Hugo House

Hugo House is a non-profit community writing center in Seattle, Washington.

Richard Hugo House, 2020

About

Hugo House was founded in 1997 by Linda Jaech, Frances McCue, and Andrea Lewis. These three writers believed Seattle needed a center for local writers and readers to find a community and create new work. In 1999, Laura Hirschfield described the nonprofit organization: "Richard Hugo House is a two-year-old literary arts center in Seattle named after the Seattle-born poet and creative writing teacher Richard Hugo who wrote squarely and poignantly about people and places often overlooked."[1]

Several new programs were created at Hugo House during the 2000s by Program Director Brian McGuigan, including Cheap Wine and Poetry (in 2005)[2] Cheap Beer and Prose (in 2008),[3] and the Made at Hugo House fellowship.[4] McGuigan left Hugo House in 2014.

Tree Swenson was the executive director of Hugo House from 2012 to 2020.[5] The current Interim Executive Director is Rob Arnold.

House
Original Richard Hugo House, 2008

Hugo House first occupied a 16,206-square-foot (1,505.6 m2) Victorian house originally built in 1902. Previous occupants of the building included New City Theater and before that the Bonney-Watson mortuary and funeral home.

In addition to administrative offices, the House included:

  • an 88/150 theater
  • a cabaret stage and cafe
  • three multipurpose rooms
  • a conference room
  • an art gallery
  • private meeting spaces

In June 2016, the organization moved to a temporary space adjacent to the Frye Art Museum on First Hill when the original house on Capitol Hill was razed.[6][7] The property was redeveloped with a six-story mixed-use building which, starting in September 2018, serves as the permanent home for Hugo House.[8][9]

Programs

Hugo House presents a number of programs, including:

  • Hugo Writing Classes
  • Hugo Classes for Youth
  • Stage Fright Teen Open Mic
  • Hugo Works in Progress
  • Hugo Literary Series
  • Word Works: Writers on Writing
  • Writers-in-Residence
  • Made at Hugo House Fellowship
  • Zine Archive and Publishing Project (formerly a program of Hugo House, now independent)

Articles

References
  1. Hirschfield, Laura. "A Study in Social Entrepreneurship: Hugo House," GIA Newsletter, Vol 10, No 2 (Fall 1999) http://www.giarts.org/article/study-social-entrepreneurship
  2. Hugo House "Upcoming Events" https://hugohouse.org/upcoming-events/cheap-series/ Viewed June 6, 2016
  3. Richardson, Lissa. "Who Can Resist Cheap Beer and Prose?" Pif Magazine http://www.pifmagazine.com/2010/09/who-can-resist-cheap-beer-and-prose/
  4. Constant, Paul. "The Hell With Grants," The Stranger February 13, 2013 https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-hell-with-grants/Content?oid=15995166
  5. Richardson, Catherine "Q&A: Tree Swenson Leaves Academy," Publishers Weekly Magazine, May 1, 2012 http://www.pw.org/content/qa_tree_swenson_leaves_academy?cmnt_all=1
  6. "Hugo House Settling Into New Digs". The Capitol Hill Times. June 6, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  7. Smith, Rick (January 6, 2016). "Hugo House Makes a Good Move—To First Hill, Temporarily". The Stranger. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  8. Smith, Rich (2018-09-12). "Hugo House, Seattle's Premier Literary Center, Reopens on Capitol Hill". The Stranger. Seattle: Index Newspapers LLC. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-11-13. Everyone will get their first look on Saturday, September 22, at the grand reopening celebration.
  9. "The New Hugo House". The New Hugo House. 2018-01-01. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2018-11-13. ...a new and permanent space...on the same ground where we began...
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