Let the joyous news be spread: Seattle is officially the second U.S. City (after Iowa City) to be declared a UNESCO City of Literature– one of 28 internationally recognized cities. Edinburgh, Scotland was the first city to get the designation in 2004. The UNESCO designation of literary cities is part of a wider network of …
Got a disturbing email the other day, so much so that I sat down and wrote a response that ran several thousand words. A series of responses, actually, all fits and starts of alternating analysis, complaint, explanation, and suggestion that refused to be driven toward a conclusion. I threw all of it away when I …
Over the past few months we’ve kept you up to date on efforts, lead by local author Ryan Boudinot, to establish Seattle as an official City of Literature. Read original contributions from Seattle correspondent Kristianne Huntsberger, Boudinot and NWBL columnist James Crossley to follow the path to Monday’s Seattle City Council’s unanimous decision to officially …
Ryan Boudinot pioneered the idea in June at Elliott Bay Book Company’s 40th anniversary, and each successive meeting has clarified Seattle’s bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature. By the time Seattlites rallying behind the cause gathered on September 23 at the Seattle Public Library, it even boasted a board, on which Boudinot is …
On Monday September 9 at 7:00 at Richard Hugo House, author Ryan Boudinot will “present an overview of the UNESCO City of Literature program,” and then “discuss the application process, and what to expect if UNESCO designates Seattle a City of Literature.” Everyone who is interested in learning more and/or participating is invited to join this …
Author Ryan Boudinot (Blueprints of the Afterlife, The Littlest Hitler) delivered the following speech at the reading celebrating Elliott Bay Book Company’s 40th Anniversary on June 30, 2013. Before I address the subject of Elliott Bay Book Company’s future, I’d like to acknowledge a few people. First, the extraordinarily well-read, friendly, tireless, generous, and in one particular …
Ten years ago, when we gathered at Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square in Seattle to toast the store’s 30th anniversary, owner Peter Aaron said he would see us all at the 40th anniversary party. This weekend, at Elliott Bay’s new home on Capitol Hill, hundreds of booksellers, authors, and community supporters gathered for …
“Blueprints of the Afterlife is a creative move away from the dragons, vampires and spaceships that dominate the sci-fi fantasy field. Set in a futuristic Seattle, corporate-sponsored armies do battle, medicine is dispensed by way of a version of the Internet, and a sentient glacier wreaks havoc on the continent. Imagine a Kurt Vonnegut treatment …
