In a sharp, witty, and definitive memoir like no other, iconic trailblazer and legendary journalist Connie Chung delves into her storied career as the first Asian woman to break into an overwhelmingly white, male-dominated television news industry. Q&A with Lori Matsukawa. All tickets, with the exception of a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets, include a copy of Connie.

Written after two years of artistic silence, during which the world came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Minneapolis became the epicenter of protest following the murder of George Floyd, Bluff is Danez Smith’s powerful reckoning with their role and responsibility as a poet and with their hometown of the Twin Cities. Bluff is a kind of manifesto about artistic resilience, even when time and will can seem fleeting, when the places we most love—those given and made—are burning. In this soaring collection, Smith turns to honesty, hope, rage, and imagination to envision futures that seem possible. Q&A with Luther Hughes.

You are joyfully invited to a Skate-a-Thon to support our annual Back-to-School Campaign and celebrate the 30th anniversary of WITS! All month long, we’re raising $150,000 for SAL’s two Youth Programs—Writers in the Schools (WITS) and the Youth Poetry Fellowship (YPF)—so that young people can become the authors of their own lives and ensure that all students have access to a creative life. On Saturday, September 28, skate with fellow literary lovers, hear readings by students and teaching artists, and learn more about the inspiring programs we offer. Featuring WITS Writer-in-Residence Samar Abulhassan, Youth Poetry Fellowship mentor Nanya Jhingran, WITS student Tasneem Jafar, and Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Janae Lu. Tickets are available at tiered prices between $20-$100. Kids 18 and under skate free! Skate rentals are included with your ticket. Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase at Southgate Roller Rink’s concession stands. Ticket purchases are considered donations to our 2024 Back-to-School Campaign. The fair market value of each ticket, regardless of tiered price, is $15. Want to support but can’t attend? Learn more about our 2024 Back-to-School Campaign and all the ways to participate!

Acclaimed by critics and beloved by readers of all ages, Sandra Cisneros is a writer, performer, and artist who is celebrating the 40th anniversary of The House on Mango Street, the essential coming-of-age novel about Esperanza Cordero and her Chicago barrio, and one of the most cherished contemporary novels.

Seasonality: Inviting the rhythms of place and literacies of land into the learning space This professional development is designed to combine Indigenous literature and literacies with land-based pedagogy. The intention for this training is to offer practical content and strategies that are suitable for all students and to encourage open discussion about how to meaningfully incorporate Indigenous literacy and tenants of land-based pedagogy in diverse learning settings. Upholding a warm and welcoming space for multi-lingual learning and Indigenous languages is a foundational aspect of this offering. Participants can expect to leave the workshop with a selection of new strategies and prompts, a recursive strategy for classroom use, and suggestions for bringing literature informed by Indigenous languages into the learning space. This two-hour workshop will fulfill OSPI’s Continuing Education clock hours (2) for all state educators and meets the requirements for ongoing Racial Equity Training for teacher certification. This course will offer free resources and is suitable for teachers and learners of all ages including adult learners. Writers may also find the content useful.

Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light.

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

The Book of Love showcases Kelly Link at the height of her powers, channeling potent magic and attuned to all varieties of love—from friendship to romance to abiding family ties—with her trademark compassion, wit, and literary derring-do.

Casey McQuiston—the bestselling author of Red, White and Royal Blue and One Last Stop—returns with the wildly anticipated romantic comedy The Pairing, in which two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour—but they’re totally over each other, right? Costumes, literary and otherwise, strongly encouraged at this special Halloween event! All tickets, with the exception of a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets, include a copy of The Pairing.

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

The newest book from Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water, reminds audiences of why he is hailed as one of the modern era’s greatest epic novelists.

Known for her poetry, her essays, and the way she lights up the world, Aimee Nezhukumatathil restores our astonishment again and again.

Author of the sensational Braiding Sweetgrass—a book that forever changed nature writing—Robin Wall Kimmerer returns with The Serviceberry.

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

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.

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 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.

 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.