Each year we receive all manner of literary entries from authors, poets, scriptwriters, and journalists. Then our Literary Curator reads through the submissions to create the Seattle Erotic Art Festival Literary Art Anthology. We are honored to have Claire Dietrich return as the Curator and Editor, and grateful to François Dubeau for granting permission to use the piece “La corde rouge” for the cover of the 2022 anthology. (Which has just arrived from the printer and it’s gorgeous! You can buy your copy at SEAF or online here.)
Contributing Authors of the 2022 Anthology
Alexandra Schroeder is a writer, performer and educator based in Olympia, Washington. She studied poetry and dance at La Sorbonne in Paris, France. Her movement art is the greatest inspiration for her poetry. Alexandra teaches multiple dance styles in her community, and performs burlesque acts under the stage name “Bijoux Genet”.
Andrew Engelson is an award-winning journalist, writer, and editor. He was the founder of Cascadia Magazine and his writing has appeared in the South Seattle Emerald, Investigate West, The Stranger, Crosscut, Real Change, Tin House, University of Washington Magazine, High Country News, Seattle Weekly, and many other publications.
Asea B. Moore is an open-minded person, who loves the art of sexuality. As an African American woman, Asea encourages her community to embrace the sensual side of sex and get rid of the stigma that comes with exploring our pleasure zones. Asea is also a part-time writer who enjoys divination and philosophical conversations.
Audrey Valiant is a lover of words. You’ll find her reading just about any genre except for white papers (seriously, they suck the life out of creating art) and writing everything from all flavors of paranormal to erotica at any given moment. 2022 is her fourth non-consecutive year writing for SEAF’s literary anthology.
B (she/her) is a Chicago-based kinkstress for 2 years, erotic poetry performer, and co-creator of “Kinky in Color,” a collaborative project that focuses on the celebration and acknowledgment of POC kinksters through the arts.
Bill Wolak is a poet, collage artist, and photographer. His art work has appeared in the 2020 International Festival of Erotic Arts (Chile) and the 2020 Dirty Show. He was a featured artist in the book Best of Erotic Art (London, 2021).
Cassidy Aquilino-Berg is an artist, author and queer witch living a hedonistic life in the Pacific Northwest. Her work explores queer lust, eco-sexuality, and the magick of sex. Through painting, poetry, dance and interactive art she expresses a range of tone from romantic to straight up vulgar.
Catherine Nielsen has enjoyed writing stories since she was little. Since middle school, she’s been writing depressing poems. She found the kink community in 2019, which led her to her love of latex. In her spare time, she has fun going out in latex with her partner and shiny friends. Follow her on Instagram at @meowkittykat5
Clea Salar and Tallis Salar are two enormous geeks with a penchant for world building, character creation, and a good racy scene. Clea is the more traditional writer, and Tallis’s creative background involves a staggering amount of table top roleplaying games. Neither recommends leaving their work where just anyone could pick it up.
David Lee Jones (who signs his work d. jones) was born in Wheatcroft, Kentucky, in 1955. He is a product of the turbulent 50’s and 60’s in the rural southern United States. The poetry of David Lee Jones chronicles the life of a working black man in modern day America. David Lee Jones performed with the Floating Mountain Poetry troupe and Little Red Studio where he was a long time member. He has worked many different jobs in the manufacturing sector and was most recently employed as a Chief Building Engineer in the commercial real estate industry. He resides in Tacoma, Wa. and was inducted as a Master of Erotic Art in 2021.
E.A.M.P. is a south end Seattleite afakasi. Growing up, they lived with the Samoan side of her family where she learned the traditions of the fa’asamoa by the strong women who surrounded her. Their distinct style radiates the beauty and longing of being a Pacific Islander living in the diaspora.
Eirikah Delaunay is an artist, Witch, and sexual rebel. As the founder of Desire Alchemy, she is a somatic sex+relationship coach. She lives of the border between Seattle and the wilds of the PNW.
Eugene Fasano is an award winning erotic fantasy author and self taught artist who dabbles in creating erotic composite images from 19th century oil paintings.
Gene Clements has been drawing, painting, and creating art related projects since college. Most of his drawings, sculptures, and etchings have included figures and groups of figures, frequently in erotic situations. Over the last decade or so he has been writing erotic stories as well, often about older adults for whom lovemaking is a joy and sometimes, a comedy.
Gigi was raised in the Bay Area, lived in New Jersey, Texas, and now Las Vegas. Bored during the pandemic, she tried writing erotic short stories for the first time, never having written any fiction before. “Getting a Head Start” & “The Game Night” were submitted to a contest and published in Covid Connections: A Darling Way Collection Of Erotic Short Stories.
Inevitable Avenger – Science writer by day, crafty nerd by night, they always find ways to combine science and art whether through poetry, comedy, or music. Thinks they have the coolest anagram possible for their name!
Jessica Sokol has been called, daughter, friend, sister, artist, musician, girlfriend, Christian, lover, wife, assistant, witch, dancer, student, female, soldier, bitch, warrior, widow, slut, colleague, mother, queen, seer, white, counselor, chief. Jessica is all of these and none of these.
Loren Ponder is a Washington-based artist in a broad variety of mediums, from words to illustration to comics to paint. Their work weaves together themes of queerness, intimacy, kink, and fantasy. They especially enjoy depicting people, nature, and creatures using bright colors and bold lines.
Lyssandra Norton is an MFA, Pacific Northwest creator of things.
MFSB is a lover, fighter, and avid consumer of ass.
Micah BlackLight is a defiant, volcanic force of Nature’s creation, wearing the body of a brown-skinned catalyst bursting with perpetual inspiration and enthusiasm to match. A creator across widely varied media, he delights in detonating spirits by embodying safe spaces and creating beautiful, inspiring art on every level he possibly can.
Moonflower is a proud Queer Indigenous Latinx Chinese artist and poet. They’re a budding kinkster and advocate for erotic embodiment and pleasure expansion. Their passion for performance and writing stems from their insatiable yearning to connect with people and create more space for empathy and pleasure in the world.
Ophir Reader is an erotic writer based in the Pacific Northwest, and a fierce believer in the power of the written word. Ophir has been an avid participant at SEAF for the last 5 years. He welcomes feedback on his writing.
Pomegranate Muse creates out of her home studio in Gilbert, AZ & works primarily in watercolor, ink, & acrylic. She draws much of her subject matter from the sciences, travel, dreams, & her distinctive interpretations of life. As a neurodivergent artist, she delivers a perspective that is often imperceptible to neurotypical viewers.
Randy Hilfman – In the realm of erotica, Randy has published poetry: “The Cunnilingus Chronicles” and “The Cunnilingus Chronicles: Paradise Revisited”; essays: “In Praise of Cunnilingus” and “My Sexual Odyssey: A Father’s Reflections”; and numerous crossword puzzles. A formerly prominent competitive speller, Randy has taught several classes on language.
RM Blake – Deamer Dunn is the author of Omar T chef adventure series, multiple other novels and short story collections, as well as writing erotic literature under the name of RM Blake. As an artist, Deamer works in a variety of media, notably as a sketchaholic as he and his chef character travel the world.
Rose Riley – Event organizer, fetish model, and creator of art big and small. She takes trash and turn it into pretty trash. Currently ensconced with my cat in a two year long pandemic writing retreat.
Ryan Davison (he/him) is a queer/trans Midwest native that moved to Seattle in 2006. He has enjoyed writing from a very early age. When he isn’t writing, Ryan enjoys eating candy, teaching his dog pointless tricks like “walk the runway,” and dressing up in latex outfits with his partner to do everyday tasks–his favorite is grocery shopping.
Scarlett Noelle is a life-long writer and holds degrees and extended certifications in creative fiction. She tapped into her sensual nature in high school, writing her first erotic fiction as a school assignment, earning a fierce blush from the male student teacher and an A+ in the grade book. There is no topic she’s afraid to ‘research’ for her readers.
Shane Guthrie grew up in the Pacific NW, spent a year in Ireland, loves the green. Poet, dancer, painter, gardener.
stagehandpoet – Lynne Ellis writes in pen. She creates sense-forward work & experiments with form. The Missouri Review chose selections from Lynne’s hysterectomy suite for the 2021 Perkoff Prize in Poetry. Their words appear or are forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, Sugar House Review, The Shore, elsewhere. She is a Local 15 stagehand & co-editor at Papeachu Press.
Sumu (Su) Tasib is a writer and scientist focusing on themes of gender, relationships, psychology, and social justice. Their debut book was “A Boy Named Su: Stories from a Journey Into Genderqueerness” (2020); they also host the Queer Kahani podcast. Su can be reached by email at [email protected] or via their website at https://queerkahani.com.
Tasha Schermer lives in Seattle, and is a writer of novels and short stories. Also an enthusiastic snuggler of dogs, imbiber of tasty brews, and adventurer of hedonism.
Terry Johnson didn’t find his creative energy until late in life. He has embraced these new ideas and in 2005 started expressing this new-found creativity in abstract painting, writing poetry, stories and plays. He has been involved with SEAF for 12 years as an art guide, installer, poet and leader of the Wanderlust Tour.
Tiana Marie is a non-binary artist in the PNW. They explore intensities through hook suspension and BDSM through performance and written words as catharsis. Tiana’s work dives into trauma, sex, grief, gender, and the collected scars throughout. They pull inspiration from the tranquility and ferocity of nature and its resiliency as healing.
Yanda is an Emmy Award nominated with more than 2,000 TV ad productions Workshops: Empowerment in Soft Skills for Leaders Honors: Recognized among thousands of graduates of the Externado University, as one of the most talented communication consultants in public and private image. Literary awards in Spain United States Uruguay Argentina Venezuela and Colombia.
zenKOAL is a tactfully uncouth contextual contortionist ever translating chaos into sensual aesthetics. A devotee of the Sacred Feminine and mystical properties of creation, she tests and eclipses convention through various expressive mediums as a poet, performance artist, and experimental musician.
Zoe Brook is a queer writer and stagehand. They write fantasy novels often involving sensuality, surrealism, and queer love.
Readings
And if you’re the type that is more audio than visual, many of these delightful wordsmiths will be performing live readings of their works over the course of the of Festival, along with some special art tours featuring new poetry inspired by the pieces in this year’s exhibition. Check the Festival’s schedule of events here! (The schedule is being updated daily as confirmations are made.)