and thinking about. 
 
Where can we find online?
Here's a podcast about my chapbook from Jenn Fitzgerald's Chapbookapalooza series for New Books in Poetry. 

 
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Want to stay up-to-date on The Looseleaf Reading Series and our kick ass alums? Sing up for our (occasional) newsletter! You can also visit on Facebook and Twitter @looseleafseries.  

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Looseleaf Reading -- Meet the Reader & Musician (Part #3)

1/25/2016

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In the final "Meet Readers" are Patty Belsick and our musician Nora Hughes.

Looseleaf is a new Seattle-based reading series co-founded by Spark A'wesome, Shelley Casey, Dawn Quinn, Samantha Updegrave, and Suzanne Warren to create a space for woman-identified emerging and established writers to step out of their binders and share the stage. Combining storytelling and music, the series is held at The Den in Chop Suey.  

Our next reading is coming up on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Doors at 7 pm, and it's gonna rule. 
I've run these quick Q+As with all the women reading and performing. In case you missed the first installment (Kristen Millares Young & Jenny Hayes), you can read it here. And the second (Casandra Lopez & Michelle Peñaloza) one is here. 

PATTY BELSICK
What are you reading at Loose Leaf on 1/26?
I'll be reading a piece from the book I'm writing (trying), tentatively titled, There's a Reason My Name Auto-Corrects to Party. It's a book based on my life and I believe, Life in general, with all of its little victories and fucked-up-ness.

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
The writer I'm in love with right now is Lidia Yuknavitch. She blows me away with her every sentence and her book, The Small Backs of Children, is my secular bible. I never lack inspiration when I read any part of it, which I devoured as soon as I got it. I'm also reading Jeanette Winterson's The Passion and feel as equally in awe. I'm empowered by strong female voices that make the world stand up and listen. Lidia is a Warrior in my eyes. What she does with words and language and emotion and art, how she intertwines them in ways that make you realize it should have always been like this - it's nothing short of amazing.

Why are you out of your binder? Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one?
I am Finally out of my binder! It's taken some time and some writing workshops to make me realize that my work is not dead after it's written. My last workshop in Portland, with Lidia Yuknavitch, and a room full of amazing writers, made me realize that my work is as living as I am. And for the reading on the 26th, I pulled from 3 separate pieces. It flowed together as if it had always been written that way. That would be my advice, look back at your work and let it breathe, as it truly helped me.

Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
A quote for me right now comes from Winterson's book, The Passion. "She grew in secret, away from their eyes. Outwardly she was obedient and loving, but inside she was feeding a hunger that would have disgusted them if disgust itself were not an excess."  Blows me the fuck away!!

Anything coming up for you in the near future?
In the near future, I have a writing workshop in Portland in March and my work was accepted for my attendance to the Writing By Writers Workshop at Methow Valley in May, which I'm overjoyed about. I hope to be able to read publicly more and just keep the writing flowing.

Where can we find online?
You can find me online at [email protected]

NORA HUGHES
What are you playing at Loose Leaf on 1/26?
I'm playing four songs from a set I'm working on, of 10 songs in 10 languages. I've started by learning songs in languages that I know a little- Spanish, French, Welsh, and I'm going to choose languages that are increasingly difficult for me- tonal languages, languages with weird sounds my mouth doesn't want to make. At the same time, I'm looking for songs that all fit together as one set. There's this thing, that they all need to have, and I haven't been able to describe what it is, but I know when I hear it. Lyrical, sad, hopeful, direct. Something like that. But not that. But that's part of it.

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work? 
I'm reading a compilation of essays, interviews, photos, and drawings called Women in Clothes, by Sheila Heti, Leanne Shapton, and Heidi Julavits. I've been reading it and thinking about it for two weeks and having a conversation with myself for two weeks, about what I love about it, and what I find problematic about it.  

Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
My friend texted me this page from Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse today:
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               Patty Belsick                                                               Event Page!                                                      Nora Hughes
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Looseleaf Reading -- Meet the Readers (Part #2)

1/21/2016

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Next up in the "Meet Readers" are the extraordinary poets Casandra Lopez and our featured reader, Michelle Peñaloza. (In case you missed the first installment, you can read it here.)

Looseleaf is a new Seattle-based reading series co-founded by Spark A'wesome, Shelley Casey, Dawn Quinn, Samantha Updegrave, and Suzanne Warren to create a space for woman-identified emerging and established writers to step out of their binders and share the stage. Combining storytelling and music, the series is held at The Den in Chop Suey.  

Our next reading is coming up on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Doors at 7 pm, and it's gonna rule. Over the next few days, I'll feature a couple of the readers (and the musician) with a quick Q+A.


CASANDRA LOPEZ
What are you reading at Looseleaf on 1/26?
I am planning to read some poems. At the last Looseleaf reading, Suzanne Warren and I were discussing her reading selections. She mentioned that she thought the best fit for a bar reading was work that dealt either with sex or humor. I think I am going to take her advise.

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work? 
Writers that excite me right now are Wendy Ortiz and Kiese Laymon. They both write in a way that speaks to me in a visceral way. I'm also a huge fan of Nayyirah Waheed's poetry so much that I have both ebook and physical copies of her books because I want to be able to easily access her words. I read a bit of it almost everyday.
 
Why are you out of your binder? Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one? 
Haha. I don't know if I'm completely looseleaf. It feels like this stepping out of a binder or binders is a continual process that one needs to be conscious of.

Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?  
the wounds have changed me.
i am so soft with scars
my skin breathes and beats stars.
Nayyirah Waheed

Why are you out of your binder? Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one?
Anything coming up for you in the near future?

I will be reading for Margin Shift on February 19 at  CAM in  Belltown

Where can we find online?
twitter: @casandramlopez
http://asusjournal.org/
https://casandramlopez.wordpress.com/

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MICHELLE PEÑALOZA
What are you reading at Looseleaf on 1/26? 
I'll be reading a poem or two from each of my chapbooks and then several new and not-in-chapbooks poems.  

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
I've read Cathy Linh Che's Split, but then I heard her read at Margin Shift last week, which made me return to it; that book is just incredible. So unflinching. So moving. So good. I also have been doing a sort of slow-burn read of Aracelis Girmay's Kingdom Animalia. I admire her control and her trust in her poems' syntax. 

Why are you out of your binder?
Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one?

via GIPHY


​Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Anything coming up for you in the near future? 
In March and April I'll be doing some traveling (I think? Offers have been made but contracts have not been signed so...). 

Where can we find online? 
michellepenaloza.com
On the Twitter: 
@pennyzola

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                 Casandra Lopez                                              Event Page!                                                      Michelle Peñaloza

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Looseleaf Reading -- Meet the Readers (Part #1)

1/20/2016

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Looseleaf is a new Seattle-based reading series co-founded by Spark A'wesome, Shelley Casey, Dawn Quinn, Samantha Updegrave, and Suzanne Warren to create a space for woman-identified emerging and established writers to step out of their binders and share the stage. Combining storytelling and music, the series is held at The Den in Chop Suey.  

Our next reading is coming up on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Doors at 7 pm, and it's gonna rule. Over the next few days, I'll feature a couple of the readers (and the musician) with a quick Q+A.

First up, Kristen Millares Young and Jenny Hayes. Both formidable forces of writing nature. 

KRISTEN MILLARES YOUNG
What are you reading at Looseleaf on 1/26?
I'll be reading from my novel Subduction, a tragic love story between an anthropologist and a hoarder's son.

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
I've been reading Eula Biss, who seamlessly weaves her personal experience with deep research in On Immunity: An Inoculation.

Why are you out of your binder? Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one?
I'm out of my binder by the grace of Samantha Updegrave, who created an opportunity for me and others to share our work.

Anything coming up for you in the near future?
I'll be reading with Jordan Hartt at Hugo House on Friday, March 11th, to celebrate the second printing of Leap, his book of poetry.

Where can we find online?
Find me at kristenmyoung.com or on Twitter, @kristenmillares.

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JENNY HAYES
What are you reading at Looseleaf on 1/26? 
I'll be reading some bit of short fiction (specifics to be determined at the last minute, most likely) ... and maybe a poem or two if I'm feeling fancy.

Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work? 
I've read several of my friend Margaret Elysia Garcia's stories, both in publications and in writing classes we've taken together, and now I'm finally making my way through her collection Sad Girls, published by SolsticeLit Books last year. It's an eBook ... and I really prefer reading print, so if I'm actually reading an eBook it's gotta be worthy. I just love her writing: it's lyrical and heartfelt and also has hilarious lines like "Ewww. Yuck! There's a Goth asleep in my Jacuzzi!"

Why are you out of your binder? Or, advice for stepping out of binders if you still feel stuck in one?
Be the binder you want to see in the world. Or even better, be your own loose leaf. (I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I'll stand by it.)

Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
I love this quote from John Cage because I always need to remind myself. It works for pretty much any week, and this one is no exception: "I really think it's important to be in a situation, both in art and in life, where you don't understand what is going on."

Anything coming up for you in the near future?
The future is wide open. See also: the quote above.

Where can we find online?
jennyhayes.com and @jennyha_yes on Twitter!


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                   @kristenmillares                                          Visit our event page!                                             @jennyha_yes
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    Notes on music, mamahood, and the writing life from a part-time blog keeper. 

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