BUMBERSHOOT® READINGS, PANEL DISCUSSIONS, BOOKARTS, SIGNINGS, POETRY SLAM, POETRY CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT, STARBUCKS BOOKFAIR, OPEN MIKE...

Literary Arts Program

Bumbershoot's Literary Arts Program offers poets, performers and pen-jockeys of every sort - from street corner bombasts to ivory tower scribes. Highlights of the program include readings from new novels by David Guterson (Snow Falling on Cedars), Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Mistress of Spices), plus readings by esteemed poets Anselm Hollo, Andrei Codrescu, and Victor Hernᮤez Cruz. Don't miss Codrescu and Hernᮤez Cruz slugging it out in the Bumbershoot Poetry Championship Bout. Also, literary triple-threat Saul Williams brings poetry, rap and cinema to three special performances, and Alex Kuo presides over the Writer's Forum panel discussions on the future of writing and publishing. All this plus scores of local, national and youth poets, playwrights, and novelists.

All performances take place at the Starbucks Literary Stage in the Alki Room, one of the Northwest Rooms, unless otherwise noted. Authors and artists will sit for booksignings after every reading, except the Bumbershoot Championship Poetry Bout courtesy of Elliot Bay Book Company.

ABRECAMINOS
Friday, 2:15 - 3:15pm
Abre is to open, camino means a path - combined an Abrecamino is one who cuts a road where there was none. The Abrecaminos are: Alma Varela, Angel Ayon, Omar Ramirez, and Javier Vargas, four Mexican-Americans from Yakima who blaze new trails into familiar territory as they read from their recently published anthology of poetry, stories and essays.

MATT BRIGGS
Sunday, 7:30 - 8:30pm
Bagley Wright Theatre
His work explores the raw, unpleasant realities that society often fails to recognize. Reading from his new book, Briggs uses a series of first-person narratives to dramatize the effects of the War on Drugs on one American family.

BLUE BEGONIA/TSUNAMI PRESS SHOWCASE
Sunday, 5:00 - 6:00pm
Blue Begonia Press and Tsunami Press bring us readings from four fine poets: Jody Aliesan, whose Loving in Time of War explores the struggle for empathy and whole sight during conflict; Lee Bassett, whose 1973-2000-The Poems strives not for the elimination of suffering, but rather a means of welcoming it quietly; Charles Potts, whose Lost River Mountain uses one musical voice with many contrasting tones, with humor and a conscious political purpose; and Jim Bodeen, whose This House: a Poem in Seven Books, explores what the dream gives, mapping internal and external worlds.

BUMBERCHRONICLES
Ongoing Exhibit
Snoqualmie Room, upstairs
Seattle historian Paul Dorpat has been filming Bumbershoot for almost 20 years. Now, he has edited his footage down to a fast and lively loop of the people and events that typify this very local celebration. Come see visions of Seattle's past and present, and add yourself to Dorpat's cast of local characters by visiting his booth at the Starbucks Bookfair.

BUMBERSHOOT OPEN MIKE
Sunday, 9:00 - 10:45pm
Red Sky Poetry Theater hosts Bumbershoot's annual Open Mike. This is everyone's chance to read at Bumbershoot. Come early to get your name on the list before it fills. Sign-up starts a half-hour before the program but the line forms earlier.

BUMBERSHOOT POETRY CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT
Saturday,8:15 - 10:15pm
Bagley Wright Theatre
No Booksigning
In 1987 Andrei Codrescu, then World Poetry Heavyweight Champion, lost his title to Victor Hernᮤez Cruz in a close contest. "He clearly cheated," Codrescu scoffs about that first clash. "Lemme at him again." The two mix it up in this knock-down, drag-out battle for the title of Bumbershoot Poetry Champion, officiated by referees from the Taos Poetry Circus. Always confident, Hernᮤez Cruz promises, "I'm ready to rock."

BUMBERSLAM
Friday, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Seattle's long-running poetry contest challenges performance poets to "say what they gotta say" in three minutes or less. Randomly picked judges from the audience score the poems Olympics-style and the winner takes home 100 bucks and bragging rights. Top performance poets from the Northwest and beyond join host Allison Durazzi for the most raucous poetry event in town.