A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
My Wishes I wish I had my new heart and could leave the hospital. I wish all my friends would not be sick or hurt or bullied or punched. I wish I didn’t have what I have right now. I wish no animals would get hurt. I wish no one would do crimes or heists […]
By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Associate Director It is bittersweet to introduce Rick Barot to you in this medium. This event was originally scheduled for March 15 to launch his new book, his fourth book, The Galleons, into the world. And though May finds us still floating on our own, we are very glad to deliver […]
Convolution Graphite stains my fingertips. From time spent drawing when I should be thinking. How could I, though? When deep purple stares from beneath my eyes. Time is spent drawing when I should be thinking. Doodles of people, with perfect hair and perfect smiles. Deep purple stares from beneath my eyes. I wish I was […]
This essay is part of a series in which Seattle Arts & Lectures partners with Poetry Northwest to present reflections on visiting writers from SAL’s Poetry Series. At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 15, Rick Barot give a virtual reading on lectures.org to celebrate the launch of The Galleons, followed by a 30-minute conversation with Jane […]
COVID-19 Akin to a dandelion whose seeds roam aimlessly And infect whomever they please, armed with a wicked and unrelenting grasp, isolation, and desperation abound as well as wrath and greed. Political leaders terrified through their tough facades, cowering behind walls they’ve put up iron, steel, cement. Lungs, breathing sparsely in and out. This poem was […]
In our latest episode of SAL/on air, our literary podcast featuring talks from across Seattle Arts & Lectures’ thirty years, we hear from poet Ross Gay. In a time like this, where do you look to for joy? In an episode of Krista Tippett’s podcast, On Being, poet Ross Gay recently said, “It is joy […]
Every year, Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program holds the Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest to celebrate the wisdom, creativity, and heart captured in student and teacher writing. The inspiration from this year’s contest was drawn from Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, an epic historical novel that follows a Korean family over the […]
Do you have a middle or high-schooler at home looking for learning opportunities? Or, maybe you’d like some inspiration for yourself? Today’s #SALMoment comes from WITS Writer-in-Residence Laura Da’, who shares a writing prompt for when times feel overwhelming. This lesson teaches us to center and focus, to become quiet and still, even though the […]
Every year, Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program holds the Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest to celebrate the wisdom, creativity, and heart captured in student and teacher writing. The inspiration from this year’s contest was drawn from Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee, an epic historical novel that follows a Korean family over […]
By Lisa Wells, WITS Writer-in-Residence I think of writing as a practice of awareness, a habit of heightened attention to detail—to light, gesture, sensation, intonation—and I try to approach the teaching of writing with the same quality of attention, awake to the shifting dynamics of the classroom. Good writing demands that we be awake in […]