Selected Previous Events

"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.

"Merging the Mundane with the Metaphysical"
a workshop to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
one-hour workshop, offered twice
Freewrite a first draft in 50 minutes or less! The subtitle to this workshop could be, "life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.” We’ll brainstorm a list of settings and conflicts, then set about crafting a draft. No experience or special tools required.
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122
This workshop was part of a day-long benefit for Richard Hugo House.

"Fishermen, Housewives, Teachers and Transvestites: Social Movements in Oaxaca, Mexico"
World Issues Forum
Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
12:00 to 1:30 pm
In 2006, a burgeoning social movement in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca jumped into international headlines. Involving everyone from university professors to rural farmers, teenaged gay-rights activists to middle-aged housewives, this movement built upon thirty years of activism by Oaxaca’s indigenous communities. Their grassroots organizing continues, in spite of severe repression by the state and federal governments. In this slideshow and talk, I'll discuss the development of Oaxaca’s current social movement, and how it inspired the Zapatistas in Chiapas and other groups throughout the world.
Western Washington University
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225

"How Do We Render Other People's Stories?
Tales from Mexico"
Field's End Writers' Roundtable
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
7:00 to 8:30 pm
Bainbridge Public Library
1270 Madison N.
Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110
Bainbridge island writer and editor Tamara Sellman wrote an excellent summary of my presentation.

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.

Nonfiction Writers' Workshop with
Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide
Friday, May 2, 2008
2:00 pm
McIntyre's Fine Books
2000 Fearrington Village
Pittsboro, NC 27312

"What Can the Right Editor Do for You?"
A Roundtable Discussion with Waverly Fitzgerald and
Karalynn Ott & Michelle Whitehead of Verve Editorial
Thursday, April 17, 2008
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Book Publishers Northwest
Good Shepherd Center, Room 221
4649 Sunnyside North
Seattle, Washington

Journal Writing:
A Free Workshop at the Seattle Public Library
Saturday, April 5, 2008
1:00 to 3:00 pm
In this two-hour workshop, we will discuss how to begin and maintain a journal-writing practice, then work through a series of writing prompts to get the ink flowing. We'll conclude with a list of ideas for how to move your writing from private page to public world.
Seattle Public Library, University Branch
5009 Roosevelt Way N.E.
Seattle, Washington 98105
Read the journal-writing resource list I distributed here.

Reading & Discussion: "Writers at Work"
Hedgebrook & the Creative Process
with Anjali Banerjee and Rachel Chapman
Hosted by the American Assocation 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!

Nonfiction Writers' Workshop with
Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide
Monday, January 21, 2008
7:00 pm
Regulator Bookshop
720 Ninth Street
Durham, NC 27705

"Why They Come al Norte :
Economic Pressures Facing Rural Mexico"
part of a panel discussion with
Pramila Jayapal of Hate Free Zone and
Joel Millman of the Wall Street Journal
Institute for Current World Affairs Trustees Meeting
Saturday, December 8, 2007
morning session
Cosmos Club, Dupont Circle
Washington, DC
See a (rather homespun) video of my presentation here.

"50 Ways to Tell the Story"
a seven-hour writing marathon
to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
10:00 am to 5:00 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

"Telling True Stories "
a panel with Jack Hart of the Oregonian
Wordstock: Portland's Annual Book Festival
Saturday, November 10, 2007
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Festival runs November 9 through 11, 2007
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon
More folks from Seattle should head south for this book fest extraordinaire. What a great gathering of book lovers!

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.

Nonfiction Writers' Workshop with
Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide
Saturday, October 20, 2007
2:00 pm
Wordsmiths Books
141 East Trinity Place
Decatur, Georgia 30030

"Where Are We From / De Donde Somos "
An English/Spanish Writing Workshop
with the Rozella Poets and Writers Group
Saturday, October 13, 2007
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Café Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, Washington 98106
Thanks to Laura Gonzalez, Ricardo Guarnero, Leticia Martinez, and David Preston for a lovely event, where thirty poets -- from first-timers to the former Seattle Poet Populist -- created and read work in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.

"It's Not About You" Workshop at Write on the Sound, Edmonds Writing Conference
Saturday, October 6, 2007
4:00 pm
Frances Anderson Center
700 Main Street
Edmonds, Washington 98020
Comments from participants:
"Wow! Packed with useful stuff, amazing depth of subject."
"I will use this stuff the moment I next sit down at my computer."
"I learned so much; she gave me great tools."

"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

Benefit Reading for Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers
with Kathleen Alcalá, Jacci Thompson-Dodd, and María de Lourdes Victoria Muguira
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Reception at 6:00 pm
Reading at 7:30 pm
Elliott Bay Book Company
Seattle, Washington

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

Nonfiction Writers' Workshop with
Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
7:00 pm
Northshire Bookstore
Manchester Center, Vermont

Reading for Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction
Writers’ Guide
with Emily Hiestand and Mark Kramer
Monday, June 25, 2007
7:00 pm
Porter Square Books
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Reading for Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction
Writers’ Guide
with Mark Kramer
Saturday, June 2, 2007
7:00 pm
Twenty-Third Avenue Books
Portland, Oregon