Pictures from the Soul Food "Freaks and Geeks" Poet Laureate Event

Some events I do as Poet Laureate are effortlessly fun, and this LA Review reading was one of them. Soul Food was a great host, about sixty people showed up to the event, the readers were wonderful, and LA Review sold out of copies they were so popular among the crowd, which included Redmond folks, and people from Seattle and outlying areas as well!

Some pics from the event:

LA Review editor Kelly Davio reading from her new book:

Seattle-ite poet and LA Review contributor Michael Shmeltzer reading:

Kelly Davio and I with our new books! (She's holding up my new third book, Unexplained Fevers, and I'm holding her new first book, Burn This House.) And a statue of a bear!

Freaks and Geeks: Redmond Poetry Meets The Los Angeles Review

This Friday, March 15, come out to Soul Food Books at 8 PM and let in a little California Sunshine!

"Los Angeles is coming to the City of Redmond with the editor and writers of the Los Angeles Review joining Redmond Poet Laureate Jeannine Hall Gailey to celebrate poetry on the Eastside at 8 p.m. on Friday at Soul Food Books, 15748 Redmond Way.
LA Review editor Kelly Davio will be on hand to read selected works and introduce local writers who have contributed to the Review. Writers will include Janet Buttenweiser, Katherine Eulensen, Jeremiah O'Hagan and Michael Schmeltzer, who will read their work from recent issues. Complimentary refreshments will be served."

http://www.redmond-reporter.com/entertainment/196538461.html

Gala at VALA - reading and art show video

Last night, I got a chance to read a few poems on the theme of "heavy metal" - also the theme of VALA, Redmond's newest art community center's newest exhibit, with wonderful metal jewelry and screened metal paintings of eerie metallic woods. The opening gala had a wonderful crowd, including Redmond's mayor, who you can see a brief glimpse of in the video below, as well as the sketches in the background of the artist's work in progress:

A link here in case the above embed doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM_j0jcL2UE