Join us for a tour of Hayv Kahraman: Look Me in the Eyes with poet and event organizer Eric M. Acosta, along with a dynamic lineup of local artists, writers, and poets. Using ekphrasis, a detailed response to a work of art, participants will explore the bonds that exist between various art forms. 

In collaboration with Unpoetry, writers and artists are invited to generate new work inspired by current exhibitions, with the goal to deepen engagement with the museum space and the artwork within, while challenging traditional definitions of poetry and language. Full lineup to be announced soon.

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About the Presenters

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Rhea Melina (she/her) is a multi-ethnic poet who lives in Seattle. She is an educator, birth-worker, and herbalist who has been writing and putting out poetry since the early 2000s. Her chapbooks include Fireant (SSO Press, 2005), These are not secrets (XYZ Animal Stars, 2009), a place to put things (Bottlecap Press, 2023), and Not My Wasteland (Bone Machine, 2024). Her poems have been published in Fiilthy Glo Zine, Hare's Paw Literary Journal, Papers Pub, Rising Phoenix Review, and Text Power Telling Magazine, among others. Her first full-length collection of poetry, found confetti, is available from Carbonation Press.

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Symone Sanz is a movement artist and choreographer from Los Angeles. She holds a BFA in dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her choreography that The Stranger calls “mesmerizing, energizing, and weirdly gripping,” is underscored by punk rock and grunge music that embodies Seattle culture at its core. Symone has collaborated with artists Heather Kravas, Cherdonna Shinatra, zoe|juniper, and Amanda Morgan, among many others. Her choreographic work has been presented at On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, and elsewhere. Symone facilitates movement and euphoria through her Dance Church® classes and supports the community through her board service for Velocity Dance Center.

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Raised in Las Vegas, K. C. Smith is a graduate student at UW Seattle, studying for her MFA in Creative Writing. In her writing, she explores the way fiction and poetry intersect. She is interested in writing and living through an ancestral gaze guided by the women of her past. Her work can be found in the 8th issue of Mulberry Literary's online magazine.

Eric M. Acosta is a Seattle poet and the founder of Unpoetry, a curated, twice-monthly series that blends performance, reading, and more. His debut collection, Motion Flesh (2023), is available through Chat Room Books, with his follow-up, Underbelly, forthcoming from Carbonation Press. Explore his work at www.printcopiesavailable.com and learn more about Unpoetry at unpoetry.net