1. Big literary reading at the Ruins (Fall of 1993)Jonathan Raban, Charles Johnson, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Stadler, and an unknown 24-year-old writer who is not worth mentioning all read at the fancy private dining club the Ruins. Jonathan Raban's reading makes the rich ladies laugh; Rebecca Brown's reading makes the rich ladies cry.

2. Bay Press is sold to Microsoft millionaires (1993)Bay Press is sold to Sally Brunsman and Kim Barnett by Thatcher Bailey in 1993. The sad consequence of this transaction: Seattle loses its once-mighty position in the theory and literary worlds. In 1997, Bay Press publishes its last books and becomes mysteriously inactive.

3. Literature thrives in Pioneer Square (1993)Pioneer Square is the center of literary Seattle for a whole year (1993 to 1994)! The main reason for this mini-renaissance is Pioneer Square Saloon's Radio Free Leroys, a reading series run by Amber Curtis. In 1995, Pioneer Square Saloon is colonized by the frat crowd, marking the end of Radio Free Leroys.

4. Jonathan Raban reads at the Blue Moon Tavern (1994) In a bar of hippie drunkards, Seattle's most prized literary import, Jonathan Raban, reads a short memoir about the final moments he spent with the English poet Philip Larkin. The drunkards yammer on at the bar, while near a pool table Raban reads some of the most elegant prose in the English language.

5. Beat poet Ted Jones moves to Seattle (1995)Famous for scrawling "BIRD LIVES" all over New York shortly after jazz genius Charlie Parker died, beat poet Ted Jones moves from Paris to Seattle in 1995. He is often seen walking around Pioneer Square, and reads his poetry for a fee ("No bread, no Ted," he once told a local poetry promoter). Don Cherry dies that year, but no one scribbles "FRUIT LIVES" all over Seattle.

6. William Wharton cries at Elliott Bay Book Company (1996)Author William Wharton completely breaks down at Elliott Bay Book Company, crying throughout his one-hour reading of Ever After, a book explaining his campaign to stop field burning in Oregon (his daughter, son-in-law, and one of their children were killed in a smoke-caused I-5 pileup).

7. Dave Ross reads an anonymous poem from a FLIer during his live broadcast from the AFL-CIO labor rally (November 30, 1999)AM radio personality Dave Ross broadcasts on 710 KIRO-AM a poem he found on a protest flier. The clear and honest poem seduces thousands at the carnival that would be remembered as the WTO riots.

8. Hugo Talks (1999)Galya Diment, Riz Rollins, Charlie D'Ambrosio, Jonathan Raban, and Matthew Stadler deliver lectures on the meanings of Seattle. Though all the lectures are amazing, Charlie D'Ambrosio stands out because the introduction to his actual lecture is two hours long.

9. Typing Explosion is the cover story in USA Today (2000)USA Today decides that poetry/performance group the Typing Explosion is the next big thing and flies a reporter to Seattle to wine and dine the trio. A few months later, People magazine interviews the group with less impressive results. The interview is never published because, according to a member of Typing Explosion, "the interviewer is a prick."

10. Diana George lectures on death (January, 2001)Diana George lectures on death and the history of the building that currently houses Hugo House. The building was once a funeral home, and part of her lecture explores the similarities between the present literary center and the former funeral home. Everyone at the reading fell under the spell of Diana's crepuscular prose.