* STEVE EARLE
Folksy songwriter Earle has written a collection of short stories that draws from gritty blue collar America: Doghouse Roses. Like the lyrics of his songs, these stories mine hard livin', cracked relationships, and singular voices. Elliott Bay Books, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free tickets (two per advance request).
FRANCES & GINGER PARK
The Park sisters have co-written an intriguing novel based on their parents' real-life survival of Korea's Japanese occupation, To Swim Across the World. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
JAMES C. CHATTERS
Chatters--the hell-bent-on-it's-a-white-man scientist who first studied the skeleton known as Kennewick Man--reads from his account of the discovery, Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans. Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, free tickets at U Bookstore.
SUE GRAFTON
The popular mystery writer reads from her latest, P is for Peril--and this time Kinsey gets a little sugar. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3333, 7:30 pm, free.
JOSEPH GREEN
Local Floating Bridge Press presents the winner of its 2001 Poetry Chapbook Award, reading with guests. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, 860-0508, 7 pm, free.
* RAVEN CHRONICLES
Contributors to the latest issue of the Seattle-based journal of art and literature read tonight, and they are a talented bunch: Paul Hunter, poet and press-operator; Anna Mockler, short story writer and member of Staggered Thirds; Koon Woon, whose poetry collection The Truth In Rented Rooms was well received last year; Dave Massengill, of the Seattle Weekly literati; Frances McCue, poet and Hugo House director; Mary Travers, journalist and fiction writer... and the list goes on. Sure to be an evening of stars and spilled drinks. Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 323-4316, 7 pm, $4 donation.
LISA MICHAELS
Former Seattleite Lisa Michaels--poet and author previously of the very fine memoir Split: A Counterculture Childhood--returns with a debut novel, Grand Ambition. The story, set in 1928, is of a husband and wife who attempt to raft down the Grand Canyon. The adventure, and the marriage, hit rough water. Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 pm, free tickets.
SHANNON OLSON
Cute, Bridget Jones-style girl humor from Olson's Welcome to My Planet, Where English is Sometimes Spoken, full of casserole and "I can't keep a plant alive" jokes. Third Place Books, 6:30 pm, free.
LAWRENCE KRAUSER
Love with a Lemon is McSweeney author Krauser's claim to fame: tonight he squeezes that for all it's worth in a third Seattle reading from his tart-titled novel. An absurd and yet enchanting narrative. Elliott Bay Books, 4:30 pm, free tickets.
ALISTAIR MacLEOD
Canadian brings his world down South, in the form of evocative short stories collected as Island. MacLeod has won critical acclaim for his depiction of the elegant loneliness of Newfoundland and Novia Scotia. Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 pm, free tickets.
FREDERICK D. HUEBNER
Seattle suspense writer reads from his latest legal thriller, Shades of Justice. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, 2 pm, free.
CHRISTOPHER J. JARMICK
Jarmick's The Glass Cocoon was co-authored by a woman he has never met: Serena F. Holder. Exchanging chapters via e-mail, the authors have penned a story described as both a New Age love story and a technological thriller. Elliott Bay Books, 3 pm, free tickets.
JULIA ALVAREZ
Alvarez, author of the highly popular In the Time of Butterflies, reads for the paperback release of her critically-acclaimed novel, In The Name of Salome--the multigenerational story of the lost geography of the Cuban revolution. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.
JOE QUEENAN
Book cover: photo of Queenan in black turtleneck giving the peace sign. Or maybe he's telling you, "Buy two." The book, Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation, is a send-up of the generation that "started out at Woodstock and Monterey, ended up in Crate & Barrel." Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 pm, free tickets.
NEIL GAIMAN
The creator of the fantastic Sandman graphic novels presents his latest foray into literature: American Gods. The storyline is a twisted car crash of myths, pitting the old European gods against the new commerce gods of America. The main character, Shadow Moon, has just been released from prison, and he takes a job as an emissary for one of the old gods. Of course he finds himself in the middle of chaos, at the intersection of mundane and magical. Third Place Books, 4 pm, free; then, Kane Hall, Room 120, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, free tickets at U Bookstore.
* TIINA NUNNALLY
Seattle's prize-winning translator discusses the trials and delights of her years-long translation of the Scandinavian masterwork, Kristin Lavransdatter III. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.
KATHRYN CHRISTMAN, CAROLE GLICKFELD
Two local authors, each recipients of King County Arts Commission grants, read from new work. Christman, whose stories have appeared in Redbook and Cimarron Review, reads from a new collection called The Fifty-Centavo Gringo, with Glickfeld, whose novel Swimming Toward the Ocean was published recently by Knopf to lots of reader adoration. Hugo House, 7:30 pm, free.
BRAD DENTON
Absurdity and the future go hand in hand in Denton's speculative fiction--for example, his recent novella Blood Bunnies features multiple-choice storylines. Presented by Clarion West. Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 pm, free tickets.
* ANDREW SOLOMON
Author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. See Stranger Suggests. Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 pm, free tickets.
RADICAL WOMEN MANIFESTO
Local Red Letter Press presents contributors to its ambitious anthology of socialist-feminist ideas, The Radical Women Manifesto. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.
