SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: 2016/17 Season

Helen Macdonald at Benaroya Hall: A Comic

By Greg Stump, WITS Writer-in-Residence This amazing comic was created by WITS Writer-in-Residence Greg Stump after he attended SAL’s Literary Arts Series lecture by memoirist, nature writer, and falconer Helen Macdonald on February 1, 2017. Thank you, Greg!

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“Untitled Tags,” by Joseph Hairston, Seattle Youth Poet Ambassador

Untitled Tags Rest in Peace to Mike Brown 17-year-old graduate shot down In the middle of the street For a swisher sweet Complete chaos no peace When will we reach that day That day we don’t see color That day where we can all call each other sisters and brothers All across the globe we […]

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“Holy” by WITS Student Abdullahi Mohamed

Holy the first breath you take and the last exhale of your life, Holy the song stuck in your head, Holy from a hug to a kiss to love, Holy the new jeans you bought, Holy when you looked better in the picture, Holy from the speed talker to the stutterers, Holy the anger passing […]

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“Hemlockwing,” by Cordelia Christian

Hemlockwing In my sleeping, midnight wings unfold they are ragged, dusty, like the silencing cobwebs that stir in my breath the darkness is my mooring my ship is the resurrection of a lost dream though that heart was long ago discarded still beating arms ornamented with red-brown feathers mottled with blood I am the sparrow, […]

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#litgoals: SAL’s Resolutions for the New Year

By Alison Stagner, Events & Development Coordinator, Sonder Editor My New Year’s resolutions, literary and otherwise, always have something in common: I never stick to them. I suspect this has something to do with the ridiculous idea that our calendar year begins in January, the month I am least likely to be out of my pajamas, instead […]

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If You Like… You’ll Love: Discover New Authors

We’re just reminding you now: February is a hard month. By February, you’re already slipping with your New Year’s resolutions to get out there and see more art, to be part of more community conversations. You’ve got Valentine’s Day gift-giving panic and that what-do-I-have-to-look-forward-to-now? slump on the wrong side of the holiday season. Luckily, SAL has a stockpile […]

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Scream Out the Bad: An Evening with Marina Abramović

By Amelia Peacock, SAL’s Community Engagement Coordinator “It’s about to get really loud.” Those six simple words from the Town Hall House Manager proved an oddly poignant introduction to my evening with Marina Abramović. Two minutes later, the sound of 900 people screaming themselves into cathartic bliss gave me more context. It was an unearthly […]

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Writing Against: On Rachel Zucker’s “Poetics of Wrongness”

By Rachel Edelman Three weeks ago, on Tuesday, November 8th, I left a reading in South Lake Union and walked west on Harrison. I attempted, unsuccessfully, not to look at the U.S. maps glowing so red on every bar’s television screen. I arrived at the bus stop knowing my own phone was dead, fearing my roiling […]

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Indies First: SAL Instagram Takeover

Book nerds, it’s time to use your powers for good! On Small Business Saturday, November 26, Indies First will be unfolding at an independent bookstore near you. This national campaign to support local indies was launched by Sherman Alexie in 2013, a day where thousands of authors volunteered as guest booksellers across the country. In an open letter to fellow […]

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Introductions: Nick Offerman

On October 28 at Benaroya Hall, Nick Offerman – star of NBC’s Parks and Recreation and America’s premier evangelist for making things – had us in stitches over his new book about woodworking, Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Workshop. SAL Associate Director Rebecca Hoogs introduced Nick, the first in SAL’s 2016/17 SAL Presents […]

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