Our fifth annual storytelling festival falls on Tuesday, October 1, 2019, 6 to 9 p.m.! Our vision is to present a matrimony of the written word, music and art to celebrate our rich creative culture. Venues include Kings Books, Doyle’s Public House, The Mix, Stink, The Grand Cinema and Stadium Anthem Coffee. Craft your word journey itinerary. After party will occur at 9 PM at Kings Books. 6 PM Wordsmiths, Chapter One: Sharing Your Work—Grand Cinema: Jonah interviews some familiar faces - Jackie Casella and Joshua Swainston of Creative Colloquy. Filmed at Sandford and Sons Antiques, the interview goes in-depth regarding the creation of the nonprofit organization, and how Jackie keeps it alive and thriving five years on. Post film discussion with Creative Colloquy Managing Editor, Elizabeth Beck. -ALL AGES *Wordsmiths is a three-part docu-series focusing on local literary leaders throughout the Pacific Northwest area. Created and hosted by local filmmaker Jonah Barrett, the series was made with writers in mind. Each episode focuses on a different aspect of the writer’s journey - from sharing your work, to publication, to bookselling. At the end of each episode, viewers are given a piece of “homework” that they can carry out in their local communities, including starting book clubs, contacting local publishers, supporting indie bookstores and more. Each episode will screen in The Grand Cinema’s lobby, and episodes 1 and 3 will feature post-film discussions with the audience.* 6 PM Life Mysteries—The Mix: Life Mysteries can be explored within the depth of our own hidden self, through science, as well as through paranormal investigations. Robert Caldwell reads from his book Light Sonata of the hidden depth of emotional and psychological influence that haunt our inner genius and the science that uncovers the mysteries of the mind, while Teresa Carol spooks us up with the experiences of a paranormal investigator. -21+ 6 PM The Power of Color: Ancestral Bombs, Intergenerational Trauma, Healing and Resistance—Anthem Coffee: Co-hosts Brandi Douglas, Maria Rodgriguez, and Jesi Vega present original and borrowed stories read and performed by members of The Tacoma Women of Color Collective, a local non-profit which provides opportunities and connections for women of color. -ALL AGES 6 PM Fall Classics: Baseball on the Page—Doyle’s Public House: Join Daniel Person and guests including Michael Haeflinger and Cat Melaunie and others as they read original and borrowed works about baseball. Meditating on the mendacity of a curve ball and the holy numerology of a baseball's seams, this will be an opportunity for fans of the game to revel in their love of the game. -21+ 6 PM The Musicality of Books—King’s Books: Join King's Books for an 45 minute-long game-show highlighting songs inspired by literary works. Audience members will win prizes by correctly guessing which books inspired lyrics of various mixed-genre songs. Music will be provided by Jankuland, with Tacoma musician Knic Pfost as host.-ALL AGES 7 PM Wordsmiths, Chapter Two: Off to the Press—Grand Cinema: Filmed in Browsers Bookshop in downtown Olympia, Jonah sits down with local indie book superstar Laura Stanfill to talk about Laura’s publishing company, Forest Avenue Press. Laura discusses her process of book publishing, and how authors can make a difference in their communities.-ALL AGES 7 PM I'm Not From Here: A Drunken Telegraph Cocktail Party Story Swap on the Theme of Transplanting—Stink: Co-hosts Tad Monroe and Megan Sukys mix things up with a 3-minute story clock on the theme of putting down roots in unfamiliar surroundings. Special guests and attendees are invited to share their own 3-minute stories for an effervescent swap of real-life lessons about thriving somewhere you don't consider your home. -ALL AGES 7 PM Live Like The Mountain Is Shivering: Welcome to the Subduction Zone!—Anthem Coffee: Join us for a mind-tingling, volcanically toasty, mid-evening warm up to Crawl alumni’s segment by welcoming new-to-Crawl voices including the poetry of Sean Michael Galvin (Dog Deer) and the dance, theatre, and storytelling of Screaming Butterflies Productions. Inspiration shall abound in this celebration of community, justice, imagination, and unapologetic creativity. -ALL AGES 7 PM Latinx Poetry Hour—King’s Books: Get ready for a stunning lineup of poetry by regional Latinx authors Sarah Chavez, Natalie Scenters-Zapico and Eduardo Trujillo. Latinx Poetry hour will be hosted by Juan-Carlos Ortega Esquinca, the moderator of Seeds, a Queer and Latinx book club at King's Books. -ALL AGES 7 PM Short, Short Play—The Mix: A 35 minute staged reading of 4 short plays by northwest playwright Milo Mowery. Mowery has had a number of plays produced in Seattle, Portland, and here in Tacoma throughout the past decade. This selection of short works are sometimes sad, sometimes humorous, and definitely short. -21+ 8 PM UWT Poets on Fire —Stink: Words are sparks, and the students of UWT have the kindling and matches to light incredible songs. Come set your fire and hearts ablaze with UWT's stellar line-up of poets.-ALL AGES 8 PM The Power of Color: Ancestral Bombs, Intergenerational Trauma, Healing and Resistance—Anthem Coffee: Co-hosts Brandi Douglas, Maria Rodgriguez, and Jesi Vega present original and borrowed stories read and performed by members of The Tacoma Women of Color Collective, a local non-profit which provides opportunities and connections for women of color. -ALL AGES 8 PM Laureates Resist—Doyle’s Public House: Join Tacoma poet laureate Abby E. Murray, former laureate Kellie Richardson, and Olympia poet laureate, Sady Sparks as they read original poems of resistance, weaving their truths with humor, the senses, and song. A quick poetry prompt will also be provided for audience members.-21+ 8 PM Wordsmiths, Chapter Three: Buying the Book—Grand Cinema: Returning to Browsers, Jonah and the bookshop owner Andrea Griffith have a chat about the historic 1930’s building Andrea operates her business out of. Andrea shares secrets regarding how local bookstores help the community and how she’s kept Browsers thriving utilizing an events-based business model. Post film discussion with Browser’s Books Shop owner, Andrea Griffith.-ALL AGES 8 PM Storytelling Showdown—King’s Books: Get your hand off the buzzer! Okay, leave it there, especially for our game-show style, storytelling showdown! Former King's Books booksellers Michael Haeflinger, Tanya Tran and Lydia Valentine will go to-to-toe in a storytelling competition in which they're given five minutes to write stories based on prompts. Winners will be chosen by audience applause. This event will be hosted by sweet pea himself, owner of King's Books.-ALL AGES