The 2012-13 Made at Hugo House Fellowship is coming to an end (sad day!), and the first of our three final readings is this very Tuesday.Come see what we've been toiling away at all year:

• Poetry! September 10. Katie Ogle will read from THE SMALLEST GUN I COULD FIND  which follows a conversation between a speaker and her homonculus (Latin for "little man").  Bill Carty will read from YOU TROUBLER (Ahab to Elijah: "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" Taylor Swift: "I knew you were trouble.")
• Fiction! September 25.Irene Keliher will read from her dystopian novel THE VISIONARIES, Eric McMillan will read from CLEAR, his novel about the Iraq war, and I will read from my story collection MORE LIKE HOME THAN HOME.
• Nonfiction! November 21.  Elissa Washuta will read from her second memoir, STARVATION MODE, along with Claire Jackson and Catherine Slaton.

These readings will be amazing! Come, come, come!It's been a wonderful year meeting with these talented writers, hearing guest speakers on topics such as grants and first book publications, taking free Hugo House classes, and snatching up surprise opportunities along the way, like Hedgebrook's Spring Salon. This year, I started to feel much more integrated in Seattle's literary community. And the fellowship encouraged me to roll up my sleeves, get more writing done, and get my writing out into the world more aggressively than I have ever done before. "The Zoo," the first story I wrote with the fellowship in mind (while nervously waiting to hear back about the fellowship, actually), was published in January, and two stories I've revised this year will be coming out later this fall (details to come).  I workshopped what I believe will be the last story in MORE LIKE HOME THAN HOME at the Tin House conference, and I'm excited to read it on the 25th. Many thanks to Brian McGuigan for coming up with this program and to Hugo House for making it happen!And check out the 2013-14 fellows!(Whew. I think I exhausted my monthly allotment of exclamation points.)

On Saturday, I had the good fortune of attending the Spring Salon at Hedgebrook, on Whidbey Island. I loved it so much I wrote a piece about it for their blog. Here's how it begins:

Upon turning in to Hedgebrook, we (a poet, a playwright, and a fiction writer carpooling from Seattle) crowed at its green loveliness. A scent of wood smoke wafted out of the longhouse. And, inside, an abundance of welcome, and bagels so good I almost cried.  Outside, I met with my first workshop, “The Funny Bone is an Erogenous Zone,” with Jennifer D. Munro. On the walk to the cottage, Jennifer pointed out a bench with a view of Mt. Rainier, and my poet-car-sharer Elissa pointed out a heap of lavender in a rusting wheel barrow. It was almost too perfect.continue reading

Check out VORTEX,their next weekend event, May 31-June 2. Special thanks to Brian McGuigan and the Made at Hugo House program for connecting me to this special place.