Reading Local Seattle

{ The Dragonfly, UW Bookstore, 3/3, 7 p.m. }

Giuseppe Leporace and Deoborah Woodard have just released a long in the works translation of the Italian poet of Amelia Rosselli, The Dragonfly: Selected Poems, 1953-1981 (Chelsea Editions 2009). They’ll read at the UW Bookstore, University Branch, at 7 pm. Woodard and Guisseppe have been working on the translation since 1995 and the book is packed with what Lucia Re describes as Rosselli’s “tragic yet oddly consolatory voice is comparable only to that of poets such as Celan, Bachmann, Char, Pasternak, Akhmatova, and Plath.” Like the book, the reading will be in Italian and English.

A poem by Rosselli after the break:

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{ Small Press Month }

In the entire month of March, Pilot Books will observe a daily celebration of small and independent presses as part of Small Press Month. For the thirteenth small press month, the The New York Center for Independent Publishing chose Seattle author Sherman Alexie as the face of the small press author. Alexie notes about small presses, “The small presses represent what is most brave, crazy and beautiful about our country and our literature. So let us all sing honor songs for the independent publishers.”

An author take the stage at six o’clock every day. Authors include the likes of CA Conrad, Joshua Beckman, Chelsea Martin, Kevin Sampsell, and Tao Lin to local small press writers such as Sarah Mangold, Carol Guess, Stacey Levine, and Nico Vassilakis. Contributors to Reading Local: Seattle include Matt Briggs, John Olson, and Doug Nufer.

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{ Gina Ochsner, Elliott Bay, 2/27 }

A note from Adrianne Harun (author of The King of Limbo): I just want to give a heads-up to anyone interested in a great reading by a fascinating writer. My friend, the ever-magical Gina Ochsner, will be reading at Elliott Bay Books on Saturday, February 27 at 2 pm. Her new book — her first novel after two gloriously original and rightfully praised story collections — is called The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight (and it’s already been longlisted for the Orange Prize).

It’s a wonder.

Go if you can — buy the book in any case. You won’t be sorry.

{ First Book Poetry Contest, Deadline 5/15 }

Exquisite Disarray Publishing, in Tacoma, is asking for submission of poetry manuscripts for its first annual First Book Poetry Contest. Deadline May 15, 2010. The contest will be judged by poet and teacher Kathleen Flenniken. Flenniken is the author of Famous, the winner of the Prairie Schooner Prize in Poetry, and co-editor and president of Floating Bridge Press.

The First Book Poetry Contest will award one Washington State poet a $200 cash prize and publish the winning manuscript as the poet’s first book. The winner will also give a free poetry reading and offer a poetry workshop for the public to enjoy in Tacoma in November 2010—coinciding with “Art at Work” month. In addition to the winning poet’s work being published, a separate contest prize of $100 cash will be awarded to the poetry manuscript submission that contains the best “Tacoma poem.” All poets entering manuscripts in the contest are encouraged to include an original poem about the City of Destiny in their submission.

This contest is open to all Washington State residents 18 years of age and older who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry. Full contest guidelines and editorial contact information can be found at www.exquisitedisarray.org.

{ Kevin Sampsell, 2/12, 7 p.m., Elliott Bay Book Company}

From Kennewick, and then Spokane, and then for the last long while Portland, Kevin Sampsell will read from the expanded reissue of his experimental memoir, A Common Pornography. The original book was a sixty page slip of a book published by Sampsell’s own small press, the great zine-style Future Tense Press that has continually issued not only Sampsell’s writing but also booklets from the likes of Claudia Smith, Gary Lutz, and Elizabeth Ellen. The 0riginal Pornography walks a tight line between not saying enough and yet saying just the right amount. Each section is probably under 500 words. If you have ever spent anytime in the central part of Washington State with its endless sky, barren hills alternating with lush irrigated fields, and perpetual dust, Sampsell’s book captures this landscape in glancing sentences and rich implications. I’ve used one of section, “Laynee,” several times in writing workshops for “short short” fiction. Every time I’ve used this little piece it generated interest: although as readers they understand it and feel that it is whole, as writers they wonder, “how can I get away with this?” The tiny story deals with when Sampsell’s father became infatuated and very friendly with a ten-year old girl.

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