Monday, October 3, 2011, 7pm

Fiction writer Kakwasi Somadhi holds a BA and MA in English and a newly earned MFA in creative writing. She's written a novel, Coming Forth by Day and is hard at work on a story collection, Sun Tzu in the Hood, as well as a memoir about grace and grief, Spirits Rapping through the Vines. Somadhi resides in Elk Grove and teaches at Sacramento City College.

Photo by Susan Slapin, taken at the October 3, 2011 Artsmith Literary Salon at Kangaroo House on Orcas Island.

Sunday, November 6, 2011, 7pm

Brenda Miller is the author of Listening Against the Stone (Skinner House Books, 2011), Blessing of the Animals (EWU Press, 2009), Season of the Body (Sarabande Books, 2002), and co-author of Tell it Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Her work has received six Pushcart Prizes and has been published in numerous journals. She is a Professor of English at Western Washington University and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Bellingham Review. Her book The Pen and The Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World, co-authored with Holly Hughes, is forthcoming in 2012 from Skinner House Books. Visit Brenda's website at http://www.brendamillerwriter.com/.

Monday, February 6, 2012, 7pm

Jason Skipper is the author of the novel Hustle (Press 53). His work has appeared in numerous journals, including Hotel Amerika and Mid-American Review, with awards and recognition from Zoetrope: All-Story, Glimmer Train, and Crab Orchard Review. In addition, he is the recipient of grants from Artist Trust and the Vermont Studio Center. He studied in the Master’s program at Miami University and in the PhD in Creative Writing program at Western Michigan University, where he was fiction editor of Third Coast. He teaches creative writing and literature at Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Tacoma, Washington. Visit Jason's website at http://www.jasonskipper.com.

Monday, March 5, 2012, 7pm

Renda Belle Dodge is the author of Inked and The Indie Writer’s Workshop; the Managing Editor of Line Zero, a quarterly indie arts and writing journal; and Managing Editor of Pink Fish Press. Renda regularly runs workshops on fiction plotting, drafting and independent publishing. For the past seven years she has been involved in National Novel Writing Month, and for the past five has been a Municipal Liaison in the Seattle area,  working with and encouraging writers of all ages and skill sets. Visit Renda's website at http://rendadodge.com/.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Tina Schumann's chapbook "As If" (Parlor City Press) was awarded the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize for 2010. Her full manuscript "Praising the Paradox"was a finalist in the 2011 National Poetry Series and her poem "Calculations" was awarded the 2009 American Poet Prize from The American Poetry Journal. Her work received honorable mention in The Atlantic Monthly 2008 poetry writing contest as well as the 2010 Crab Creek Review contest. This year her work was nominatied for a Pushcart. Schumann holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University. Her work has appeared in various publications including The American Poetry Journal, Ascent, Cimarron Review, Crab Creek Review, Harpur Palate,PALABRA, PARABOLA, Poemeleon, Poetry International and Raven Chronicles.

Sunday, May 6, 2012, 7pm

Nancy Pagh has authored two award-winning collections of poetry, No Sweeter Fat (Autumn House Press) and After (Floating Bridge Press), and one book of nonfiction (At Home Afloat) about women boat travelers of our region.  Her work appears in numerous periodicals and anthologies ((including Prairie Schooner, Crab Creek Review, Poetry Northwest, and Fire on Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry). She has been the D. H. Lawrence Fellow at the Taos Summer Writers Conference and a recipient of an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship. Nancy lives in Bellingham and teaches at Western Washington University.