Raise a triumphal toast or dull your election pain at Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, with plastic cups of wine at a recession-bargain $1 each.
Cheap Wine and Poetry presents poets Elissa Ball and Evan Peterson and writers Sean O’Connor and Mary Purdy, who will read their work as the wine flows. Open mic follows the readings, starting at 7 p.m. tonight (Nov. 4).
But sober up by Saturday, and don't let election joys or sorrows give you writer’s block. November is National Novel Writing Month. A mere 1,667 words per day for 30 days will add up to a draft of that book-length (roughly 50,000-word) work of fiction your muse has been nagging you to produce.
You can do it with the help of fresh coffee and inspiration at the second annual series of NaNoWriMo Write-Ins. Kickoff is Saturday (Nov. 6), noon-5 p.m. You're welcome to come again (or not) on Nov. 13 and 20 to crank out more pages. At last year’s NaNoWriMo Write-Ins, about 50 perspiring novelists kept each other’s pens and laptops going. Yes, you can!
Whether or not you attend these cool literary events, some no-nonsense advice from poet and essayist Richard Hugo is good for writers , and for citizens in stormy political times:
Don't start arguments....[Y]our important arguments are with yourself.
At all times keep your crap detector on.
(The Triggering Town)
Events, at 1634 11th Ave. on Capitol Hill, are free. Further details at Richard Hugo House, 206-322-7030.
