WITS writer and poet Daemond Arrindell wrote a moving tribute to Maya Angelou.

"Maya Angelou, who didn’t consider herself wise, but “in root.” She saw herself as connected, to the past – the earth she was metaphorically planted in – but also to the young leaves sprouting. She chose not to look down upon those who came after but to look up at us, with love, to recognize the nutrients of experience and courage and love that she had within her to pass on. Griot that she was, she seemed to delight in this burden. Though, I doubt highly that she would have ever called it a burden."

Join us for two inspiring nights as elementary, middle, and high school writers from Highline, Port Townsend, Seattle and Shoreline School Districts, as well as students from Seattle Children’s Hospital, read from their poems, stories, memoirs, and comics. 

Both events will take place at 6 pm at the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library

Wednesday, May 21: Elementary and Middle School
Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium

Thursday, May 22: High School
Level 4, Room 1

The event is free and open to the public, and we'll be ending each evening with a cupcake celebration, generously provided by Cupcake Royale.

Sponsored by:
Reed, Longyear, Malnati & Ahrens, PLLC
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
 

Discover a new iPhone app, tell your friends about books you love and help support SAL! Here’s how:

Between now and May 30, use the app to recommend books to your friends (they don't have to have the app too, you just need their email) and make sure to copy SAL@booksilove.com. For each book you recommend, BooksILove with donate $1 to SAL. It's that easy! Just by telling people you love about books you love, you can help SAL earn $$$ to support our work to engage readers and writers of all generations!

Thank you, and thanks to BooksILove!

The Presidential Inaugural Poet, Richard Blanco, speaks to students at Garfield High School about equality, childhood, cultural landscapes, and being a "full-time poet."

SAL is thrilled to be able to share that we have received a $40k award from the National Endowment for the Arts for our Writers in the Schools program!

The NEA awarded $1.42 million to 56 U.S. literature nonprofits. The announcement comes as part of the organization's reveal of its second round of 2014 grant awards, with nearly $75 million going to 971 arts nonprofits nationwide.

"We know that arts and culture play an important role in our nation's economy, with the most recent numbers showing the sector comprising more than 3.2% – or $504 billion – of GDP," said NEA acting chairman Joan Shigekawa. "The NEA is proud to support the nation's nonprofit organizations which are an integral part of the arts and cultural sector." 

The Gone Girl author talks to the Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald about twists, turns and a marriage’s icy heart. 

"Flynn, a former entertainment journalist turned novelist, is talking about “Gone Girl,” her blockbuster third novel. Released in 2012, it’s since sold more than 6 million copies in hardcover (the paperback edition’s finally coming out later this month, after nearly two years), and a feature-film version scripted by Flynn and directed by David Fincher (“Zodiac,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) is coming in the fall, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. She’ll discuss the book, along with her other works, at Seattle Arts & Lectures next Thursday."

Read the full article here.

There are still a few tickets left to SAL's evening with Gillian Flynn. Get yours now before they sell out!

Thursday, March 27, was SAL's annual benefit dinner, Words Matter. What an incredible evening it was - we were inspired by Jonathan Evison's remarks on why words matter to him, delighted by WITS student Moses Walker and his beautiful poem about his X-Ray vision to "doing something awesome" with his life, and honored to celebrate Lee Soper and Book-It Repertory Theatre as our inaugural Prowda Literary Champion Award winners.

But most of all we were moved and touched and humbled by the generosity of our SAL supporters. Together, we raised over $189,000 to support our ongoing work to inspire and engage the community.

As George Saunders said so well, we want to use literature as a vehicle for all of us to emerge "some percentage more alive, breathless and with less separate-ness." Thank you for believing in that. Thank you for being with us last night. And thank you for your partnership in making this all possible.

It's never too late to pitch in to make words matter. Click here!

Writer Eli Hastings shares on the WITS blog his experience of the healing power of angry letters. 

Bob Hicok visited Nathan Hale High School this morning and spoke to the 9th grade poets, some of them dressed as super heroes.

He read for fifteen minutes to a completely absorbed group of twenty-three students and shared lines such as, “Tattoo my front door to my tombstone/ and place a key on my tongue like a mint,” and ending, from “Primer,” that explores his Michigan roots, with, “Let us all be from somewhere./ Let us tell each other everything we can.”

A series of four lectures, with John Delaney of the UW School of Oceanography, will explore how oceans dominate entire planetary ecosystems on earth and probably beyond. A fifth lecture, to be held in October, will share results of the major 2014 Seagoing Expedition to complete construction of a Novel Offshore Laboratory the size of a Tectonic Plate. Click here for more.

Save the date, mark your calendar; gather your fellow readers, writers and lovers of stories and words! SAL's primary fundraising vehicle, WORDS MATTER, will be held March 27. Author of All About Lulu, Jonathan Evison, will be the keynote speaker. Click here for more.

Our WITS Tumblr page is back in action! Every week we'll be publishing work from the past three years of WITS students. Make sure to follow us on tumblr to get a weekly dose of inspiration from our exciting young writers. witsink.tumblr.com

As 2013 draws to a close and we reflect back on the year that has passed, we are share with you a snapshot annual report of our work this past year. As you'll see, in 2012/13, the generous commitment of our patrons and supporters brought 19 literary luminaries to Seattle, engaged over 15,000 audience members, and allowed our Writers in the Schools (WITS) program to inspire 5,500 children from around the Puget Sound region. Read the whole report to learn more!

Award-winning poet Dorothea Lasky conducted a special lesson for 3rd graders at B.F. Day Elementary School. Find out how her lively visit sparked a classroom full of future writers and performers. 

On Sunday, September 29th we'll be celebrating the release of this year's WITS anthology, Only Rocks and Fire, with a book launch event at Benaroya Hall. The anthology showcases the best student work created in the program during the 2012-13 school year, and features the writing and illustrations of more than 100 students in grades K-12. Each of the sites that WITS worked with this year, including 23 schools in the Highline, Port Townsend, Seattle, and Shoreline School Districts and Seattle Children's Hospital, are represented in the anthology.

The book launch is free and open to the public and will include readings by the students, a book signing, and sweet treats from our friends at Cupcake Royale. Please join us in congratulating these wonderful student writers!

WITS writers-in-residence are in the news! Daemond Arrindell, who has taught middle and high school students through WITS for five years, was featured in The Seattle Times on Sunday, April 7. Check out the article here: http://ow.ly/kckoJ. Karen Finneyfrock, a local and national slam poetry legend whose first YA novel was released this winter, has an interview published in The Seattle Lesbian: http://ow.ly/kckvj. Karen has taught elementary, middle, and high school students through Writers in the Schools for six years. Congratulations to Daemond and Karen!

The Poetry Series event with Jorie Graham originally scheduled for May 15 has had to be postponed for health reasons. We have rescheduled this event for Tuesday, September 17 when we hope that Ms. Graham will be in full health and good spirits. If you have tickets for this event and need more information or have any questions, please contact our Box Office by email or phone at (206) 621-2230 x10

On March 15, 2013, over 250 guests attended Seattle Arts & Lectures' 25th Anniversary Words Matter Benefit. The night was enlivened by the alchemy of good words and even better company. We were joined by our founder Sherry Prowda, authors Claire Dederer and Bruce Barcott, Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken, and Writers in the Schools (WITS) student Angel Cielo. Vis-à-Vis Society also made a special appearance collecting data from our guests during the cocktail hour.

Maga Barzallo Sockemtickem, a 10th grader, walked to the stage at the annual WITS reading at Benaroya Hall. As she read her poem "Snow Turtle," the audience stilled. A patient at Seattle Children's Hospital, Maga shared the intensity of her experience through the power of her precise words and brought together hundreds of people in a moving poetic moment.*

Maga cultivated her writing through WITS, a Seattle Arts & Lectures program that teaches 5,000 public school students and employs local writers to build the next generation of the literary community. Maga's "Snow Turtle" is inspiration for SAL; as we transform throughout this winter during our 25th anniversary, we find it is good to be "the turtle with fire through the snow." SAL has big plans to burn brightly in 2013 and for another 25 years. You can help us do that.

Now is the perfect time to contribute. $5, $25, $100, $500 or more will fund WITS (Writers in the Schools), allow us to bring excellent speakers like Joan Didion and Nick Flynn, and create vibrant education programs like David Domke's SAL U political courses at the University of Washington.

We couldn't do it without your help, so please consider us as the year draws to a close. From all of us at SAL, we thank you!

*Snow Turtle
She ran.
Delicate arrival, blazing alarm.
The wind blew through with ice in its arms.
She listened.
Whispers of sickness, she refused
to be alarmed.
She walked.
Gone through the city.
Healing slowly.
She walked slow.
She grieved
and wondered how
she'd get through.
She realized she'd be the turtle,
this turtle with fire through the snow.

Amazon.com will support Seattle Arts & Lectures’ innovative Writers in the Schools (WITS) program for the fourth year with a $25,000 gift, helping to inspire thousands of public school students throughout the region to discover and develop their authentic writing voice through in-school residencies staffed by local professional writers.

The WITS program, founded in 1994, places professional writers-in-residence at public elementary, middle, and high schools around Puget Sound plus Seattle Children’s Hospital, giving young people the opportunity to create, present, and receive feedback on their writing. The program culminates each year in two showcase events: public readings at the Seattle Public Library, and a printed anthology of selected works. The WITS program also offers in-school professional development opportunities for teachers and provides local writers with meaningful employment.

In the 2012-13 school year, the WITS program is serving over 5,000 K-12 students at 24 sites: Seattle Children’s Hospital plus 23 public schools in Seattle, Highline, Port Townsend, and Shoreline School Districts. In addition, the WITS program is providing 22 professional writers with meaningful employment.

About Amazon.com’s Support for the Writing Community
A love of reading and an appreciation for the people who create great books is part of the DNA at Amazon.com. Amazon.com offers grants for nonprofit author and publisher groups that share an obsession with fostering the creation, discussion, and publication of books. Please visit www.amazon.com/authorgiving for more information.