Sherman Alexie Cancels National Book Tour: Seattle’s literary giant scheduled a book tour to promote You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, an incredibly honest, multi-genre memoir about his complicated grief for his late mother, Lillian. Based on the stories he relayed in an open letter he posted to Facebook today, it's clear the process of grief is very much ongoing:

Because of the short notice, I’ll still perform at my gigs in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco this month. But I am cancelling all of my events in August and I will be cancelling many, but not all, of my events for the rest of the year. Dear readers and booksellers and friends and family, I am sorry to disappoint you. I am sorry that I will not be traveling to your cities to tell you my stories in person. But I will be writing.

The Second Issue of TUF Drops at Dino's Next Wednesday: Local female/nonbinary/trans collective TUF—which champions electronic-music producers, DJs, and visual artists—will hold a party for the release of its second zine on Wednesday, July 19.

The event will feature DJs T.Wan and Explorateur spinning in the restaurant section of Dino’s while live performances by a Butter Life and Qoqo Roboqs, and DJ sets by Biome, Harlan Pepper, and Sharlese will take place in the newly finished basement, which is slated to become a full-fledged events space. In addition, there will be art installations, visuals, and a poetry reading. You can check out the first issue of TUF’s zine here.

Capitol Hill Art Walk Is Tonight: Go forth and seek art. Don't miss this one-of-a-kind inflatable art show—it's only up for a day (Inflatable tunnels! Kiddie pools! Enough said!) and this other one-night only event, "Living Together," a series of diptychs by Kelly Bjork and Joe Rudko at Calypte Gallery. And check out Sarah Teasdale's pixelated paintings at TECHNAISSANCE, opening tonight at Vermillion.

Alice Gosti Premieres a 3-Hour Celebration of Seattle's Womxn: Genius choreographer Alice Gosti is teaming up with some effective equity advocates, some good poets, and a feminist marching band. The durational spectacle, which will take place in Cal Anderson Park on Sunday, aims to tell the complicated story of the womxn who "shaped Seattle, and the Capitol Hill neighborhood."

ICYMI: Andrew Russell Is Bouncing: Russell pulled Intiman Theatre out of the grave, paid its debts, and artistically directed the show there for nine years. Job well done. But now he's leaving the company and this here town for NYC, where he can focus on directing and writing more musicals. Currently, he's working on a musical with and about Big Freedia.

Seattle Center Recently Released a Report on Its Economic Impact: According to its numbers, 7,446 people were directly employed at Seattle Center in 2016, including many arts and cultural organizations, and 18,621 total jobs are supported by the stuff that goes on down there throughout the year.

“Seattle Center visitors and businesses created $1.864 billion in business activity” and “$90 million in tax revenues” for state and local governments, the report concludes. You can read it here. If you don’t like reading, here’s a video:

Speaking of Seattle Center, Mayor Murray Announced a New Cultural District in Uptown: Good news for The Vera Project, Seattle Opera, On the Boards, Uptown Cinema, and other arts organizations who will benefit from the new district's $50,000 grant for building up resources and support for arts in the neighborhood.

Seattle Rep is Commissioning a Grunge Musical: And it will probably be a disaster, Sean Nelson says.