Thursday 11/16

DAVID KELLY
The comic artist gives a multimedia performance based on his new book Boy Trouble. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842. Free. 7 pm.

KEITH KNIGHT
The African American artist, raised on hiphop, gives a presentation called "Fear of a Black Marker: Underground Cartooning and Activism." Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030. $7. 7 pm.

MIRIELLE GIULIANO
The author of Why French Women Don't Get Fat reads from French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

SOLVEIG TORVIK, KIRBY OLSON
Torvik's debut novel Nikolai's Fortune is about three generations of Finnish women who survive some harsh stuff. Olson's Temping is "a laugh-out-loud madcap take on the serious life with a happy ending." Finnish Lutheran Church, 8504 13th Ave NW. Free. 7 pm.

CLAIRE MESSUD
Messud reads from her new novel The Emperor's Children, a "subtly nuanced, vividly imagined...multilayered work of satiric comedy. Set predominantly in Manhattan in the months leading up to, and following, September 11, The Emperor's Children is Messud's first American-set novel, as it is her first work of fiction to rapidly shift perspective...leaping about with authorial freedom, among a number of interlocked characters... Even as she unmasks them, Messud can't resist evoking sympathy for her mostly foolish, self-deluded characters... [This] is a mirror of our foundering times," wrote Joyce Carol Oates in The New York Review of Books. (See also Stranger Suggests.) Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

'SEATTLE FOLLIES'
Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark hosts the post-election edition of Seattle Follies. Joining her are horsesass.com's David Goldstein, radio personality and author John Moe (Conservatize Me), councilmember Richard Conlin, and "the great Irish musicians Dale Russ and Finn MacGinty, with Rob Jones tickling the ivories throughout the evening." Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 1 800 838 3006. $15/13 at the door. 7:30 pm.

THE EVANGELICAL PHENOMENON
A forum about the resurgence of Christian fundamentalism in the United States, featuring "spiritual non-theist" Valerie Tarico, Rev. Rich Lang of Trinity United Methodist, author David Domke (God Willing), and Rabbi Daniel Weiner. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. $5. 8 pm.

Friday 11/17

DALE CHIHULY
The famous glass artists talks about his recent misguided lawsuits. No, just kidding. He talks about his book Fire. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 6 pm.

JILL SMOLOWE
She is a contributor to A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

ROBERT SCHENKKAN
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (The Kentucky Cycle) gives Suzzallo Library's inaugural Maxine Cushing Gray Visiting Writers Fellowship Lecture. Visit www.lib.washington.edu for more information. Suzzallo Library, Rm 101, UW Campus, 616-8397. Free. 7 pm.

TAKE A POEM FROM YOUR HEART
A reading featuring Jack McCarthy, RD Shadowbird, and Brenda Givens. Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave, 722-6633. Free. 7 pm.

'PONTOON NINE'
Annette Spaulding-Convy, Susan Landgraf, Katharine Whitcomb, Johnny Horton, and Erin Malone read their contributions to Pontoon Nine. Ravenna Third Place, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347. Free. 7:30 pm.

SARAH KATHERINE LEWIS
Indecent: How I Make It and Fake It as a Girl for Hire is "a book free of sexphobic hysteria or sex-positive posturing. Clear-eyed, often funny, occasionally sobering, and always unapologetic, Indecent explains what it's like to make sex your job," says author Daphne Gottlieb. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Saturday 11/18

ANN RULE, DONNA ANDERS
Rule signs No Regrets: Case Files vol. 11. Anders signs Death Waits for You, about a writer who comes across family secrets. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737. Free. Noon.

JAVIER AMAYA
El fusil para que (A Machine Gun What For) is a novel written in Spanish about young Latin-American revolutionaries. Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 386-4636. Free. 2 pm.

'VETERANS OF WAR, VETERANS OF PEACE'
Maxine Hong Kingston and many others read their contributions to this book about war and peace. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 2 pm.

MADELINE DEFREES & FRIENDS
Today is the poet's 87th birthday, and she reads along with Thomas Aslin and Gary Thompson. DeFrees's most recent book is Spectral Waves: New & Uncollected Poems. Seattle Public Library, Microsoft Auditorium, 1000 4th Ave, 386-4101 for info. Free. 3 pm.

JANET ORE
She gives an "illustrated talk" about her new book The Seattle Bungalow: People and Houses, 1900-1940. She will give the talk again on Monday at Third Place Books. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 5 pm.

MARK A MICHAELS, PATRICIA JOHNSON
Essence of Tantric Sexuality is about, you know, getting it on. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 6:30 pm.

CAROLINE BURAU
Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat is a memoir about being an emergency dispatch operator. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Sunday 11/19

WILLA SCHNEBERG, ANITA FENG
Schneberg reads from Storytelling in Cambodia, a book of poems. Feng ("also a noted maker of artisan ocharinas") reads from her recent poetry books Sadie & Mendel and Internal Strategies. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 2 pm.

Monday 11/20

HOLLY MORRIS
She talks about Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for Women Who Are Changing the World. Carnegie's, 2026 NW Market Street, 789-6643. Free. 7 pm.

JANET ORE
The Seattle Bungalow: People and Houses, 1900-1940 is about Seattle's early 20th-century domestic architecture. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

CLAUDIA RODEN
In this Nextbook event, Roden talks about Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon with chef and food writer Emily Moore. "Claudia Roden is no more a simple cookbook writer than Marcel Proust was a biscuit maker," says Simon Schama. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 215-4747. $8 general admission. 7:30 pm.

JOHN MAEDA
The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life is "a book about simplicity that is not too academic to read...At the book's heart is the Shinto belief in animism, the spirit in all objects. Nicholas Negroponte, one of Maeda's mentors, once told him to become a lightbulb, not a laser beam. This he has done; all this and more," says the Los Angeles Times. No idea what any of that means. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Tuesday 11/21

DAVID SUZUKI
The Vancouver, B.C. host of the PBS show The Nature of Things talks about his autobiography, David Suzuki. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

GREGORY BLACKSTOCK
Blackstock's Collections: The Drawings of an Artistic Savant is a book of Blackstock's work. According to press information, "In Blackstock's Collections, you'll find lovingly rendered pages filled with, say, hats or noisemakers. Each page is captioned with the facts Blackstock has found in his research. It's a look into a single mind's attempts to make sense of the world through art." University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

BARBARA SJOHOLM
She reads from Incognito Street: How Travel Made Me a Writer. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

FRANK MCCOURT
The author of, most famously, Angela's Ashes, talks about his career as a teacher before he had a bestselling book. His latest is a memoir called Teacher Man. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 215-4747. $25/20. 7:30 pm.

Open Mic

MELLOW MONDAYS Poetry, a little music, and happy hour prices for poets and their friends at Bai Pai Thai, 2316 NE 65th St Ste 101, 527-4800. Free. 8 pm.

POETSWEST Featured readers and an open mic at Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 682-1268 for info. Free. 4 pm.

SCRATCHING POST Poetry open mic, all ages; signup at 7:30 pm at Mr. Spots Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424. Free. Thurs, 8 pm.

SEATTLE POETRY SLAM Every Tuesday at ToST, 513 N 36th St., 547-0240. $5. Tues, 8 pm.

TAKE A POEM INTO YOUR HEART Featured readers. Third Friday of every month; signup at 6:45 pm at Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave, 722-6633. Free. Third Fri, 7 pm.