A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
Do you remember when that tickling in our stomachs had a name? It was called God. The flowers bloomed to God’s rhythm and we danced in our underwear. Our families burned weed and bras and incense and dollar bills. They used history as kindling and smoked out the stars. But we didn’t need to misinterpret […]
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 theme for this year’s contest was “On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” inspired by the award-winning novel of upcoming SAL speaker, Ocean Vuong. On Earth We’re Briefly […]
By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Interim Executive Director It is my great pleasure to introduce Alberto Ríos to you. He is the author of fourteen books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. His most recent collections of poetry include Not Go Away is My Name and A Small Story About […]
Roberto Contreras, of Licton Springs K-8 School, read this poem to open our 2020/21 Poetry Series event with Alberto Ríos on Friday, May 28, 2021. Written during the 2019/20 school year with WITS Writer-in-Residence Arianne True.
Our utmost congratulations to the 2021 Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest winners and runners-up! Every year, Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program holds the Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest, named for beloved English teacher Elaine Wetterauer, who taught for years at Nathan Hale High School and was an early champion of WITS, as […]
By Donna Miscolta 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, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. (PDT) Alberto Ríos will read and discuss his work with Donna Miscolta at 7:30 pm in a […]
By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Interim Executive Director Natalie Diaz is the author of two acclaimed collections of poetry: When My Brother Was an Aztec and Postcolonial Love Poem. She is a poet, a scholar and student of the Mojave language, a basketball player, a professor, and, if you follow her on Instagram, you know that […]
Gears of time, cogs of life home is the trees rushing by as I speed down a mountain, the scent of pine sap as I leave the ground, the shocks of a downhill bike absorbing force as I slam back down to earth. Home is my dad coming home after months on a halibut schooner […]
Stools are crabs that crawl across the carpet sands Chairs are the horses that once rose from the sea Tables are the rocks that the stools hid under to escape from the projector that is a white snake hunting for prey Violet Hilgenberg, of Lafayette Elementary School, read this poem to open our 2020/21 Literary […]
Until I saw the sea, I did not know how much the sea sparkled and how many animals roamed. Until I saw the sea, I did not know what it felt like to be closed up under the watery bed. But then I felt it: the feeling I wanted to know, that the sea is […]