SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: SAL Authors

Paisley Rekdal, wearing a red satin suit, reads from her book at a lectern, one hand gesturing. Her gaze is cast upwards.

Introductions: Paisley Rekdal

By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Born and raised in Seattle, Paisley Rekdal went to school at the University of Washington before continuing her studies at the University of Michigan and University of Toronto. She is now a professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where it is surely sunnier and drier […]

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Carmen Maria Machado, wearing all black with short-cropped hair, stands a lectern and smiles during her lecture, gazing at a point off camera.

Introductions: Carmen Maria Machado

By Ruth Dickey, SAL Executive Director In the story “The Husband Stitch,” Carmen Maria Machado tells a version of a story about a woman who cooks and eats the liver her husband has bought, and then unable to afford another, cuts out her own liver to feed him. She writes, “That may not be the […]

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Bernini's sculpture, The Rape of Proserpina, stands against a black background.

Time Flown

This essay is part of a series in which Poetry Northwest partners with Seattle Arts & Lectures to present reflections on visiting writers from the SAL Poetry Series. At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, Paisley Rekdal will read at Hugo House. Tickets are still available! By Bill Carty, Senior Editor at Poetry Northwest Pythagoras’s greatest influence upon his […]

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Reading Carmen Maria Machado’s “In the Dream House”

By Bianca Glinskas Carmen Maria Machado’s new work, In the Dream House, uses elements of creative nonfiction, fantasy, pulp fiction, and horror, and more. Each genre uses the capital ‘I’ as its powerful entry point to retell Carmen’s experiences in an abusive queer romantic partnership with somebody who shares the same gender identity. Buzzfeed News […]

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A black and white close-up of a sign that says "Wall St."

Adam Davidson Answers Five Essential Questions about the Economy

By Rachel Bachler Planet Money. For many Americans, this National Public Radio program is a household name. But for those who find themselves less familiar with its creator, Adam Davidson, let us introduce you: he’s the economy guy. The award-winning co-founder of Planet Money, the former New York Times Magazine’s “It’s the Economy” columnist, and […]

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Lindy West, hair braided and wearing a red ribbed sweater, stands at a podium, with both hands powerfully placed upon it. Dramatic light shines down onto her as she speaks into a microphone.

A WITS Student Reflects on Lindy West

By Akshaya Ajith, SAL Volunteer Even before the stage lights dimmed, the room was filled to the brim with pure excitement. There was not a shuffle or a cough, just a silent blanket of anticipation for the stage door to open and hearts to be filled. It was a kind of fierce joy that illuminated […]

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Mary Ruefle gazes into the camera, head down, brows up, through her curly hair. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and the lapel of her navy blue blazer is decorated with a small pin.

Mary Ruefle: Impressions of a Sentence-Maker

By Bianca Glinskas As an emerging poet, I’ve been a bit clueless when it comes to considering how profoundly my writing process affects my work. I type in front of screens in noisy cafes. I am guilty of planning my poems out before I write them. For me, this has served as a sort of […]

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Lindy West, wearing a red ribbed sweater, holds her book "The Witches are Coming" at a lectern, and reads from it while gazing up into the audience.

Introductions: Lindy West

By Ruth Dickey, SAL Executive Director I bet each one of you in this room remembers the first time that you fell in love with Lindy West’s writing. Mine was her Guardian essay about her wedding—“My wedding was perfect—and I was fat as hell the whole time.” I can’t even remember how I found it […]

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Mary Ruefle gazes into the camera, head down, brows up, through her curly hair. Her navy blue blazer is decorated with a small pin.

Introductions: Mary Ruefle

By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Twenty-five years ago, I jumped into a pool in Switzerland and when I got out of the pool, I went about my business, i.e. my life for a while—maybe a half hour?—before I realized everything was blurry. I’d jumped in with my glasses on and when I went back, […]

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Nicholas Kristof has his arm over Sheryl WuDunn as they stand in front of a grey backdrop. Both are smiling.

Six Reads by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicolas Kristof grew up on a cherry farm in rural Yamhill, Oregon, and it’s there that he and Sheryl WuDunn, his wife and co-writer, return in their latest reporting. In part, their book is about the lives of some of the children with whom Kristof grew up, about a quarter […]

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