Kathy Acker in Seattle Symposium

The late Kathy Acker’s residencies in Seattle in 1980 and 1989 were brief but important to the development of this influential author. While residing in Seattle’s Belltown arts community in 1980 she was completing work on her signature novel, Blood and Guts in High School, and beginning to write Great Expectations, which includes passages about her experiences here. She returned in 1989 for a residency sponsored by Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), which inspired and gave momentum to the Riot Grrrl feminist movement.

Kathy Acker in Seattle Symposium (KASS) will present a series of exhibitions, panels, readings, and research opportunities. The symposium will feature regional, national, and international artists, authors, curators, and scholars examining Acker’s lasting legacy in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The Symposium will unveil a previously unpublished Acker manuscript from 1980. All programs are free to the public.

Goethe Institut Pop Up
1424 11th Ave, Seattle, 98122

Fantagraphics Bookstore
1201 S. Vale Street, Seattle, 98108

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Photo courtesy Randy Eriksen.