Seattle Arts & Lectures Information

Our Mission: Seattle Arts & Lectures cultivates transformative experiences through story and language with readers and writers of all generations. Our Vision: SAL envisions a future in which story and language continuously and courageously revitalize equity, justice, and belonging. Our programs: • Literary Arts Series • Poetry Series • Journalism Series • Women You Need to Know (WYNK) Series • SAL Presents • Writers in the Schools (WITS) Seattle Arts & Lectures was founded in 1987 and launched its first season in 1988 with John Updike, Calvin Trillin, Donald Barthelme, Louise Erdrich, Isabel Allende, and Rosamond Bernier. In 1994, SAL brought the nationally-recognized Writers in the Schools to Seattle—an educational program that places local professional writers in public school classrooms to develop skills and spark student interest in reading and writing. The Poetry Series, featuring such notables as Philip Levine and Anne Carson, debuted in 2000. In 2015/16, SAL introduced Women You Need to Know (WYNK), a three-part series designed to showcase cutting-edge, thought-provoking women. It opened with the graphic novelist and Tony Award winner, Alison Bechdel. Summer Book Bingo, also launched in 2015, is a partnership with the Seattle Public Library to present a free summer reading program for adults (Kids Book Bingo, a program of SAL alone, was launched in 2017). In 2018/19, SAL debuted a three-part Journalism Series in partnership with National Book Award-winning writer and correspondent Timothy Egan and renowned journalist Sam Howe Verhovek. In 2020/21, SAL launched $10 tickets at most events, as well as digital access for all events. Our Writers in the Schools program matches accomplished creative writers with local K-12 public schools and hospitals for year-long writing residencies. In 2019/20, nearly 5,000 students worked with a WITS Writer-in-Residence in 180 classrooms at 32 schools and via two programs at Seattle Children’s Hospital.