June 25 at 5:30 PM Pacific Time
Earthseed: Honoring the Past and Future of Feminist Science Fiction
A celebration and open mic event! Celebrating Octavia Butler and her legacy, as well as all of our PNW women in speculative fiction that have made an impact on the field. Featured readers include Amber Flame, Rashida J. Smith (CW ‘05), and Imani Sims.
The event will be: June 25 from 5:30pm-9pm, at Third Place Commons, and is part of an effort to have a literary event honoring Octavia every year in Lake Forest Park.
The schedule includes an artwork unveiling at the bus stop, a reception with light refreshments in the Commons between, original music inspired by Parable of the Sower, open mic readings, and three readings from our featured guests.
The show begins at 6:00 p.m. with original music inspired by Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. There will be open mic signups at the stage entrance between 6-6:25 p.m. and during the music portion of the show. Open-mic readings will be in-person only. We will have 10 slots for 5 minute readings.
Consider reading your original work, poems, short fiction, and essays are all welcome. Work inspired by the works of Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guinn, Vonda N. McIntyre, and other feminist authors of science fiction and fantasy are encouraged. Friends and supporters welcome!
- Five-Minute Open Mic Readings—6:30–7:25 p.m. PT
- 7:25-7:35 p.m. Break
- Featured Readers 7:35–8:40 p.m. PT
GUIDELINES FOR READERS
Readings are 5 minutes in length. We request that readers present only original material and do not read material that has been written with, or by, AI.
More about our Featured Readers:
Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator whose work garnered residencies with Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, Hugo House, Wa Na Wari, and more. Flame explores spirituality and sexuality, cross-woven with themes of grief, loss, motherhood, magic, and interstitial joy. As the singer-songwriter of jazz-inspired, country-sauced blues band, Last of the RedHot Mamas, Flame sings about Black queer life. Co-founder and Deputy Publisher of Generous Press, a romance house publishing Black and brown, queer, and disabled love stories, Flame’s poetry and essays have been published in diverse arenas and anthologies, including Wanting: Women Writing About Desire. Ordinary Cruelty, Flame’s full-length poetry collection, published in 2017 through Write Bloody Press; the second book, apocrifa, launched May 2023 from Red Hen Press, with a third collection forthcoming in fall 2027. Flame is at work writing essays, a film, and a romance novel while raising a talented kid in Tacoma, Washington.
Rashida J. Smith (CW ‘05) writes stories about the things that go bump in the night, including headboards. A California native, she mostly loves living in Seattle but refuses to give up her umbrella. She is the author of the fantasy romance series The Grace Bloods and its prequel trilogy Tooth & Spell. Rashida attended Clarion West in 2005, served on the board of directors from 2017-2019, and joined the staff in 2020, where she developed and manages Clarion West’s extensive online offerings.
Imani Sims is an alchemist and author from Seattle, WA. Wonder is Imani’s specialty and drawing inspiration from the cosmos to integrate art, ritual, and the Black aesthetic into experiences tailored for QTBIPOC communities and allies. With a background spanning over three decades in performance & literature, they’ve dedicated themselves to fostering spaces where imagination thrives. Their shelves overflow with books delving into Afrofuturist realms, and their tarot deck, The Deck of NONE, embodies their deep connection to the genre. Imani’s work is a world within a world.
Find Imani on Instagram @bookthirtythree & online at wwww.bookthirtythree.com