Introductions: Ben Fountain
April 4, 2017
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-...
SAL/ON
A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
WITS Voices: Imagination in a Post-Election Classroom
April 3, 2017
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 st...
WITS Voices: Writing About the Weather
April 2, 2017
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 ...
The Great Punctuation: Alice Notley & Mother-Bright-Appearance
March 31, 2017
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...
Introductions: Bryan Stevenson & The Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest Winners
March 30, 2017
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 Execut...
“For Black Boys,” by 2015-2016 Youth Poet Laureate Leija Farr
March 29, 2017
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 ...
“My Music Brings Joy to the World,” by WITS Student Ashutosh Thapa
March 28, 2017
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...
WITS Voices: On Non-Violent Resistance
March 27, 2017
By Imani R. Sims, WITS Writer-in-Residence 33 student eyes, all staring at the screen as Martin Luther King Jr. takes the podium: But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the w...
“In This Moment,” by WITS Teacher Marylou Gomez
March 2, 2017
Last week, WITS Writer Daemond Arrindell shared a powerful poem with us written by Marylou Gomez, his partner teacher at South Lake High School. The whole SAL staff was moved by her words and the purp...
Introductions: Roxane Gay
February 27, 2017
On February 22 at Town Hall Seattle, the remarkable feminist writer Roxane Gay shared from her first collection of short stories, Difficult Women, and spoke on “the grace beyond this disgrace...