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Seattle Spring Arts Preview 2014: Book Signings and Readings
Play your cards right (get tix early!) and hear ace writers share words of wisdom
By Seattle Mag February 14, 2014
This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
!–paging_filter–pstrongDavid Guterson/strongbr[Fiction] Local writer David Guterson made waves last year when his commencement speech at Roosevelt High School failed to paint a sunny view of the future, and instead suggested our lives pass in a “profoundly confused way…and then they end.” See if he’s still spreading tough love when he reads from new work written on the theme “Family Ties.” 3/14. 7:30 p.m. $15–$25 Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave.; 206.322.7030; a href=”http://www.hugohouse.org” target=”_blank”hugohouse.org/abrbrstrongGeorge Saunders/strongbr[Fiction] Upon the occasion of the book’s release in the first days of January 2013, The New York Times famously declared Tenth of December, the latest collection of short stories by genius writer George Saunders, “the best book you’ll read this year.” Hear him give an original talk for Seattle Arts Lectures. 3/24. 7:30 p.m. Prices vary. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.621.2230; a href=”http://www.lectures.org” target=”_blank”lectures.org /abriframe frameborder=”0″ width=”480″ height=”267″ scrolling=”no” src=”http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2538399966001/?bctid=289…“/iframebrstrongWalter Kirn/strongbr[Nonfiction] Writer Walter Kirn, known best for his books turned movies Thumbsucker and Up in the Air, tells a true story this time—about how he fell hook, line and sinker for famous con artist Clark Rockefeller—in Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery and a Masquerade. 4/8. 7:30 p.m. $5. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.652.4255; a href=”http://www.townhallseattle.org” target=”_blank”townhallseattle.org/abrbrstrongGillian Flynn/strongbr[Fiction] Author Gillian Flynn skyrocketed to fame in 2012 on the tail of her thriller, Gone Girl, about a marriage gone off the rails (the movie version comes out this year). Hear what mysteries she’s planning to reveal next when she talks as part of Seattle Arts Lectures. 4/17. 7:30 p.m. Prices vary. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.621.2230; a href=”http://www.lectures.org” target=”_blank”lectures.org/a brbrstrongKevin Young /strongbr[Poetry] In his new collection, Book of Hours, award-winning poet Kevin Young tackles grief from the perspective of those left behind after a sudden loss—even his dead father’s surviving dogs: “Their grief is colossal / forgetful./ Each day they wake /seeking his voice,/their names.” 4/18. 7:30 p.m. Free. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave.; 206.322.7030; a href=”http://www.hugohouse.org” target=”_blank”hugohouse.org/abrbrstrongAnne Carson/strongbr[Poetry] Anne Carson never met a genre whose boundaries she didn’t blow to smithereens. Case in point: her latest book, Red Doc , a novel/epic poem/Greek myth that shuns punctuation and runs in a skinny column down each page. But as foreign as the format may be, her storytelling is familiar in the way of all great legends. 5/13. 7:30 p.m. Prices vary. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.652.4255; a href=”http://www.townhallseattle.org” target=”_blank”townhallseattle.org/abrbrstrongAntonya Nelson/strongbr[Fiction] Antonya Nelson, who writes beautifully crafted short stories about regular people making terrible decisions, has a much-awaited new collection, Funny Once, out in May. During this appearance, she’ll talk about the use of archetypes in fiction. 5/30. 7 p.m. $8–$10. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave.; 206.322.7030; a href=”http://www.hugohouse.org” target=”_blank”hugohouse.org/a/p
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