SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Faces of Bushwick: Ken Nottingham & Carrie Wicks

To celebrate our long-time partnership with Bushwick Book Club Seattle, we’re speaking with local musicians who have composed and performed songs inspired by the written works of SAL speakers over the years. Learn about these hometown talents and discover their work in our Faces of Bushwick interview series. In this first conversation, we talk with […]

Read More

A Comic from Ocean Vuong’s Event

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, 2023). Tessa was recently honored with a 2021 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust. On June 9, Tessa joined us to watch Ocean Vuong’s live and online-only […]

Read More

Introductions: Ocean Vuong

By Rebecca Hoogs, SAL Interim Executive Director Two years ago, right before Christmas, my Dad had a heart attack. A few days later, we flew home to visit with him as he recovered at his home in Western Massachusetts, not far from where Ocean Vuong lives,  not far from the landscape of On Earth We’re […]

Read More

Gorgeous, Here On Earth: The 2020/21 Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest Chapbook

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 […]

Read More

Bookshop Superheroes: Elliott Bay Book Company

Bookstore workers and owners have been absolute essential workers during this pandemic—heroes on the frontlines of our mental health. After those first months when reading felt really hard, when the doom-scrolling kept us in our lizard brains, books were there waiting for us in all their analog selves. Books, as one 2020 Summer Book Bingo player said, are […]

Read More

Introductions: Alberto Ríos

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 […]

Read More

“R” by Roberto Contreras

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.

Read More

Introducing the Winners of the 2021 Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest

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 […]

Read More

Bookshop Superheroes: BookTree Kirkland

Bookstore workers and owners have been absolute essential workers during this pandemic—heroes on the frontlines of our mental health. After those first months when reading felt really hard, when the doom-scrolling kept us in our lizard brains, books were there waiting for us in all their analog selves. Books, as one 2020 Summer Book Bingo player said, […]

Read More