This fall, Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) is set to host an exciting lineup of trailblazers and innovative writers from various fields, including Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, poet Danez Smith, and novelist Sandra Cisneros, among others. Authors will engage in discussions regarding their latest works, celebrate their previous ones, and delve into Q&A sessions with special guests.
The SAL Presents series features authors, artists, and prominent thinkers discussing their latest works, as well as other exciting literary surprises. Last year's lineup featured Rick Riordan, Oliver Jeffers, David Brooks, Kristin Hannah, Sohla El-Waylly, and Kathleen Hanna. Other series include the Literary Arts series, Poetry series, and Meet Cute series, among others.
The 2024-25 SAL Presents series
On Sept. 9, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will kick off the 2024-25 SAL Presents speaker series in Benaroya Hall with a discussion of her recent memoir, The Lovely One, which chronicles her life story and path to be-coming a jurist and the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the Supreme Court.
"With this unflinching account, Lovely One: A Memoir invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family's ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America's highest court within the span of one genera-tion," reads the SAL website description.
The second speaker in this year's series is Connie Chung, whose recent work Connie delves into her break-through career as the first Asian woman to succeed in the overwhelmingly white- and male-dominated television news industry. Chung will speak on Sept. 24 at Town Hall Seattle. This event also features a Q&A with Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Lori Matsukawa.
Chung was also the first woman to co-anchor The CBS Evening News, the flagship news broadcast on CBS, and the second woman to anchor any network evening broadcast in television history.
SAL Presents will continue its four-part series on Oct. 20 at Benaroya Hall with "A Conversation with Ta Nehisi-Coates," which will center on his latest collection of essays, The Message. The fourth author-speaker, Merlin Sheldrake, is not set to come to Seattle until May 21, 2025.
Upcoming in the Poetry, Encore, and Meet Cute series
On Sept. 27, SAL's Poetry series will bring Black, Queer, and Poz poet and writer Danez Smith for a lecture about their latest collection, Bluff.
Following a two-year artistic silence after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Bluff is Danez Smith's personal reckoning with their role and responsibility as a poet and with their hometown of the Twin Cities.
"In this soaring collection, Smith turns to honesty, hope, rage, and imagination to envision futures that seem possible," reads the event description.
Then, on Oct. 8, by popular demand, SAL's Encore series will bring back to Town Hall Seattle Queer author Sandra Cisneros, a writer, performer, and artist, whose widely celebrated novel The House on Mango Street recently turned 40. Cisneros's last author talk with SAL was in October of 2003 as the the coming-of-age novel turned 20, and still now, it remains a beloved classic for readers of all ages and walks of life.
Another notable LGBTQ+ author, NYC-based Casey McQuiston, will join SAL as a speaker for the three part romance-and-joy-centered Meet Cute series on Oct. 31 at Rainier Arts Center.
McQuiston is well-known for their bestsellers Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop, and will discuss their compelling new romantic comedy The Pairing, about two Bisexual exes accidentally booking the same European food and wine tour. Oops!
Upcoming events from SAL also include free local readings and performances from the Writers in the Schools and Youth Poetry Fellowship programs, such as the four-part series "Murmurations: Local Voices Taking Flight."
Find Seattle Arts & Lectures full events lineup and buy tickets online at http://www.lectures.org/events Ticket options for all events include a pay what you can scale and subscriptions
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