A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
Akshaya Ajith, a high school student doing a remote internship with the Writers in the Schools program at SAL, attended SAL’s Journalism Series event with Lawrence Wright, investigative journalist for The New Yorker and author of the pandemic thriller The End of October, on February 9, 2021. Read on to hear her reflections. By Akshaya […]
By Gabriela Denise Frank Writing serves many purposes for Writers in the Schools (WITS) Intern Akshaya Ajith. “It’s a tool and a gateway for people to connect and to understand and open doors to mutual respect,” she said. “Writing can be an exploration, but it can also be like going into battle, whether that’s with […]
Juliana Agudelo Ariza of McClure Middle School read this original comic to open our Poetry Series event with Douglas Kearney. This comic was written during the 2019/20 school year with WITS Writer-in-Residence Greg Stump. Performed on the digital SAL stage on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
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, […]
At SAL, we envision a future in which story and language continuously and courageously revitalize equity, justice, and belonging. Since 2014, The Prowda Literary Champion Awards, selected by a group of literary visionaries, have celebrated the individuals and organizations that do just that. Every year, the Prowda Awards recognize leaders in our community who are […]
Seattle Arts & Lectures is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications to the 2021/22 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Cohort, from now until Friday, April 23, 2021. Program Overview The Seattle Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program is part of Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) with support from Urban Word NYC, Northwest Folklife […]
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 […]
My sister’s hair is very straight and smooth. Normally it looks like she just combed it even if she just woke up. For a while, she dyed it a blonde at the bottom, and it looked like caramel dipped in old honey—but now, it looks like when you split a Snickers in half and the […]
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 […]
By Gabriela Denise Frank Talking with the writer Kip Greenthal who, with SAL Founder Sherry Prowda, launched the Writers in the Schools (WITS) program, brought to mind a quote by Grace Paley: “Every story is two stories. The one on the surface and the one bubbling beneath. The climax is when they collide.” In pop […]