A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
My sister’s hair is very straight and smooth. Normally it looks like she just combed it even if she just woke up. For a while, she dyed it a blonde at the bottom, and it looked like caramel dipped in old honey—but now, it looks like when you split a Snickers in half and the […]
By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Maira Kalman is the writer or illustrator of more than 30 books for adults and children, including The Elements of Style (Illustrated), My Favorite Things, The Principles of Uncertainty, and, most recently, an illustrated version of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. When I read The Principles of Uncertainty […]
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may know of Tessa Hulls, the “SAL Official Doodler” and author of the forthcoming graphic novel Feeding Ghosts (MCD Books, 2022). On December 2, Tessa watched co-editors Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham’s online-SAL Presents conversation with contributor King James Britt, celebrating the release of their Black […]
In this lovely meditation, SAL Board Member Jennifer Leatherman Wong reflects on falling into the work of a recent SAL author. In this distanced, sanitized, and frightening time, Wong finds comfort in going deep into the dark and the surprising lightness one can find there. By Jennifer Leatherman Wong I stumbled on Tana French’s novels […]
By Sharon N. Williams, Executive Director of the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas I am so excited to be here today and to be teaming with Seattle Arts & Lectures. This is an amazing opportunity not just for me, but for Black America and the entire world, to actually get a sense and […]
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may know of Tessa Hulls, the “SAL Official Doodler” and author of the forthcoming graphic novel Feeding Ghosts (MCD Books, 2022). We were so lucky that Tessa watched Margaret Atwood’s online-only SAL Presents conversation with Cheryl Strayed on September 9, and made this ultra-cool illustration! Take […]
the ones left behind i am the rocks you gathered and stuffed in your pocket the bubbles that escaped your mouth as you sunk to the bottom i am the faces they made when your body was dredged up from the lake the newspapers that told of your death bubbles escaped your mouth when you […]
Throughout our online event with English novelists David Mitchell and Hari Kunzru on July 23, many of us found ourselves frantically jotting down misspelled names of musicians, albums, and obscure musical genres as we tried to keep up with their listening recommendations. Mitchell, who has most recently penned the psychedelic rock portrait Utopia Avenue, and Kunzru, […]
I Am From I am from Nigeria, the western part of Africa From the sandy roads and hot sunny days I’m from delicious egusi soup with pounded yam, jollof red, fried rice with chicken and my favorite African salad, all simmering in the very dim lit kitchen the only light, a kerosene lantern I’m from […]
Listen—we can’t all be a rocker, a genius lyricist, a Bohemian New Yorker, a style icon, and an award-winning author. That particular blend of legendary is reserved for Patti Smith, and we on the SAL staff are just her acolytes. So if you, too, find it impossible to achieve even “Step 1” on this how-to […]