THURSDAY 10/16
HEIDI JON SCHMIDT
The New York Times calls Heidi Jon Schmidt’s The Bride of Catastrophe, her dark and comic debut novel, “smart and artful.” Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
* DENNIS HENSLEY
See Stranger Suggests. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.
DAVID BIESPIEL
The poet reads from his new collection, Wild Civility. Open Books, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.
* EMILY WHITE
White–journalist, author, and former editor of this paper–reads from her new fiction. She has “come down from the hills, like Moses, with the tablets,” says Charles Mudede. White is the author of Fast Girls: Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut; her new novel is called John West. Trisha Ready reads from new work as well. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.
MARC SPITZ
See review, pg. 31. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
PETE DEXTER
The National Book Award-winning author, who the New York Times has praised for his “exquisite understanding of the finely meshed engines of greed, appetite, and interest,” reads from his new noir novel, Train. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free with ticket.
FRIDAY 10/17
KHASSAN BAIEV
The exiled Chechnyan physician reads from and discusses his book The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
KAGE BAKER & L. E. MODESITT JR.
The fantasy writers read from The Anvil of the World and Darknesses: Corean Chronicles, Bk. II, respectively. University of Washington, Kane Hall 110, 634-3400, 7 pm, free with ticket.
PETER LEVITT
The poet talks about his new book on teaching creative writing, Fingerpainting on the Moon: Writing and Creativity as a Path to Freedom. Richard Hugo House, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, $5/$3 Hugo House members.
CHRISTIAN PARENTI
The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America is about paranoia. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
SATURDAY 10/18
* NORTHWEST BOOKFEST
Today’s highlights: A panel called “Time, Tide, Aging, and Dying: Or, How Much Older Can the Rolling Stones Get?” with Charlie Cross and Richard Meltzer (11:45 am on the Mary McCarthy Stage); Jonathan Raban, the author of the beautiful, sharp, prelapsarian novel Waxwings, in conversation with David Shields (1:30 pm on the Richard Hugo Stage); and Book-It’s staging of a short story from Rebecca Brown’s The End of Youth (at 2:15 pm on the Mary McCarthy Stage). Sand Point Magnuson Park, Hangar 27, 378-1883, www.nwbookfest.org for full schedule, Sat-Sun Oct 18-19, 10 am-6 pm, $10.
MARK LEHNER
The noted Egyptologist gives a lecture entitled “Discovering the Lost City of the Pyramids: The End of an Archaeological Marathon.” University of Washington, Kane Hall 220, 634-3400, 2 pm, $10.
* TYPING EXPLOSION
A reception with (and featuring a live performance by) the sly, super-smart, typewriter-laden literary trio. This reception immediately follows the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival screening of the documentary about them, Signed, Stamped, Dated, which plays at the Cinerama at 2:30 pm. Top Pot Doughnuts, 2124 Fifth Ave, 728-1966, 4:30-5:30 pm, free.
AYELET WALDMAN
Waldman’s Daughter’s Keeper is a novel that “combines sophisticated psychology with savvy courtroom drama,” says Heidi Julavits. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SUNDAY 10/19
* NORTHWEST BOOKFEST
See Stranger Suggests.
MONDAY 10/20
‘SPREAD APART’
A movie about Spread magazine, the local magazine of poetry and literary ephemera edited by Chris Dusterhoff. On the House, 1205 E Pike St, 324-3974, 7 pm, free.
SPIDER ROBINSON
Callahan’s Con is a fantasy novel. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
MIGAEL SCHERER
Back Under Sail: Recovering the Spirit of Adventure, written three years after Scherer was raped at knifepoint, is “a story of hope and survival” (Publisher’s Weekly). Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
NOAH ADAMS
The All Things Considered host talks about The Flyers: In Search of Wilbur & Orville Wright. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7:30 pm, free.
TUESDAY 10/21
SARA PARETSKY
Blacklist is a mystery. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
DAVID HORSEY
The Pulitzer Prize-winning P-I cartoonist talks about and scrawls his autograph on From Hanging Chad to Baghdad, his most recent collection. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
DIANA GABALDON
Lord John and the Private Matter is a novel about murder, betrayal, and treachery. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
JESSICA HAGEDORN
Dream Jungle is about a lost tribe, a young girl, and a wealthy conquistador. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SKYE KATHLEEN MOODY, CURT CULBERT
The two writers (Moody is the author of the mystery K Falls) read from new work. Richard Hugo House, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, free.
* MOLLY IVINS
“‘Political humor’ has become a bit of an oxymoron lately, particularly for the left. Being shrill and defensive is more the fashion, especially in humorless ‘Impeach George Bush’ Seattle. Thank God for Molly Ivins, the Texas-based columnist (author of such fun, fluffy essay collections as ‘You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You,’ about the Clinton years) whose warm, folksy humor is always peppered with a liberal dose of nasty, acerbic wit.” (Erica C. Barnett) Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free with ticket.
WEDNESDAY 10/22
* ‘SEX TOYS 101’
Claire Cavanah and Rachel Venning, Toys in Babeland cofounders and the authors of Sex Toys 101: A Playfully Uninhibited Guide, “know more about sex than any two people have a right to” (says Dan Savage). Come to this publication party and learn something new about your hole. Bailey/Coy Books, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.
DAVID BLATNER
The Flying Book is about how airplanes work. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
ALAN BRENNERT
Moloka’i is a novel about Hawaii and leprosy in the 1890s. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm free.
* DIANE MIDDLEBROOK
See Stranger Suggests. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.
EDWARD P. JONES
Jones was a National Book Award finalist in 1992 for his book of stories Lost in the City. His new novel is The Known World, which Jeffrey Lent calls “a modern masterpiece.” Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
HOMELAND–Oct 14: Nicole Sarroco. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Caffe Vita, 1005 E Pike St, 709-4440, free.
IT’S ABOUT TIME READING SERIES–Featured readers and an open mic at 7:30 pm. Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, free.
MONKEYBICYCLE READING SERIES–Featured readers and an open mic. Tues Oct 21, 8 pm: Greg Hischak, Ryan Boudinot, Matthew Simmons, Jason Jenson. Lux Coffee Shop, 2226 First Ave, 269-6699.
POETSWEST–Featuring Murray Gordon, Chris Jarmick, Priscilla Long. Sunday Oct 19 at 7 pm. Penny Cafe, 1707 NW Market St, 682-1268, 7 pm, free.
SCRATCHING POST–Poetry open mic, all ages. Thursdays at 8 pm, signup at 7:30 pm. Mr. Spot’s Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424, free.
SEATTLE POETRY SLAM–Open mic and slam with Karen Finneyfrock. Wednesdays at 8 pm. Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave, 528-0728, $5, 21 and up.
WOMEN’S POETRY NIGHT–Spoken word from the fairer sex. Thursdays at 8 pm. Bar, 1525 E Olive Way, 322-1788, free.
