*PAULA COOMER, DOUG NUFER, SHAMINA SENERATNE, & STEVEN SHAVIRO

Northwest Edge: Deviant Fictions (edited by L. N. Pearson and Lidia Yuknavitch) is a collection of outré writings by Northwest-region authors. See Stranger Suggests & Bio Box. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*ANTHONY BOURDAIN

Bourdain, executive chef at Manhattan's Brasserie Les Halles, spills the beans on the lascivious, drug-fueled shenanigans of the restaurant industry. See Stranger Suggests. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

JESSE MINKERT, PAUL DOYLE, CURT COLBERT, & JULIAN MUELLER

Beginning and experienced writers share their work as part of the "It's About Time" reading series. Featured writers will be preceded and followed by a communal open mic for the artistically inclined hoi polloi. Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, 684-4063, 6:30 pm, free.

JUNE COTNER

The author of Get Well Wishes presents a workshop entitled "How to Get Published." (By the way, did you know that many literary agencies are now in the practice of sending manuscripts directly to the big chain stores in order to suss out whether or not a book has best-selling potential? This is not only disgusting and reprehensible, but also pretty much nullifies such well-intended advice as "how to get published.") Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 6 pm, free.

PATTY MURRAY

Ineffectual Senator Murray is co-author (along with the likes of Dianne Feinstein) of Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate, a book that "gives voice to a group of women who serve some of the highest elective positions in the country." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 12:30 pm, free.

SARA DONATI

Donati (a.k.a. Rosina Lippi, author of the PEN/Hemingway Award-winning novel Homestead) has just published Dawn on a Distant Shore, the sequel to Into the Wilderness. Booklist praised Donati's 18th-century roman-fleuve as a "skillfully told and captivating romantic historical saga [that] brings a tumultuous era and dashing characters to life." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

CARLOS REYES (TRANSLATOR OF JOSEFINA DE LA TORRE)

De la Torre was a member of Spain's Generation of '27, a Bloomsbury-like group that included such luminaries as Buñuel, Salinas, and Lorca. Her early poetry (she is now 93 years old) has recently been re-published in Poemas de la Isla, a collection of work that recounts her youth during the height of a literary renaissance. Reyes (author of the Elliston Prize-finalist book of poetry The Shingle Weaver's Journal) will be reading from his translations of de la Torre's work--poems that, according to Selena Millares, "offer us a heart that moves between nostalgia, tenderness, and courage in the face of destiny's pitfalls." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

There is nothing happening today.

LOU MARINOFF, PH.D

In Plato, Not Prozac, Dr. Marinoff outlines a new therapeutic approach for this age of anxiety--"Philosophical Counseling"--which proposes that classic philosophy is a viable alternative to the neural rerouting provided by good old pharmaceuticals. Depressed? Read Schopenhauer! Confused? Dip into Kant! Suicidal? Pick up some Buber! University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

ALLISON GREEN

The debut novel by this Seattle writer and Highline College professor, Half-Moon Scar is about a "thirtysomething lesbian whose life is in transition in various ways"; it has received high praise from both Judith Katz ("powerful, heartbreaking") and Rebecca Brown ("intense, lyrical"). Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

BARBARA QUICK

Lauren Dockett and Kristin Beck had this to say about Quick's new book, Under Her Wing: The Mentors Who Changed Our Lives: "Anyone with a need for--or an appreciation of--wise women to light the way will, as we do, love this book." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

SPIDER ROBINSON

This Vancouver, BC author offers up the latest installment in his Callahan's Bar adventure series, Callahan's Key. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

ADAM CADRE

Ready, Okay! is Cadre's debut novel, a story about the trials and tribulations of American teenagers in the new millennium. Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 7 pm, free.

E. LYNN HARRIS

The author of Invisible Life returns with Not a Day Goes By, the latest installment in his best-selling series. "What's got audiences hooked?" asks Vibe magazine. "Harris' unique spin on the ever-fascinating topics of identity, class, intimacy, sexuality, and friendship." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*BRIAN PERA

Pera reads from and signs his debut novel, Troublemaker. "I come across a book this good only every three or four years," says Matthew Stadler. See Books Feature, page 31. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

EVAN M. DUDIK

In his new book, Strategic Renaissance, Dudik suggests how huge, greedy, soul-sucking companies can create "winning" business strategies by "using insights from history and science." Is this as scary as it sounds? Undoubtedly. Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 7 pm, free.

LAURIE SIMONS, M.A.

Household harmony and discipline through game-playing are the foci of Simons' new book, Taking "No" for an Answer and Other Skills Children Need. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.