Write-O-Rama at Hugo House

On Saturday I had the pleasure of participating in Write-O-Rama at the Richard Hugo House. Located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, the Hugo House is a nonprofit that supports writers and writing in our community. There, you can take writing (and reading) classes, attend readings by local and nationally known writers, enjoy open-mike events open to all. I don't know what the Hugo House's operating budget is, but I'm guessing it's not large, and they really seem to make it go far.

Write-O-Rama is a fundraiser that takes place twice a year (December and July). For a minimum donation of $45, you can participate in a full day of short writing workshops. And they feed you and provide two open-mike sessions at which to share writing that you produced during the classes. Participants come from all levels of experience; really, there's no experience necessary. Even if you've never written a line of fiction or poetry, this would be a fun way to give it a try.

Although I did not produce any writing I was particularly enamoured of during classes, I had a blast and received a lot of food for thought. In a workshop on creating an authentic sense of place in fiction, we read an excerpt from a short story by Annie Proulx, "The Bunchgrass Edge of the World." In it, Proulx describes "flocks of small birds like packs of cards thrown up in the air." What a rich image. It makes you wonder if you will ever write a simile as good as that one. But, it's fun to try!