SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Welcome, Haines Whitacre, SAL’s New Donor Relations Associate!

We’re delighted to introduce you to Haines Whitacre, SAL’s new Donor Relations Associate! To help you get to know Haines, we asked her all about her work with SAL, reading habits, favorite pastimes, and her sea-swept origins below. Welcome to the SAL team. Tell us about your new role! I am the Donor Relations Associate at […]

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“The Just Compromise” by Adhya Kona

Plato once asserted that justice, in the scheme of morality and goodness, ultimately comes down to compromise. We discussed it in class, so it must be true, but tell me, philosopher, if perhaps I could arrange for a meeting with your dust and bones—   Is it a just compromise, every time the story plays […]

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“The Coolness of the Glass” by Ainslee Workman

From here I see nothing There is nothing here There is not sky, or soft curling clouds There is no place where the sand becomes sea From here I hear nothing There is not gentle conversation There is no snapping of branches What a thing to be To be standing at a window and seeing […]

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“Standstill / Stand Still” by Kiana Gladney

At the peak of my anxiety, consumed by emotion, overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts, I’m at a standstill. I don’t know when my home got bigger or I when I simply shrunk, but my house is far too big for me, and lately I feel so small. At a standstill of uncertainty, I’ve found that lately […]

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“a recipe for steaming almost-dragon” by Diane Sun

every few centuries, when the carp gathered at the base of the 龙门 lóngmén in thunderclouds, riled with legend and youth, we waded into the brinks of the waterfall and waited. that night we would feast upon 清蒸龙 qīngzhēng lóng. 1. check for freshness its scales should be taut – a bowstring still drawn long […]

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An Intimate Provocation: Jenny Xie’s “The Rupture Tense”

This essay is part of a series in which Seattle Arts & Lectures partners with Poetry Northwest to present reflections on visiting writers from the SAL Poetry Series. On Tuesday, January 17, Jenny Xie will read and discuss her work in conversation with Jane Wong at Rainier Arts Center, at 7:30 pm (PT). Tickets to this in-person and […]

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The Best Books of 2022 (According to the SAL Staff)

In this holiday edition of SAL Staff Reads, we asked nine of our staff the most difficult and pressing question of them all: what’s the best book you read in 2022? If you’re looking for which to books to cozy up with this winter, look no further than this list!  Rebecca Hoogs, Executive Director The […]

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An Illustration From Patti Smith’s Event

If you’ve been following us for a while, you may know Tessa Hulls, the “SAL Official Doodler” and author of the forthcoming graphic novel Feeding Ghosts (MCD Books, 2023). We were so lucky that Tessa attended Patti Smith’s SAL Presents event on December 2, 2022, and captured the evening in doodle form! Take a peek at some […]

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Faces of SAL: Karen Maeda Allman

Welcome to the SAL board, Karen Maeda Allman! You probably already know Karen from her work as the Author Events Coordinator and bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company, where she worked for over thirty-three years. Karen is now an Assistant Agent at Wales Literary Agency, and she has also worked as a nurse and a […]

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Welcome, Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s New Youth Programs Director!

We’re delighted to introduce you to Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s new Youth Programs Director! You may know Jenne already from her work at the intersection of the arts and social justice in Seattle, such as Path with Art, City of Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights, where she recently worked as a Racial Justice Analyst, and  beyond. […]

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