CLASSES & WORKSHOPSSpring 2019
Writing Short: The Art of Flash and Prose Poems The Hugo House, Seattle w/ Samantha Updegrave and Stephanie Barbe Hammer! 5/9/19 - 5/30/19 (4 sessions) Thursdays, 5 pm -- 7 pm (Registration opens in March) Novels are glorious. So is writing that tells a tiny story, shares a small but shattering true experience, and/or reveals the beauty (or horror or boredom) of a single moment. Welcome to the world of flash, which can be hyperrealistic, hyper-fantastical, and anywhere in between. This workshop will engage you with on-the-spot in-class writing exercises, fun homework, and inspiring readings. You’ll have a bundle of tools and a bouquet of pieces you can revise or send out. Check out our writing short micro lesson over at the Hugo House! ****** Let's Make a Lexicon! Collecting Words The Hugo House, Seattle WA 4/20/19 -- 5/11/19 (4 sessions) Saturdays, 10 am -- 12 pm (Registration opens in March) "To use language well is to use it particularly: precision of utterance as both a form of lyricism and a species of attention.” —Robert Macfarlane How do we get there? In The Writer’s Portable Mentor, Priscilla Long says, “For most virtuoso writers, collecting words is a definite, specific, regular habit.” In this class for all levels and any genre, let’s create lexicons tailored to our work. Drawing on Long’s lexicon practice and others, we’ll engage with familiar and unexpected sources, and put our words to work with generative prompts. Check out my lexicon micro lesson over at the Hugo House! ********************************************************************************************************* PAST CLASSES Let's Write Like A Motherfucker Spring 2016 at The Hugo House 5/2/17 - 6/20/17 Tuesdays, 5 - 7 pm (Classes held at the Hugo House's temporary home on First Hill) You’ve read Dear Sugar. Maybe you have the mug, chipped on the bottom and coffee-stained. But are you writing like a motherf#@!er? We’ll uncover the central question(s) beneath our writing. Using in-class prompts, discussions, and workshop, we’ll explore our edges. Whether you work in fragments, narrative prose, or play with form, are working on in-progress pieces or want to generate something new, we’ll take Sugar’s advice. We’ll “write. Not like a girl. Not like a boy. Write like a motherf#@!er.” ***** Flash Nonfiction & The Prose Poem Samantha Updegrave & Stephanie Barbé Hammer Fall 2016 at Hugo House 9/13/16 - 10/18/16 Tuesdays, 5 - 7 pm (Classes held at The Hugo House's temporary home on First Hill) Registration details ***** Lynda Barry's 7-Minute Diary Spring 2016 at Hugo House 5/26/16 -- 6/30/16 Thursdays, 5 - 7 pm (Classes held at The Hugo House's temporary home on First Hill) Registration details ***** WRITE-O-RAMA! @ The Hugo House 2 pm: Time in Flash Nonfiction 3 pm: Let's Start a Lexicon! 4 pm: pm: Let's Start a Lexicon! ***** Let's Build a Lexicon! The Art of Collecting Words Hugo House @ Rainier Valley Cultural Center (3515 S Alaska St, Seattle WA 98118) 10/3/15, 1 pm -- 4 pm In this one-day session, we’ll explore various methods for collecting and recording words that catch our attention and begin to create our lexicons. We’ll discuss why it’s important to collect words, as well as the practical side – how and where? ***** How to Begin When Your Head is Empty Winter 2015 at Hugo House 10/29/15 -- 21/20/15 Thursdays, 5 pm - 7 pm There are days when we sit down to write and nothing comes. In this hands-on class, we’ll use a series of writing prompts to generate ideas and get our pens or fingers moving. Over the course of the class, as the exercises uncover hidden ideas and surprising connections, we’ll refine our focus and develop our explorations into structured pieces. For inspiration, we’ll look at a few examples of how to structure these kinds of essays and stories from short nonfiction and fiction. Class may include a peer workshop of drafts. ***** How to Begin When Your Head is Empty - From Writing Exercises to Finished Prose Spring 2015 @ Hugo House 2/25/15 - 4/1/15 7 pm - 9 pm ***** WRITE-O-RAMA! @ The Hugo House How To Begin When Your Head is Empty TEASER FOR WINTER 2015 CLASS! 12/6/14 ***** WRITE-O-RAMA! @ The Hugo House How To Begin When Your Head is Empty I'll be leading this session at 11 am and 12 pm. There are days when we sit down to write and nothing comes. In this session we’ll talk about ways in which we can use writing exercises to generate ideas and get our pens or fingers moving. We’ll look at a few examples from flash nonfiction or fiction for inspiration. Then through a series of prompts we’ll uncover hidden ideas and work to refine our focus once we get going. June 14, 2014 ***** 
art by Pae White: Command-Shift-4 @ the Henry Art Gallery, 2016
art by Pae White: Command-Shift-4 @ the Henry Art Gallery, 2016
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READINGS & EVENTS2020
Q+A with Carla Sameth James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Library January 16, 2020, 6 -- 7:30 pm LA-based queer, Jewish writer reads from her memoir One Day on the Gold Line. Sameth's themes cover parenting in a multi-racial blended family, addiction, love, and longing. In the LGBTQIA Center, 3rd floor, Main Library. Q & A and book sales and signing to follow. https://carlasameth.com 2019 Writing Motherhood Hugo House 1634 -- 11th Ave, Seattle WA August 23, 2019, 7 -- 9 pm Carla Sameth In an interview with the Atlantic, the writer Rachel Cusk once compared the experience of motherhood to being “an open wound.” She continued, “A woman is exposed to being turned into a different kind of person by the experience of motherhood.” In this reading, five writers will reflect on their own experiences with motherhood, the joys and pains, how motherhood is rendered in their work, and the impact that motherhood has had on their lives as writers. Featuring: Samantha Updegrave Anne Liu Kellor Mary Pan Amber Flame Carla Sameth ***** Writing in the time of Trump -- Craft Talk San Gabriel Women's Writers January 20, 2017 Poet Mary Ruefle said, “Writing a poem is an act of freedom, so it’s political.” Not everything we write is a direct address of the moment, but everything we write is an act of freedom, and every act of freedom adds to the collective light. And light is what everyone, everyone needs. If you’ve lost your groove under the pressure of feeling like everything you do needs to take down the (fill in your blank), how can you get it back? How do you stay motivated when the world is falling apart? How can you be a writer when you don’t feel like one (and become a better writer)? ***** Minor Arcana's Community Writing Circle All ages, all levels, all genre writing group November 27, 2017 2 - 4 pm Douglas Truth Library If you're looking to both generate creative work AND meet other awesome writers, this is the place for you. I am the guest facilitator this month, and will offer writing prompts, feedback, and other literary goodies. Paper and writing utensils will be available if needed. Minor Arcana Press is a volunteer-run nonprofit that empowers overlooked and outsider authors and artists through publication, publicity, and community. This event is presented by Minor Arcana Press with support from Old Growth Northwest. ***** 1 February 2017 A Looseleaf Reading, No. 4 The Looseleaf Reading Series presents an evening of storytelling & music featuring C. Rosalind Bell with Renee Simms, Tamiko Nimura, and Natalie Martinez. Music by Kristin Allen-Zito. I'm not reading, but I'm part of the cool group of women who started and co-curates this new reading series. The Den at Chop Suey 7 PM reading // 21+ // No Cover Check out the events page here ***** 16 August, 2016 A Looseleaf Reading, No. 3 The Looseleaf Reading Series presents an evening of storytelling & music featuring Natasha Marin with Suzanne Bottelli, Max Oliver Delsohn, Stephanie Barbé Hammer, and Yi Shun Lai. I'm not reading, but I'm part of the cool group of women who started and co-curates this new reading series. The Den at Chop Suey 7 PM door// 8 PM reading // 21+ // No Cover Check out the events page here ***** 14 July, 2016 It's About Time reading series Lexicon: The Art of Collecting Words (craft talk) ***** 15 June, 2016 Reading w/ Sean Carswell, Ron Tanner, & Kristen Millares Young Lake Forest Park Third Place Books 17171 Bothell Way NE, #A101 Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 Check out the details here ***** 4 May, 2016 An Evening of Prose Poems Hosted by Samantha Updegrave fetauring Amelia Martens & Gary Copeland Lilley with Jane Wong, Matthew Kelsey, Chelsea Werner-Jatzke, Benjamin Schmitt, & Sasha LaPointe Porchlight Coffee & Records Check out the details here ***** 10 May, 2016 At the Inkwell / Seattle w/ Laura Lucas, Jeanine Walker, Lori A. May Vermillion / 1508 - 11th Ave / Seattle, WA Visit event page here 7 pm -- 9 pm ***** 17 March, 2016 Irish Wake for Ghosts of Seattle Past Details on the Facebook event page here 6 pm -- midnight Lovecitylove / 1406 E Pike Street ***** A Looseleaf Reading, No. 2 featuring Michelle Peñaloza, Patty Belsick, Casandra Lopez, Jenny Hayes, and Kristen Millares Young, and music by Nora Hughes I'm not reading, but I'm part of the cool group of women who started and co-curates this new reading series. 26 January, 2016 The Den at Chop Suey, 1325 East Madison Seattle WA Doors @ 7 pm, magic @ 8 pm. FREE ***** TILL 2015 Chapbook Release Party King Street Station (Enter on Jackson & go to the 2nd floor) Help us celebrate the release of the 2015 Till Chapbook. Hear from a handful of the 2015 residents and get your copy of this limited-edition document of the long weekend spent at Smoke Farm. Feel free to BYOB. Some booze will be available. Readers for the evening: Jennifer Brennock Drew Dillhunt Jay McAleer Michelle Penaloza Arne Pihl Douglas Smith Catherine Sutthof Slaton Julie Trimingham Samantha Updegrave Suzanne Warren ***** A Looseleaf Reading, No. 1 Formed by members of a secret Internet group, A LOOSELEAF READING brings five local writers together for an evening of story telling and music. Featured reader Elissa Washuta w/ Spark A'wesome Dawn Quinn Samantha Updegrave Suzanne Warren & music by Shelley Casey 9 September 2015 Chop Suey, 1325 East Madison Street, Seattle WA Doors @ 7 pm, magic @ 8 pm. FREE ***** Poetry & Story to Raise Your Glass To Readers: Stephanie Barbe Hammer Marie Hartung Mel Flannery Samantha Updegrave Mare Hake Jim Gearhart Blooms Winery, Bayview WA 26 June 2015 ***** Till 2014 Chapbook Release Party After all the galleries close, continue your Capital Hill Art Walk evening at the Canoe Social Club for the release of the Till 2014 Chapbook. Fine poetry and prose by fine writers from the Till Residency out at Smoke Farm in Arlington, WA. 13 November, 2014 // 9 pm ***** Poets in the Park "Poets in the Park" reading by Northwest Institute of Literary Arts poets Mare Hake, Jackie Haskins, Leonie Mikele, and Samantha Claire Updegrave. With Carolyne Wright as MC! We're on a 1 pm on the Cafe Stage. Check out the stellar line up! Event goes from 11 am - 5 pm. http://www.graceguts.com/poets-in-the-park 19 July 2014 ***** Whidbey Writer's Workshop MFA @ Duvall Poetry Reading A night of poetry read by some of the ladies of the Whidbey MFA! w/ Stephanie Barbe Hammer, Leonie Mikele, Carolyne Wright, and featured reader Marie Hartung Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center 15619 Main Street, Duvall, WA 4 June, 2014 |
