Though the official date was December 13, 2013 that the organization I created turned 20, we celebrate Saturday at Spring Street Center. Details below. It is hard to believe how quickly 20 years can flash by and how much work one can do in that time. Favorite memories are, of course, interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Sam Hamill, Michael McClure, Nate Mackey, Brenda Hillman, Joanne Kyger, Anne Waldman, Ethelbert Miller, Diane di Prima, Wanda Coleman and other amazing poets, readings with all of those folks minus A.G., interviews with Seattle poets like John Olson, Paul Hunter, Marion Kimes, Maged Zaher, interviews with authors like Jean Houston, Father Matthew Fox, Riane Eisler, Dr. Larry Dossey, Rupert Sheldrake, Gloria DeGaetano, all the workshops we’ve facilitated through SPLAB-on-the-Road and at SPLAB itself, the Teen Slam back in the Auburn days and the Living Room writer’s critique circle, which organized an army of very intelligent and educated professionals.
For the Saturday event we’ll also be unveiling the lineup for the 2nd Cascadia Poetry Festival, said by one longtime SPLAB supporter as the most ambitious event we’ve ever attempted Indeed. I hope you’ll come by, hear what Judith Roche and other friends have to say about this work and get a head-start on all the Cascadia events that promise to be among the best we’ve ever done. Thanks for being there.
Contact: Paul Nelson FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel: 206-422-5002
E-mail: pen@splab.org
SPLAB TO CELEBRATE 20Th ANNIVERSARY JANUARY 18th IN SEATTLE
(Event Includes Announcement of Cascadia Poetry Festival Lineup for May 2014)
Seattle, WA, January 6, 2014—SPLAB was founded in 1993 in Auburn, Washington, by poet/interviewer Paul E. Nelson and moved in August, 2009, in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood. Over the past 20 years, SPLAB has brought many renowned poets to the Puget Sound Region, including Anne Waldman, Andrew Schelling, Michael McClure, Wanda Coleman, Jerome Rothenberg, Eileen Myles, Ethelbert Miller, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Joanne Kyger, and others, staged several Super Bowl of Poetry events, the annual Allen Ginsberg Open Mic Poetry Marathon, conducted over 500 interviews and organized the 1st annual Cascadia Poetry Festival in Seattle in 2012.
SPLAB celebrates its 20th anniversary with help from local poet Judith Roche, and will announce the lineup for the 2nd Cascadia Poetry Festival, to be held May 1-4, 2014 on the campus of Seattle University and at the Spring Street Center.
The anniversary celebration will also be held at Spring Street Center, 1101 15th Avenue in Seattle, beginning at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted. Registration for the festival will also be available at the event.
The Cascadia Poetry Festival is an international event which seeks to bioregionally animate & culturally construct Cascadia by gathering writers, artists, scientists and activists to collaborate, discover and foster deeper connection between all inhabitants and the place itself. On May 1-4, 2014, renowned and emerging poets from the region will present talks on Cascadian culture and illustrate how that is presented in the best poetry of the region..
For more SPLAB event information, visit www.splab.org.
For more festival information, visit www.CascadiaPoetryFestival.org
WOOOOT!