MARK PERRY

Perry's new book, Walking the Color Line: The Art and Practice of Anti-Racist Teaching, draws from his experiences as a teacher and administrator in inner city high schools. Says Barbara Osborne: "What is valuable about this book is Mark's willingness to talk with equal candor about the successes, half-successes, near-failures, and failures he experienced.... Reading this, teachers and administrators will both recognize themselves and learn how to, and how not to, proceed." Perry is currently teaching at an alternative high school in Seattle. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

*LAURENCE KRAUSER

Reading and signing by the author of Lemon. See Stranger Suggests. Speakeasy, 2304 Second Ave, 728-9770, 7:30 pm, free.

RICHARD HAYWARD

Slide show, reading, and signing by the author of British Footpaths. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

VAL JON FARRIS

Metaphysical slide show and high falutin' spiritual talk from the author of Inca Fire!: Light of the Masters. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3311, 7 pm, free.

JAMES THAYER

Booksigning by the author of Force 12, a thriller about a yacht race. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free.

*MARK DOTY

An award-winning poet and memoirist, Doty reads from his new book-length essay, Still Life with Oysters and Lemon, as part of Washington Center for the Book's "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" reading series. Museum of History & Industry, 2700 24th Ave E, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free with museum admission (first come, first served).

BART SCHNEIDER

Minnesota-based author Schneider, whose debut novel Blue Bossa was a finalist for the prestigious Los Angeles Times Book Award in First Fiction, will read tonight from his latest work of fiction, Secret Love. "Here is a novel that is by turns lyrical and unflinching in its honesty and its empathy for its flawed, yet touchingly assertive characters," writes Gerald Early. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

JONI RODGERS

"We got big meat, big bugs, big cars, and big, big hair," says Rodgers of her native Texas. Her personal odyssey through the land of bigness is chronicled in her new memoir, Bald in the Land of Big Hair. Third Place Books, 6:30 pm, free.

LUIS H. FRANCIA

The Eye of the Fish is the latest book from Filipino poet and writer Francia. It is described as part travel book, part political history--a work that examines the influences of colonialism, Christianity, and Islam in the history of the Philippines. "[Francia] exercises an idiom which echoes... the voices of Charles Baudelaire, T. S. Eliot, John Crowe Ransom, Archibald MacLeish, and Jose Garcia Villa," says Rolando S. Tinio of the Manila Chronicle. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets require (available free at store).

READING CIRCLES 2000

Richard Hugo House Writer-in-Residence Joan Fiset (author of the poetry collection Now the Day Is Over) leads a discussion of texts that revolve around the theme of "Defeats: Acceptance." This event is open to all, and is a drop-in session that doesn't require participants to read material ahead of time. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 3-5 pm, free.

*WHERE HAVE ALL THE BOOKSTORES GONE?

Pistil Books on Capitol Hill, soon to close its doors forever as have so many small booksellers in this region recently, will host an open discussion on the future of independent retail bookstores in an Internet-driven and wickedly monopolistic economy. See Stranger Suggests. Pistil Books & News, 1013 E Pike, 325-5401, 7 pm, free.

BILLY

Reading by the author of Streets of Tacoma, a novel set amid the post-WWII Tacoma jazz scene. Elliott Bay Book Company, 4 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

BRUCE NOLL

Noll--a poet and performer hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico--brings to stunning life the cosmically affirmative and wildly homoerotic poetry of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass in his traveling performance piece, "Pure Grass." "[Noll's] interpretation is entertaining and inspirational for the newcomer to Whitman and poetry," says former president of the Walt Whitman Association Joan Wilmarth. Richard Hugo House, 7 pm, $5.

RED SKY POETRY THEATRE

Featured reader is Kathleen Alcala, plus open mic (sign-up begins at 7 pm). Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, free.

THREE POETS & AN OPEN MIC

This evening's featured readers are Percy Hilo, Jeanne Lanigan, and Mark Rubin. Wit's End Bookstore & Tea Shop, 770 N 34th St, 682-1268, 7 pm, free.

MICHAEL DATCHER

Poet and journalist Datcher reads from his new book, Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story, described by Quincy Troupe as "a stirring, insightful, compelling account of growing up young, black, and male in contemporary inner-city America." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

LYDIA MINATOYA

Minatoya joins in a discussion of her latest novel, The Strangeness of Beauty. Third Place Books, 7 pm, free.

EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY

Weekly presentation of all ages poetry, prose, and spoken word open mic, hosted by Ira Parnes. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 208-1188, 7 pm, free.

RADICAL WOMEN STUDY GROUP

Weekly gathering to discuss the feminist theories contained in The Radical Women Manifesto. School of Social Work, 4101 15th Ave NE, 722-6057, 7 pm, free and open to all.

RITA MAE BROWN

Brown will be appearing at two separate locations today to read from and sign her latest mystery, Claws and Effect. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, noon (booksigning only), free; and Third Place Books, 7 pm, free.

*NUALA O'FAOLAIN

O'Faolain, author of the acclaimed memoir Are You Somebody?, will read from her new novel, My Dream of You. "[O'Faolain's] depiction of the west of Ireland during and just after the Famine surpasses any historical recitation of the 'facts.'" Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

MICHELLE CASSOU

Reading by the author of Point Zero: Creativity Without Limits. Elliott Bay Book Company, 5:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

DOUGLAS LORAIN

Discussion and booksigning by the author of Backpacking Washington. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

YAWP! POETRY SERIES

An evening of "new feminist/queer/wussy" performance poetry, hosted by Karen Finneyfrock and R. Eirik Ott. The Pearl, 4215 University Way NE, 547-3326, 8 pm, $3.

ERIC GARCIA

Garcia, author of the debut thriller Anonymous Rex, returns with Casual Rex. "In this prequel to the popular Anonymous Rex," says Publishers Weekly, "Garcia spins another comical scenario involving Vincent and a host of other dinosaurs who never became extinct and have integrated themselves into modern society." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

TONY PARSONS

Reading by the British author of Man and Boy, a novel. Elliott Bay Book Company, 5 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

*TER ELLINGSON

Ellingson, an anthropologist, traces the controversial evolution of the idea of "the Noble Savage" in his new study The Myth of the Noble Savage. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

COLUMBIA LIBRARY BOOK GROUP

Discussion of The Gifts of the Body, the celebrated book by Stranger contributor Rebecca Brown. Columbia Library, 4721 Rainier Ave S, 386-1908, 7 pm, free.