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Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food.
Quan Barry
Nov 5
Poet, novelist, and playwright Quan Barry’s 2019 novel We Ride Upon Sticks—which revolves around a girls’ high-school field-hockey team in Massachusetts in 1989, and their foray into witchcraft—is one of the most original, charming, weird, nostalgic, and witty books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. So naturally, I have high hopes for her newest release, The Unveiling. The literary horror novel follows Striker, a Black film scout who joins a very white luxury Antarctic cruise in order to photograph potential locations for a splashy Ernest Shackleton biopic. After an ill-fated kayaking excursion, Striker finds herself stranded with a select group of survivors. Gradually, everyone’s “secrets, prejudices, and inner demons” emerge among the frozen, desolate landscape, and Striker begins to lose her grip on reality. It sounds like a combination of The Shining and Get Out with eldritch vibes, and what’s not to love about that? (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free, all ages) JULIANNE BELL
Susan Orlean with Claire Dederer
Nov 7
Longtime author and New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean has written non-fiction books about orchid thieves, library fires, famous dogs, and animal-human relationships, but not until her new book, Joyride, has she ever written a book about herself. The memoir details her life as a writer, including managing deadlines and overcoming writer’s block (consider my interest piqued!) as well as losing love, finding love, and facing her own mortality. Orlean will sit down with one of my favorite writers, essayist and critic Claire Dederer, to discuss the new book and how she adapted from exploring other people’s lives to tackling her own. (Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN
An Evening with Patti Smith
Nov 9
Punk-rock poet laureate, writer, and just general rock star Patti Smith is coming to Meany Hall (the day before her Paramount Theatre show) to talk about her latest memoir, Bread of Angels. The book dives deeper into Smith’s life, covering the ground her 2010 book Just Kids—about her relationship with lover Robert Mapplethorpe—only hinted at. Bread of Angels touches on Smith’s childhood growing up as the eldest of four kids, her teenage years, her marriage to the late guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, and how she found writing again after experiencing great loss. Bread of Angels publishes on Nov. 4, Mapplethorpe’s birthday and the day Fred “Sonic” Smith passed. Tickets include a copy of Bread of Angels from Elliott Bay Book Company. (Meany Hall, 7:30 pm) NATHALIE GRAHAM
Oyinkan Braithwaite
Nov 12
Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite’s morbidly hilarious debut novel My Sister, the Serial Killer, a dark comedic thriller about a long-suffering nurse’s toxic relationship with her beautiful sociopathic sister, was a breakout hit that climbed the bestsellers lists and cemented her status as an author to watch. Now she’s back with her latest novel, Cursed Daughters, which explores similar themes of family, death, and love in a much different way. Eniiyi’s family believes her to be the reincarnation of her mother Ebun’s cousin, Monife, since she was born on the day of Monife’s funeral and bears an eerie resemblance to her. They believe this means that she, too, will be doomed to a tragic premature death. To make matters worse, the family also suffers from another curse: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace.” When Eniiyi saves a man from drowning and inconveniently falls for him, she must fight to prove that she is not destined to the same fate as her foremothers. (Seattle Central Public Library, 7 pm, free, all ages) JULIANNE BELL
Jazmina Barrera and Megan McDowell: ‘The Queen of Swords’ and ‘The Week of Colors’ by Elena Garro
Nov 20
We are living in a golden era of translated literature, and, as a devourer of previously underrated authors like Clarice Lispector, Tove Jansson, and Tarijei Vesaas, I am loving every moment of it. The late Mexican author Elena Garro is the latest translated 20th-century author on my radar, as she is known as a trailblazer of magical realism, feminist horror, and anticolonial speculative fiction, who wrote with palpable rage and a vivid imagination. This talk between biographer Jazmina Barrera and translator Megan McDowell will celebrate the two book releases: Barrera’s exploration of Garro’s life, The Queen of Swords, and McDowell’s translation of Garro’s short story collection, The Week of Colors. Both books document Garro’s legacy as a forward-thinking writer, mystic, socialite, and activist. (Third Place Books Ravenna, 7 pm, free) AUDREY VANN
More
Li-Young Lee Nov 3, Rainier Arts Center, 7:30 pm
Becky Spratford Nov 6, Central Library, 8:30 pm, free
Maya Jewell Zeller ‘The Wonder of Mushrooms: The Mysterious World of Fungi’ Nov 11, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free
Nicholas Boggs ‘Baldwin: A Love Story’ Nov 11, Hugo House, 6 pm
Miranda July Nov 13, Moore Theatre, 8 pm (see pg. 40 for preview)
David Sedaris Nov 16, Benaroya Hall, 7 pm
Cameron Crowe: The Uncool Book Tour Nov 17, Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, all ages
Malala Yousafzai: Finding My Way Book Tour Nov 17, Moore Theatre, 8 pm, all ages
Tuck Woodstock with Serena Hommes ‘Sex Change and the City’ Nov 17, Elliott Bay, 7 pm
A Conversation with Padma Lakshmi Nov 18, Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm
Early Warnings
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Jan 27, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm
‘We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth’ A Community Reading Jan 29, Third Place Books Seward Park, 7 pm
Aja Monet Feb 5, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm
George Saunders: ‘Vigil: A Novel’ Apr 7, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm