Thursday 9/27


* BRIAN GOEDDE

See Stranger Suggests. Goedde reads from The World Is Yours: The Geography of Hiphop, published by the exciting and new 10th Avenue East Publishers. Music will be provided by Kado, and photographs of breakdancing by Reema Abu-Gheida. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, $3 suggested donation.


GARRISON KEILLOR

The closest living thing to Mark Twain, NPR's Keillor reads from his newest book, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, which is about a fictional Minnesota hamlet. Town Hall (Eighth and Seneca), 7:30 pm, $5; tickets available at Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600.


SABRINA WARD HARRISON

Canadian-turned-New Yorker Harrison wrote a second book, Brave on the Rocks, which is comprised of collage, various typesets, and zine flair in general. It's about her experiences in the land of Italy. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.


KELLY JAMES

Kelly James was a "world-traveling private investigator," and she's now the author of Dancing with the Witchdoctor: One Woman's Stories of Mystery and Adventure in Africa, in which she confronts the dangers of political factions, poachers, harsh climates, and brutal landscapes. I once danced with a witchdoctor in a posh Harare nightclub. She was not the best dancer in town (her "oak tree" was terrible), but she could cure impotency with termite eggs, and knew all the words to George Michael's song "Father Figure." University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free. (Also at Elliott Bay Book Company on Fri Sept 28 at 7:30 pm.)


* KATHLEEN FRASER

Poet, scholar, essayist, and editor, Fraser is the author of 14 collections of poetry including Il Cuore: The Heart, Selected Poems 1970-1975. Her book of essays, Translating the Unspeakable: Poetry and the Innovative Necessity was published last year. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 2414 N 45th, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.


Saturday 9/29


* SAMRAT UPADHYAY

Believed to be the first Nepali writer to have an English book published in the U.S., Upadhyay presents his debut storybook, Arresting God in Kathmandu. Yes, God needs to be arrested for the shit He pulls. Anyway, Upadhyay teaches at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, and his works have been included in The Best American Short Stories collection. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.


Sunday 9/30


ALISON CLEMENT

Born in the sleepy South, raised in the muddled Midwest, and now residing in open Oregon, Clement reads from her freshly published book, Pretty Is As Pretty Does, the story of an old woman in an insular and bigoted little town. But is there anything like an enlightened little town? No. All little towns are bigoted and boring. Elliott Bay Book Company, 3 pm, free.


* TITLEWAVE READING SERIES

See Stranger Suggests. Hosted by a wine merchant, this month's presentation features Riz Rollins, along with Seattle Magazine's Carolyn Wennblom and poet Jay Passer; Kane Mathis will provide music. Titlewave Books, 7 Mercer St, 282-7687, 7:30 pm, free.


CHRISTOPHER J. JARMICK

Local author Jarmick will discuss his approach to co-writing and publishing the suspense thriller The Glass Cocoon with Serena Holder, whom I understand Jarmick has never met. Take Another Look Books, 5023 Rainier Ave S, 721-1022, 2 pm, free.


Monday 10/1


* MONA SIMPSON

A casual conversation with award-winning novelist Simpson, who wrote Anywhere But Here. Her latest work, Off Keck Road is, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a "rich, Chekovian world of longing and loneliness, of missed opportunities and small-town dramas." University Bookstore, noon, free.


ERICA HELM MEADE

If you are a storyteller, then you must be a poet and therapist. Erica Helm Meade is living proof of this formula. Tonight, she reads from her new book, The Moon in the Well: Wisdom Tales to Transform Your Life, Family, and Community, which is a conglomeration of stories from Ireland, Greece, Persia, Siberia, Chile, and North America. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.


Tuesday 10/2


ART WOLFE

Prolific wildlife photographer Wolfe has not one, but three new books, and he presents the grandest of them, High Himalaya, which contains text by Norbu Tenzing Norgay, along with striking shots of the mountain range and its rugged mountain people. Tickets available through Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600. Town Hall, 7:30 pm, $5.


DAN KINDLON

Co-author of the best-selling Raising Cain, Kindlon presents Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age, in which he examines the ways yuppie parents deprive their kids of invaluable opportunities to learn from pain and strife. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.


Wednesday 10/3


* STEPHEN JAY GOULD

Paleontologist, Professor of Zoology and Geology at Harvard, and the nation's best-known natural science writer, Gould continues to amaze readers with statements like "I would give almost anything for 60 seconds inside a turkey vulture's head." Presented by Seattle Art & Lectures. Benaroya Hall, S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, 200 University St, 621-2230, 7:30 pm, call for tickets.


* SUBTEXT READING SERIES

October's performers of this excellent series are Gillian Conoley and Tyler Carter. Conoley is the author of five volumes of poetry, most recently Lovers in a Used World. She teaches at Sonoma State University and is the editor of Volt magazine. Carter is a native Wisconsinite who studied sociology at Cornell, and then dropped out. Richard Hugo House, 7:30 pm, $5 donation.


KIM HEACOX

"Conversation-journalist" Heacox will read from his first novel, Caribou Crossing, an "environmental thriller" set in "Alaska." There will be a slide show to enhance the wilderness. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.


BRIAN HERBERT & KEVIN J. ANDERSON

Working from Frank Herbert's extensive notes, two dweebs carry on Herbert's legacy with the third in their trilogy of Dune prequels, Dune: House Corrino. This one introduces a rivalry between the Harkonnen and the Atreides! Here's a sentence from the book that recalls recent news events: "Behind barricaded doors, the Beakkali leader and his council of misters met to discuss the problem." Kane Hall (University of Washington campus), Room 210, 7 pm, free.


Poetry/Open Mics

* EAST INDIA TRADING CO.--Mon at 7:30 pm; sign-up at 7 pm. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 208-1188, free.

POETRY ANDANTE--Thurs at 7:30 pm. Cafe Allegro, 4002 University Way NE, 634-2310, free.

SEATTLE SPIT--Queer open mic with featured readers Tara Hardy and Stacy Barnes; Thurs at 7:30 pm. Wildrose, 1021 East Pike Street, 271-5437, free.

RE-BIRTH--Thurs at 7:30 pm. Zodiac Cafe, 605 E Broadway, 720-4502, free.

RED SKY POETRY THEATER--The grandmaw of poetry open mics. Featured unfeatured reader is Peter Ludwin; Sun at 7 pm. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 324-8815, free.

SEATTLE POETRY SLAM--Open mic and open slam with a $25 cash-money prize and a freestyle jazz/spoken-word forum after the show; 21+, Wed at 9 pm. Sit & Spin, 2219 4th Ave, 441-9484, $4.

STAGEFRIGHT--Open mic for and by youth between ages 14-24. As one venerable rasta man said, "Treat dem youth right or ya messin' wit dynomite." Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.