Jack Straw Cultural Center

Let's close out the month of May with this excerpt from Diane Nguyen.

Viewing Windows (Excerpt)

I’ve always imagined myself as having a daughter. Maybe this is why. Or perhaps it’s simply vicarious, as if to reclaim some semblance of a girlhood that is lost to me. The other reasons I can’t discern; only acknowledge the symptoms. A slight cerebral envy I have when I see families out. That yearning which undulates beneath my consciousness, the ticking of the proverbial clock.

In my youth I never had an inkling of having children. I’m not sure when the change happened. Maybe it was the change in hormones, now settled on stable levels. The progesterone and the estrogen. Or maybe it’s just the process of letting go of the person I thought I had an obligation to be. But my womanhood feels truncated, and I’d beg to slow the time to savor.

The latest episode of our New Media Gallery is out now! Tara Youngborg talks with Carlos Nieto about her Jack Straw New Media Gallery installation not a town but a landing page.

Listen at jackstraw.org/podcasts/new-media-gallery/ or subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

As we continue with , here's a poem filled with memories from student, Arun. Written with help from Merna Ann Hecht.

When I came from Nepal
I landed in California
the airport was shiny and impossibly clean,
my first breakfast was in that airport.
My case manager brought some food
on a black plate and sat next to me,
I ate fried rice with chow mein,
I drank a bottle of water
and ate spicy chicken.

I devoured the rice
sweet and spicy,
but I hesitated at the chicken
dyed a deep mysterious red.

Now when I see this food
I remember that day
when my family felt hungry,
when my family felt nervous,
but excited to eat this new food.

Jack Straw Spring Audio Workshops

Jack Straw's audio workshops with engineer Tom Stiles are the perfect opportunity to improve your studio skills or get that first introduction to the world of audio recording and editing.

To sign up or for more information, email [email protected].

Microphones and Studio Recording: Wednesday, May 27, 6pm
In-person at Jack Straw. $75.
Learn about microphone types, placement, and applications for both spoken word and music recording.

Field Recording Workshop: Saturday, May 30, 9:00am
In person at Jack Straw. $125.
Learn techniques for high quality field recording of music, ambience, sound effects, and voice with portable equipment.

Intro to Podcasting: Tuesday, June 9, 6:00pm
On Zoom. $50.
Learn the basics of creating and maintaining a podcast, from concept to planning to production to distribution.

Intro to Audio Editing: Thursday, June 11, 6:00pm
On Zoom. $50.
Learn the basic skills of recording and editing sound with Audacity and GarageBand.

Here's an excerpt from Sayantani Roy. Hear more from Sayantani tonight during night three of the 2026 Jack Straw May Reading Series!

The Steal (Excerpt)

Embroidery business indeed, I smother a smile as I watch Ma and Pishi sprawled on the bed, stitching flowers, paisley, and mythical animals onto a diaphanous material that’s probably a wedding sari in the works. Ma is proud of these orders. People refer to this enterprise as tailoring, an inferior trade, and Rupam is the only one who called it by the name it deserves even if the title feels grand given how little money it brings in. I hand the bag to Ma. More business, I tell her. So, Aparnadi is getting married? I look at Pishi. That’s almost all your batchmates now! Ma glares at me and Pishi has a pained expression, which she tries to hide by bending over a peacock’s plumage. Pishi is twenty-five and would have been married off by now had my father not left us in debt. Our handloom business ran into trouble in last year’s monsoon when the small factory flooded and the looms became nonoperational.

The newest episode of our Artist of the Week is up now, featuring Jacqueline Tabor & Marina Albero. Listen at jackstraw.org/podcasts/artist-of-the-week/ or subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

“Four Women” is from the forthcoming album Don’t Explain, the product of an award-winning, deeply expressive performance project led by celebrated vocalist Jacqueline Tabor and pianist-composer Marina Albero. Inspired by the enduring influence of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, the project blends original compositions with reimagined repertoire to create a powerful, contemporary jazz experience.

The Don’t Explain album, produced through Jacqueline’s Jack Straw Artist Support Program residency, will be released on May 20th. Tickets are available now for the release celebration at the Triple Door.

Jacqueline D. Tabor Marina Albero Music

Join us for Night 3 of the Jack Straw May Reading Series, hosted by 2026 Writers Program Curator Claudia Castro Luna and featuring Sayantani Roy, BeeLyn Naihiwet, Natalie Pascale Boisseau, and Jean Ferruzola.

Friday, May 15 at 7pm

In person at Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, or visit Jack Straw on Facebook or YouTube to stream live.

Suggested donation: $10, includes a gift of the 2026 Jack Straw Writers Anthology