Selected Previous Readings

Presentación del Libro: No Word for Welcome
Casa de la Cultura
Juchitán, Istmo de Tehuantepec
Oaxaca, México
viernes, 25 de noviembre de 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
6:00 de la tarde
Presenté fragmentos de mi libro en español, con imágenes de la bella región. Escritores juchitecos Gerardo Valdivieso y Victor Cata ofrecieron comentarios apasionados y lindos. Mi querida amiga, la poeta Irma Pineda, organizó y moderó con la elegancia que siempre muestra. Mis agradecimientos a todos ellos y los coordinadores de la magnífica Casa de la Cultura, Yolanda Gómez y Vidal Candelaria.
I read the introduction of of my book (translated to Spanish by María Victoria and Lori Berenson), and showed images of the beautiful isthmus region. Juchiteco writers Juchiteco writers Gerardo Valdivieso andVictor Cata offered empassioned, lovely commentary. My dear friend, poet Irma Pineda, organized and moderated the event in typically elegant fashion. My deep thnks to the coordinators of the magnificent Casa de la Cultura, Yolanda Gómez and Vidal Candelaria.

Presentación del Libro: No Word for Welcome
Estación del Ferrocarril
Matías Romero, Istmo de Tehuantepec
Oaxaca, México
auspiciado por la UCIZONI
jueves, 24 de noviembre de 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
5:00 de la tarde
Fue un gran honor presentar la introducción de No Word for Welcome (en español) en la cuidad que dio vida al libro, en en mero lugar que es el corazón de la historia que cuenta el libro: el viejo estación del ferrocarril. Mi amiga Lucía Antonio dio la bienvenida, Carlos Beas Torres presentó un comentario muy inspirador, y Karina Martínez organizó todo el evento. Muchos amigos y vecinos míos, y compañero/as de la UCIZONI, llenaron el espacio historico -- y también mi corazón.
It was a great honor to read the introduction of No Word for Welcome (in Spanish) in the town that gave life to the book, in the very space that is the heart of the story the book tells: the old railroad station. My friend Lucía Antonio gave the welcome, Carlos Beas Torres presented deeply inspired commentary on the book, and Karina Martínez organized the entire event. Many friends and former neighbors, and members of UCIZONI, filled the historic space -- and also filled my heart.

Visiting Writer Diversity Series: Sustainable Communities
Reading / Lectura Bilingue
Yakima Valley Community College
Parker Building
South 16th Avenue and Nob Hill Boulevard
Yakima, Washington 98902
Thursday, November 3, 2011
7:00 pm
Presenté fragmentos de mi libro en inglés y en español y también mis traducciones de poesía istmeña.
At this bilingual reading, I presented excerpts of No Word for Welcome in both English and Spanish, as well as translations of poetry from Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Thanks to the Diversity Series at YVCC for a wonderful morning talking to seventy YVCC students and a very rich discussion with the audience of nearly one hundred. The Yakima Herald published a nice article.

Words • Images • Stories: No Word for Welcome
Distinguished Visiting Writer Reading
Cornell College
Shaw Lounge, Campus Commons
Mount Vernon, Iowa
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
7:00 pm
During my one-month teaching residency at this lovely college on a hill, where students take one class at a time, I gave one reading on campus, to a delightful mix of students, faculty, and community members.

Reading, Slideshow, Discussion: No Word for Welcome
Friends of the Library Lecture Series
Moffett Auditorium, Room 050
Mudd Library
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio
Friday, September 30, 2011
4:30 pm
Twenty-one years (is that possible?) after graduating from Oberlin with a degree in biology--never having taken a single class in creative writing, or even English--I returned to my alma mater for a reading. A true testament to the college's commitment to the liberal arts: I have my former biology research advisor Roger Laushman to thank for this opportunity. And I'm just as grateful to Ray English, Director of Libraries, for hosting me! See a video of the reading here.

Artist in Residence Final Reading
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Carriage Barn Visitor Center
54 Elm Street
Woodstock, Vermont
Sunday, September 25, 2011
1:00 to 2:00 pm
The finale for my two-month residency at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, made possible by the K2 Family Foundation and 4Culture, was a reading at the park's Fall Forest Festival, in the park's gorgeous horse-stable-turned-visitor-center.

Reading, Slideshow, Discussion: No Word for Welcome
with music by Sergio Reyes
Encuentro 5
UNITE-HERE Building, 33 Harrison Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Thursday, September 8, 2011
6:30 pm
It was a true joy to return to my old stomping grounds, where the idea of No Word for Welcome was nurtured for so many years, by so many people. This event was sponsored and hosted by an organization founded by people I deeply admire: Encuentro5. We enjoyed an inspirational and educational set of music by Sergio Reyes (whose life's work has inspired me for more than half of my life) and ended with a book-signing and reunion with old and dear friends.

Reading and Slideshow: No Word for Welcome
Forest Education Center
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
54 Elm Street
Woodstock, VT 05091
Friday, August 19, 2011
8:30 to 9:15 am
We talked about conservation and community organizing from Vermont to southern Mexico.. (Yes, that really was AM -- park rangers have to do their meetings early so they can talk to park visitors all day!)

Reading, Slideshow, Discussion: No Word for Welcome
Shiretown Books
9 Central Street
Woodstock, Vermont 05091
Friday, August 5, 2011
7:00 pm
For the two months that I'm Writer in Residence at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (August and September 2011), this is my local bookstore. It's a very happy coincidence that Shiretown Books specializes in the core issues of No Word for Welcome: sustainability, education, and local economies.

Words & Images: Reading from No Word for Welcome
Port Townsend Writers' Conference at Centrum
Wheeler Theater, Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
Friday, July 22, 2011
7:30 pm
It was a thrill to share the stage with poet Gary Copeland Lilley, and to be introduced by my grad school mentor Bob Shacochis on the stage of Fort Worden's historic Wheeler Theater. Every July, the Reading Series of the Port Townsend Writers' Conference brings a dozen writers to the Wheeler stage; the readings are free and open to all.

Welcome Dance / Book Release Party
for No Word for Welcome and
When the de la Cruz Family Danced
Vermillion Art Gallery and Wine Bar
1508 11th Avenue
Capitol Hill (one block south of Richard Hugo House)
Seattle, Washington 98122
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
6:30 pm festivities began
My dear friend, novelist Donna Miscolta, and I celebrated the June releases of our books with about 125 of our dear friends. The duo Mochima provided lovely music..Vermillion hosted us grandly. The event was sponsored by La Sala, an organization close to my heart.

Words • Images • Stories: No Word for Welcome
Guelaguetza Restaurant
3014 W. Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90006
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
7:00 pm
The Los Angeles premiere of No Word for Welcome -- in the city that is home to several hundred thousand Oaxacans! The delightful independent bookstore Skylight Books managed book sales for this event. Many thanks to Betto Arcos for making this event possible, the López family for offering their beautiful restaurant, and the amazing grasroots organization FIOB (Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales) for helping to get the word out! Listen to an interview that I did the following morning at KPFK radio.

Distinguished Visiting Writer Reading
Cornell College
Hedges Room, The Commons
600 First Street SW
Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314
Thursday, April 14, 2011
7:00 pm
In October I will teach "Legend and Lyric in Linn County" at Cornell College, as their 2011 Distinguished Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. In April, In visited Shannon Reed's Humanities and Writing course "Exiles, Immigrants, and Nationalists" and gave an evening reading from No Word for Welcome with Anne Sanow, Cornell's 2012 Distinguished Visiting Writer in Fiction.

Roslyn Reading Series
Marko's Tavern
106 North 1st Street
Roslyn, Washington, 98941
Saturday, February 12, 2011
7:00 to 8:30 pm
As part of a reading series organized by novelist Ellie Belew, I read from my essays about grief and loss. The last time I watched television (of my own volition) was the last episode of "Northern Exposure." For that reason, I was thrilled to be part of this reading series, in the town where that show was filmed, with fellow Hugo House Writer in Residence alum Ed Skoog.

"Writing Grief and Loss at Harborview"
Friday, July 16, 2010
Noon to 12:45 pm
I read from excerpts from my writing about patients at Harborview, as well as ekphrastic short-shorts created by Harborview patients in the writers' workshops I led on the inpatient psychiatric unit. Many thanks to all who came to discuss my six weeks as Writer in Residence at Harborview Medical Center. (Read more about my residency in the Center's staff newsletter, STAT, here.)
Maleng Building Conference Room (MB 111/112)
Norm Maleng Building
Harborview Medical Center
At the corner of Ninth Avenue and Jefferson Street
First Hill, Seattle
Sponsored by 4Culture and the Seattle CityArtist Program, with deep thanks to the Harborview Art Program and program director Peggy Weiss.

Sustainability • Sostenibilidad
a photographic & literary response
una respuesta literaria & fotográfica
Exhibit ran May 27 through July 11, 2009
I co-curated (along with Catalina Cantú) the literary portion of this La Sala gallery show, featuring a dozen local writers, including Felicia Gonzalez, Gabriella Guttiérez y Muhs, Donna Miscolta, Juan Carlos Reyes, and María Victoria. Heather Dwyer of 4Culture writes: "Curators Marita Holdaway, Wendy Call and Catalina Cantú have successfully meshed this body of work into a fascinating exhibition that is sure to speak to all of us about our individual and collective place in our communities - and on this planet."
Benham Gallery
1216 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 622-2480
Thanks to La Sala, Benham Gallery, the Cervantes Institute, the Seattle Office of the Latino Community Fund, and the Latin American Studies Program of the University of Washington.

Hedgebrook Reading
Literary Landscapes Reading Series
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
6:30 pm
I am curating this reading, with my performance group comrades (and Friends-of-Hedgebrook) Byron Au Yong, Laura González, Anastacia Tolbert and Storme Webber.
in the Hedgebrook Longhouse
2197 Millman Road
Langley, WA 98260
Many thanks to all who attended, and to Byron, Laura, Anastacia and Storme for sharing their poems, their songs, their music, and their hearts. Rarely is a reading magical. This one was. You can read the anagram poems I wrote for my writer-artist-comrades here.

Beyond One Language / Más Allá de Una Lengua
reading • theater • music
Friday, June 12, 2009
7:00 to 9:00 pm
This final event in the year-long "Beyond One Language" series features Spanish-language theater, Chilean food, and Mapuche poetry and music. The event is FREE with dinner for sale. Todos están bienvenidos.
South Seattle Community College
West Seattle Campus, Olympic Hall
6000 16th Avenue SW
Seattle, WA
on bus routes 125 and 128
This is the last in a series of four bilingual English-Spanish readings I helped organize with fiction writers María de Lourdes Victoria and Paola Casla, and poets Laura González and Eugenia Toledo-Keyser.
Thanks to 4Culture and the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods for sponsoring this series.

First Annual Creative Writing Faculty Reading
Seattle University
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
6:00 to 9:00 pm
I will be reading (briefly) from a work-in-progress, with my colleagues Sharon Cumberland, Alice Marshall, Edwin Weihe and others.
LeRoux Room, First Floor, University Center
(on E. James Way, between Broadway and 12th Ave)
Seattle University Campus
Seattle. WA, 98122
I'm very grateful to Sharon Cumberland for organizing this reading and honored to have been a part of it.

"Distinguished Northwest Writer in Residence" Reading
for Seattle University's Creative Writing Program
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
4:00 to 6:00 pm
I presented an excerpt from my book manuscript, No Word for Welcome, along with my photographs. I also read four of my poem translations (by Mexican indigenous poets who write in Zapotec and translate their work into Spanish).
Book signing and reception followed the reading.
Wyckoff Auditorium
Bannan Engineering Building
(10th Avenue East and East Columbia Street)
on the Seattle University campus
Seattle, WA 98122
Hear a podcast of the event.
Many thanks to Seattle University's English Department and Creative Writing Program, and especially to Dr. Sharon Cumberland, for hosting this event.

Reading: 2008 Jack Straw Writers
I shared a shortened version of my essay, "My Life in Books, in a Place Without Them." We also heard poetry by my colleague at Seattle University, Sharon Cumberland, and from Michael Spence and Kevin Craft. And on the prose side, we enjoyed a thoughtful essay by my Hugo House / Artist Trust colleague Waverly Fitzgerald, along with smart (sometimes hilarious) memoir by my buddies JD Munro, Janna Cawrse Esarey, and Ghida Sinno.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
2:00 to 3:30 pm
Central Library
Seattle Public Library
1000 4th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
Many thanks to Judith Roche, the Writers Series Curator, and Chris Higashi, of the Seattle Public Library, for making this reading possible.

Beyond One Language / Más Allá de Una Lengua
reading • writing workshop • book exchange
Friday, September 26, 2008
6:00 to 9:00 pm
Several local writers who work in Spanish will share their work; I will share English translations (some by me, some by others) of their words. I will also teach a half-hour bilingual English/Spanish nonfiction writing workshop. Reading and music begin at 7:15 pm. Spanish-language book-exchange all evening! The event is FREE with dinner for sale. Todos están bienvenidos.
This was the first in a series of four bilingual English-Spanish readings I am co-organizing with fiction writer María de Lourdes Victoria and poets Laura González and Eugenia Toledo-Keyser.
Thanks to 4Culture and the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods for sponsoring this series.
NewHolly Gathering Hall
7054 32nd Avenue South
Seattle, Washington 98118

"So Long, So Short... a Goodbye Reading & Celebration"
with friends Shelley Gillespie, Laura González &
Storme Webber
Thursday, June 12, 2008
7:00 pm
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
I bid a fond farewell to Richard Hugo House, after two years as Writer in Residence, with three of the 105 writers I worked with during my office hours. Shelley Gillespie showed her collages and read her nonfiction prose poems. Storme Webber performed portions of her memoir. Laura González read her poems in Spanish and I read my English translations of them. I also read my translations of poems by two Zapotec poets from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, and debuted the introduction to my book in progress,
No Word for Welcome, illustrated by my photographs.

Jack Straw May Reading Series
with the poets Merna Hecht and Kevin Craft, and fellow prose writer (& Hedgebrook alum) Jennifer Munro
Thursday, May 15, 2008
7:30 pm
Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98105
See the essay I read here.
Listen here to a podcast of my reading, prefaced by an excerpt from an inerview with me by the curator of the Writers Program for 2008, Judith Roche.

Reading & Discussion: "Writers at Work"
Hedgebrook & the Creative Process
with Anjali Banerjee and Rachel Chapman
Hosted by the American Association of University Women and cosponored by Watermark Book Company
Saturday, February 23, 2008
10:00 am
Island View Elementary School
2501 J Avenue
Anacortes, Washington 98221

Spanglish Potluck at Cafe Rozella
una noche de palabras y música
an evening of words & music
with Maria de Lourdes Victoria
with music by Charanga Danzón, led by Irene Mitri
Co-sponsored by Hedgebrook & Supported by 4Culture
part of Hedgebrook's Women Authoring Change series
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
7:00 pm
Café Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, Washington 98106
Muchísimas gracias a las 80 personas que vinieron.
Many thanks to the 80 people who joined us!

Richard Hugo House Teachers' Reading
with my colleagues Paul Nelson, Daniel Hintzsche, Judith Roche, Michael Dylan Welch, Ann Spiers,
and fellow Hugo House writer-in-residence Cody Walker
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
6:30 pm
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

Writers in the Schools: A Reading
with Christa Bell, Matt Gano, Karen Finneyfrock, Rachel Kessler, Judith Roche & Cody Walker
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
7:00 pm
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

Women Authoring Change: Literary Landscapes
Día de los Muertos Reading
with Anjali Banerjee, Lana Ayers, and Susan Rich
Hedgebrook Retreat on Whidbey Island
Saturday, October 27, 2007
7:00 pm
Hedgebrook Retreat
2917 Millman Road
Langley, Washington 98260
See Anjali Banerjee's blog for a brief recap of this lovely event.

"We Read Banned Books! A Celebration of Banned and Challenged Literature"
The Information School, University of Washington
with Charles R. Cross, Ellen Forney, Cody Walker & others Thursday, October 4, 2007
6:30 pm
Part of a national event organized by the American Library Association.
Room 220, Odegaard Undergraduate Library
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98105

Fellows Reading
with Henrietta Goodman and Natalie Serber
Fishtrap Summer Gathering
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
7:30 pm
Wallowa Lake Camp & Retreat Center
Enterprise, Oregon