FRED ROSE

The split between labor unions and the environmental movement is documented and bridged by Rose's Coali-tions across the Class Divide: Lessons from the Labor, Peace, and Environmental Movements. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

JOAN KRUCKEWITT

See bio box. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

JOHN NEWMAN, ELLEN SETTEDUCATI, DALE CHASE, JANICE ROBINETTE

In the It's About Time reading series, beginning and experienced writers read from their work -- the definition of running the gamut, so to speak. Open mic precedes and follows scheduled readers. Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, 684-4063, 6:30 pm, free.

EROTICA

Slide on into Valentine's week by celebrating Eros through image and word -- this Rendezvous Readings curated event is set to accompany the Little Theatre's initial screening of O Amor Natural, the documentary about the effect of Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade's unpublished erotic poetry on the lives of real people. Mr. Gerald X. Diamond will read from his text Tactile Joy: 23 Different Modes of Having Fun with Your Skin, special guests such as Rebecca Brown will read short erotic works, and local semi-celebrities will race for the title of "Best Mustache." The Little Theatre, 610 19th Ave, 675-2055; movie at 5:45, reading at 7:30, mustache race at 8, movie again at 9:15, $7.

*COLIN THUBRON

Thubron waxes poetical, historical, and philosophical in not at all an opaque way in his newest "travelogue," Siberia, taking on the supposed wasteland rich with metaphor, making the marginal the centerpiece, and all of that. Siberia, for Thubron, turns out to be full of people -- fascinating people who have been closed off from the outside world until now. Thubron brings them alive for the rest of us. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

CARLOS MARTINEZ, MICHAEL MAGEE, J. GLENN EVANS,

NANCY DAHLBERG

If you're gonna pay attention to the language of love any time of the year, this would be it. So put away the poetry phobia and come up to the top of Capitol Hill to hear four poets speak of that which places us most close to the gods. P.A.G.E.S. Books & News, 432 15th Ave E, 7:45 pm, free.

A. L. KENNEDY

A. L. Kennedy's novel So I Am Glad is a weird (by which, I mean to connote ghostly) monologue about a young woman who is as separated from her emotions as lost baggage is separated from the urgent traveler, and who finds herself in an unlikely relationship with a man who claims to be Cyrano de Bergerac. Kennedy's debut novel, Original Bliss, won some critical praise, which makes her reading here worth a heads-up. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

MICHAEL MONTOURE

Montoure auscultates the heart of the holiday in a reading themed "Broken Hearts: Frightening Valentine's Day Fiction." Aurafice Internet and Coffee Bar, 616 E Pine St, 860-9977, 8 pm, free.

FALASAYO DELE-OGUNRINDE

Poet and playwright Dele-Ogunrinde visits from the Eastside with a collection of poetry and art photography: Conversations with the Soul at 3 a.m. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

ANI PACHEN & ADELAIDE DONNELLY

Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun is a true story, and an unusual one at that. Pachen, the daughter of an East Tibetan chieftain, vividly depicts how the Chinese army tore through their country, and her own personal experience of Chinese prisons. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

NATALIA ILYIN

In Blonde Like Me, cultural theorist Ilyin goes on a blonde-o-rama, dissecting the blondes on hair-dye boxes, in movies, and even those who were ancient goddesses. All of society's blonde wannabe-ness, it seems, really has to do with immortality, with the desire to be remembered. Who would have guessed? Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

ROBERT WRIGHT

A professorial (well, by the kind of professor who wanted good evaluations, anyway) spin on soft science, Wright's Non-Zero and the Logic of Human Destiny explores the push toward complexity that has characterized the human race, and proposes that a continuation can lead to spiritual and political reform. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

WILLIAM DIETRICH

Yay, William Dietrich retired from The Seattle Times to start a life of adventurous writing! He follows hard on the heels of last year's thriller Ice Reich with a work of speculative fiction called Getting Back, set in a wasteland of collapsed civilization. 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, with featured readers adding to the equation. 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.

RED SKY POETRY THEATER

Seattle's longest-running reading series livens up the tiny Globe Cafe. This week features an open mic themed "Who Do You Love." Globe Cafe, 1531 14th & Pine, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, free (donation).

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, this week featuring Andrea Thompson, National Poetry Slam competitor from Vancouver, B.C. Dutch Ned's, 206 First Ave S, 340-8859, www.seattlepoetryslam.org, 9 pm, $3.