I totally missed out on getting this in the readings calendar for the print edition—it's in our online readings calendar, of course—but there's something happening tomorrow that sounds like a lot of fun that I wanted to turn people's attention to.

In the comments thread to this story about the Hugo House, local author Matt Briggs challenged author Ryan Boudinot to a PowerPoint-off to determine the future of the Hugo House. Briggs was more in favor of the old House, with its semi-unfocused community programs. Boudinot was on the side of Lyall Bush's changes. Here's part of one of Briggs' many posts:

I find Matt Carvalho's expectations of an Executive Director curiously corporate. The word expectations summons to mind bullet lists of action items, road maps, and gant charts. (Although I like a good flowchart as much the next person.) Does he know what Seattle's expectations are of Hugo House? This is perhaps judged in the dollars and cents as these things are required to be of money raised, and money spent. If grants are good, expectations are met. I'm simplifying, but I doubt the board is measuring the number of sonnets being written or the number of zines being produced at Hugo House. In the last two years, I haven't been aware of any communication of expectations.

Here's part of one of Boudinot's many responses:

As for what people want, Matt, I can only speak for myself. You apparently speak for a larger community, a mourning coalition of folks who've had their expectations dashed. I'll tell you what I want. I want a place that hosts readings and events with talented writers from around the world. I want a place that offers classes on a wildly diverse array of subjects. I want a place that provides kids with opportunities to explore writing and literature. Do I expect everything that Hugo House offers to be my cup of tea? Hell no. I even expect to think that some of it sucks. Under Lyall Bush, HH took some risks, had some big wins, a few misses, but overall became an organization devoted to stripping pretense from the writing process and promoting the creation of new work.

Boudinot declined the PowerPoint-off—among other things, he was working on his novel, which is due out next year—but local poet, novelist, and all-around showman Doug Nufer has agreed to take on the pro-business side of the House. I expect the reading will be laced with the kind of surreal humor that Briggs and Nufer are known for. They're great local writers, and they both have a good sense of Seattle's writing community. And I think they're both aware exactly how crazy the idea of a PowerPoint-off is. So it'll be funny and informative and not quite like most other literary events you'll see in Seattle. The event is tomorrow night at the Jewel Box Theater at 7:30 pm, and it is free. You should go.