ANNA BALINT
Dancer, dramatist, activist, poet, and award-winning fictionalist Balint unveils The Lady Who Wore Trousers, with the company of poets Michelle Mukai and Sara Ramos. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.
JANA HARRIS, NANCY QUENSE, JOHN WEEKS, BARBARA PALECEK
Channeling the voices of women in Idaho and Wyoming during the last year of the 1880s (how's that for specific?), Harris signs We Never Speak of It, her latest collection of poetry. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
A tedious wait in an airport turns an uncomfortable chair into an interplanar portal for Le Guin's latest protagonist--whose dimensional travels compose her latest collection, Changing Planes. University of Washington, Kane Hall, room 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, free. Also, Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, Fri July 18 at 5 pm, free.
DAVID WAGONER
Nationally celebrated poet and University of Washington professor Wagoner (Walt Whitman Bathing) binds 100 poems--with a topical range spanning Thoreau, occupations, and the obligatory Northwestern specter of Native American culture--in his latest, House of Song. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.
FRIDAY 7/18
LINDA BIERDS
The greatest of the simple joys my weekly composition of this calendar affords is no doubt the grand and mysterious vocabulary excised on the poets. Example--Booklist's Donna Seaman describes Bierds' latest collection of period piece poetry, The Seconds, with the following adjectives: "transcendent," "crystalline," and "vascular." I know, right? University of Washington, Suzzallo Library, room 101, 2 pm, free.
KAVITA DASWANI
Former CNN journalist Daswani makes her literary debut in the oxygen-thin For Matrimonial Purposes, the lighthearted tale of a young Indian woman escaping from spinsterhood in her homeland to mediocrity in America. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
R. L. STINE
Fuck all that fancy McSweeney's mess, man--if you're searching for the true voice of our time, look no further than this listing: The great R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) finally shares his unique artistry with people over 12 in a book for grownups entitled The Sitter. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
SATURDAY 7/19
HARLYN AIZLEY
Two dykes and a baby (I know, and I'm sorry): Aizley and her partner look for sperm in all the wrong places, find themselves knocked up in Buying Dad. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* MICHAEL BYERS
"The jacket design is nauseating (a green frog sitting on a rust-colored leaf), but Long for this World, by local short-story writer Michael Byers (The Coast of Good Intentions), is a sharp and wrenching novel that ingeniously places serious subjects (family, medical ethics) in the most unserious climate of all (dot-com Seattle). " (Christopher Frizzelle) Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, 6 pm, free.
VICTORIA LYNN
As a survivor of sexual abuse as a child, nurse Lynn offers others in her unfortunate position insights and direction for coping with the past in Dear Sister, Once Abused. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.
SUNDAY 7/20
* BILL BRENT, DR. CAROL QUEEN
Celebrating the re-release of her pansexual novel The Leather Daddy and the Femme, sexologist Queen signs books along with erotic novelist Bill Brent. Toys in Babeland, 707 E Pike St, 328-2914, 7:30 pm, free.
KATE LAKE
Lake signs her memoir in motor, Zero to Fifty, the story of her lifelong relationship with the automobile--as blurbed by my boss, who doesn't even know how to drive. Ravenna Third Place Books, 525-2347, 7 pm, free.
MONDAY 7/21
TARA BRACH
Mingling the half-sciences with the half-religions, psychologist Brach helps you deal with your consumptive self-hatred by way of Buddhism with Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha. University of Washington, Kane Hall, room 130, 7 pm, free.
RUPERT HOLMES
"Pina Colada Song" author Holmes (who, incidentally, also displays a couple of Tonys, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a couple of Edgar Awards on his mantle) finally dips his toe in the novel game with Where the Truth Lies, a showbiz murder-mystery set in the '70s. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
TUESDAY 7/22
JUDE COLLINS
Irish Times political commentator Collins drops in from his home near Belfast (with a name like Jude, where else would he be from?) to sign The Garden of Eden All Over Again, his new novel about a student of theology at a crossroads. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.
CRAIG JOSEPH DANNER
A physician and fourth-generation bootmaker from Oregon also wrote Himalayan Dhaba, which Neal Stephenson and Pete Fromm liked. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
PATRICK NIELSEN HAYDEN
Editor of the prestigious Starlight science fiction anthologies (and here with the series' third installment), Hayden continues this summer's Clarion West sci-fi/fantasy programming. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room, 7:30 pm, free.
J. A. JANCE
Our local celebrity in the ever-bizarre world of the literary mystery, Jance returns with her latest cash cow, the ominously titled Exit Wounds. Starbucks, 2401 Utah Ave S, 318-7759, noon. Also, Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
See Stranger Suggests. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.
BRAIDEN REX-JOHNSON
Over a decade since its initial release, Rex-Johnson's Pike Place Market Cookbook sees an update in this, its second edition. Rex-Johnson presents a demonstration and signs. M. Coy Books & Espresso, 117 Pine St, 623-5354, 5 pm, free.
NOAH LEVINE
Punk finds religion, sells out to spirituality: Son of author Stephen Levine (A Year to Live) tells the time-honored tale of troubled youth and redemption, filling in the blanks with "Punk Rock" and "Buddhism," in Dharma Punx. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY 7/23
DREW HANSEN
A perfect Frankensteining of the Good Book, political fervor, and prophetic poetry, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is the focus of Hansen's latest, The Dream, which aims to shed light on the history, composition, and impact of that brief sermon. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
BHARTI KIRCHNER
Darjeeling author Kirchner returns with a novel, set in Seattle, whose title is a little easier on the tongue: Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries. Barnes & Noble, 2700 NE University Village, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
HOMELAND--Words. So many words. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Caffe Vita, 1005 E Pike St, 709-4440, free.
POETWEST--Featuring Thomas Hubbard, Susan Harmon, Sheri Harper. Sunday at 7 pm. Penny Cafe, 1707 NW Market St, 682-1268, 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. Bad Juju Lounge, 1518 11th Ave, 709-9951, $4.
STAGEFRIGHT--All-ages (literary) action. Wed July 23 at 7 pm. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, free.
THROUGH TRAFFIC, MOLLY!--Featuring Ronnie Porter and Vanessa Sooy. Mon July 21 at 7 pm. Richard Hugo House, 322-7030, free.
WOMEN'S POETRY NIGHT--Spoken word from the fairer sex. Thursdays at 8 pm. The Bar, 1525 E Olive Way, 322-1788, free.
