From Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman to Newbery Award-winning children’s author Kwame Alexander, The Seattle Public Library’s November author events feature writers and thinkers who will light you up with stories, history and food for thought.
All Library events are free and open to everyone. Most events require registration beforehand, which you can find at the link. Questions? Go to www.spl.org/Ask. Find (many!) more events and programs at www.spl.org/Calendar.
Chef Sean Sherman: “The Revolution of Indigenous Foods of North America.” From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 4. Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium) and online. Oglala Lakota Chef Sean Sherman, author of “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen,” will share his journey of discovering, reviving and reimagining Native cuisine. Born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Sherman’s main culinary focus has been on the revitalization and awareness of indigenous foods systems in a modern culinary context, opening The Sioux Chef in 2014. This is the second event in the fall public engagement series guest-curated by Seattle poet Shin Yu Pai.
Kwame Alexander Discusses “The Door of No Return.” From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 4. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th St., Seattle. Join us to celebrate Caldecott and Newbery Award-winning author Kwame Alexander’s (“The Crossover”) powerful new book for youth. “The Door of No Return” is about an 11-year-old in 19th century Ghana named Kofi Offin, who dreams of water and ends up in a fight for his life. Presented with Elliott Bay Book Company and Hugo House.
Jack Straw Writers Showcase. From 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5. Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium). Members of the 2022 Jack Straw Writers program, selected by curator Michael Schmeltzer share their work. Now in its 26th year, the Jack Straw Writers Program has included more than 250 Pacific Northwest writers who represent a diverse range of literary genres.
Career-Spanning Conversation with Cartoonist Megan Kelso. From 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6. Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium) and online. Phyllis Fletcher, a highly decorated editor, mentor and comics fan, interviews local cartoonist Megan Kelso about her new book of graphic short stories, “Who Will Make the Pancakes”?, her public art piece now installed at Climate Pledge Arena, and her early beginnings. This event is in partnership with Short Run Comix & Arts Festival.
Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Ada Ferrer on “Cuba.” From 7 to 8 p.m., Monday, Nov 7. Online. For the Bullitt Lecture in American History, historian Ada Ferrer will discuss her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Cuba: An American History.” Spanning more than five centuries, this book provides us with a front-row seat of the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Born in Cuba and raised in the United States, Ferrer has been conducting research on the island since 1990.
Ladies Musical Club Concert. From noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 9. Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium). After a pandemic hiatus, the Ladies Musical Concerts returns! From October 2022 to May 2023, the Ladies Musical Club offers free classical music concerts on the second Wednesday of the month at noon at the Central Library. Enjoy local musicians performing vocal and instrumental pieces in diverse musical styles and periods. Registration not required.
Jenny Liou And Shin Yu Pai Discuss “Muscle Memory.” From 7 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 7. Central Library (Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium) and online. Join us for a reading and conversation with poet, science writer, and retired professional cage fighter Jenny Liou, the final event in the public engagement series guest-curated by Seattle poet Shin Yu Pai. In “Muscle Memory,” Washington-based poet Liou grapples with violence and identity, beginning with the chain-link enclosure of the prizefighter’s cage and radiating outward into the diasporic sweep of Chinese American history.
Most of these events are supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation.
For many more programs and events, check out The Seattle Public Library’s calendar at www.spl.org/calendar.
And for your guide to unexpected (and unexpectedly useful) things you can do at The Seattle Public Library, go to www.spl.org/50Things.
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