Join us for the 4th annual Creative Colloquy Crawl.
C3 is an annual storytelling festival that presents a matrimony of the written word, music and art in a pub crawl styled extravaganza in an effort to celebrate our creative culture.

Venues include Kings Books, Doyle’s Public House, Harmon Taproom, The Mix, Stink and Anthem Coffee.

Meet the writers and rub elbows with your fellow crawlers at the after party, immediately following festivities at Matriarch Lounge at Alma Mater!

About the readings:

•6 pm- STINK- Stories From the City’s Collective Memory: Historians Michael Sullivan, Tamiko Nimura and former Mayor Bill Baarsma will tell true stories from Tacoma history. Together they will explore the ghosts of Japantown, downtown Noir in the 1920’s and the Big Game at Stadium Bowl.

•6 pm- Stadium Anthem Coffee (102 N G St)- WITNESS LOVE RESIST: UWT poets & writers will sing, howl, spit, growl their best verses in this age of uncertainty. UWT students find heart in everything; come discover theirs. ALL AGES.

•6 pm- Kings Books- Soundscape Open Mic with LEAH & BETH, Christina Butcher, and You!: Sonic poetry collaborations with musical duo LEAH & BETH and poet Christina Butcher. Not your typical open mic: bring a poem and jump in with the band! ALL AGES.

•6 pm- The Mix- First, Only, Different. 1st Gen: What is your definition of home? Who decides and how do you know you found it? Artist, activist, and former Poet Laureate, Thy Nguyen will share her story of coming to America as a first- generation immigrant. The intense highs, confusing lows, and the art of uncovering yourself in a completely new, sometimes unfriendly place.. 21 +

•7 pm- Doyle’s Public House- Breaking Bread: Since the dawn of time, communities have connected over food and drink. The best stories are shared between sips and mouthfuls from full forks. Industry veterans and storytellers Ron Swarner, Kris Blondin and Jack Noble share libation fueled musings and funny stories about “that one time.” Festivities hosted by Jackie Fender. 21+

•7 pm- STINK- COLLATERAL: Literary journal Collateral shares work from past issues and a sneak peek at issue 3.1, due out in November. Come listen to poems and prose about the impact of war and military service beyond the combat zone, featuring local readers.

•7 pm- Kings Books- A Hip Hop Poetic Cipher: Tacoma MC & poet Grand Marquis and DJ Smokey Wonder perform and invite other poets and MCs to join them. A hip hop poetic cipher with two great local artists. ALL AGES.

•7 pm- Harmon Taproom- Landscape of Desire. A Writer’s Use of Longing: Two creative writing professors from the University of Puget Sound, Ann Putnam and Beverly Conner, read from their published collection of short stories.
According to Ron Thomas, former president of the University, Nine by Three could describe the dimensions of a long narrow carpet we call a runner and place in the hallway that carries us down the corridors connecting the rooms of our experience of childhood and adulthood, mourning and recovery, winter and spring. Each story springs from a dislocating and disorienting event and then stitches together a . . . touching account of something lost and something else found, conveying us from a place we must abandon to another into which we must enter.

•7 pm- The Mix- First, Only, Different. Meet Me Behind Mars: Join Tacoma writer and professor Renee Simms as she shares excerpts from her collection of short stories, “Meet Me Behind Mars.” The audience will join her in a hilarious but provocative account of navigating neighbors, parenthood, school boards and microaggressions as one of the ONLY African American families in a suburban community. Books available for purchase. 21+

•8 pm- Doyle’s Public House- Blue Cactus Press PresentsThe Dark Sides of Humanity: Explore a handful of haunting short stories about the darker sides of humanity – where death, violence and war prevail – by local storytellers Samuel Snoek-Brown, Christina Butcher and Terrell Fox. 21+

•8 pm- Kings Books- Storytelling Through Song: Poet and singer-songwriter Mike Dumovich plays an intimate set in a bookstore. ALL AGES.

•8 pm- The Mix- First, Only, Different. Listen Up, I Got a Story to Tell: How do you keep your cool when you are both invisible and hyper-visible? If you could blend in or stand out which would you choose? What if you don’t get to choose? Tacoma Poet Laureate Kellie Richardson and musician Chris Blount will wax poetic on traveling while Black, the line between being unique vs. objectified, and breaking their own glass ceilings in a world that often won’t just let them live. 21+

•8 pm- Stadium Anthem Coffee (102 N G St) – CC OGs: End the evening with a few of those that started it all. Back in March 2014, a handful of scribes took the stage and Creative Colloquy was born. Revisit with Melissa Thayer, Nick Stokes and William Turbyfill as they narrate their tales. ALL AGES.

Community collaborators include Blue Cactus Press, UW of Tacoma, Michael Haeflinger, Kellie Richardson, Michael Sean Sullivan, Collateral Journal, Mike Dumovich and University of Puget Sound.

Creative Colloquy is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.