May 2013
1 post
22 tags
2013 Reverse Fan Mail Roster
Reverse Fan Mail is one of our favorite parts of APRIL. The process is simple: one person makes a donation to the festival, and then we take their name and send it on to one of our favorite small press authors. That author then writes a brand new, never-published piece of writing with the donor’s name as their ‘prompt’ or inspiration. Then we send a hard copy of that piece - the...
April 2013
3 posts
10 tags
We’re on the 2013 Stranger Genius Award’s shortlist! Huzzah! (Emphasis on ‘short’).
Since 2003, the Stranger has awarded a $5,000, no-strings-attached grant to five artists in five disciplines. Past winners of the Genius Award in Literature include small press writers and artists Matt Briggs, John Olson, Rebecca Brown, Sherman Alexie, Stacey Levine, Jim Woodring and...
2 tags
3 tags
March 2013
47 posts
5 tags
Word Painting: That Time Amazon Bought Goodreads →
bookboundlaurel:
As an independent bookseller, I’m really disappointed about this. Indies need all the help they can get these days, and to have a community like Goodreads fall into the corporate hands of a small-business-crusher like Amazon… We’re losing allies by the day. I can only hope that loyal readers will vote with their dollars to keep local bookstores in business.
(I also posted...
6 tags
The expo presses: G through Z (except there is...
Hobart & Short Flight/Long Drive is a journal and book publisher. The journal was created in 2001 & grew into a biannual print journal in 2003. Every April is devoted to an annual baseball issue. In 2006 it grew again into books (Short Flight/Long Drive Books) where they’ve published writers like Elizabeth Ellen, Mary Miller, Karl Taro Greenfeld and others.
Jaded Ibis is...
11 tags
This isn't your elementary school's book fair
Tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Richard Hugo House, not only can you day-drink with some great authors and watch performances, but you can also buy a bunch of books directly from some of our favorite independent publishers. Read about them in alphabetical order below!
A through F
Alice Blue Review & Books is published on a hidden mountain-top between Portland, Oregon and Boise, Idaho....
5 tags
The Stranger presents: Verse/Chapter/Verse with...
Join us tonight for Verse/Chapter/Verse!
Here’s what The Stranger has to say about the event: “Verse Chapter Verse (a band - an author - the same band) is a fun, adorable format in which The Stranger’s Paul Constant interviews Literature Genius Sherman Alexie who will make us pee our pants laughing with his writerly antics, between live music by hot young hip hop duo Fly Moon...
5 tags
The Trees The Trees
And here are photos of Tuesday night’s artwork for The Trees The Trees in the sunlight, before people.
vignettestudio:
APRIL Fest and Vignettes unite over a group exhibition inspired by the poetry and words of Heather Christle from The Trees The Trees.
March 26th
7-10pm
8pm Reading by Heather Christle
Featuring work by:
Adam Boehmer
Amanda Manitach
Eroyn Franklin
Gala Bent
...
7 tags
Review by Paul Constant of Maged Zaher's newest... →
“Even in a time when a video chat can practically bring the sun-smacked dust of Cairo spilling into a downtown Seattle conference room, there’s glass between those worlds. Nothing can take that glass away and make those worlds one, except the lyricism and humor of a gifted poet, trying to explain with a self-conscious stammer exactly what he means.”
—And that poet is Maged...
6 tags
4 tags
3 tags
Last chance to join us for happy hour!
Our final happy hour is curated by PageBoy Magazine, featuring work from Emily Beyer, Jennifer Burdette, Rachel Kessler and Greg Bem, and hosted by Pageboy editor Thomas Walton.
PageBoy Magazine publishes both literary and visual art. Paul Constant of The Stranger has said PageBoy demonstrates the most editorial control of any of Seattle’s lit magazines. He writes, “You’ll...
4 tags
The APRIL Showcase co-presented by Richard Hugo...
Join us tonight for themed party favors and readings from three incredible poets! Richard Hugo House (1634 11th Ave), 8 pm, $7 cash at the door.
Readings from:
Matthew Rohrer is the author of Destroyer and Preserver (Wave Books), A Plate of Chicken (Ugly Duckling Presse), Rise Up (Wave Books) and A Green Light (Verse Press), and others. He has appeared on NPR’s All Things...
Happy hour at The Comet
Pre-game for our competitive storytelling event by joining us for a drink at The Comet with these great readers:
Maged Zaher’s first full length book of poetry, Portrait of the Poet As an Engineer, was published by Pressed Wafer in 2009. His translations of contemporary Egyptian poetry have appeared in Jacket magazine and Banipal. He has performed his work at Subtext, Bumbershoot, the Kootenay...
Meet our contestants!
Join us tonight for A POET, A PLAYWRIGHT A NOVELIST AND A DRAG QUEEN, our competitive story-telling event at the Sorrento Hotel at 8p.m. $7 cash at the door.
The story-tellers will battle it out for $100 in what City Arts has called “raunchy” and “the least kid-friendly event of [the festival] and most certainly the funniest.”
The performers:
THE POET: Elissa Ball is a...
10 tags
Happy hour has never been this nerdy before
The first of our three happy hours starts today at the Quarter Lounge! See you at 5:30! Our first set of happy hour readers is going to help us live up to City Art’s assertion that APRIL is Seattle’s “most literate booze fest/booziest indie lit fest.”
Rich Smith is a poet whose work has appeared in Tin House, Guernica, and other places. He is the author the chapbook The...
10 tags
The Trees The Trees: a visual tribute
Today at 7! A special edition of Vignettes featuring visual art inspired by the poetry of Heather Christle. Christle will read at 8, we encourage everyone to come either before 8 or after 8:30 so not to disrupt the reading with buzzing the door.
About Christle’s poetry:
Heather Christle’s poems bubble with surprising images and startling tonal changes; she keeps you moving...
5 tags
who is blessing this festival?
Meet our Monday readers & performers!
Matthew Dickman is the author of All American Poem and co-author of 50 American Plays with his twin, Michael Dickman, among among other books. He is the poetry editor of Tin House Magazine and the co-founder of Poetry Serving Youth City by City. In 2009, he and his brother were the subject of a New Yorker profile.
Rebecca Brown has been published on City...
5 tags
16 tags
13 tags
stop the seattle nice
You might have heard of the “Seattle freeze” socially, but in the lit scene, it’s all about the “Seattle nice,” which actually isn’t nice for sustaining a vibrant artistic community. When friends give glowing reviews of friends and negative reviews are about a personal grudge, forwarding literary criticism comes to a standstill. Sunday, Seattle Poetry...
12 tags
Mike Young, voice of the Millenials, best author... →
Today’s RFM featured author was named one of the ‘10 Best Millennial Authors You Probably Haven’t Read (Yet)’ by Flavorwire yesterday!
9 tags
6 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #17: Mike Young
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Mike Young.
Mike Young is the author of Look! Look! Feathers, a book of stories, and We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough. He edits NOÖ Journal, runs Magic Helicopter Press, and writes for HTMLGIANT. Find him online...
On Being Part Of The Problem: A Personal Response... →
“I’ve done the math and it turns out that I’m part of the problem. That’s an awful realization. I can’t even tell you how heartbroken I am.”
Andrew Nevin gives his work as a critic a self-critical look in response to VIDA’s ‘Count’ and shares his plans to help writing by women get more visibility. Good on him.
17 tags
10 tags
support small press & homeless youth
Come help friends of APRIL raise money for YouthCare as part of Poetry Serving Youth City by City
Learn more here!
9 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #20: Mike Young
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Mike Young.
Mike Young is the author of Look! Look! Feathers, a book of stories, and We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough. He edits NOÖ Journal, runs Magic Helicopter Press, and writes for HTMLGIANT. Find him online...
27 tags
the amount of lit is overwhelming
APRIL doesn’t start until next Monday, but our friends are hosting a lot of great events this week!
Tomorrow, get some brews and books at Naked City Brewery in Greenwood. The event will feature readings from Adam Novy, Dylan Nice, Richard Chiem, and Cameron Pierce.
Thursday, join YesYes Books & Matthew Dickman as they raise funds for YouthCare, a non-profit benefitting homeless youth....
6 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #17: Chelsea Martin
Chelsea Martin is the author of some incredibly funny, sporadically affecting books, including Everything Was Fine Until Whatever and The Really Funny Thing About Apathy. You can find her comic Heavy-Handed online at the Rumpus.
“Assumptions I Have About Catherine Blake Smith, Please Note My Bad Mood”
1) The way you try to suppress how you’ve been influenced by people who have...
11 tags
“I just realized that I never look at a painting and ask, ‘Is this painting...”
– Scott McClanahan, Crapalachia (coming 3/13 from Two Dollar Radio)
3 tags
7 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #16: Mike Young
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Mike Young.
Mike Young is the author of Look! Look! Feathers, a book of stories, and We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough. He edits NOÖ Journal, runs Magic Helicopter Press, and writes for HTMLGIANT. Find him online...
6 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #15: Sarah Galvin
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Sarah Galvin, who has written two other Reverse Fan Mails for APRIL. See them here and here.
“For Darian Gee”
Once I took a Lifesaver-sized codeine pill at a small town chili cook-off. Everyone there was...
5 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #14: Matthew Simmons
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Matthew Simmons.
Matthew Simmons is the author of A JELLO HORSE (Publishing Genius Press, 2009) and the story collection HAPPY ROCK (Dark Coast Press, 2013).
“For ReadLearnWrite”
Read.Learn.Write meets...
2 tags
Roxane Gay: There Were Highlights and... →
millionsmillions:
therumpus:
roxanegay:
My goal each night was to drink until I could no longer feel my feet throbbing. I succeeded in this, amply. Drinks just kept appearing in front of me so I did the responsible thing and drank them. This made mornings rough.
You’ll read Roxane Gay’s dispatch from AWP if you know what’s good for you.
You heard The Rumpus. Go read it.
Damn. We wish...
5 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #13: Liana Imam
Reverse Fan Mails are original poems and stories written by small press authors. Each Reverse Fan Mail is inspired by the name of a donor to APRIL. Today’s Reverse Fan Mail is by Liana Imam.
Liana Jahan Imam lives in Brooklyn, where she is trying hard to learn the cardinal directions. Her work has appeared in PANK Magazine, Bluestem Magazine, and decomP, among others. Favorite activities...
6 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #12: Richard Chiem
Richard Chiem (b.1987) is the author of YOU PRIVATE PERSON, a collection of short stories published by Scrambler books. His work has appeared in Thought Catalog, elimae, and Everyday Genius, among other places. He is currently living in Seattle with his girlfriend and their loud cat.
“For About-the-Books”
Q. I DON’T LIKE to talk about weapons. I want to talk about quick thinking....
10 tags
Two APRIL friends in the national media this week!
Two writers from the Pacific Northwest—also friends of APRIL—were in the national media this week! And we say: it’s about time! We’re glad to share this rainy corner of the US with these two.
Program director of Richard Hugo House —co-presenting two APRIL events for 2014— and (as you’ll see for yourself) talented author, Brian McGuigan, published an...
5 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #11: Diana Salier
Diana Salier is a musician and person who writes. She is the author of Letters From Robots (Night Bomb Press, 2012) and the chapbook Wikipedia Says It Will Pass (Deadly Chaps, 2011). She plays guitar for Swells and wears plaid boxers, not usually at the same time.
“For Dennis Yang”
if you are the yin to my yang please never let me know this fact i would rather let you live ...
4 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #10: Shaelyn Smith
Shaelyn Smith lives in Alabama.
“For Jorge Just”
The disco fish are just going wild, a flick of the switch and they put their own eyes out. Saturated in reds, whites, yellows, blues, as if this mattered more than anything else: tripping on the way to the bathroom.
Q: How many ways do you see?
A: “it’s beautiful then it’s gone!” my lover exclaims of me as I fall from the balcony...
6 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #9: Tara Atkinson
Tara Atkinson has worked as an editor, an arts journalist, a publishing assistant, a home health aid, an organic farmer, a standardized test quality controller, and a line cook. She is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Washington where she teaches composition. She is the co-founder and managing director of APRIL. Her chapbook, “Bedtime Stories,” is out now from Alice Blue. She reads...
4 tags
Overheard at our APRIL planning meeting: what are we going to have for party favors other than fried chicken?
3 tags
APRIL Playlist Contest!
Don’t get us wrong, we love the soul playlist our founders have been bumping at almost every event we’ve ever had, but we’re looking for something a little more lit-themed this year.
Help us out by submitting playlists to aprilbookfest@gmail.com by March 15 & we’ll play the winners at our events this year.
Here are the rules:
All songs should have a vaguely bookish...
10 tags
Reverse Fan Mail #8: James Yeh
James Yeh is a founding editor of Gigantic. His writing has appeared in NOON, Fence, Vice, and Tin House. A recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Columbia University, he was a 2011 NYC Emerging Writers Fellow at the Center for Fiction. You can find him online at yehjames.blogspot.com or @jamesyeh on Twitter.
“An Infestation”
Or what about when your apartment got...
8 tags
