About this Event
Poet Catherine Corbett Bresner returns to the store for their new collection, Can We Anything We See, a new mode of ekphrasis in the postinternet age. In this long poem, Bresner explores the ways in which current technologies, specifically artificial intelligence, outline the uncanny valley of speculative thought and shape a sense of personhood. The evening will include readings from fellow poets Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Sarah Mangold, and Patrick Milian.
Catherine Bresner’s Can We Anything We See initiates a new mode of ekphrasis in the postinternet age. In this long poem, Bresner explores the ways in which current technologies, specifically artificial intelligence, outline the uncanny valley of speculative thought and shape a sense of personhood. In lines that sometimes act as captions or ciphers (or both), Bresner allows for the caesuras of breath and contemplation, in consideration of the digital landscape human beings currently find themselves in. Simultaneously present, prescient, and timeless, Can We Anything We See invites infinite readings.
Catherine Corbett Bresner (they/she) are the author of the chapbooks The Merriam Webster Series (2012) and some break a / others say do (Press Brake, 2025), and the full-length poetry collections Can We Anything We See (Spuyten Duyvil, 2025), the empty season (Diode Editions Book Prize, 2018), and the artist book Everyday Eros (Mount Analogue, 2017). They believe in a free Palestine.
Joshua Marie Wilkins was born and raised in Seattle, and he is the author of nine collections of poetry as well as a novel called Trouble Finds You (Fonograf Editions 2023). His work has appeared in Poetry, Tin House, The Believer, Pen America, Fence, and many others. He lives in Portland, OR, and works as a psychotherapist.
Sarah Mangold is the author of The Atom (Wave Books, 2023), a chapbook inspired by the visionary work of Swedish artist and medium Hilma af Klint. She has published five poetry collections, including Her Wilderness Will Be Her Manners (Fordham University Press, 2021), selected by Cynthia Hogue for the POL Prize, and In the Service of the Mysteries (Saturnalia, forthcoming 2027), which continues her exploration of af Klint’s life and art. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Millay Arts, Artist Trust, Willapa Bay AiR, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and MacDowell. In Seattle, she founded and edited Bird Dog, a print journal dedicated to innovative writing and art, with a focus on long poems and emerging women writers. Originally from Oklahoma, Sarah now lives and works in Edmonds, Washington.
Patrick Milian is the author of The Unquiet Country (Entre Ríos Books) and the chapbook Pornographies (Greying Ghost). His poetry and essays have appeared in Gulf Coast, Poetry Magazine, Solstice, and the Lambda-nominated anthology Between Certain Death and a Possible Future. His musical collaborations with composer Emerson Eads are published through Northstar Music. He holds a PhD from the University of Washington and has been the recipient of fellowships from the Simpson Center for the Humanities and Utah State University's Center for Intersectional Gender Studies. He teaches at Green River College.
Purchase you copy of Can We Anything We See here.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, United States
USD 0.00
