SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

“A Guide to Darkness” by WITS Student Mars Park

Mars Park wrote this poem while a student at Hamilton International Middle School with WITS Writer-in-Residence Sara Brickman. Mars read this poem to open our SAL Presents event with Celeste Ng on October 17, 2022.    

Read More

“Song I’ll Sing” by WITS Student Elisa Pérez

If you want … I will sing. If not … I will hum. If you’re sad, I’ll give you a beat. A song I’ll sing is my dream. It is something that belongs to me. It’s loud, even with no sound. It’s quiet when it’s loud. I don’t care if you don’t listen but this […]

Read More

Welcome, Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s New Youth Programs Director!

We’re delighted to introduce you to Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s new Youth Programs Director! You may know Jenne already from her work at the intersection of the arts and social justice in Seattle, such as Path with Art, City of Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights, where she recently worked as a Racial Justice Analyst, and  beyond. […]

Read More

Introductions: Abdulrazak Gurnah

By Rebecca Hoogs, Executive Director It is now my immense pleasure to introduce Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah. We are here tonight to celebrate Gurnah’s tenth novel, Afterlives, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature almost exactly one year ago today, as well as to honor his long career in literature. Gurnah’s books have been […]

Read More

“Poem” by WITS Student Aisha Muse

There’s a poem in this place a poem stronger than a steel cup a poem that races through your mind faster than a modern car There’s a poem in this place a poem so calm it feels like you’re sailing on the sea There’s a poem in this place a poem so wild it sounds like a rock […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Ben Rankin

It’s a delight to welcome Ben Rankin to the SAL Board!  Ben has been an owner and senior manager of industrial recycling and real estate development companies for nearly twenty years, and he’s worked on projects and businesses involving housing affordability, historic preservation, the arts, and beyond throughout his career. (His wife, Margit Rankin, is […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Kelli Martin

We’re so excited to welcome the wonderful Kelli Martin to the SAL Board! A books editor with over two decades of experience in publishing—from Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Amazon Publishing, and beyond—Kelli’s expertise and eye for a meaningful story shine through in her interview with SAL below. Read on to find out what she […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Nicole Y. Walters

We are so thrilled to welcome Nicole Y. Walters, author, singer, and songwriter extraordinaire, to the SAL Board! You might know Nicole from her books for young people, like Aisha and the Ancestors or Charis: Journey to Pandora’s Jar, or from her jazz performances around town. Below, we asked Nicole about her life, and she […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Daphne Ming Durham

Meet Daphne Ming Durham, a new board member with SAL! Daphne is Executive Editor at MCD Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She came to FSG after more than fifteen years at Amazon.com. During her tenure there as Editorial Director in Books, her team developed and curated the Best Books programs and launched […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Eric Gerard Parsons

Meet Eric Gerard Parsons, a new board member with SAL! Eric is the Senior Manager of Philanthropy at Community Roots Housing Foundation, where he brings his decades of experience in managing and leading complex projects in the nonprofit and government sectors on issues related to education reform, juvenile justice, health care, welfare reform, workforce development, […]

Read More