SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: 2020/21 Season

The 2020/21 Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest is Now Open

Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program is delighted to announce the theme of this year’s Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest! Every year, WITS holds the Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest for students and teachers from all WITS schools, representing all writing genres. The 2020/21 contest, open until May 14, invites students and teachers […]

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Introductions: Maira Kalman

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 […]

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Introductions: Toi Derricotte

By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director Toi Derricotte is the author of six collections of poetry, including “I”: New and Selected Poems, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2019. She is also the beloved co-founder, with Cornelius Eady, of Cave Canem, which was established to remedy the under-representation and isolation of […]

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Ruth Dickey stands at a lectern speaking into the microphone while holding a piece of paper.

A Letter From Ruth

Dear friends,  It’s been an extraordinary last two weeks at SAL, hearing from Bill Gates, Bill Bryson, and Toi Derricotte. Each event was delightful in its own way, and I’ve been thinking about how each spoke to the power of curiosity and learning—Gates talked about scheduling half-days for diving into topics, and Bryson spoke of […]

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A Triptych on Toi Derricotte

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 Friday, February 26, Toi Derricotte will read and discuss her work in an online event at 7:30 pm (PST). Tickets are still available! By Bettina Judd […]

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Introductions: Bill Bryson

By Ruth Dickey, SAL Executive Director I first learned of Bill Bryson’s work from my brother and sister-in-law, who have what I believe is one of the most romantic hobbies. For 25 years, they have read books out loud to one another, and Bryson was one of their early favorites. Diving into his work, it’s […]

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“How to Ask a Question” by Christian Adams

1 Trail blazing through his work, a student loses himself to the sound of thoughts and inquiries echoing throughout his skull, disregarding exchanged pleasantries passing by that would only encave him. 2 Blindly wandering the streets, a child loses themselves, taking their time getting home, asking the question of where it ever was, if they […]

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“Somewhere” by Kai Ryan

Somewhere, deep in the valley, I sit in the darkness. I am reading; it is intriguing. As I sit reading, the words seem to fly off the page and into the night sky. The words seem to illuminate the meadow, illuminate the meadow in which I sit. The words seem to dig down deep inside […]

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What’s Worth Retelling: A WITS Intern Reflects on Madeline Miller’s Event

Zoë Mertz is a University of Washington student doing a remote internship with the Writers in the Schools program at SAL. After attending SAL’s recent Literary Arts Series event with Madeline Miller on January 27, Zoë reflects on her own obsession with retelling and adapting classic tales, as well as the anxiety—and the creative power—that […]

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