Fiction and poetry on display at UW’s Castalia Reading

Last week, graduate students in the UW English creative writing program shared their works of poetry and fiction at the second installment of spring quarter’s Castalia Reading Series at the Richard Hugo House.

The annual event provides students with an opportunity to share their poetry and prose with the Seattle community.

In past years, the reading has been held on campus. This spring’s three-part series was the first held at the Hugo House.

Located in central Capitol Hill, the Richard Hugo House is a retreat for the Seattle literary community, offering public readings, workshops and classes for writers of all ages.

One of the featured poets, Chelsea Jennings, cited the new location as a major benefit to the program.

“The public venue is important because it can be hard to get booked for those of us just getting into the Seattle scene,” she said.

Second year graduate student Brian Christian emphasized the importance of reading for an audience.

“It’s always fun and interesting to see how a live room of people responds to a piece,” Christian said.

His readings drew a significant response from the crowd with his characteristically humorous poems.

“Some reactions, like laughter, are easier to identify than others, but it’s a real chance to see how the work survives in the wild,” he said.

Christian, who also teaches English courses at the UW, introduced one of his poems, “My Dealer,” as having been inspired by an introductory poetry-writing course he taught in the fall.

“My students kept making references to ‘their dealer,’ so I wrote this poem in response,” Christian said.

Many of the participating graduate students also teach English courses at the UW. In this way, the Castalia Readings offer students an opportunity to hear their instructors practice what they preach.

“I get to read their work all year, so I guess it’s only fair,” said Jennings, who teaches beginning verse writing.

Five graduate students participated in the event, with each contributing a 10-minute reading. The program included two poets and three fiction writers.

Christian credited this unique combination of literary disciplines as a benefit to both the readers and audience.

“It gives us MFA students a chance to come together as a department, but it’s also good for the audience in that people who tend to read in one vein get the chance to see what kinds of things are being done in the other,” he said.