WILLIAM DIETRICH

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist reads from and signs his latest novel, Dark Winter, a thriller set in the Antarctic. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

PHILIP K. HOWARD

Reading and signing by the author of The Lost Art of Drawing the Line, a book about the simultaneous loss of accountability and individual freedom in the hellish cesspool of American society. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

*RUSSELL BANKS & MICHAEL ONDAATJE

See Stranger Suggests. Bagley Wright Theatre, Seattle Center, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5 (advance tickets available at Elliott Bay Book Company).

IT'S ABOUT TIME WRITERS READING SERIES

This evening's featured readers are Ken Shiovitz, Bruce Taylor, Kathleen Flenniken, and Arthur Tulee, plus open mic. Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, 684-4063, 6:30 pm, free.

*SYLVIA BROWNRIGG

Brownrigg reads from her latest novel, Pages for You. "This exquisitely written, bittersweet Valentine of a novel is for any reader who has ever been in a romantic relationship and wants to remember and revel in all the foolish things we do for love," says Publishers Weekly. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

DR. DAVID DARLING

Reading and signing by the author of Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology, a book that argues for the inevitability of our finding life on other planets. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

BILL SHERWONIT

Sherwonit is a writer and photographer who lives in Anchorage. His latest book is Denali: A Literary Anthology. Third Place Books, 6:30 pm, free.

KATHLEEN NORRIS

Norris, author of the best-selling books The Cloister Walk and Amazing Grace, reads from her latest work, The Virgin of Bennington, a memoir. "[Norris] is one of history's writing pilgrims," says Robert Coles, "but also a contemporary American one, boldly willing to forsake any number of cultural fads, trends, and preoccupations." I don't know what that means. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

BILL SHERWONIT

See Friday listing. Elliott Bay Book Company, 4:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

*BRUCE WEIGL

Weigl is an award-winning poet whose work speaks of his experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War. His books include Song of Napalm and the memoir The Circle of Hanh. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 3:30 pm, $5.

TERRY PRATCHETT

Reading and signing by the author of Thief of Time. See Bio Box. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available at University Bookstore).

*ARIEL GORE & BEE LAVENDER

Gore is the founding editor of Hip Mama magazine; Lavender is the managing director of HipMama.com. Together they put together the anthology, Breeder: Real Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers. "To understand motherhood," says writer Melissa Ludtke, "scoop up the small moments, pour feelings into this mix, and stir it with a vigorous vocabulary. In Breeder, these ingredients are all there, and the result is a tasty smorgasbord of what women's lives with children are really like." Elliott Bay Book Company, 3 pm, free.

*PAUL THEROUX

Theroux, considered by many to be the finest living travel writer, reads from and signs his latest collection of globe-trotting tales, Hotel Honolulu. "Theroux has established himself in the tradition of Conrad, or perhaps Somerset Maugham," says The New York Times. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

NOAH ADAMS

NPR should be put to death for supporting recent FCC legislation that killed all low-frequency public radio stations. And now you can ask All Things Considered host Adams about NPR's cowardly, monopolistic leanings just after he finishes reading from his latest book, Far Appalachia: Following the New River North. Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 386-4103, 7 pm, fee.

*EDWARD LARSON

Larson--a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of history and law at the University of Georgia--reads from his work of intellectual history, Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galápagos Islands. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

W.D. WETHERELL

Reading by the author of Morning, a novel that Kevin Baker calls "both tantalizing and unsettling." Elliott Bay Book Company, 5:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY

All ages poetry, prose and spoken word open mic. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 208-1188, 7 pm, free.

*CHARLES JOHNSON

Johnson, the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Washington, reads from his new collection of short stories, Soulcatcher and Other Stories. See Stranger Suggests. Seattle Public Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 624-6600, 7 pm, free.

FRED HO

Reading by the editor of Legacy to Liberation: Politics and Culture of Revolutionary Asian Pacific America. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

EDWARD LARSON

See Monday listing. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

YAWP! POETRY READING

"High energy" open mic poetry reading. Pearl Coffeehouse, 4215 University Way NE, 547-3326, 8 pm, $3.

CLARK BLAISE

Reading by the author of Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time. "More than an intelligent and important biography," says Amy Tan, "Time Lord is mind-boggling, endlessly fascinating, and even hilarious in showing us the world not so long ago, when everyone marched to the beat of a different drummer." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

BILL LITTLEFIELD

Littlefield is an NPR commentator with a new novel, Prospect, which pompous conservative asshole and baseball aficionado George Will calls "splendid." Elliott Bay Book Company, 5 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

*DR. JAY XU, DR. JEROME SILBERGELD

Xu is Seattle Art Museum's curator of Chinese art; Silbergeld is a professor of art history at the University of Washington. Tonight they will show slides and discuss their new book, Ancient Sichuan: Treasures from a Lost Civilization, a book that explores the discovery of a Bronze Age civilization in Sichuan Province. Kane Hall, Room 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

CATHARTICISM

Experimental writing open mic reading, everyone welcome. Sign-ups at 8:30 pm. Coffee Messiah, 652-4668, 9 pm, free.