Seattle Writes offers free writing classes this fall

Strengthen your fiction, improve your nonfiction, experiment with poetry — we have more than 25 free writing classes lined up for writers this fall  through the Seattle Writes series. You’ll also find drop-in writing circles (no pressure! really!), write-ins scheduled during November for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and special presentations on writing and publishing for children and teens. Here’s a taste of what our fall 2018 Seattle Writes faculty is offering:

Anastacia-Reneé on resistance
Laura Da’ on poetry of place
Karen Finneyfrock on emotion in fiction
Reagan Jackson on memoir
Brian McDonald on story structure
Susan Meyers on starting your novel
Peter Mountford on making a scene
Nancy Rawles on writing silence
Beth Slattery on writing for procrastinators
Jolie Stekly on children’s publishing
Anca Szilagyi on contemporary fairy tales
Ann Teplick on teen poetry (for teen writers only)
Kristen Millares Young on better storytelling through research

Interested in writing for children and teens? We’re partnering with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators of Western Washington to bring three programs to writers and illustrators for free.

Check the online 2018 Seattle Writes Fall schedule for complete class descriptions and details. Programs begin September 8!

A few of our faculty for 2018!

Seattle Writes classes are offered free throughout the city thanks to the generous support of The Seattle Public Library Foundation. 

~ posted by Linda J. 

Library Reads for September 2018

New novels from Kate Atkinson and Gary Shteyngart, a new book in the October Daye series by local fantasy author Seanen McGuire, and another installment in a mystery series set in a library (by Jenn McKinlay) — plus six more books librarians across the U.S. are excited to see on the shelves next month.

Announcing Washington State Book Award finalists for 2018!

Congratulations to the finalists in the
2018 Washington State Book Awards

Place a hold on these winning Washington titles here!

Fiction:
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, of Seattle (Flatiron Books)
The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman, of Seattle (Simon & Schuster)
The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper, of Seattle (HarperCollins)
Solar Reboot by Matthew D. Hunt, of Clearview (Matthew D. Hunt)
George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl, of Seattle (Touchstone)
Duplicity by Ingrid Thoft, of Seattle (Putnam)

Nonfiction:
Upstream: Searching for Wild Salmon, from River to Table by Langdon Cook, of Seattle (Ballantine Books)
Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, of Seattle (Little, Brown & Company)
Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil to Life by David R. Montgomery, of Seattle (W.W. Norton)
Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean by Jonathan White, of Orcas Island (Trinity University Press) Waterway: The Story of Seattle’s Locks and Ship Canal by David B. Williams and Jennifer Ott, of Seattle, and the Staff of HistoryLink (HistoryLink and Documentary Media)
Ghosts of Seattle Past, various authors, curated and edited by Jaimee Garbacik, formerly of Seattle (Chin Music Press)

#BookBingoNW2018: About the Environment

One of the many things I appreciate about the Book Bingo categories is that quite a few can be filled by both fiction or nonfiction, leaving the choice up to the reader. Today let’s look at the “About the Environment” category, which at first glance lends itself primarily to nonfiction, and instead see what fiction we could read.

T.C. Boyle has written several novels in which environmental concerns play

That Encouraging Voice in Your Ear

I’m a self help fan who hates reading self help books. When it comes to encouraging words, I want to hear them, preferably while I go about my household chores, tend my garden, or take a walk in the park. These encouraging little talks between me and my iPod are just the thing to add more creation to my recreation, or to revivify a draining commute. Here are a few recent self-help audiobooks written and read by seasoned performers that make for great listens.

Creative Quest, by Questlove.