JOAN SCHENKAR

Reading and signing by the author of Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Dolly Wilde, Oscar's Unusual Niece. Jeannette Winterson calls Schenkar's biography "a labour of love... full of stories of modern Paris, where everyone... in life and in art, was trying to 'make it new.'" Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

TERRY McMILLAN

Publishers Weekly calls A Day Late and a Dollar Short--McMillan's first novel since the appearance five years ago of How Stella Got Her Groove Back--"a moving and true depiction of an American family, driven apart and bound together by the real stuff of life: love, loss, grief, infidelity, addiction, pregnancy, forgiveness, and the IRS." Yep, that just about covers it. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5 (available at Elliott Bay Book Company).

LOIS-ANN YAMANAKA

Reading and signing by the author of Father of the Four Passages, a novel set on the fringes of native Hawaiian society. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

POETSWEST

Big blow-out group poetry reading featuring Nancy Abercrinbie, J. Glenn Evans, Jill Hardin, Thomas Hubbard, Jill McGrath, Glen Miller, Ken Shiovitz, Sarah Singer, Christine Swanberg, Leonard L. Tews, and Pieter Zilinsky. Hosted by Roxanne Hadfield. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, 682-1268, 7 pm, free with admission.

*ROBERT B. REICH

"No longer are companies responsible to employees, the community and the public at large," says our former Secretary of Labor. "They view their sole duty as maximizing the value of their investors' shares." Tonight Reich will expound on these ideas as he talks about his latest book, The Future of Success, a mordant analysis of the social and emotional toll enacted on average people by the so-called New Economy. Kane Hall, 634-3400, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

RIOT MIC

Gay City Health Project's Queercore program hosts an open mic for gay and bi dudes under 30. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 860-6969, 8 pm, free.

RAVEN CHRONICLES

Seattle poet Marion Kimes reads from her latest collection, Namoratung'a, and local free improvisational alto saxophonist Wally Shoup plays new music, accompanied by contrabassist Reuben Radding. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 323-4316, 8 pm, $3-$5 donation.

JOAN SCHENKAR

See Thursday Listing. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

ASPECTS OF TOSCA

Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins discusses Giacomo Puccini's popular opera, which begins a nine-performance run on February 24 at Seattle Opera House. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, $5.

GAO XINGJIAN

See Stranger Suggests. ACT, 700 Union, 621-2230, 7:30 pm, $10 (tickets available by phone or in-person at Elliott Bay Book Company).

MICHAEL D. WOODS

In celebration of African American History Month, Woods presents his research from Afromation: 366 Days of American History, a collection of essays on famous American leaders. Elliott Bay Book Company, 5 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

AFRICAN AMERICAN WRITERS ALLIANCE

Group reading by local writers group as part of African American History Month. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST HISTORY BOOK CLUB

Discussion of Esther Mumford's Seattle's Black Victorians, 1852-1901, a study of early African American settlers in Seattle. Museum of History & Industry, 2700 24th Ave E, 324-1126, 11 am, free with museum admission.

THREE POETS & OPEN MIC

Featuring Nancy Dahlberg, Leonard Tews, and Pieter Zilinsky. Wit's End Bookstore & Tea Shop, 770 N 34th St, 682-1268, 7 pm, free.

RED SKY POETRY THEATRE

Mary Caitlin is this week's featured reader, plus open mic. Sign-up begins at 7 pm. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, free.

TITLEWAVE READING SERIES

Readings by Willie Smith, Roberta Olson, and Mykel Hansen, plus avant-garde banjo (WHOO-HOO!) by Mike Marlin. Hosted by Doug Nufer. Titlewave Books, 7 Mercer St, 324-6379, 7:30 pm, free.

ORISADE I. AWODOLA

Awodola, a Seattle-based writer, presents "Healing Through Genealogy and Creative Writing: Opening Pathways of Consciousness," a root-finding workshop celebrating African American History Month. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

RADICAL WOMEN STUDY GROUP

Weekly discussion of Making More Waves, an anthology of writing by Asian American women. Everyone welcome. School of Social Work, 4101 15th Ave NE, 722-6057, 7 pm, free.

EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY

Poetry, prose and spoken work open mic for all ages, hosted by Ira Parnes. Coffee Messiah, 7 pm, free.

*CAROLE L. GLICKFELD

Glickfeld is an award-winning Seattle writer whose new novel, Swimming Toward the Ocean, was praised by Kirkus Reviews as "luminous with clear-sighted compassion for its imperfect characters, alive to life's bitter disappointments and transcendent possibilities... very exciting fiction indeed." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

VOICES FROM THE HOLOCAUST

Leo Hymas, an American concentration camp liberator, will speak about his experiences as a member of the first platoon to encounter Buchenwald at the end of the war. Seattle Central Community College, Room BE 1110, 1701 Broadway, 11 am, free.

*TRISHA READY

Ready, a Stranger Senior Contributing Writer and Richard Hugo House grant recipient, discusses "Lobotomies and Other Tools of Mental Hygiene." See Stranger Suggests. Richard Hugo House, 7:30 pm, $7.

YAWP! POETRY SERIES

Featured readers at this new feminist/queer/wussy poetry series are Karen Finneyfrock and R. Eirik Ott. The Pearl, 4215 University Way NE, 547-3326, 8 pm, $3.

BRENDA PETERSON

Reading and signing by the author of Build Me An Ark, a naturalist's memoir. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

*ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI

Reading by the internationally-acclaimed poet and author of Tremor, Canvas, and Mysticism for Beginners. Zagajewski, a member of the "angry generation of 1968," was praised by Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz as "living proof that Polish literature is energy incessantly renewed against all possibilities." ACT, 292-7676, 7:30 pm, $14.

STAGGERED THIRDS

Gregory Hischak, Anna Mockler, and Doug Nufer perform pieces they have written and scored for three voices. Little Theater, 608 19th Ave E, 324-6379, 8 pm, $5 suggested donation.

COLUMBIA LIBRARY BOOK GROUP

Readers of gay and lesbian literature discuss Rebecca Brown's The Gifts of the Body. Everyone welcome. Columbia Library, 4721 Rainier Ave S, 386-1908, 7 pm, free.

JON & MICHAEL GALLUCCIO

Reading by the authors of An American Family. "As a parent of three," says Joan M. Garry of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), "I know just how hard gay men and lesbians work to create our families and ensure the safety of well-being of our children. Jon and Michael's story represents so many of us who carefully, thoughtfully and lovingly raise our children." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

LOWEN CLAUSEN

Reading and signing by the author of the debut novel, First Avenue. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.