Even though he died nearly 28 years ago (in Oct. 1982), White Center native Richard Hugo won an award this week, as his book “Selected Poems” won the 2010 One Book Montana Selection prize.

Born Dec. 21, 1923, right here in White Center, Hugo served in World War II as a bombardier, flying 35 combat missions over Europe. He got a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in creative writing from the University of Washington, then worked as a technical writer for Boeing for 13 years.

According to Wikipedia:

In 1961 his first book of poems, A Run of Jacks, was published. Soon after he took a creative writing teaching job at the University of Montana. He later became the head of the creative writing program there. His wife returned to Seattle in 1964, and they divorced soon after. He published five more books of poetry, a memoir, a highly respected book on writing, and also a mystery novel. His posthumous book of collected poetry, Making Certain It Goes On, evinces that his poems are marked by crisp, gorgeous images of nature that often stand in contrast to his own depression, loneliness, and alcoholism. Although almost always written in free verse, his poems have a strong sense of rhythm that often echoes iambic meters. He also wrote of large number of informal epistolary poems at a time when that form was unfashionable

After discovering that the life of a poet wasn’t so lucrative, Hugo then moved to Missoula, where he took a teaching gig at the University of Montana for nearly two decades before passing away on Oct. 22, 1982.

If you’re in Missoula this summer, there will be numerous events devoted to our Dub-C native son at the 2010 Montana Festival of the Book, slated for Oct. 29-30.

Also, Hugo’s legacy lives on in Seattle at the Richard Hugo House, which is a great resource for Writers and other creative types – check it out here.

And if you haven’t read it yet, you should either check out or buy Hugo’s book White Center.

A sophomore at Highline’s Health Sciences and Human Services High School (HS3) will read from her first novel and sign copies of her book at an event Thursday, April 1st on the Evergreen campus. Manoush Casteñada-Vizcarra wrote “The Way of the Owls” when she was 14. She recently self-published the book and is currently working on a new novel.

Set in her parents’ native Mexico, “The Way of the Owls” tells the story of a young woman determined to overcome oppression.

“The Ways of the Owls deals with profound issues of gender oppression and personal freedom that draws the reader into the lives of the young Mexican girl Maximiana and those around her,” says John Griffith, University of Washington Associate Professor of English.

Manoush was inspired to write “The Ways of the Owls” while living in Mexico for a year when she was ten years old. Her parents had purchased a 17th century hacienda and were renovating it into a rural public library. Friends of her grandparents, who had grown up in the area, frequently visited and told Manoush stories of the people and past events of the region. Manoush began recording these in her diary.

At age 12, after returning to the U.S., Manoush was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder that affects muscle control. Manoush immersed herself in writing to distract her from painful muscle spasms. She melded the stories she had recorded in her diary with the character Maximiana, based on her great-great-grandmother.

“I grew up learning about her as a very strong and intelligent woman who fought for women’s rights in her own way,” says Manoush.

The book signing will be held Thursday, April 1, from 2:30-3:30pm at the Evergreen Campus library. The free event is hosted by Community Schools Collaboration and Evergreen Campus library. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

The House of Writers/Casa de Escritores is sponsoring a special literary and cultural event this Friday, Dec 5, from 6-9pm at the White Center Taqueria del Rio, located at 10230 16th Ave SW (map below).

There you’ll enjoy a variety of readings, music and food.

This is a FREE event for the community, so please spread the word!

For more on House of Writers/Casa de Escritores, visit their blog:

http://houseofwriters.blogspot.com/

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Found a hilarious “Ode to White Center” blog entry recently by a Dub-C resident named Kirsten Geyer, and here’s an excerpt:

Dear White Center,

When we first looked into moving here we were thrilled with the inexpensive homes, accessibility to downtown, and diverse culture.

We didn’t necessarily realize that we would also be subjecting ourselves to the neighborly meth dealer/prostitute, creepy dudes in wife beaters, and parents who think it’s totally acceptable to send their 6 year old to the park along with their two-year old…alone…although this might possibly be preferable to the parent who drives them to the park but then sits in the car the whole time and drinks a 40 while the children play…

To read the entire, somewhat cheeky blog post, click here.