*This event was previously scheduled for April 27th, 2023.*
Third Place Books welcomes former Seattle writer and artist Anastacia-Reneé to our Seward Park store for a discussion of her poetry collection Side Notes from the Archivist. She will be joined in conversation with local librarian, researcher, and writer Zola Mumford. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required in advance.
This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
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The award-winning, genre-crossing writer demonstrates her power as a funkadelic and formidable feminist voice in this rich and beautiful collection of verse and image. Side Notes from the Archivist is a preservation of Black culture viewed through a feminist lens. The Archivist leads readers through poems that epitomize youthful renditions of a Black girl coming of age in Philadelphia’s pre-funk ’80s; episodic adventures of “the Black Girl” whose life is depicted through the white gaze; and selections of verse evincing affection for self and testimony to the magnificence within Black femme culture at-large. Every poem in Side Notes elevates and honestly illustrates the buoyancy of Blackness and the calamity of Black lives on earth. In her uniquely embracing and experimental style, Anastacia-Reneé documents these truths as celebrations of diverse subjects, from Solid Gold to halal hotdogs; as homages and reflections on iconic images, from Marsha P. Johnson to Aunt Jemima; and as critiques of systemic oppression forcing some to countdown their last heartbeat. From internet “Fame” to the toxicity of the white gaze, Side Notes from the Archivist cements Anastacia-Reneé role as a leading light in the womanist movement—an artist whose work is in conversation with advocates of Black culture and thought such as Audre Lorde, Amiri Baraka, and Nikki Giovanni.
"Casting a sharp side-eye at the past with urgent syntax that rockets a reader forward, Anastacia-Reneé’s newest collection is a trenchant critique of US American f#@ckeries. This is a communal book in which unruly voices account for the dead; there are far too many to remember and more coming soon. Side Notes From the Archivist moves the margins to the center, retroactively claiming space and meaning to hold it into whatever future there is."
—Douglas Kearney, author of Sho and The Black Automaton
"What a heavy load to carry and present memory as archivist. But memory is the original archivist. These memories do the labor of dating, storing and preserving objects of queer-ness, girl into woman and hood-ness within temperatures that center their integrity. Anastacia is a poetry-teller. A raw griot. The duty of a griot is to become a body for memories. And with this collection of work, Anastacia has showed up ready for duty."
—Avery Young, author of neckbone: visual verses
Anastacia-Reneé is a writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, TEDx Speaker and podcaster. She is the author of (v.), (Black Ocean), and Forget It (Black Radish) and, Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere and Side Notes from the Archivist forthcoming from Amistad (an imprint of HarperCollins). Renee was selected by NBC News as part of the list of "Queer Artist of Color Dominate 2021's Must See LGBTQ Art Shows." She was former Seattle Civic Poet (2017-2019), Hugo House Poet-in-Residence (2015-2017) and Arc Artist Fellow (2020). Her work has been published widely.
Zola Mumford is an academic librarian, researcher, and writer. From 2003 to 2022, she was Curator of the Seattle Black Film Festival, a program of LANGSTON, a nonprofit arts organization. Mumford has served as a Washington State Book Awards judge and continues to be a speaker and panelist on subjects ranging from archival research to film history to science fiction/speculative fiction. Her professional background also includes media and arts production; historical research; and preservation work with film and print materials in university and private film and art archives.
Want a signed edition of the featured book, but can't make it to the event? Order through our website or over the phone, and write your request for a signature or personalization in the comments field at checkout. Please call the hosting store if you're placing your order within 24 hours of the event.
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