Mister Skylight and Mr. Skoog

This Saturday poet Ed Skoog will be reading from his collection of poems, Mr. Skylight, at Elliott Bay Book Company. There are two things of note about this reading. For one, the number of readings you can attend at Elliott Bay's original location before the store moves to Capitol Hill is dwindling. And two, Skoog is a brilliant writer. Here's what I wrote about him in the NOW section of this month's City Arts Seattle:

In Mister Skylight, Skoog takes on the quotidian scrap heap of modern culture, doing away with superficial woes and flowery aphorisms, and from this rough place he creates insight and meaning.

Reading Skoog reminded me a lot of the first time I read the Wasteland or a less sparse Kerouac. Skoog's writing doesn't try to create ideal places or dwell on passing highs, it works with the material around it and for that, Skoog is well-deserving of his recent praise. The reading happens tomorrow at 7:00pm. Video of Skoog reading after the jump.