Hugo House Presents Visiting Hours
Hugo House will be hosting Visiting Hours this Friday at 7:30 p.m., featuring Northwest favorites such as Benjamin Parzybok, Elizabeth Austen, Matt Smith, and Molly Rose. Tickets range from $15-25.
What does the term "visiting hours" make you think of? Jail time? Psych wards? Supervised visits with the children? Plexiglass? Though the term "visiting hours" usually makes us think of less-than-happy events or times, the idea of a visiting hour can also be seen loosely as exactly what it means--all notions aside--as a time to visit with someone. Unwarranted visits with old friends, ex-flames, or maybe even Sunday visits with grandma.
Hugo House presents this open-ended theme through poetry, song, fiction, and acting Friday night, and we're assuming there won't be any plexiglass or women with clipboards tapping their feet with their eye on the clock. We're also assuming that the stories presented will push the limits of this topic and lead to much more interesting perspectives than what we would normally think of with the term "visiting hours."
Portland-based Benjamin Parzybok is the creator of Gumball Poetry (now defunct), and recently came out with his first novel, Couch, which was published by Small Beer Press and was a 2009 Indie Next List suggestion. We must admit, we had to submit a poem for a creative writing class in college, and we submitted it to Gumball Poetry and they took it! We nearly cried with joy, considering we're not a poet and we had no business submitting, but forever after had an eternal love for Gumball Poetry. And really, who can hate on a gumball machine filled with candy and poetry?! Regardless, a close friend of ours also recently read Couch, and had nothing but great things to say about it, so we're already pretty impressed with Parzybok.
We had a great time meeting Elizabeth Austen at last year's Port Townsend Writers' Conference, and she is amazing! Austen was the 2007 Washington "roadshow" poet, where she was able to give readings and workshops in rural parts of the state under the Washington State Arts Commission. Besides teaching and reading at Hugo House regularly, Austen as well has a weekly spot on KUOW where she interviews authors and records local readings.
Matt Smith is an actor best known for his solo performances including "My Last Year With the Nuns," "Helium," and "Beyond Kindness: A Childcare Guide." In 1988 Smith founded the famous Stark/Raving Theatre with Edward Sampson, and his acting credits include Sleepless in Seattle, Spiderman, and Northern Exposure, among many others.
Molly Rose is a Seattle-based singer/songwriter who recently released her first full-length album Clandenstine this past year. Originally from Fresno, CA, Rose's sun-soaked foothills and orange blossoms have influenced her music, which can also be heard on her 2007 debut EP, My Skin, Your Bones.
We're excited to see what these four will have in store for us on Friday at Visiting Hours. We have no doubt that this open-ended theme will be as entertaining as this group's varied work, and can't wait to hear their new individual works and what the term "visiting hours" means to them.
