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July 26, 2010 at 7:04am

In Their Words: Tammy Robacker on indie lit chick lessons

TACOMA'S POET LAUREATE HAS A WORKSHOP FOR YOU >>>

Not to be morbid, but I always wanted to write book before I died.

So I did.

The year before I turned 40, I committed to write poetry for a year straight until I had enough poems to make up a manuscript. Then, last November, I published that first collection of poetry, The Vicissitudes (Pearle Publications 2009) with funding made possible by a TAIP grant I won through the Tacoma Arts Commission.

Since being awarded Urban Grace's 2010 Soul of the City Poet Laureate of Tacoma title, I'm learning that I'm not the only writer that dreams of this achievement. I have found, in my own literary circles of friends in Tacoma - by volunteering for several local poetry organizations, and as serving as poet laureate this year - that there are writers and poets of all skill levels who always come up to me after a reading and tell me how bad they want to write a book.

As poet laureate, it is a very important task for me to share the world of poetry and writing with Tacoma from many angles. In addition to poetry readings and literary events, one of the goals of the poet laureate program for me is to outreach not just to poets but also to all people in our community who want to write or who do write and support and encourage them to reach their own personal literary goals.

In addition to the hunger many people have to publish their collection of poems, or write their first novel, they simply do not know where to start once the manuscript takes shape. It is daunting for writers and poets to consider the overwhelming world of publication options. Can you self-publish? Should you get an agent? What is the benefit of working with small presses?

To help answer these questions and offer publishing inspiration to Tacoma's writers and poets, I will be offering a class called, Indie Lit Chicks on Publishing: A Writers Workshop on Sunday, Aug. 1 from 2-4:30 p.m. at Urban Grace Church. Joining me to co-teach and host a Q&A session on topics such as self-publication, literary agents, funding, marketing and independent press publication will be two guest authors, Gina Frangello and Zoe Zolbrod. The authors will also read from their latest novels and books will be available for purchase and signing.

Gina Frangello is the author of the books My Sister's Continent (Chiasmus 2006) and Slut Lullabies (Emergency Press 2010.)  The long-time editor of Other Voices magazine, she co-founded its book imprint, Other Voices Books (www.ovbooks.com) in 2005, where she serves as executive editor.  Frangello is also the fiction editor at the popular online literary collective The Nervous Breakdown (www.thenervousbreakdown.com). Visit the author at: www.ginafrangello.com.

Following her debut novel, My Sister's Continent, which delved "fearlessly into questions of identity, abuse ... trust, trespass, and delusion" (Booklist), Frangello continues her exploration of the power dynamics of gender, class, and sexuality in this collection of diverse, vibrant short fiction. Slut Lullabies is unsettling. Like the experience of reading a private diary, these stories leave one feeling slightly traitorous while also imprinting a deep recognition of truths you did not know you felt (Emergency Press).

Other Voices Books 2010 recently released Zoe Zolbrod's new novel, Currency. Inspired by her personal experiences backpacking in Asia in the mid-'90s, itis a literary thriller set in Thailand that tells about a Thai man and an American woman backpacker who get involved with each other and an endangered animal smuggling ring. Ladette Randolph, author of A Sandhills Ballad and editor-in-chief at Ploughshares, writes, "Currency is an impressive debut, a spellbinding novel of international intrigue and a heartbreaking love story between a naive young American woman and a sweetly ambitious Thai man. Zoe Zolbrod writes with authority about little known parts of Thailand in prose so beautiful I found myself conflicted between savoring every word and rushing to see what would happen next."

Zolbrod has published short stories and some of her essays appeared in Maxine, a zine she co-published in the 1990s. Born in Meadville, Penn., Zolbrod attended college in Oberlin, Ohio, and received a MA from University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently, Zolbrod works in educational publishing and lives in Evanston, Ill., with her husband, the artist Mark DeBernardi, and their son and daughter. Visit the author's blog: http://zoezolbrod.com/

Indie Lit Chicks on Publishing: A Writers Workshop

Sunday, Aug. 1, 2-4:30 p.m., $10 suggested donation
Urban Grace Church, 902 Market St., Tacoma
Cost: $10 suggested donation
To RSVP, email: tamsugah@aol.com

LINK: Tammy Robacker knows this blog

Filed under: Word, Books, Tacoma, In Their Words,

July 20, 2010 at 6:46am

5 Things To Do: Kids Day at the Market, Banned Book Club, "Kate Bush and Theory," Sugar Sugar Sugar ...

"Hey kid, do you like broccoli from the farmers market?"

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2010 >>>

1. It's Kids Day at the 6th Ave Farmers Market from 3:30-7:30 p.m. featuring Secret Squirrel, Secret Circus, face painting, snow cones, arts and crafts and more.

2. It's a night of doubles when The Banned Book Club meets at the Tempest Lounge to discuss The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger AND Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck while, no doubt, sucking down doubles.

3. Author Deborah Withers applies critical theory to the work of pop star Kate Bush in her book, Kate Bush and Theory, which she discusses at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books in Olympia.

4. Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub in downtown Tacoma hosts Team Trivia Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m.

5. Sugar Sugar Sugar and Photon Pharaoh play The New Frontier Lounge at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

July 13, 2010 at 7:22am

5 Things To Do: Jazz jam, produce and roots rock, Tuesday Read-In, Love Tacoma ...

Kareem Kandi

TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010 >>>

1. Saxophonist Kareem Kandi hosts an open jazz jam beginning at 9 p.m. inside SAX Restaurant and Lounge.

2. The 6th Avenue Farmers Market is on from 3:30-7:30 p.m. at Sixth and Pine in Tacoma. Roots rocker Tommy Dean will provide the background music.

3. Last Word Books in Olympia Come invites everyone to drop by for a read, drink tea, and argue politics as part of their Tuesday Read-In from 5-7 p.m.

4. People who love Tacoma will gather at 5:30 p.m. inside Primo Grill to talk about their love for Tacoma, participate in prize drawings and drink the Love Tacoma Signature Drink.

5. Explore the deeper meaning of play in child development and learn about the Waldorf educational system in this new talk with longtime Waldorf educators Sara Smith and Sandra Roulette at 7 p.m. inside Marlene's Market and Deli in Tacoma.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

July 12, 2010 at 7:07am

5 Things To Do: "Hausu," Graphic Novel Book Club, Jerry Miller ...

Girlfriends laugh and sings and die on summer vacation in the film "Hausu."

MONDAY, JULY 12, 2010 >>>

1. Heralded for its trippiness and cheesy special effects, Hausu, or House, has been restored, newly subtitled and re-released in the United States by Janus Films for for an 8:30 p.m. screening of feline-fearing, mirror-smashing, random plot detouring (look out for the ramen bear) wackiness inside The Grand Cinema. The goofy ghost story centers on "Gorgeous" and her group of giddy teenage girlfriends who summer vacation at Gorgeous' wheelchair-bound aunt's country house, only to encounter cackling severed heads, a man transformed into fruit, a killer piano, and the meanest house cat of all time.

2. Trinda Love's painting are rich textured images with a variety of subjects that are made with the palette knife rather than a brush. Check them out from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mary Boze Gallery inside the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Tacoma.

3. The Graphic Novel Book Club discuss Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud at 7 p.m. inside the book-themed 1022 South lounge in Tacoma.

4. The Jerry Miller Band will play The Swiss at 8 p.m.

5. Grit Rock Monday at The New Frontier Lounge features DJ Darren Selectors pinning Tacoma indie rock and underground hits beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

July 10, 2010 at 6:13am

5 Things To Do: Tacoma Treasures, Peabody Waldorf party, Benjamin Cobb, Excellent Gentlemen ...

Hopefully you can pick up a Pogo Ball today at the Tacoma Treasures sale.

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 >>>

1. The Evergreen State College's Tacoma campus the annual Tacoma Treasures event goes down from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering an impressive collection of gently used toys, household items, clothing and more for cheap purchase and allowing you the opportunity to support Evergreen Tacoma and its student scholarship fund. It's a win-win, especially if you score something cool like a partially deflated Pogo ball.

2. From annoying ailments, such as headaches and sinusitis, to the major killers, heart disease and cancer - nature's oldest medicine not only cures, but often prevents such sufferings. And what is that medicine? Food. Kathryn Parslow's book Surviving the American High-Tech Diet offers scientifically proven answers to America's health crisis. She'll sign her book from 1-3 p.m. at the Commencement Bay Coffee Co. in Tacoma.

3. An art house for the young, the lowbrow, even the highbrow, and the in between - artists and patrons. Hasn't Tacoma tried this before? Indeed, it has, and although most previous efforts are now gone, they still hold an important place in Tacoma's collective artistic history. That's exactly why the Peabody Waldorf Gallery on Broadway deserves your company and support today from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Billed as the Peabody Preservation Party, nonstop music, art, break dancing, baking, raffle, and auction action will all help raise money to keep the Peabody moving forward.

4. Most glass artists the Weekly Volcano runs with make pipes. So is not the case with Benjamin Cobb, who opens what should be a captivating show today at the Traver Gallery in Tacoma. Letting the study of the human body inspire his work and creating sleek and sexy gaze-stealers, Cobb is a very modern glass artist with enough skill that it makes us kind of regret opening this off with a pipe joke - which is saying something. Drop by for an artist reception from 4-7 p.m. The show runs through Aug. 8.

5. The Excellent Gentlemen will fill Doyle's Public House with R&B, synthesizers, talk-boxes, keyed bass, booty-funk, and harmonies beginning at 9:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

June 29, 2010 at 12:36pm

Erik Hanberg is fundamental

Erik Hanberg

CONGRATS TO OUR NEW HEAD BOOKWORM >>>

In theory, every single person Tacoman Erik Hanberg sees in this town next winter will have a copy of "the book" somewhere on their person or property, dog-eared, damp with sweat, and, most importantly, read all over. He'll do his best to make it so.

Last Friday, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland announced she selected Erik Hanberg as the new chair of Tacoma Reads Together, a community reading initiative.

"I selected Hanberg because he is a voracious reader, a champion of social media, and very active in the civic, arts and business arenas," stated Strickland in a press release. "As our city moves forward, I want to ensure that new voices are brought to the table to serve on boards, commissions and in other positions of leadership."

The Tacoma Reads books are selected by the mayor as a way to bring the community together and discuss critical community issues. These issues, according to the press release, included racism and discrimination, the balance between the needs of the individual versus the rights of the State, immigration and cultural assimilation, and the ever-increasing role of science in our lives.

I'm very excited," Hanberg said via email. "It's kind of a dream job for a book lover."

Hanberg hopes to have the book announced by late fall, with the event programming for "the book" beginning in January or February 2011.

For more information about the program, visit the Tacoma Public Library Web site.

Filed under: Books, Community, Tacoma,

June 26, 2010 at 6:37am

5 Things To Do: Mob Ride, Tacoma Hempfest, Lakewood Summerfest, roller derby ...

SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 2010 >>>

1. The Mob Ride presents "Freedom Ride 2010" - another bicycle booze cruz - pushing off from The Red Hot at 7 p.m. If the past rides have been any indication you can expect 30-plus riders on a wide variety of bike models visiting four pubs/bars with a traveling distance of 1.5 miles between drinks.

2. Tacoma Hempfest begins at 10 a.m. in Wright Park with hemp products, information and people pushing Initiative 1068 to legalize marijuana for adults.

3. Lakewood Summerfest continues from noon to dusk with entertainment, vendors and food at Fort Steilacoom Park.

4. Author Norman Northrup will sign his Christian fiction novel, The Ashes of Castlemont - the story of one man who struggles with the ease of the life he used to know and the fear of daring to do what is right - from 1-3 p.m. at Last Word Books in Olympia.

5. Characters such as Lt. Stryk-her, Lush-Ace Harms, Knuckleberry Finn, Anita Hit Sum Won, Lola Pistola and Paula Bunion will be throwing elbows beginning at 6 p.m. when the Dockyard Derby Dames Championship Bout begins inside the Foss Waterway seaport. expect a beer garden, Three Chicks Catering barbecue, Last Stand hot dogs and an afterparty at Rock The Dock Pub & Grill.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

June 24, 2010 at 7:09am

5 Things To Do: Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker, UFO chat, classical music in a garden ...

Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010 >>>

1. The 2010 Soul of the City Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker will give her premiere reading since winning the title at 7 p.m. inside  the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch. The free event will also include readings by former Soul of the City Poet Laureates Antonio Edwards and William Kupinse, as well as three of this year's 2010 Poet Laureate contest candidates, Brittany Short, Deborah Renee Crespo, and Pamela McCauley.

2. Author James Clarkson explains why Roswell and UFOs in general are anything but case closed at 6 p.m. inside Orca Books in Olympia.

3. Second City Chamber Series kicks off its summer concerts at Lakewold Gardens with Russian music by Rachmanoninov and Shostakovich played by Brittany Boulding (violin), Julian Schwarz (cello) and Natalya Ageyeva (piano) during a picnic at 7:30 p.m.

4. Dreams Jaded, Rip Spacer, The Chelsea Speed Party, and The Endeavors play Hell's Kitchen at 9 p.m.

5. J-Fresh mixes hip-hop and Top 40 videos during ladies night at 10 p.m. inside The Gamers Lounge on South Hill Puyallup.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

June 19, 2010 at 8:06am

5 Things To Do: "Quiet Shoes," hometown heroes autograph session, "Brunch," rockin' blues benefit ...

The Tacoma film noir "Quiet Shoes" premieres tonight at the Rialto Theater.

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010 >>>

1. In February of 2006, Isaac Olsen got together with Kurt Kendall and Dale Phillips of Girl Trouble at a deserted farmhouse in Orting. They had broken into the house for their first day of shooting; the house needed to come first and the shoot needed to be quick, because there was no way of knowing how long the house would be around. This was the beginning of the Tacoma film noir Quiet Shoes. Over the next several years, working around the performing schedule of Girl Trouble, Isaac Olsen's year-long absence from Tacoma and budgetary concerns, the film would eventually take shape ... and screen tonight at 7 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma.

2. The Tacoma Public Library kicks off its 2010 Summer Reading Club with a Summer Reading Club Block Party with performances by The Toucan Steel Drum Band and an appearance by The Bubbleman from 1-4 p.m. outside the downtown Tacoma Main Library.

3. Eight Dockyard Derby Dames, two members of local cartoonist group C.L.A.W., miniature superhero figurines sculptor Ben Misenar, comic improv troupe The Dead Gentlemen, Zombocalypse Now creator Matt Youngmark, creator of Zombocalypse Now and self-publisher Jack Cameron will cram into Comic Book Ink to meet, greet and sign autographs for their fans, each other's fans, and whoever else shows up, beginning at 2 p.m.

4. Local playwright Elliot Weiner's Brunch hits Tacoma Little Theatre's stage at 7 p.m. A comedy built on friendships and the challenges they create, Brunch is the latest theater gem to come to us via Weiner, who most recently directed TLT's The Star Spangled Girl, Greater Tuna and Tuna Christmas.

5. In The House with Nick Nicholas will lay down some rockin' blues boogie from 8-11 p.m. inside the North Shore Golf & Country Club with the net proceeds going to the Leukemia & Lymphona Society in Don Kornegay's name. 

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

June 17, 2010 at 4:21pm

The return of Matt Youngmark!

I stole this picture from the Chooseomatic website - chooseomaticbooks.com. When Youngmark was editor of the Reporter, it wasn't that easy.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD >>>

A long time ago, in - basically - the same place, I wrote for a snarky, gritty little rag known as the Tacoma Reporter. Even back then, Tacoma was Tacoma. I was a lot younger. The landscape was full of metal and mud wrestling. People still preferred cheap beer. There was a place in Ruston called the Shoboat - no "w".

Times were good.

Matt Youngmark, a supremely talented dude and author and creator of Zombocalypse Now - a nerdy-hip, choose-your-own adventure zombie book conveniently released by Chooseomatic Books - was the editor, er, creative director, er, co-owner, er, all of the above at the Reporter. Basically, he was the guy behind the computer screen 22.5 hours a day, somehow creating a paper every week while running on caffeine and being denied basic human necessities like sleep and food that doesn't come from a vending machine and end in the sound "-os". Before the Reporter, Youngmark was one of the people behind Pandemonium Magazine.

Basically, he was the shit. And he was my boss. And - at least I liked to think - he was my friend.

Anyway, to make a long, somewhat sappy story short - almost a year ago Youngmark sent me a copy of Zombocalypse Now for review in the Weekly Volcano. I told him I'd do it because, let's be honest, a choose-your-own-adventure zombie books for adults is a fucking brilliant idea, and - as I said - he's my friend.

Problem is, I never reviewed the book. Shortly after Youngmark sent it to me - or perhaps right before (it's kind of a blur) - my dad passed away. I only mention this because my dad, Frank Driscoll, as a staff writer at the Reporter, is the person that introduced me to Youngmark and the connection that got me a shot I probably didn't deserve at the paper. Really, if it wasn't for my dad having that job, and the Reporter being desperate and overwhelmed enough to a) give me a chance, and b) keep me around out of sheer desperation even when I made inevitable mistakes, there's a very good chance I wouldn't have the job I do today.

But back to Zombocalypse Now. I carried it around for a long time. I told myself I'd get around to reviewing it. I really did. Eventually, I became ashamed of myself. But even that never spurred me to action. The guilt just grew and grew and grew.

For all I know, Youngmark and I may not even be friends anymore.

Luckily, he's going to forgive me. Why? Well, because I know you. After reading the preceding touching and heartfelt Spew post, you'll be moved enough not only to buy multiple copies of Zombocalypse Now immediately, but to show up Saturday at Comic Book Ink for the "Homegrown Heroes" book signing event and get your multiple copies of Zombocalypse Now signed by Youngmark himself.

That's right! Youngmark will be in attendance, and participating in HIS FIRST EVER BOOK SIGNING! Come meet the legend! And help me move on!

The "Homegrown Heroes" event also includes appearances by members of The Dockyard Derby Dames, local cartoonist Mark Monlux and James Stowe - and plenty more. If I'm not mistaken (and, yes, it is my job to know such things), the Volcano's Joe Izenman is working up some words on the event right now, for publication on Spew soon.

Youngmark blogged about the Homegrown Heroes signing earlier today. Since we're not back on speaking terms yet, I'll just still a few juicy quotes.

"John Munn at Comic Book Ink has been a tremendous supporter of Zombocalypse Now, and I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be signing at his store. I'm not just saying that, either - John was the very first retailer to stock the book, was instrumental in helping me get picked up by Alliance Games and Diamond Comics, and sold books for me at this year's Emerald City Comic Con. Without his tireless support, there's no chance that the book would have had a fraction of the success it's enjoyed so far," writes Youngmark.

"The Homegrown Heroes event is a bit of a homecoming for me, since after 18 years of T-town bliss I moved northward to Seattle last year to be closer to the day job (and shack up with my sweetie)."

Welcome Youngmark back to Tacoma in style, from 2-5 p.m. Saturday. Also, help me erase some of this guilt. Buy the damn book!

Over and out.

Filed under: Books, Arts, Events, Media, Tacoma,

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News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.

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