SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: Student Writing

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As Soon As You Say This Word: Wolf – El Lupo – Ôkami

By Sierra Nelson, WITS Writer-in-Residence Does the word Wolf move differently than El Lupo? Do we experience anything different in our bodies when we say the Russian word волк (pronounced “volk”) compared to the Japanese word 狼 [おおかみ Ôkami]? I was excited to explore these questions of language and translation in my WITS residency, working […]

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WITS Voices: “Black Lives Matter is…”

By Daemond Arrindell, WITS Writer-in-Residence the skin stays silent  it is our blind eyes that give them voices or take them away On Wednesday, October 19th, Seattle Public Schools put their foot out there in a pretty public way. Faculty, administrators and parents at numerous schools throughout the greater Seattle area showed their support of […]

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WITS Voices: Holding 67 Hearts

By Laura Gamache, WITS Writer-in-Residence On my ninth day with fourth graders at Broadview-Thomson, I asked the kids to take out their hearts, and hand them in to me. I had drawn each heart on red copier paper before our second meeting, after the teachers had expressed doubt the kids could reliably draw them themselves. […]

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“Lantern” by Myhanh Wong

Lantern You’re sitting in class. The teacher drones on and on. On her desk sits a lantern. Decorative yet functional. You think of the different scenarios of why you would use that lantern. In your mind you travel forward in time with that lantern. You’re sitting in a bunker, waiting for nothing to happen. The […]

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Poet Lucia Perillo

Remembering Lucia Perillo

Everyone at SAL is deeply saddened to hear the news that poet and essayist Lucia Perillo has passed away at the age of 58 in Olympia, Wash., a place she called home for many years. A MacArthur fellow, Lucia authored seven collections of defiant and sharply humorous poetry, including Inseminating the Elephant in 2009, which was a finalist […]

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“A Few Blades of Grass” by Zainab Al-Bahadli

  A Few Blades Of Grass I was born to a seaglass house Softened by the rough edges of the sea, Chipped and clouded though it was I was born. Upon my birth I shattered it Gripping a dagger and a forget-me-not. I was born in a well Filled to the brim with gold paint […]

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Henry Smith

“Books” by Henry Smith

Books Go inside a book. That would be my way. Let someone be a perfect person that never gets in trouble. The letters pour off my pages trickling into my head. Inside is a mystery slowly unfolding. Inside is what my imagination feeds on.

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Book Bingo: Collection of Poetry

Summer Book Bingo is a partnership with The Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts & Lectures to provide free summer reading fun for adults. Swing by your local Seattle library branch or any one of SAL’s partner bookstores to grab a Bingo Card, then spend your summer reading great books—you can win fabulous prizes! This […]

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Youth Poet Laureate Angel Gardner

“Mama Wants Success,” by Youth Poet Laureate Angel Gardner

Mama Wants Success I am balancing on a line in-between what I need to be and what’s expected of me. Calloused feet no match for the wire gripping the thickest pads on my soles. And pushing. The pressure of responsibility Sending my nerves to a point they never warned me about in sessions of adult […]

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