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 3 of 3)

8/11/2016

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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 third and final of these "Meet Readers" we have Max Delsohn and Natasha Marin both of Seattle. If you missed the first installment from Yi Shun Lai and Suzanne Bottelli, you can read it here, and the second set with Ramona Shore and Stephanie Barbé Hammer here. 


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

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MAX OLIVER DELSOHN is a non-binary writer living in Seattle, Washington. His creative nonfiction has been published in Seattle University's Fragments and Cutbank Literary Magazine.  He holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Seattle University and works at front desk at the Hugo House. When he was 5 years old a duck bit his finger at Legoland. 

Meet Max Delsohn.....

What are you reading at Loose Leaf on 8/16?
I'm going to read a piece about my experience working in customer service. It's called "Nice to Trans You."
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. I just finished her memoir, The End of San Francisco. Her commitment to telling the truth, both in her writing and her activism, guides me unlike anything else right now. And the way she innovates with language and form-- it's a fearless, beautifully written book. It's a deeply-needed sock in the teeth to the cowardice, gaslighting, and selfishness that dominates so much of American culture. Mattilda's work just makes you smarter, I'm convinced.
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
This was a big week for me, as I told my parents I've started testosterone therapy. Thankfully, they were supportive! As someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, though, it's particularly exhausting for me to wade through my obsessive doubts to confidently assert who I am and what I want. So my soundtrack for the week is the song "Existential Crisis Hour!" by Kilo Kish played on repeat for 45 minutes, then a combination of songs by DoNormaal, Sia, and Nicolas Jaar so I can find my way back to joy.
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
Right now I'm deep in the hellscape that is submitting to literary journals. I'm also continuing to work on a web series with my friend Alex Masuoka. It's a dark buddy comedy called "Kicking Air."  
 
Where can we find you online?
My Twitter handle is @happygimme. I'm also on Instagram, Facebook, etc. 

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NATASHA MARIN is a poet and interdisciplinary artist. Her written work has been translated into several languages and has been showcased in exhibitions, performances and events around the world. She is a Cave Canem fellow and a Hedgebrook alum who has been published in periodicals like Feminist Studies, African American Review, and The Caribbean Writer. She received grants from the City of Austin, Artist Trust, and the City of Seattle for community projects involving text-based, visual, performance, and multimedia art.

Meet Natasha Marin....

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

If I were to surround myself with crystal balls in the shape of a pentagram, I still wouldn't know. I am very likely to decide as I step up to the mic.  I have always been a big fan of the "anti-performance" ...
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exciting about their work? 
I'm excited to read Quenton Baker's forthcoming book. Quenton isn't afraid to make people feel uncomfortable by speaking eloquently and frankly about anti-black racism. 
 
Otherwise, I do most of my reading on social media. It makes me sad to admit, but it's true. 
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
Thousands of racist trolls attacking me because they don't have the same grasp of the English language as I do, has made me very tired.
 
The quote would be "Can I live?"
The soundtrack would be "This Used To Be My Playground" on loop.
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
I will be relaxing in an overwater villa in the Caribbean soon. I can't wait. I deserve this so much. We all do!
 
Where can we find online?
These days? Any of the following keyword searches will be a rich Google harvest:
 
"Natasha Marin"
"Natasha Marin Seattle"
"Natasha Marin Reparations"
Please note: I am not Cheech Marin's wife, the concert pianist.
 
Author of Milk, Creator of #WomanCentered, Red Lineage, & Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea


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Looseleaf No. 3 -- Meet the Readers & Musician (Part 2 of 3)

8/8/2016

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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 second of the three part of these "Meet Readers" we have Ramona Shore (Seattle) and Stephanie Barbé Hammer (LA / Coupeville). Check back for more from Max Oliver Delsohn & Natasha Marin in the coming days. If you missed the first installment from Yi Shun Lai and Suzanne Bottelli, you can read it here. 


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

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RAMONA SHORE is a local musician seemingly dedicated to being someone who recreates that feeling when you’ve just met and had a real conversation a little too soon for comfort but aren't sorry you did.

Meet Ramona Shore.....

What are you playing at Loose Leaf on 8/16?
I will be playing a few original songs for you. 
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
Right now I am pretty excited about Hannu Rajaniemi who wrote the Quantum Thief series. His writing style is very immersive and a little difficult for what is essentially a fun sci-fi mystery series and it took me a while to realize that, in the vein of snowcrash, he's one of those writers that is re-mapping the way we conceptualize and talk about our possible future with tech.
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
"The days are long but the years are short." With a bit of a running remix of 'I'm Your Man' by Leonard Cohen/'Harder Faster' the Kanye remix and Aerodynamic -- I guess it's a Daft Punk kind of week 
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
Nope.
 
Where can we find online?
My music can be found at: https://soundcloud.com/standardheart


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Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a 4-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Her work has appeared in Pearl, Hayden’s Ferry, the Bellevue Literary Review and S/tick among other places. She was a comp lit scholar for many years, but then decided she wanted to make creative work, rather than just talk about it. Born in New York City she now lives on Whidbey Island where she writes flash fiction, poetry, and occasional essays and teaches creative writing at community colleges and non-profits. She is the author of a novel The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior (Urban Farmhouse Press in 2015), a poetry collection How Formal? (Spout Hill Press, 2014), and a chapbook, Sex with Buildings (Dancing Girl Press, 2012). She’s working on a new novel about a repentant drug dealer and a new poetry collection about being a city dweller attempting to deal with nature.
Meet Stephanie Barbé Hammer....

What are you reading at Loose Leaf on 8/16?
I'm reading a bit of a new flash fiction piece that is appearing in the James Franco Review 2 days after the reading! 
 
Who’s a writer you’re stoked on right now? What’s exiting about their work?
I'm a huge fan of the writing by Ryka Aoki. Ryka is a poet, novelist, essayist, and LGBTQ activist. I love how she is continually gesturing towards the utopian and towards abundance. That seems really politically important and exciting to me right now.
 
Is there a quote / soundtrack for how your week is going?
I keep on hearing an old Le Tigre track for a kohls commercial and it reminds me what a wonderful band they were. It's called HOT TOPIC and it's great. 
 
Anything coming up for you in the near future?
Poem about mental illness coming out in INCANDESCENT MIND and working on my next novel. Stay tuned for the James Franco Review piece and hope you'll submit something to them!
 
 
Where can we find online?
I've got stories and poems and nonfiction all over the place. But here's one of my favorite stories -- published originally in Square Lake.
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