The Last Lit Crawl Seattle
After nearly a decade of huddling in bars in the rain listening to the poets woo us in verse, of laughing and labiating over great fiction, of fanboying at afterparties as local artist sign our books, it is time, alas, to say goodbye to Lit Crawl Seattle. Come and celebrate the Last Lit Crawl October 25th at Hugo House. Events include readings from Richard Chiem, Rebecca Brown, Jack Straw writers, and a performance inspired by the works of Kurt Vonnegut.
6pm Writers On Writers
Three local authors talk craft, read their work, and celebrate the joy of world building. Featuring Richard Chiem, Rebecca Brown, Becca Hall.
7pm Jack Straw Reading: Halloween Edition
Where would we be without one of Seattle’s greatest treasures? Join us for a spooky reading from some of Seattle’s macabre literati. Featuring Julie Feng, Erin Langner, Ruth Schemmel, and Katharine Strange.
8pm Unexpected Vonnegut
Kilgore Trout once wrote a synopsis about an improvised performance inspired by the writings of Kurt Vonnegut. Many people came to see just how in the world such a performance could occur. Presented in co-production with Unexpected Productions
Ruth Schemmel
Ruth Schemmel’s short fiction has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Fiction, and New Orleans Review, among other places. She has been a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open and a fifth-place overall winner in the NYC Midnight Short Fiction Challenge. A former Peace Corps volunteer, she works as a teacher of high school English language learners in the greater Seattle area, where she lives with her family.
Katharine Strange
Katharine Strange specializes in questioning received wisdom with a wink and a smirk. She writes personal essays, short stories, novels, and now, memoir! Her work has appeared in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, OC87 Diaries, Literary Yard, ScaryMommy, and anthology The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink. She was a 2021 Mainstage Storyteller for The Moth. Formerly she wrote a column for Fundamentally Free, a blog for Exvangelicals and heretics. She lives in south Seattle with her family and is represented by Savannah Brooks of Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. As a rule, she never turns down champagne.
Julie Feng
Julie Feng is a poet, communications strategist, and scholar of stories. She holds a M.A. in Cultural Studies and is an incoming Ph.D. student in Communication at the University of Washington. Julie currently serves as the Director of Communications for Scholar Fund, supporting resources for communities of color and immigrant communities. Her work has appeared in Winter Tangerine, Pacifica Literary Review, Wildness, Quaint Magazine, and more.
Richard Chiem
Richard Chiem is the author of You Private Person (Sorry House Classics, 2017), and the novel, King of Joy (Soft Skull, 2019), which was long listed for the 2020 PEN Open Book Award. He was named a 2019 Writer to Watch by the Los Angeles Times. He has taught at Hugo House and Catapult. He lives in Seattle.
