Seattle Arts & Lectures champions the literary arts by engaging and inspiring readers and writers of all generations in the greater Puget Sound region.
Our programs include
Literary Arts
The Literary Arts Series presents talks and conversations with the leading fiction and non-fiction writers of our time.
Poetry
The Poetry Series presents established and emerging poets for readings and lectures.
Journalism
Created by journalists for protectors of free press in 2018, SAL’s three-part Journalism Series is in partnership with National Book Award-winning writer and correspondent Tim Egan and renowned journalist Sam Howe Verhovek.
Women You Need to Know (WYNK)
Women You Need to Know (WYNK) is a three-part series that features and celebrates feminist authors, artists, icons, trouble-makers, and visionaries.
SAL Presents
SAL Presents features authors, artists, and prominent thinkers discussing their latest works, as well as other exciting literary surprises.
Hinge
From pop culture to social justice, Hinge presents new books by and for the next generation via accessible ticket prices.
Writers in the Schools (WITS)
SAL’s Writers in the Schools (WITS) program places professional local writers in public elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, empowering young people to discover and develop their authentic writing and performance voices. Since 1994, WITS has served over 100,000 students throughout the Puget Sound region.
Book Bingo
Every summer, we partner with The Seattle Public Library to create a Book Bingo card for our free summer reading program. Adults and kids play along from May – September to be entered in a chance to win fabulous prizes.
Youth Poet Laureate
The Seattle Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) and Urban Word NYC. Founded in Seattle in 2015 by WITS writers Matt Gano and Aaron Counts, the YPL program aims to identify youth writers and leaders who are committed to poetry and performance, civic and community engagement, education and equity across the Puget Sound region.
Prowda Award
The Prowda Literary Champion Award is named for Sherry Prowda, SAL’s founder and first Executive Director. It was created to honor Prowda’s vision of a future in which imaginative acts such as reading, writing, and creative thinking are indispensable to a curious, engaged, democratic society, and her leadership as a champion of the literary arts.
Vision
A future in which imaginative acts such as reading, writing, and creative thinking are indispensable to a curious, engaged, democratic society.
History
Seattle Arts & Lectures was founded in 1987 and launched its first season in 1988 with John Updike, Calvin Trillin, Donald Barthelme, Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris, Isabel Allende, and Rosamond Bernier. See our full archive of past events here.
In 1994, SAL brought the nationally-recognized Writers in the Schools to Seattle—an educational program that places local professional writers in public school classrooms to develop skills and spark student interest in reading and writing. The Poetry Series, featuring such notables as Philip Levine and Anne Carson, debuted in 2000. Hinge, inaugurated in the 2014/15 season, presents new books by and for the next generation at accessible ticket prices. In the 2015/16 season, SAL introduced Women You Need to Know (WYNK), a three-part series designed to showcase cutting-edge, thought-provoking women. It opened with the graphic novelist and Tony Award winner, Alison Bechdel. Summer Book Bingo, also launched in 2015, is a partnership with the Seattle Public Library to present a free summer reading program for adults (Kids Book Bingo, a program of SAL alone, was launched in 2017). In the 2018/19 season, SAL is debuting a three-part Journalism Series in partnership with National Book Award-winning writer and correspondent Timothy Egan and renowned journalist Sam Howe Verhovek.
As Seattle has grown in size and sophistication, SAL has kept pace and helped engage, inspire, and connect our growing community. In 2017/18 alone, over 29,000 SAL attendees had accessible, meaningful experiences with the foremost writers and thinkers of our time through SAL programming. Our Writers in the Schools program matches accomplished creative writers with local K-12 public schools and hospitals for year-long writing residencies. In 2017/18, over 7,100 students worked with a WITS Writer-in-Residence or attended a Spotlight Author Visit to discover their authentic voices, build community, and develop writing skills that will support them throughout their lives.
To support SAL’s annual development plan, strategic objectives, and revenue goals, SAL is looking for a people-centered, mission-driven, goal-motivated development professional to be our Event & Corporate Giving Manager, a new role at SAL.
SAL interns acquire hands-on experience and training in many aspects of marketing and communications, while also gaining a good understanding of nonprofit literary arts. Marketing & Communications interns assist SAL’s Associate Director and SAL’s Communications Manager with content production, sales efforts, and implementing the year’s programs.
We are looking for interns to be part of the team implementing this arts education program in public schools throughout the Puget Sound Region! Writers in the Schools (WITS) is a literary arts education program that places professional local writers in 27 public schools and in five school districts, as well as Seattle Children’s. The mission of WITS is to inspire student and teacher excellence in literacy and the literary arts, and to establish the foundation for a life-long commitment to reading, writing, and creative expression.
Seattle, WA— February 11, 2019: At their annual Words Matter benefit gala on April 4, 2019, Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) will present the sixth annual Sherry Prowda Literary Champion Award to Claudia Castro Luna, Washington State Poet Laureate, and the literary arts organization Hugo House. SAL and the Prowda selection committee chose Castro Luna and Hugo House for demonstrating true commitment to our region’s community of readers and writers.
Seattle, WA—February 1, 2019: Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) announces the addition of Tara Westover to its 2018/19 Season line-up. Westover will appear on Sunday, April 14, 2019 at 7:30pm at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall as part of their “SAL Presents” series of special events. Tickets are on sale now at lectures.org.
Seattle, WA— January 30, 2019: Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) announces Melinda Gates to its 2018/19 Season line-up. Gates will appear on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 7:30pm at the Susan Brotman Auditorium at McCaw Hall. Balcony and Student / Under 25 tickets are on sale now at lectures.org.
