by Felicia Shiné Tree

JOHN BILLHEIMER

Intricate familial relations, bulldozers, and a clean-cut protagonist (Owen Allison, featured in Billheimer's first book, The Contrary Blues) construct the plot of Highway Robbery, described as a "down home mystery." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.

KATRINA KITTLE

Kittle's debut, Traveling Light, is an issue-based heart-tugger of a novel that tells the story of a failed dancer's attempt to deal with her brother's struggles with AIDS, moving from tragedy to tragedy in a starkly real-life way. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

BEN BOVA

All I know about this book, Venus, is from its tag lines, synopsized thusly: It's the late 21st century, and no human has reached the surface of Venus alive. Van Humphries, a sort of playboy, decides to risk the mission that killed his brother, and what he discovers will change everything. Kane Hall 220, UW Campus, 624-5677, 7 pm, free (tickets at University Book Store).

*MICHAEL DIBDIN

Literary mystery at its finest from Seattle writer Dibdin, Blood Rain produces the sensuality of Italy as seen through the eyes of return protagonist Aurelio Zen. The story line is intricate, rife with personal conflict for Zen, and taut with suspense. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

JILL SCHNEIDERMAN

Schneiderman's anthology of essays, The Earth around Us: Maintaining a Livable Planet, brings together the eloquent and the academic for an essential look at the influence of earth sciences on policies today. Includes contributions from John McPhee and Stephen Jay Gould. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

JAMES MCCOURT

McCourt's Delancey's Way is a wink-wink insider satire set in Clinton's Washington, full of dizzying plot lines and wicked metaphors from someone who was indeed "there." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.

MICHAEL DALEY

An opening quote from Thomas McGrath sets the stage for this local poet's newest collection, Original Sin, a voyage through the mouth of hunger and across the field of ocean freeze. Rural, real poetry. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

ELLIOT BAY POETS & PROSISTS

Staff members from Elliott Bay reveal their off-hours projects, which range from poetry to drama. Expected to read are Peter Aaron, Kerry Brophy, Brendan Larson, etc. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

JOHN M. MORSE

The president and publisher of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary talks about "Words for the New Millennium" -- what they are, why they matter, and whether Esperanto is never going to really make it and we should all go back to speaking Yiddish. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.

*DIANE JOHNSON

Johnson's wry self-awareness both saves and suffocates her -- although her work rubs up against the rust of snobbery, she cannot help but be aware of it, and her perception is ringed with postmodern weariness. This attitude is often reworded as "amused irony" in positive reviews, and certainly there is a lot to like in her books about convoluted relationships, the newest of which is Le Mariage (Le Divorce was a 1997 National Book Award finalist). Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

STEVE JONES

An "update" of Origin of the Species titled Darwin's Ghost, from award-winning geneticist Steve Jones. Kane Hall Walker Ames Room, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, free (no tickets required).

LAWRENCE DONEGAN

Bass guitarist/journalist Donegan visits Ireland and comes up with a wry look at it entitled No News at Throat Lake; described as "a delight to read," and full of "gratifyingly biased views." We like that. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.

*COLSON WHITEHEAD

Delayed from a previous visit, the author of The Intuitionist returns for a make-up appearance tonight. The Intuitionist hit the books world with a bang, garnering questionable comparisons to Ellison and predictable ones to Pynchon. On its own, The Intuitionist is a fine and interesting book, placing race relations in the confines of a mechanical, philosophical world, including a sprinkling of surreality and a main character who's complex enough to cheer for. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

GERDA LERNER

Well-respected feminist scholar Lerner discusses issues approached in many of her books including The Feminist Thought of Sarah Grimke, The Grimke Sisters of South Carolina, and Why History Matters: Life and Thought. Kane Hall 210, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, free (no tickets required).

ROBERT GATES

And for the rest of campus... former CIA director and author of From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War lectures on security and intelligence in the new century. Kane Hall 130, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7:30 pm, free.

ROGER DOWNEY

An account of that inconvenient Kennewick man, journalist Roger Downey's The Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of the Kennewick Man covers, as the title suggests, just about every aspect of the skeleton from its discovery to now. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

OPEN MIC

Note to regularly programmed open mics: The Stranger will list events only if we receive an announcement -- regular listings will be dropped unless we are notified that the events are in fact ongoing.

665

Count the days no more -- 665 is back, reconfigured by Salon Productions. This open mic is hosted by Sarah Sharp. Four Angels Cafe, 1400 14th Ave at Union, 264-5139, 7:30 sign-up, free.

SPOKEN WORD

Each and every Thursday, this venerable Pioneer Square venue spotlights music, poetry, and comedy. Pioneer Square Saloon, 73 Yesler Way, 624-6444, 8:30 pm, free.

WINDOW PAIN

An eclectic open mic that encourages you to "bring your circus act!" Lottie Mott's Coffee Shop and Collective Baggage, 4900 Rainier Ave S, 725-8199, 7 pm, free.

RED SKY POETRY THEATER

Seattle's longest-running reading series livens up the tiny Globe Cafe. This week features the Seattle Area Youth (SAY) Poetry Slam Team. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th & Pine, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, free (donation).

POETRY SPLAB

Auburn's Spoken World Lab presents a "SPLAB" -- an open mic (written or improvised) poetry competition -- for youth. There will also be a poetry workshop hosted by Paul Nelson. Federal Way Regional Library, 34200 First Ave, Federal Way, 253-838-3668, 7 pm, free.

HOMELAND

Hosted by Circus and friends, "Seattle's own Little Bohemia" emerges from a hiatus transformed. The Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave at Pike, 264-5139, 7:30 sign-up, free.

SEATTLE POETRY SLAM

Seattle's highest-powered slam hunkers down at Dutch Ned's, with featured readers each week, plus open mic for money. Dutch Ned's, 206 First Ave S, 340-8859, www.seattlepoetryslam.org, 9 pm, $3.

CATHARTICISM

Confess your sins at this open mic: a forum for cleansing your soul in public. Poets, writers, musicians, welcome. Coffee Messiah, 1445 E Olive Way, 860-7377, 8:30 pm, free.

ROETHKE

Not so much an open mic as an improv session, "Roethke" takes poems by well-known authors and turns them into improvised scenes intended to complement the poem. Presented by Unexpected Productions. Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 781-9273, 8 pm, $5.