(WSB photo: L-R, Katy E. Ellis and Susan Rich)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Like to read? Like to eat pie? There’s one place to be this Wednesday night, when the trio of writers who long produced the WordsWest Literary Series “re-reunite” to celebrate the newest books by two of them.

Katy E. Ellis is launching her first full-length prose-poetry novel “Home Water, Home Land.” Susan Rich recently published “Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems,” her fifth poetry collection. They’ll be joined Wednesday by their longtime WordsWest collaborator Harold Taw, who’s currently co-writing a “steampunk musical.” The event starts at 7 pm Wednesday (September 28th) at WordsWest’s longtime hub for happenings, C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor).

That’s where we sat down with Ellis and Rich recently to talk about their books and the challenges of being a writer at this moment in time:

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Not watching the Seahawks-Broncos game? Here’s an option – award-winning West Seattle authors Lyanda Lynn Haupt (seated) and Donna Sandstrom are reading and signing their books at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) right now, until about 8:30 pm. It’s in celebration of both having been chosen as finalists for this year’s Washington State Book Awards, as noted in the event announcement. This is the first of three author events in West Seattle this week, as previewed here.

You have four chances to celebrate local authors and booksellers in the next six days! In case you haven’t seen these already in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

PAPER BOAT BOOKSELLERS ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND: Tomorrow and Sunday, the independent bookstore at 6040 California SW celebrates three years in business. On Saturday (open 10 am-6 pm), Paper Boat is having a sidewalk sale; on Sunday (open 11 am-5 pm), they’re celebrating with treats and drinks. Both days, you get 10% off your purchase (excluding gift cards and sale items).

BOOK AWARDS FINALISTS @ C & P: As noted here last month, West Seattle authors Lyanda Lynn Haupt and Donna Sandstrom have books on the finalist list for this year’s Washington State Book Awards. Monday (September 12th) they’ll both be at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) to read from their acclaimed books (“Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit” by Haupt and “Orca Rescue! The true story of an orphaned orca named Springer” by Sandstrom), 6-8 pm. They’ll also be signing their books, which you can buy from Paper Boat while at the event.

‘AT HOME ON AN UNRULY PLANET’ AUTHOR @ C & P: The next night – Tuesday (September 13th) – West Seattle journalist and author Madeline Ostrander will be at C & P Coffee for a conversation about her new book “At Home on an Unruly Planet” with KNKX environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp, 5:30-7 pm. (We featured Ostrander and her book in this recent story.)

‘RUN WITH IT’ AUTHOR @ WEST SEATTLE RUNNER: We’ve reported on Joe Drake, a local marathon runner living with Parkinson’s. He’s also now an author, and at 6 pm Thursday (September 15th) he’ll be at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for a reading and signing of his book “Run With It: A True Story of Parkinson’s, Marathons, the Pandemic, and Love.” (He’ll be just back from his Blue Ridge Relay adventure by then.)

This year’s list of finalists for the Washington State Book Awards is out, and we recognize two West Seattle authors on the list. Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a finalist in Creative Nonfiction for “Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit,” which the author described to us last year as “a book about interconnection, healing, and creating a life of reciprocity with all beings.” She is a two-time WSBA winner already. Also making the finalist list, Donna Sandstrom – founder of The Whale Trail – in the Books for Young Readers category, for “Orca Rescue: The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer” (illustrated by Sarah Burwash). See the full list of finalists in all the categories here; winners – one per category – will be announced September 13th.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Madeline Ostrander wants you to know her newly published first book is not a work of “doom.”

If the subject of climate change makes you uncomfortable, that might be an important distinction.

Ostrander, a longtime science journalist, says “At Home on an Unruly Planet” is the result of about a decade of work – particularly the past three years, since she signed a contract for it. Now it’s in bookstores and online (as audio), and she’ll be talking about it at an event downtown tomorrow night (Friday, August 5). More on that later. First, about the book.

The second word in the title, “home,” is key. (Hers is on Pigeon Point, where she sets this scene: “In the distance, the groaning undersong of the highway and the port nearby and its sounds, a train whistle, metal shipping containers cracking loudly against one another in the distance, the moan of a cargo boat, the roar of a jet plane above.”) In her book, Ostrander tells the story of four communities facing change because of the climate crisis – again, not in the “impending doom” sense, but in what they’re doing, how they’re reacting, how they’re talking about it.

One of those communities – Richmond, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area – is seen in the context of conversations about how to evolve from being a community built around an oil refinery. Talking to environmental-justice activists there gave her the idea for the book. The other three communities span the country from Alaska to Florida. The sense of “home” she addresses isn’t simply about geography, but about the way you feel when and where you’re at home. – and the way you feel when things change, things out of your control. It’s addressed in “At Home on an Unruly Planet” as “solastalgia,” which Ostrander observes is evoked by this: “Even if we stay, we experience a kind of homesickness because (home) changes … (it) helps to name this kind of feeling. That can be really powerful, (such as) collective anger, like the BLM movement, struggle and loss and anger …. if people come together and talk about it.”

She hopes that she’s helping people talk about climate change in a fresh way. “The way it’s often talked about is not that empowering,” including “when we talk about, ‘what can you do’,” too often it’s just “push back against politicians.” Or else potential action is described at the “very micro-individual level,” recycle one more can, burn one less gallon of gas. “That’s still not very empowering” – it doesn’t get to the question of “how do we protect the places that we care about?” That’s something you can address on a neighborhood level, she says. “It just seemed much more real to me, a much more useful way of talking about climate change. It’s being talked about as this big global existential crisis – which it is – but talking about it in this way helps people feel” less hopeless.

That also brings inspiration for others. “Sometimes I feel like what I see in small communities (is that) the whole discussion isn’t so siloed off … that’s kind of powerful.” Big cities – ours included – have more money for adaptation; smaller communities have harder choices to make. “You can see it in the book when I compare St. Augustine, Florida … with centuries of history … they’re going to be more impacted … to Miami (where they have) a budget to lift streets.”

A different crisis presented a challenge after Ostrander got the contract to finish and publish her book: The pandemic. She had gone to Alaska in fall of 2019, but in 2020 and 2021, travel was not always an option. Ostrander said she managed to arrange a few trips “when it was possible to take enough safety precautions.” The featured community she mentions the most is St. Augustine, Florida, where “lessons from the past (frame its) longterm future … we need to think about that and not always look away.”

History is referenced elsewhere in her book, even the century-long history of her Pigeon Point home. The prologue and epilogue of “At Home on an Unruly Planet” reference her own home. She notes toward the end of the book, “And while many of the problems we face are global, some of the most imaginative, powerful, passionate solutions come from home.”

Ostrander doesn’t have any promotional events scheduled in West Seattle yet, but says she’s working on it. Meantime, if you happen to be – or can get to – downtown tomorrow, her book launch/signing event is at 7 pm, outdoors at The Collective (400 Dexter Ave. N.) with KUOW’s John Ryan, presented by the Northwest Science Writers Association. She also has an event 7 pm August 12 at Brick & Mortar Books in Redmond, in conversation with former broadcast meteorologist Jeff Renner.

Besides looking for the book at your favorite local bookstore, it’s also available online as audio – go here. If you want to read an excerpt first, here’s one published by The Atlantic, and another published by High Country News.

(WSB photo, June 2019)

Three years ago, it was the end of a mini-era in West Seattle literary accomplishments when local writers Susan Rich, Harold Taw, and Katy E. Ellis closed the book on five years of WordsWest Literary Series, monthly readings they co-founded and coordinated. Tomorrow night, the three reunite – and hope to see you too – for a new celebration at WordsWest’s longtime hub, C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor): Rich has just released her fifth poetry collection, “Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems,” described as follows:

A Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems collects the essential and award-winning poems from Susan Rich’s four books of poetry along with a generous selection of unpublished work. Rich’s poetry spans the last twenty years through a life engaged with human rights, compassion, and questions of travel. As a teacher, wanderer, and former journalist, Rich’s lyric poems work to amplify the beauty we overlook, the nature of home, and the liminal spaces between the personal and global.

The book isn’t the only reason to go to Wednesday night’s 7 pm event at C & P; the poet promises cake (just ordered from the Salvadorean Bakery!). And she says her WordsWest colleagues have new works on the way too – Ellis will release her first full-length prose poetry novel this fall, and Taw is developing a musical. As the event title declares, they’re ““Bringing the Band Back Together Again for a Book Launch” – and inviting you to join them. No admission charge; if you want to buy a book while you’re there, you’ll be able to do that.

Happening now at Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation (7141 California SW), West Seattle author Elise Hooper is introducing a hometown crowd to her fourth book, “Angels of the Pacific.” It’s a novel, but it will also educate you about World War II history, “set in the Philippines and inspired by the extraordinary true stories of World War II’s American Army and Navy nurses famously known as the Angels of Bataan and the unsung contributions of Filipinas of the resistance.”

At the event, Hooper is talking about the book, and you can also buy your copy from event hosts Paper Boat Booksellers. (If you don’t get to tonight’s celebration, you can still get signed copies at Paper Boat’s Morgan Junction store as well as at Pegasus Book Exchange in The Junction.) This is the fourth work of historical fiction authored by Hooper – you can find out about her other books on her website.

West Seattle author Elise Hooper‘s new novel “Angels of the Pacific” has just been published, and you can help her celebrate at a launch party this Friday night. Paper Boat Booksellers – where you can buy the book – is hosting the event at Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation (7141 California SW), starting at 7 pm. From the announcement:

This novel is set in the Philippines and inspired by the extraordinary true stories of World War II’s American Army and Navy nurses famously known as the Angels of Bataan and the unsung contributions of Filipinas of the resistance. It’s a story that transports readers to a remarkable era of hope, bravery, perseverance, and ultimately — victory.

Elise will give a brief talk about behind-the-scenes research and the writing process, take questions from the audience, and sign books. This is a free, kid-friendly public event.

Book sales will be provided on site that evening by Paper Boat Booksellers.

Signed copies also are available at Paper Boat (6040 California SW) and Pegasus Book Exchange (4553 California SW). “Angels of the Pacific” is Hooper’s fourth book; you can read about her and her work here.

Love hats? Or, got someone on your gift list who does? West Seattle author Mark Elliott has just published “The Brim and the Crown: A Field Guide to Custom Hatters and Hat Shops in the US and Abroad.” Here’s what he tells us about it:

Amazon just published the 144-page softcover ($18.95) this past week.

* The book divides the US into six regions (36 states), each with profiles, websites, and online ordering info for the best custom hat makers for classic fedoras or cowboy hats.
* An entire chapter identifying custom hat makers in 19 countries.
* A separate chapter where to order a custom hat of your favorite film noir or Western film hero.
* Another chapter describing the women-owned hat businesses in the US.
* How and where to get 1930s newsboy caps, Ecuadorian Panamas, top hats, Indiana Jones fedoras, Godfather homburgs, Amish flat hats, and coonskin and Civil War caps, etc.

This book is for someone who loves hats. Someone who doesn’t leave home without one come rain or shine; who follows the seasons for felt and straw; who can tell you their hat size in inches and centimeters; and who knows how to crease a hat and wear it with confidence.

Mark adds, “I spent most of this year researching, interviewing, and writing. It’s the first time all this info has been collated and published.”

Award-winning West Seattle author Cat Rambo is about to publish another book. Tuesday is the official launch date for “You Sexy Thing.” Rambo summarizes it as “the story of a band of former mercenaries who’ve opened a restaurant on a space station and are doing well, so well a critic may be about to bestow a coveted Nikkelin Orb on the restaurant. But then a mysterious package arrives, things start exploding, and they have to steal a ship to escape. But that ship’s intelligent, and it’s not so sure it wants to be stolen.” The author also notes, “It’s not my first published novel, but it’s my first one with a major publisher, Tor Macmillan.” Rambo has five online appearances in six days next week to publicize and talk about the book. starting Monday night, and including a Tuesday night “virtual reading” – they’re all listed and linked here. Rambo’s accomplishments include receiving the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America‘s prestigious Nebula Award last year and serving two terms as that organization’s president.

One of West Seattle’s literary luminaries has won two major awards.

E.J. Koh is the winner of the 2021 Washington State Book Award for her memoir, “The Magical Language of Others.” The book is described on the publisher’s website as “a powerful and aching love story in letters, from mother to daughter,” letters written after Koh’s parents returned to South Korea for work after more than a decade in the U.S., leaving the then-15-year-old author and her brother in California. “The Magical Language of Others” has also won the Pacific Northwest Book Award and was longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award.

Koh has also published a poetry collection, “A Lesser Love.’ And she is curating the Jack Straw Cultural Center Writers’ Program this year.

You’ve probably heard a lot this year about 30th anniversaries of Seattle grunge milestones. In some cases, that evokes the question, “Where are they now?” You’ll find some answers in a new book – published today – by West Seattle photographer/author Mike Hipple, “Lived Through That: 90s Musicians Today.” Hipple, who lives in Arbor Heights, explains, “It’s a portrait-heavy exploration of some of my favorite musical artists from the ’90s and what they’re up to these days. I wanted to see where these people are today, what their stories are, how their lives have changed since their 90s heyday and introduce readers to some bands they maybe haven’t heard of. I traveled all over the United States and Britain tracking down the artists, photographing them, and hearing their stories and I’m excited to share them. There are quite a few Seattle folks in there as well.” Including one from right here in our back yard – Chris Ballew (aka Caspar Babypants):

Hipple’s book is available through Paper Boat Booksellers, where you can meet him and get your copy signed this Saturday (October 23) at 1 pm. This is his second book; three years ago he published “‘80s Redux,” focusing on music from that decade.

Visit C&P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) and you can help The Whale Trail‘s founder Donna Sandstrom celebrate publication of her book “Orca Rescue! The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer.” The youth-geared book recounts a memorable chapter in Pacific Northwest history, when a Northern Resident Orca got lost in Puget Sound and was successfully rescued and returned to home waters, where she thrives today. You can buy the book and get it signed while you’re there; the event’s on until 5 pm, in the C&P backyard.