The Seattle Public Library - Programs & Events

NPR's Brooke Gladstone guides nearly one million weekly listeners through the distortions and complexities of the modern media. Now, in a new work of graphic nonfiction, Gladstone bursts onto the page as an illustrated character in vivid comics drawn by acclaimed artist Josh Neufeld. The cartoon of Gladstone conducts the reader through two millennia of media history, from the newspapers in Caesar's Rome to the penny press of the American Revolution and the manipulations of contemporary journalism.

Teresa Gowan presents an illustrated talk about her five years of field work with homeless men in the most liberal city in America. She vividly depicts the lives of homeless men in San Francisco in her book "Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders," where she analyzes the influence of the homelessness industry on the streets, in the shelters, and on public policy.

Erik Larson discusses "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin." Set on the cusp of World War II, "In the Garden of Beasts" follows American ambassador William E. Dodd and his family to Nazi Germany as they settle in the heart of Hitler's Berlin in a grand old house on the city's central park, the Tiergarten -- in literal translation, the Garden of Beasts. Larson is the author of the three New York Times bestsellers "The Devil in the White City," "Thunderstruck," and "Isaac's Storm."

Book-It Repertory Theatre presents staged readings from Chris Cleave's "Little Bee," adapted and directed by Annie Lareau. Cleave will join the adapter/director and cast for a discussion with the audience.

Meet Chris Cleave and listen to a discussion between readers and writer at the Beacon Hill Branch.

Mary Doria Russell, author of "Dreamers of the Day" and "A Thread of Grace," will read from her new historical novel, "Doc." Her latest novel, "Doc," is a character study about the famous Old West icon, Doc Holliday, set among his rowdy friends and enemies in 1878 Dodge City. In her reading, the author will give Seattle readers a peek into another time and place while interpreting the character of a conflicted man. A book signing will follow.

Love a good story? Sit back, relax and escape from the everyday as we bring you gripping short stories expertly read, and well-calculated to keep you in suspense. This podcast, enjoy "John Charrington's Wedding" by E. Nesbit: He always vowed he'd be married, dead or alive.

Join us for the main event of Seattle Reads "Little Bee": An Evening with Chris Cleave. Two narrators tell a story, both heartbreaking and heartwarming, about how their lives are forever changed and linked when they meet one fateful day on a beach in Nigeria: Little Bee, a young Nigerian refugee in the UK, and Sarah, posh British magazine editor and mother of four-year-old Charlie, who refuses to take off his Batman costume.

Meg Wolitzer read from her latest novel, "The Uncoupling" on Apr. 11, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ten-Year Nap" comes a provocative and witty new novel about female desire. When the new drama teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Stellar Plains, New Jersey chooses for the school play Lysistrata -- the Aristophanes comedy where women stop having sex with men in order to stop war -- a strange spell seems to be cast over the community.

Marc Freedman discussed "The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Between Midlife and Old Age" on Apr. 27, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. Marc Freedman, social entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, offers tips for how to transform America's coming midlife crisis into an opportunity for individuals and society.

Discover the world of London through the eyes of a Native American who has been taken there as a "curiosity" by new owners. Coll Thrush will talk about his new research on the travels of indigenous Native Americans to London in the 18th century. This event is co-sponsored by the Book Club of Washington.

Nigerian-born authors Uchechi Kalu and E.C. Osondu read from their debut works on Apr. 20, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. Uchechi Kalu read from "Flowers Blooming Against a Bruised Gray Sky," a debut collection of poems. E.C. Osondu read from "Voice of America," winner of the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing. This event is part of Seattle Reads "Little Bee," a program of the Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library. Seattle Reads is designed to foster reading and discussion of works by authors of diverse cultures and ethnicities.

Join the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) for a discussion of the experiences of asylum-seekers in our community recorded on Apr. 13, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. Jorge L. Barón, executive director of NWIRP, will lead a discussion on the experiences of asylum-seekers who are held at the Northwest Detention Center, an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, and on the challenges that those who flee persecution in their homelands face when they arrive in this country. This event is part of Seattle Reads "Little Bee," a program of the Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library. Seattle Reads is designed to foster reading and discussion of works by authors of diverse cultures and ethnicities.

Howard Jacobson read from "The Finkler Question," winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize on Apr. 12, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. Childhood friends Julian Treslove, a radio producer, and Samuel Finkler, a Jewish philosopher, enter middle age and reminisce over their struggles with self-identity, anti-Semitism, women, love and the past.

Joan Singler, Maid Adams, Jean Durning and Bettylou Valentine gave first-hand accounts of local civil rights activism from members in the Seattle Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on Apr. 3, 2011 at The Seattle Public Library. In 1960, Seattle was effectively a segregated town with no black bus drivers, sales clerks, or bank tellers. In the new book "Seattle in Black and White: The Congress of Racial Equality and the Fight for Equal Opportunity," the many challenges to this unfair system are documented.