RASP: Redmond Association of Spokenword

Join us for RASP's annual holiday party! Bring snacks to share (optional)—RASP will provide drinks, cups, paper plates, and plastic utensils. Wear a holiday hat or sweater, or come as you are. And bring poems to share in our open mic (holiday-themed for bonus points). We'll also have holiday decorations, socializing, poetry games, Robinson Bolkum as our featured entertainment, and maybe even a crackling fireplace! After the party, we can all go visit the Redmond Lights installations at nearby Downtown Park.

Robinson Bolkum, composer of whimsical verse, is known—from the Birmingham suburbs to the foot of the mighty Himalayas—by few. His four-book series won a Caldecott Award (which he wrote out in crayon and gave to himself). The critics have called it a "no-I-haven't-heard-of-it" or "please-go-away-now-I'm-busy" extravaganza. Fans an' detractors alike enjoy a lot of other books by a lot of other authors. Bolkum himself enjoys reading his work, while he's waiting in line at the grocery store and you should get a copy, for this very purpose.

Scott Ferry helps veterans heal as a RN in the Seattle area. His latest book of poetry, The Long Blade of Days Ahead, is now available from Impspired Press. You can find more of his work at ferrypoetry.com.

MC—Michael Heavener

Caitlin Andrews is originally from the one-light town of Phoenix, Maryland, and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Miami. Her thesis was a finalist for the Marianne Russo Award for a novel-in-progress, and she has been awarded scholarships and fellowships from GrubStreet and the Chesapeake Writers' Conference. She continues work on her first novel, a braided queer historical narrative set during the Irish War for Independence. Her website is caitlinmandrews.com.

Jasmine Plaskon is a Black educator, poet, performer, and events curator at Hugo House in Seattle, Washington. She received her MFA from Spalding University and you can read her work in Fourth River Review, The Sante Fe Literary Review, Peach Velvet Mag, Sundress Publications, and Winter Tangerine. Stay up to date with Jasmine's latest writing at jasminesarahplaskon.com, or on her Facebook/YT @jspiswriting.

Ankober Yewondwossen is an Ethiopian born and raised in Seattle who writes braided nonfiction essays and poetry and is interested in experimental genre-mixed confessional free-verse. Her work explores concepts founded in migration studies, womanism, healing (internal alchemy), and narrative medicine. Ankober is a "mule of the world" in recovery. You may ask her what she means when you see her. Find her poetry at ankober.wordpress.com/ and her nonfiction essays and think-pieces at medium.com/@ankober.

MC—Michael Dylan Welch

Priscilla Long is a Seattle-based writer of poetry, creative nonfiction, science, history, and fiction, and a long-time independent teacher of writing. Her seventh book is Dancing with the Muse in Old Age (Coffeetown, 2022). Her two poetry books are Holy Magic (MoonPath Press) and Crossing Over: Poems (University of New Mexico Press). Her how-to-write book is The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writer's Life. She grew up on a dairy farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For more info go to www.priscillalong.com

Deirdre Lockwood is a poet and fiction writer based in Seattle. Her poems have appeared in The Threepenny Review, The Yale Review, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. She has an MFA in poetry from Boston University and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Washington. She has received support from the Fulbright program, Hugo House, the Elizabeth George Foundation, Artist Trust, Marble House Project, Willapa Bay AiR, and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and is working on a novel. Visit her at deirdrelockwood.com.

MC—Michael Heavener