Six Alice Walker Poems for Everyday Life in Seattle
October 4, 2018
By Danielle Palmer-Friedman, SAL Volunteer
Who else is extremely excited to hear the eloquent, fiercely loving, and courageous Alice Walker read tonight at Benaroya Hall? This author and social activist is friends with Gloria Steinem, Yoko Ono, and Oprah (hello, dream book club!). Tickets will be available at the Benaroya Box Office tonight, which opens as early as 6pm.
Walker’s work spans across decades and continents: It’s diverse, compelling, and inspirational; it’s also relatable to our everyday life in the Emerald City. Here is a short collection of her poems perfectly suited for a week in the life of a Seattleite:
1. When you’re brainstorming ideas for your next protest sign, read “Loving Humans.”
2. When you’re getting suited up for yet another underground music show at The Kraken Lounge but suddenly your jean jacket is looking a little too “mainstream,” read “Be Nobody’s Darling.”
3. When you’re thinking about our city’s homelessness emergency, read “To Change the World Enough.”
4. When you pass through SLU during lunch hour and start to wonder what the future of our city will look like, read “Nothing is Right.”
5. When you’re getting ready for a first date at Flatstick Pub (thank you, perfectly written Bumble bio), read “New Face.”
6. When you’re sitting in Monday-morning traffic on I-5 and realize you forgot your lunch on the kitchen counter top, read “The Part of God that Stings.”
Want to learn more about Alice Walker’s storied career? Check out these books at The Seattle Public Library on Walker’s life, art, and fight against prejudice. Follow her journey through the Jim-Crow era South to Sarah Lawrence college and eventually, to national fame with:
Alice Walker: A Life by Evelyn C. White
Alice Walker: Freedom Writer by Caroline Evensen Lazo
The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker by Alice Walker
Danielle Palmer-Friedman is a Seattle-based writer in love with ice cream and local theater and currently obsessed with poetry and taking leftover food home. You can read her published work from The Daily and City Arts, or check out her personal blog here.