SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: Student Writing

Mary Ruefle gazes into the camera, head down, brows up, through her curly hair. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and the lapel of her navy blue blazer is decorated with a small pin.

Mary Ruefle: Impressions of a Sentence-Maker

By Bianca Glinskas As an emerging poet, I’ve been a bit clueless when it comes to considering how profoundly my writing process affects my work. I type in front of screens in noisy cafes. I am guilty of planning my poems out before I write them. For me, this has served as a sort of […]

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Lindy West stands with her arm over the shoulder of a smiling young student reader. They're standing in front of a brick wall.

“Self-Portrait,” by Lucinda Gilbertson

A photo of a girl Rosy cheeked and round Hangs on a wall in my house Arms spread wide and welcoming The perfect picture of childhood Of tire swings And clam bakes And playing pretend She worries about birds and cats and worms Sits on her porch swing Listens to her dad play guitar Savoring […]

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Mary Ruefle gazes into the camera, head down, brows up, through her curly hair. Her navy blue blazer is decorated with a small pin.

Introductions: Mary Ruefle

By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Twenty-five years ago, I jumped into a pool in Switzerland and when I got out of the pool, I went about my business, i.e. my life for a while—maybe a half hour?—before I realized everything was blurry. I’d jumped in with my glasses on and when I went back, […]

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Lily Baumgart's profile is thrown into sharp relief against stage lights. Their hair is cropped short casts a shadow onto their cheek. They are wearing a yellow turtleneck with a wide-collared coat. A red SAL logo is behind the lectern where they're speaking.

“Dissection of a Western Kingbird,” by Lily Baumgart

Extinguish larynx, strung down neck & plucked from voice box, pulling out a sharp snap; I holler to the kingbird out of loneliness. Feathered body & beak yellowed with age, sleek wings broken in by many winters, his dead eyes, refusing to acknowledge. Measurements of clawed feet, the push of the scalpel into his full […]

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Wei-Wei Lee, looking slightly over her shoulder, grins at the camera amid a black backdrop lit by multicolored, circular lights.

“cold hard marble truth,” by Wei-Wei Lee

It’s a mite hard to believe on nights like this that, somewhere, I have friends who aren’t dream-deep and snug in their beds, asleep, but may be dozing off in lecture with pens stuttering on notes; air conditioners humming furious against the peak afternoon heat. Harder still to believe, that while they scribble and we […]

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In this composite image, Mary Ruefle's black and white head shot on one side, with a copy of her book cover, Dunce, on the other side.

Readers as Aliens: Reading Mary Ruefle’s Poetry

On Thursday, November 21, 2019, Seattle Arts & Lectures will present a reading with Mary Ruefle at Broadway Performance Hall in Capitol Hill. Mary Ruefle has published over ten collections of poetry. Below, local writer Bianca Glinskas reveals three favorite Ruefle poems and what they tell us about the reader and the writer. By Bianca Glinskas […]

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Maia Pody stands in front of a blurred out background of a body of water, with boats behind her. She's looking down at a page she is reading aloud from.

YPL Ambassador Maia Pody Has Something to Say

Need to brighten up your Thursday afternoon? Nancy Guppy’s Art Zone brings us this video, beautifully shot by Vincent Pierce, of our 2019 Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador Maia Pody reading her poem “Foam.” Thank you to Nancy Guppy and Seattle Channel for making this possible, and to Maia for sharing her work!

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Chimamanda Danita Egboh laughs backstage at Benaroya Hall. Her hair is in braids, and she's wearing a blue and white striped cardigan.

“I Am From,” by Chimamanda Danita Egboh

I Am From I am from Nigeria, the western part of Africa From the sandy roads and hot sunny days I’m from delicious egusi soup with pounded yam, jollof red, fried rice with chicken and my favorite African salad, all simmering in the very dim lit kitchen the only light, a kerosene lantern I’m from […]

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Gianni Johnson stands at the podium, smiling and speaking into a microphone, with one hand raised.

“Turf,” by Gianni Johnson

We don’t have to kill our environment to make beautiful things If life was on a dark path, should we continue on to see what life brings? Self-inspired hope after finding new ways to cope Dealing with demolition would leave one so pessimistic Watching it all fall then running off in the distance Returning to […]

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Lydia Ganz reads from a wood lectern, hair held back by a blue headband as she leans forward to look at her paper.

“Ode to Cinnamon,” by Lydia Ganz

Cinnamon O, cinnamon Soft but sharp quiet but demanding You are the tall red spruces old as time cutting the sky and stretching beyond You are clouds who knit together casting a blanket of gray swallowing the earth and casting soft raindrops You are the bear prowling through the forest lumbering paws slapping the mud […]

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