Tacomans already know Creative Colloquy as a monthly literary event, two-going-on-three annual print publications, and a thriving website (CreativeColloquy.com) full of locally-written poetry and prose. Last fall, founder Jackie Fender added a pick-and-choose "lit crawl" to Colloquy's already-impressive roster. It returns this year to spread stories and other live entertainment to eight downtown venues.

By way of full disclosure, I'm emceeing an event, an adults-only hour called "CC After Dark: Welcome to Bliss," that features sexy readings, dancers Rainie Dae and Riveting Rosey of Rock Candy Burlesque, sultry jazz by The Kareem Kandi Band and other steamy surprises. Another naughty event takes place concurrently at King's Books/Destiny City Comics, where the Gritty City Sirens will read from banned and challenged picture books. Higher-minded bibliophiles could meet poets Peter Munro, Paul Nelson of Seattle Poetics LAB and Emilie Rommel Shimkus. Or there's Rachel Lionheart's verses from her Landonia Adventures at Zodiac Supper Club, of which Fender says, "I witnessed a practice run at Creative Colloquy Olympia and it is highly entertaining."

Of the 2015 debut program she recalled, "I'd attended Seattle's lit crawl, so when I started CC it was a pie-in-the-sky goal. I wanted to invite other media for storytelling as well. I like the idea of broadening what storytelling is. Being able to execute it was a huge payoff. I was blown away by the attendance; each hour drew about three hundred people ... We try to make every part attractive. I want to jump in an Uber and see a few minutes of each one, but I don't think that's going to be possible."

It's not. There's simply too much great stuff in this year's lineup. Behold:

6 P.M. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5

Candlelit Stories (spooky!), Sanford & Son, 743 Broadway, Tacoma

The Daily Paper Misfits (comic astrology), Zodiac Supper Club, 745 St. Helens

Louder Than a Bomb (slam poetry), King's Books/Destiny City Comics, 218 St. Helens

Song of My/Self (uplifting poetry), B Sharp Coffee House, 706 Opera Alley

The Story Behind the Songs (Kim Archer), Doyle's Public House, 208 St. Helens

7 P.M.  

The Artistry of Visual Narration (pictorial storytelling), King's Books/Destiny City Comics

Drunken Telegraph (Tad Monroe and Megan Sukys), B Sharp Coffee House

Paint to the Tune of a Story (with art kits by Tinkertopia), Harmon Tap Room, 204 St. Helens

Poetry & Pints (SPLAB), Odd Otter, 716 Pacific Ave.

8 P.M.

Beautiful Angle (street art), Harmon Tap Room

CC After Dark (sexy!), Tacoma Cabana, 728 Pacific Ave.

Cinema Starts Here (screenwriting), Doyle's Public House

The Funeral of Sir Francis Rottenfoot Senior (Rachel Lionheart), Zodiac Supper Club

Storytime Burlesque (featuring Gritty City Sirens), King's Books/Destiny City Comics

With help from Christina Butcher and Jennifer Chushcoff, Creative Colloquy Crawl ("C3") promises to be the literary event of the year - and it's free! Fender graciously suggests CC After Dark "may be one of the most entertaining time slots this year. You have cocktails in your favor. People like cocktails! We have a few things that are more of a production than a traditional reading. It's kinda rad. I like to think CC has created a platform so welcoming and warm that folks can let their freak flag fly."