Events at SAL

Upcoming Events

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Book Bingo Silent Reading Image

Book Bingo Silent Reading

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Free Events

Join SAL and our friends at The Seattle Public Library and Silent Book Club Seattle for another wonderful evening of silent reading! Make your way to the third floor of the Seattle Central Library for a silent reading evening with fellow book lovers. Enjoy quiet, camaraderie, and literary “tasting menus” of some fan favorite books from 2024 Summer Book Bingo categories. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required!

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight Image

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Community

This four-part reading series features acclaimed poets, writers, and comics artists who teach in SAL’s Writers in the Schools program.

A Conversation with Percival Everett Image

A Conversation with Percival Everett

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Literary Arts

In-person tickets are sold out for this event; online tickets are still available. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Percival Everett a “literary icon” (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James—his powerful retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.

Michele Norris Image

Michele Norris

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Literary Arts

For decades, Michele Norris has been at the heart of American journalism, with her role as host for NPR’s flagship radio show All Things Considered from 2002-2011, and her other work at multiple outlets through the years. She was the first African American female host at NPR, and she has won multiple awards for her journalistic contributions. In 2010, Norris began the Race Card Project, in which she invited people to share their thoughts about race.

Naomi Shihab Nye Image

Naomi Shihab Nye

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Poetry

Naomi Shihab Nye has spent more than forty years as a self-described “wandering poet,”  traveling the country and the world to lead writing workshops and inspiring students of all ages.

Audrey Tang Image

Audrey Tang

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Ted Chiang Presents: Love, Hope, and Other Four Letter Words

 Described as one of the “ten greatest Taiwanese computing personalities,” and the former Digital Minister of Taiwan, Audrey Tang has made it her mission to align technology with democracy, and to counteract the polarization, inequality, loneliness, and fear that digital technology has catalyzed. Q&A with Community Curated Series director Ted Chiang.

An Evening with Kelsey McKinney Image

An Evening with Kelsey McKinney

Sunday, February 16, 2025

SAL Presents

Can you keep a secret? As the pandemic forced us to socialize at a distance, Kelsey McKinney was mourning the juicy updates, jaw-dropping stories, and idle chatter that she’d typically collect over drinks with friends, encouraging her to create the blockbuster Normal Gossip podcast.

A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates Image

A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

SAL Presents

From the bestselling author of Between the World and Me comes a new collection of visionary essays, The Message.

Maggie Smith Image

Maggie Smith

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Encore

Maggie Smith is the author of the instant bestseller You Could Make This Place Beautiful, a bittersweet recollection of the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself, as well as stunning collections of poetry such as Good Bones, and essays like the ones in Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change.

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight Image

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Community

This four-part reading series features acclaimed poets, writers, and comics artists who teach in SAL’s Writers in the Schools program.

A Conversation with Natasha Lyonne Image

A Conversation with Natasha Lyonne

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Ted Chiang Presents: Love, Hope, and Other Four Letter Words

Natasha Lyonne continues to push boundaries as an Emmy- and Golden Globe nominated producer, actor, writer and director with more than three decades in the industry to her name.

YPF Reading: Spring Image

YPF Reading: Spring

Friday, March 14, 2025

Free Events

Join us for a poetry reading featuring SAL’s talented Youth Poetry Fellows. At Youth Poetry Fellowship (YPF) meetings this year, fellows have been honing their craft and strengthening their performance.

The SAL Gala: Words Bloom Image

The SAL Gala: Words Bloom

Friday, March 21, 2025

Fundraisers

The event will feature a lively reception and delicious multi-course dinner, an engaging program featuring a special guest author and youth poet, and a live and online silent auction of unique literary experiences and treasures.

Emma Donoghue Image

Emma Donoghue

Friday, March 28, 2025

Literary Arts

Emma Donoghue, the “soul-stirring” (Oprah Daily) nationally bestselling author of Room, returns with a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.

C Pam Zhang Book Club: In-Person

Wednesday, April 2 + Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Book Club for C Pam Zhang

Join us for a SAL Book Club leading up to our Literary Arts Series event with C Pam Zhang! Whether you’re already a fan or brand new to C Pam Zhang’s delectable writing, join other readers for two guided book club discussions of Land of Milk and Honey, led by Seattle writer and teaching artist Amy Hirayama, then meet up for the SAL event.   Book club packages include: A copy of Land of Milk and Honey shipped to your door. Two facilitated book club meetings held at Charlie’s Queer Books on April 2 and April 23 at 7:00 p.m. One in-person ticket to Zhang’s Seattle Arts & Lectures event on May 8, 2025, at Town Hall Seattle.

Abby Jimenez Image

Abby Jimenez

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Meet Cute

Abby Jimenez, “full of fierce humor and fiercer heart,” (Casey McQuiston) is the bestselling author of seven wildly popular, laugh-out-loud, pull-at-your-heartstrings romantic novels, including Just for the Summer, The Friend Zone, The Happy Ever After Playlist, and more.

Hanif Abdurraqib Image

Hanif Abdurraqib

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Encore

Hanif Abdurraqib witnessed a golden era of basketball growing up in Columbus, Ohio, one which inspired the writing in his memoir, There’s Always This Year—a triumph, which is brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope.

Kevin Kwan Book Club: In-Person

Thursday, April 24 + Thursday, May 15, 2025

Book Club for A Conversation with Kevin Kwan

Join us for a SAL Book Club leading up to our Meet Cute Series event with Kevin Kwan! Whether you’re already a dedicated Crazy Rich Asians fan or just looking for your next favorite romance, join other readers for two guided book club discussions of Lies and Weddings, led by Seattle writer and teaching artist Amy Hirayama, then meet up for the SAL event.   Book club packages include: A copy of Lies and Weddings shipped to your door. Two facilitated book club meetings held at Elliott Bay Book Company on April 24 and May 15 at 7:00 p.m. One in-person ticket to Kevin Kwan’s Seattle Arts & Lectures event on May 29, 2025, at Benaroya Hall.

C Pam Zhang Image

C Pam Zhang

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Literary Arts

C Pam Zhang has stunned audiences with her rapturous and revelatory storytelling in her acclaimed bestselling novel Land of Milk and Honey.

Kevin Kwan Book Club: Online

Saturday, May 10 + Thursday, May 22, 2025

Book Club for A Conversation with Kevin Kwan

Join us for a SAL Book Club leading up to our Meet Cute Series event with Kevin Kwan! Whether you’re already a dedicated Crazy Rich Asians fan or just looking for your next favorite romance, join other readers for two guided book club discussions of Lies and Weddings, led by Seattle writer and teaching artist, Amy Hirayama, then meet up for the SAL event.   All book club packages include: A copy of Lies and Weddings shipped to your door. Two facilitated book club meetings held on Zoom on May 10 and May 22 at 7:00 p.m. One streaming pass to view to Kwan’s Seattle Arts & Lectures event on May 29, 2025.

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight Image

Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Community

This four-part reading series features acclaimed poets, writers, and comics artists who teach in SAL’s Writers in the Schools program.

Merlin Sheldrake Image

Merlin Sheldrake

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

SAL Presents

A plant scientist, microbiologist, and ecologist, Merlin Sheldrake has dedicated his scientific career to the relationship between humans and “more-than-human” organisms.

A Conversation with Kevin Kwan Image

A Conversation with Kevin Kwan

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Meet Cute

From Kevin Kwan, the iconic internationally bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, comes Lies and Weddings—a new outrageous, thrillingly plotted comedy of manners in which a forbidden affair erupts volcanically amid a decadent tropical wedding. Meet Cute Series, Create Your Own Series, Super SAL subscriptions, and single tickets, with the exception of a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets, include a paperback copy of Lies and Weddings.

WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration: Elementary & Middle Schools Image

WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration: Elementary & Middle Schools

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Free Events

Bring a listening ear and a joyful spirit to the WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration! Every year, WITS culminates in a program-wide reading and celebration of student work that features student readers from approximately 30 schools and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration: Middle & High Schools Image

WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration: Middle & High Schools

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Free Events

Bring a listening ear and a joyful spirit to the WITS Year-End Reading & Celebration! Every year, WITS culminates in a program-wide reading and celebration of student work that features student readers from approximately 30 schools and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Chapbook Launch Image

Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Chapbook Launch

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Free Events

Please join us in celebrating the launch of the 2024/25 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Janae Lu’s chapbook. Published by Poetry Northwest Editions this is the tenth edition of the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate series. Janae Lu will read from the collection alongside other talented poets.

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