Thursday 12/14

MOACYR SCLIAR, ILAN STAVANS
Two writers discussing Latin American Jewish literature. According to the event producers at Nextbook: "Scliar is one of Brazil's most noted contemporary authors, most known for his novel The Centaur in the Garden... Stavans is from Mexico, a scholar and fiction writer who has spent considerable time tracing the links between Hispanic/Latin American and Jewish cultures." He is the author of Dictionary Days and other books. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave S, 684-4757. $8. 7:30 pm.

Friday 12/15

TAKE A POEM FROM YOUR HEART
Poets Julene T. Weaver, Karen Havnaer, and David Horowitz read from recent work. Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave, 722-6633. Free. 7:01 pm.

GREGORY L. BLACKSTOCK
The Seattle artist talks about his book Blackstock's Collections: The Drawings of an Artistic Savant, published by Princeton Architectural Review. Karen Light-Piña writes in the book's introduction: "Unlike the work of most outsiders, his conveys no emotion; nor does he depict a personal fantasy world.... Blackstock is not gripped by a divine calling or controversial conceptions. He seems to use his medium to create a personal filing system for clustering and storing the things of the world, both natural and man-made. It appears he finds it useful to compartmentalize that which most of us take for granted." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

SHARON KRAMIS, JULIE KRAMIS HEARNE
The mother and daughter talk about The Dutch Oven Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pot in Your Kitchen. Ravenna Third Place, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347. Free. 7:30 pm.

Saturday 12/16

FREDERICK HIGHLAND
Night Falls on Damascus is a mystery set in 1930s Syria. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737. Free. Noon.

GREG ATKINSON
The chef talks about West Coast Cooking. Barnes & Noble Downtown, 600 Pine St, 264-0156. Free. 1 pm.

RINJING DORIE
The "Tibeten storyteller, author, and bartender" reads from his novel The Renegade Monk of Tibet. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030. Free. 5:30 pm.

PETER BAGGE, ELLEN FORNEY
Bagge will show rare seen animated shorts and Forney will do her I Love Led Zeppelin multimedia thing, which is awesome. See Stranger Suggests. Fantagraphic Bookstore and Gallery, 1201 S. Vale Street, 658-0110. Free. 6 pm.

APOSTROPHE
Apostrophe is a monthly series of cross-disciplinary stuff. This installment: poetry by Maged Zaher (who "was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt and came to the U.S. to pursue a graduate degree in Engineering" and has published two chapbooks); Tonya Lockyer, a dancer; and Kelvin Pittman, a musician. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 322-1513. $5-15 sliding scale. 8 pm.

Sunday 12/17

DAVID HLVASA
The theater professor at St. Martin's College reads from The Author Rehearses. Fremont Place Books, 621 N 35th St, 547-5970. Free. 6 pm.

ROBERT H. REID
The Associated Press correspondent-at-large gives a talk on "Reporting on the Front Lines of History: On assignment from Kabul to Baghdad." Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 325-3113. Free. 7 pm.

Open Mic

IT'S ABOUT TIME Featured readers and an open mic. Second Thursday of every month at 7:30 pm. at Ravenna Third Place, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347. free. Second Thurs, 7:30 pm. MELLOW MONDAYS Poetry, a little music, and happy hour prices for poets and their friends at Bai Pai Thai, 2316 NE 65th St Ste 101, 527-4800. Free. 8 pm. POETSWEST Featured readers and an open mic at Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 682-1268 for info. Free. 4 pm. SCRATCHING POST Poetry open mic, all ages; signup at 7:30 pm at Mr. Spots Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424. Free. Thurs, 8 pm. SEATTLE POETRY SLAM Every Tuesday at ToST, 513 N 36th St., 547-0240. $5. Tues, 8 pm. TAKE A POEM INTO YOUR HEART Featured readers. Third Friday of every month; signup at 6:45 pm at Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave, 722-6633. Free. Third Fri, 7 pm.