West Seattle, Washington
31 Wednesday
(WSB photo)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 3:15 PM SUNDAY: The Barnes & Noble bookstore chain has struggled for years and is currently reported to be in a “strategic review”. Rumors of its Westwood Village store closing have arrived in our inbox now and then. This time, it’s no rumor. After Lynne e-mailed us to report hearing via social media that the store is closing in January, we went there to ask. The on-duty store manager confirmed to us that the company headquarters has indeed informed them the store will be closing in January. No further comment; we’ll follow up with company HQ and the firm that manages Westwood Village, Madison Marquette, tomorrow. The 26,000-square-foot store opened in October 2005. While Westwood Village has more than half a dozen retail spaces listed publicly as “for lease” right now, so far as we can find, this is not (yet) among them. The next-closest B&N is at Pacific Place downtown.
ADDED 3:09 PM MONDAY: We asked B&N corporate media relations for comment on why the store is closing and what would happen to its employees. They’re not commenting on either of those questions and said this statement is “all they have”:
“We will be closing our Westwood Village, Seattle location in January. It has been our pleasure serving this community over the years, and we will continue to serve our valued customers at our stores at South Center (Tukwila) and Downtown Seattle.”
-Jim Lampassi, VP of Real Estate Development at Barnes & Noble
(WSB photo, September 2017)
Congratulations to Lyanda Lynn Haupt! The West Seattle-based author has just won the 2018 Washington State Book Award for nonfiction for “Mozart’s Starling.” She also was honored with the award in 2002 for “Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds.” The 2018 awards were announced last night at the Central Library downtown; they are given for “the strength of a book’s literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality” and eligibility requires either being born in Washington or having lived here at least three years. The full winners’ list:
2018 WSBA WINNERS: BOOKS FOR ADULTS CATEGORIES
Fiction
· “This Is How It Always Is” by Laurie Frankel, of Seattle (Flatiron Books)
Nonfiction
· “Mozart’s Starling” by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, of Seattle (Little, Brown & Company)
Biography/Memoir
· “The Spider and the Fly” by Claudia Rowe, of Seattle (Dey Street/ HarperCollins)
Poetry
· “Water & Salt” by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, of Redmond (Red Hen Press)
2018 WSBA WINNERS: BOOKS FOR YOUTH CATEGORIES
Picture Book
· “Shawn Loves Sharks” by Curtis Manley, of Bellevue, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, of Portland (Roaring Book Press)
Books for Young Readers (ages 6 to 8)
· “Zoey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows” by Asia Citro, of Issaquah (Innovation Press)
Books for Middle Readers (ages 9 to 12)
· “The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming” by J. Anderson Coats, of Everett (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Books for Young Adult Readers (ages 13 to 18)
· “The Arsonist” by Stephanie Oakes, of Spokane (Dial Books)
Also part of the honors, West Seattle-residing state Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, as a contributor to “WA 129,” a collection of 129 poems by poets living in Washington, put together by her predecessor Tod Marshall.
As we’ve chronicled over the years, West Seattle is rich in writing talent. The latest local author to publish a book invites you to its launch party in The Junction Wednesday night.
Admiral resident Shepherd Siegel, Ph.D., says his book “Disruptive Play: The Trickster in Politics and Culture” has been a work in progress for decades. He began journaling in his teen years, keeping notes of things he’d seen in books, intuitive notions, and other observations. Eventually that led to the central theme of his book, the notion that all humans need to be in touch with their own playfulness – that we can create a happier and more peaceful existence by rediscovering in ourselves the sense of playfulness we had as children.
Kirkus Reviews describes “Disruptive Play” as “philosophically provocative and original.” Throughout the book, the author makes the case for people rediscovering a sense of play by discovering the tricksters in our midst, those playful spirits who try to keep the powerful off-balance, not for the sake of gaining power, but to, as Dr. Siegel puts it, find a sense of love and wonder in the world. His examples stretch back into ancient times, but include contemporary examples from Robin Williams to Bugs Bunny. The trickster, he says, fools the powerful into seeing that their seriousness serves no one. Out of that example, he thinks people can find a way to discover a non-competitive cooperative play that can enrich their lives. Play, Siegel notes, is common to all species, yet somehow humans manage to set it aside as they become older.
“Disruptive Play” puts up a timeline across human history that shows how people have been socialized into putting aside a childlike sense of play in order to adopt more adult roles. The timeline also puts forth an alternate view showing artists and entertainers, especially musicians, who have set aside the roles foisted onto them and have become the tricksters of their various artistic forms.
Siegel has lived in West Seattle for more than 25 years (and, disclosure, your WSB co-publishers have known him since we were all new arrivals in the early ’90s). From 1996-2012, he worked at Seattle Public Schools headquarters as manager of the district’s Career and Technical Education program. His launch party for “Disruptive Play” starts at 6 pm Wednesday (September 26th) at ArtsWest in The Junction (4711 California SW).
Are you a West Seattle author with a book on the way? Let us know so we can let your neighbors know too!
“Why Yoga Works and How It Can Work for You” is the title of a new book by someone who knows firsthand – Chris Dormaier, founder of SoundYoga (WSB sponsor). She’ll be reading from it during the next Words, Writers, West Seattle event, this Thursday night (July 12th), 6-7:30 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW). The author series is co-presented by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and Seattle Public Library. This year, as we noted back in February, SoundYoga’s celebrating 20 years!
Tomorrow night, the monthly WordsWest Literary Series event at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) has a special start time and a special theme – it’s the annual summer-reading event with a focus on kids, starting at 6 pm, featuring authors Suzanne Selfors and Dana Simpson. Here’s the announcement:
Kick off school’s end and the start of summer reading season with acclaimed authors Suzanne Selfors and Dana Simpson in a magical evening for kids and the adults they bring with them.
Suzanne Selfors is a national best-selling author who writes for kids of all ages. She’s received five Junior Library Guild awards and earned starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Library Media Connection and Publisher’s Weekly. The Sasquatch Escape won the WA State Book Award and was an Amazon Best Children’s Book. Suzanne’s most recent books are Wedgie and Gizmo vs. the Toof (2018) from Harper Collins/Katherine Tegan Publishers and Spirit Riding Free: Lucky and the Mustangs of Miradero (2017) from DreamWorks/Little Brown. The animated series, Spirit Riding Free, is on Netflix. Though her books can be found all over the world, Suzanne lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest where she hopes it is her destiny to write stories forever after.
Dana Claire Simpson, a native of Gig Harbor, first caught the eyes of devoted comics readers with the internet strip Ozy and Millie. After winning the 2009 Comic Strip Superstar contest, she developed the strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn (originally known as Heavenly Nostrils), which is now syndicated in over 200 newspapers worldwide. There are five book collections: Phoebe and Her Unicorn, Unicorn on a Roll, Unicorn vs. Goblins, Razzle Dazzle Unicorn, and Unicorn Crossing, and a graphic novel, The Magic Storm. Simpson’s books have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, and have won the Washington State Book Award and the Pacific Northwest Book Award. She lives with her husband and her cat in Santa Barbara, California.
The Favorite Poem Project, a vital part of WordsWest’s monthly literary events, invites a community member to share a favorite poem and information about his or her organization. On June 20, we welcome the Summer Reading Table and a favorite poem read by Jenny Cole from indie bookstore Page 2 Books.
WordsWest is curated by West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw, and this season’s intern/co-curator is Joannie Stangeland. Grant funding from Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and Poets & Writers, Inc. allows WordsWest to pay featured writers for their time and talent.
No admission charge, though – everybody’s welcome!
The two featured writers at this month’s WordsWest Literary Series event, 7 pm Wednesday (April 18th) at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), include one of the series’s co-curators. Here’s the preview of who you’ll see and hear:
Poets Aimee Nezhukumatathil (above left) and Susan Rich (above right) celebrate National Poetry Month with poems that revel in the world’s mysteries, from the vast to the minute, from nature to art, from curiosities to companionship.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s newest collection of poems is Oceanic from Copper Canyon Press. She is also the author of the forthcoming book of illustrated nature essays, World of Wonder, and three previous poetry collections. Her most recent chapbook is Lace & Pyrite, a collaboration of nature poems with the poet Ross Gay. Aimee is the poetry editor of Orion magazine and a professor of English in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program.
Susan Rich is the author of four poetry collections: Cloud Pharmacy, The Alchemist’s Kitchen, named a finalist for the Foreword Prize and the Washington State Book Award, Cures Include Travel, and The Cartographer’s Tongue, winner of the PEN USA Award for Poetry and the Peace Corps Writers Award. Susan teaches at Highline College, where she runs the reading series, Highline Listens: Writers Read Their Work.
The Favorite Poem Project, a vital part of WordsWest’s monthly literary events, invites a community member to share a favorite poem and information about his or her organization. On April 18th, we welcome a favorite poem from Billie Swift, owner of Open Books: A Poem Emporium.
WordsWest is curated by West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw, and this season’s intern/co-curator is Joannie Stangeland. Grant funding from Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and Poets & Writers, Inc. allows WordsWest to pay featured writers for their time and talent.
We spotlighted the series curators last September, before the current season of presentations began.
Got kids’ books you no longer need? Give them a new home! Just in, from Judi Yazzolino at the West Seattle Food Bank:
The West Seattle Food Bank’s Bookcase Program is in desperate need of children’s books and board books. Our Bookcase Program accepts slightly used or new donated books to encourage those children we serve start reading at an early age.
We accept donations Monday – Friday 9 am – 3 pm or Wednesday until 7 pm at our facility at 3419 SW Morgan St. on the corner of 35th & Morgan.
There’s a parking garage right off the south side of Morgan, and you can enter the Food Bank there or from the corner.
(WSB photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Before Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Colson Whitehead speaks tonight at Benaroya Hall downtown, he had a few other Seattle stops to make – starting at West Seattle High School.
Language-arts classes filled the WSHS Theater this morning to hear him talk about the writing life.
Teacher Sean Riley, who invited us too, said introducing Whitehead was “like a dream come true,” recalling speaking at a conference last year and getting stuck in a “real rant” of cynicism until he transitioned into a line from Whitehead’s award-winning novel “The Underground Railroad“: “Freedom was a community laboring for something lovely and real.” Riley explained that he feels that “critical thinking paired with hopeful action is a type of freedom.”
Then Whitehead took the podium, telling his own story, wryly.
He was born and raised in Manhattan, describing himself as kind of a shut-in yet not a “sickly child” as the stereotype goes – he “just didn’t like going outside.” He adored Stephen King. He said he hoped to write “the black ‘Shining‘” or “the black ‘Salem’s Lot‘.” But he grew into “more high-brow stuff,” speaking of discovering, for example, Samuel Beckett. In college he “considered myself a writer but I didn’t actually write anything” – he “wore black and smoked cigarettes” – then he tried writing, two 5-page stories, and encountered rejection.
Tonight, award-winning writer Jesmyn Ward, visiting Seattle from Mississippi, is speaking at Benaroya Hall downtown. Local students and teachers got the chance to hear from her this morning at Chief Sealth International High School. The report is courtesy of Sealth faculty member Katie Hubert, who also shared the student-made photograph above:
Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner, fielded questions from an assembled group of about 150 students and their teachers.
Ward, a first-generation college graduate, spoke of her youthful self’s academic drive and the encouragement she received from her parents. They wanted her to study “practical subjects” as an undergrad, but, “I didn’t feel the love, you know, when I was studying other subjects. And so, even though I thought I was disappointing my parents, I decided I would study what I love. That’s why I majored in English.”
She said her intention following graduation was to take a couple of years off, then, “take the LSAT, and do something smart with my life.” But life had other plans. “Six months after I graduated from college, my brother died. He was 19 years old, and he was coming home from work, and he was hit from behind by a drunk driver.”
“It was at that moment that everything changed for me. All these concerns I had about what people expected of me because I’d gone to college, all of a sudden those things didn’t matter any more.” She realized she didn’t have “infinite time.”
“Anyhow, I asked myself, if you die tomorrow, or next week, what did you do with your life that would give it meaning, and the immediate response was, writing. I want to write stories.”
She answered questions from students ranging from her favorite authors (James Baldwin and William Faulkner), books she found influential (As I Lay Dying and Their Eyes Were Watching God), and whether her life or formal education were more influential. (Her formal education.) She described her writing process (she doesn’t use an outline), how to combat writer’s block (do an exercise such as having two characters meet at a coffee shop), and how to end a chapter (make sure there’s tension).
Ward won her first National Book Award in 2011 for her second novel “Salvage the Bones,” and her second one in 2017 for “Sing, Unburied, Sing”; she is the first woman to win two NBAs for fiction. She also received a MacArthur “Genius Grant” last year.
She just might be the most famous librarian ever – she even inspired an action figure. Tomorrow night, Nancy Pearl (above right) will be in West Seattle, appearing in the next edition of WordsWest Literary Series, 7 pm (Wednesday, January 17th) at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor). Pearl and poet Susan Landgraf are this month’s headliners. The theme, as described in WordsWest’s announcement, is “‘Broken Promises — Resolutions, Riots, and Repair,’ an unearthing of the stories that lie under promises made to loved ones and to the land, promises abandoned, and the incremental mending.” Pearl has recently added “novelist” to her resumé, with the publication of “George and Lizzie.” Landgraf’s most-recent poetry collection is “What We Bury Changes the Ground.” You can read the full announcement in our calendar listing. Susan Rich, one of WordsWest’s curators, says they’ll also be collecting donations at the event (for which admission is always free) for C & P’s down-payment crowdfund.
This Friday brings 2018’s first Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented author appearance in the “Words, Writers, West Seattle” series. But you will not find it at the longtime location (Barnes & Noble) – starting this month, the first-Friday events are moving to the library. This time, architectural historian David Hansen talks about his book “Battle Ready,” 5-7 pm Friday (January 5th) at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW). It’s a “scholarly study of the Puget Sound forts” 1894 to 1925, describing “designs, innovations, frustrations over implementation plans, and the experience of serving in the fortifications during their period of greatest importance.” (Read more in our calendar listing.) The format remains a free drop-in event; watch for updates on topics and locations for the months ahead.
Thanks to the tipster who sent that photo of a sign up at Merryweather Books (4537 California SW) in The Junction, announcing it plans to close. The sign says the store will continue with regular hours through December, and then start winding down next month. The space has been a used-book store for decades, previously known as Leisure Books. No word yet what might follow in that space, but we’ll be following up.
If you have books you don’t need any more – for kids or adults – here’s how to get them to people who will read them!
The West Seattle Food Bank Bookcase is running extremely low on a number of categories of books for this holiday season especially children’s picture books and easy readers, as well as teen books, and adult fiction and non-fiction. Donations are accepted Monday-Friday 9 am – 3 pm and Wednesday until 7pm at 3419 SW Morgan St. at the corner of 35th & Morgan. Have a wonderful holiday season.
WSFB is on the southeast corner of 35th and Morgan. We’re adding this to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide‘s “how to help” section, too – if you have a donation drive, fundraiser, volunteer need, etc. this season, please let us know!
The Seattle Public Library says it’s going system-wide as of today with the Peak Picks program, which it’s been testing at eight locations (none in West Seattle). This is meant to increase availability of in-demand titles (bestsellers and more) – no holds, no renewals after the two-week checkout period, first-come first-served. If you don’t already know, West Seattle’s library branches are in Admiral (2306 42nd SW), Delridge (5423 Delridge Way SW), High Point (3411 SW Raymond), and Westwood (the Southwest branch at 9010 35th SW).
The report and photos are by Jenny Mandt (thank you!):
Olivia Lundstrom (left) and Ava Geary, members of Girl Scout Troop #40890, recently installed a Little Free Library geared to young readers outside Fauntleroy Church.
It was their troop’s Silver Award project – the highest award a cadette (6th-8th grade) can earn – and the design mirrored the church’s iconic sanctuary window. The troop partnered with the church to encourage the love of books in young readers and invites everyone to take or leave a book, especially titles for pre-school through middle-school readers.
SIDE NOTE: Just two and a half weeks until the Fauntleroy Fall Festival, at the church (9140 California SW) and at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse across the street – 2-5 pm Sunday, October 15th!
(WSB photo: WordsWest co-curators Susan Rich, Harold Taw, Katy Ellis)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The three West Seattle writers who co-curate WordsWest Literary Series say it’s the kind of series “we would like to be invited to.”
WordsWest opens its fourth season this Wednesday night at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and co-curators Harold Taw, Katy Ellis, and Susan Rich say it’s become everything they hoped it would be, and more.
While we regularly feature WordsWest in the WSB calendar and previews, we thought the start of the season would be a good time to check in with the co-founders, to re-introduce (or, if you’re new here, introduce) them and what it is they do each month. So we sat down with Susan, Katy, and Harold for that check-in over lunch at Easy Street Records one recent midday.
First – we should mention that WordsWest events usually feature two writers, in an innovative format, plus a community member reading a “favorite poem,” and a chance for interactivity with the dozens of attendees. More on the 7 pm Wednesday season-opener lineup a bit later – but first, the start of their story:
(WSB photos)
For the first time since the publication of her newest book “Mozart’s Starling,” West Seattle author Lyanda Lynn Haupt talked with a hometown crowd tonight. She was this month’s featured writer in the Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented Words, Writers, and West Seattle author series, which usually happens at Barnes & Noble/Westwood Village on the first Friday of each month, but was pushed back a week this time because of the Labor Day holiday.
Haupt is known for writing about wildlife – particularly the winged variety, as you know if you read her book “Crow Planet” – and this book features the often-disparaged yet fascinating starling. Just stopping in for a few minutes, we learned a few fun facts including that baby starlings need to be fed every 20 minutes and prefer temperatures around 85 degrees – which is what it gets to in a nest full of little ones. If you missed her tonight, watch for video on the SWSHS website soon, and/or check out her upcoming appearances elsewhere in the region.
As previewed in our West Seattle Sunday list, local author Linnea Westerlind is signing copies of her new guidebook “Discovering Seattle Parks” right now at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. She’s there until 3 pm, and it’s the first of four West Seattle events for her this month. This Wednesday (August 16th) at 11 am, she’s leading a free “kid-friendly park walk” at Jack Block Park – “stroller-friendly and about one mile round trip.” Details, including where to meet, are in our calendar listing. Also on Wednesday, at 6 pm, she’s presenting a talk and slideshow at Kenyon Hall – free admission – and selling her book. Then on Saturday, August 26th, starting at the north parking lot in Lincoln Park, she’ll lead a free guided walk through several local parks, about 4 miles round trip, lasting up to two hours.
(WSB photo: Linnea Westerlind at Lowman Beach Park)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Eight years ago, West Seattle writer Linnea Westerlind “decided all of a sudden to try to visit all the parks in the city in a year.”
The quest to visit those 400+ parks led to a four-year adventure, the website yearofseattleparks.com, and now, 
a book, “Discovering Seattle Parks: A Local’s Guide.”
Not that she wasn’t already having enough of an adventure, as the parent of a son who was six months old at the time she started her exploration – and then, “in the middle of that, I had twins.”
So with three little park-going companions, she continued the park visits. “I loved parks and was just in love with the park system and decided to turn it into something more tangible.
“Discovering Seattle Parks,” just published by Harbor Island-headquartered Mountaineers Books, is the result. It’s also, Westerlind says, the first guidebook to Seattle parks in more than 40 years, spotlighting more than 100 of them.
After hearing about it, we requested an interview, and sat down at one of her favorite West Seattle parks – Lowman Beach – this past Monday.
The monthly WordsWest Literary Series has something extra-special tomorrow (Wednesday) night – “A Kids’ Night of Invention and Adventure” with Sundee T. Frazier and Kazu Kibuishi, whose books should be instantly recognizable to many young readers and their families:
In case you hadn’t already seen it in our calendar, the official announcement:
“A Kids’ Night of Invention and Adventure” with Sundee T. Frazier and Kazu Kibuishi
Favorite Poem and Summer Reading Table by Jenny Cole, Co-Owner of Page 2 Books
Special time: 6 pm
At C & P Coffee Company, 5612 California SW
Yummy treats will be served!
Sundee T. Frazier is an ALA Coretta Scott King Award winner for Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It. Her heartfelt, entertaining stories address subjects close to her heart: ethnic identity, growing up in interracial families, and multi-generational dynamics. Her books have been nominated for twelve state children’s choice awards and been recognized by the Children’s Book Council, Oprah’s Book Club, and Kirkus Reviews (Best Children’s Books of the Year). Her latest is Cleo Edison Oliver in Persuasion Power about an irresistible 10-year-old entrepreneur. Cleo is one of ten books in Seattle Public Library’s 2017 Global Reading Challenge. Sundee lives in Renton.
Kazu Kibuishi is the writer and artist of the New York Times-bestselling AMULET graphic novel series, published by Scholastic. He is also the editor/art director/cover artist of the EXPLORER and FLIGHT Comic Anthologies, and is the cover illustrator of the Harry Potter 15th Anniversary Edition paperbacks from Scholastic. His debut graphic novel, Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, won a YALSA Best Books for Young Adults Award. Born in Tokyo, Kazu moved to the U.S. with his mother and brother when he was a child. He graduated from Film Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He currently works as a full-time graphic novelist. Kazu lives near Seattle with his wife and two children.
Every third Wednesday at C & P Coffee Company, WordsWest hosts literary events that range from readings by published local and national authors, to guided writing explorations. Each month we also host a community member to share his or her favorite poem as part of the Favorite Poem Project. WordsWest is curated by West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw.
Still some time to get over to Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in The Junction to meet West Seattle-residing, nationally acclaimed cookbook author and food educator Kim O’Donnel. Her newest book “PNW Veg” has just been published; she calls it her “edible love letter to the Pacific Northwest,” where she has lived for nine years. If you know that this is O’Donnel’s third book of vegetarian recipes – after “Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations” (2012) and “Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook” (2010) – you might guess she’s vegetarian. But you’d be wrong; she’s just living a “less meat” lifestyle. Until 9 pm, she’s at Click! (4540 California SW) signing books and offering tastes of highlights from “PNW Veg,” including desserts and potato/onion/stinging-nettle frittata as well as black bean and beet burgers.
“It’s hard to think of an accolade that he doesn’t have.” That’s what Susan Rich, one of the curators of the monthly WordsWest Literary Series presentations, says about National Book Award-winning poet Terrance Hayes, who will be featured at WW this Wednesday night. Hayes and Jane Wong, a former student of his who also is an award-winning poet, headline “A National Poetry Month Celebration” at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), 7 pm Wednesday (April 19th). The WW announcement (see it in full here) says they will “read their work as a ‘living anthology’ — a distinctive WordsWest reading format that weaves the ideas and images of each poet’s work into a never-to-be-duplicated collaboration of echoes and connections. No admission charge (you can support the volunteer-run series here) – so get there early enough to ensure yourself a seat!
Thanks to Lisa @ CAPERS in The Junction for the photo and report:
West Seattleite Cynthia Nims is signing her newest release “Crab” today until 3. Recipes from the book will be served all afternoon. CAPERS is celebrating their annual Holiday Open House until 6 pm.
CAPERS is at 4525 California SW.
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