A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
ON THE ROAD AGAIN by Ann Teplick, WITS Writer-in-Residence Oh, the hours I’ve spent behind the wheel of a Volkswagen bus, a Subaru, a Datsun, a Honda, from Seattle to Banff to San Francisco to Glacier National Park to D.C. to Montreal to Yellowstone to Austin to Philly. Oh, the hours with the windows rolled […]
SAL is sad to share the news that Linda Bowers (SAL’s Executive Director from 2007-2012) has died. Our deepest sympathies go to her partner and community of friends. In her memory, we are honored to share this reflection by her partner, Greg Olson. The Evening Star In the three months since Linda’s death I’ve […]
By Kathleen Flenniken, WITS Writer-in-Residence A friend of a friend was looking for a poem her fifth-grade son could memorize for a class project. The question came to me and I made a couple of suggestions. The boy chose “Eating Poetry” by Mark Strand. His mother sent a photo of him studying the poem with […]
On March 1 at Benaroya Hall, Ben Fountain—National Book Critics Circle Award-winner and author of the novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (now a film by Ang Lee)—floored us with his well-crafted lecture on what compels us to participate in the (somewhat crazy) act of writing, despite all the economic, social, and political odds stacked against […]
By Corinne Manning, WITS Writer-in-Residence The day after the election, I carried a tote-bag full of ferns, poetry by June Jordan, and a memoir in comics by Lynda Barry into the high school. To my students, I tried to introduce the idea of imagination, of finding ways to tap into their sensory experiences, even when the […]
By: Karen Finneyfrock, WITS Writer-in-Residence A few weeks ago, it snowed in Seattle! That’s a pretty exciting occurrence for inhabitants on the Puget Sound. Students got a snow day, followed by a late start. Since I was scheduled to teach in fourth grade classrooms at Lafayette Elementary, I knew I would need to work a […]
By Sierra Nelson, WITS Writer-in-Residence I first encountered Alice Notley’s work seeing her read in Seattle for the Rendezvous Reading Series cosponsored by Subtext. It was 1999. It was Hugo House, which had just barely hatched. I was in my mid-20’s, not even hatched, in my first larval year of an MFA, second year performing […]
On March 28, lauded social justice lawyer and author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, captivated a sold-out Benaroya Hall with his lessons in the “power of proximity” and hope. SAL Executive Director Ruth Dickey introduced Bryan as part of SAL’s 2016/17 Literary Arts Series. This event also celebrated the winners of SAL’s annual Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest. […]
For Black Boys Delicate Black boy. Solider, plum painted spirit, deep rooted, dreamer. I can tell from the oceans on your bed that you’ve never been told you were beautiful. Mother didn’t remind you of rainbows in her malleable insides. She soaked you in songs but never self-love. Never explaining the pink hue of your […]
My Music Brings Joy to the World Long ago the creator saw there was only a lot of suffering and no joy and peace. This displeased the creator, so she unlocked her head and let the joy of the world out, but only a little, so there would be balance. The orb of joy became […]