Bailey/Coy Books—Amy Bloom reads from her new collection of short stories, A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (9/7). Jean Borysenko, the author of My Lesbian Husband, and Karen Tulchinsky, the editor of various lesbian erotica anthologies, read as part of the “Love and Marriage Tour” (10/12). 414 Broadway E, 323-8842.

Elliott Bay Book Co.— James Welch sings The Heartsong of Changing Elk (9/5). Amy Bloom’s back with A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (9/8). Margaret Atwood reads from The Blind Assassin (First United Methodist Church, 9/11). Heidi Julavits presents her debut novel, The Mineral Palace (9/12). William T. Novall dissects Royal Family (9/13). Alan Chong Lau mixes poetry with prose in Blues and Greens (9/16). Jonathan Kirsch journeys back in time with King David (9/19). Myla Goldberg weathers The Bee Season (9/19). Josephine Humphreys insists there’s Nowhere Else on Earth (9/21). Jane Mendelsohn returns to Innocence (9/23). T.C. Boyle makes A Friend of the Earth (9/27). Robert Ellis Gordon reflects on Washington state prisons in The Funhouse Mirror (9/29). Mary Karr reads from Cherry, the continuing story from her memoir The Liar’s Club (10/3). Kazuo Ishiguro remembers When We Were Orphans (10/9). Michael Chabon reads from Kavalier and Clay (10/11). A. Alvarez asks Where Did It All Go Right (10/13), while Pete From explains How All This Started (10/14). Bill Bradley signs The Journey From Here (10/16). Jim Harrison reads from his new book of novellas, The Beast God Forgot to Invent, and his illustrated fable, The Boy Who Ran to the Woods (10/23). Patrick McGrath presents Martha Peake (10/25). Ahdaf Souief reveals The Map of Love (10/26). Sam Hamill translates Chinese poetry in Crossing the Yellow River (11/3). Wendell Berry introduces Jayber Crow (11/13). Eric Bogosian takes his readers to the Mall (11/17). 101 S Main (unless otherwise noted), 624-6600.

Mercury—A collaborative project of Eleventh Hour Productions, SEED (SouthEast Effective Development), Home Alive, and the Independent Media Center, this literary arts performance series features: Literary Arts in Action!, with Inga Muscio, a film featuring writer Dorothy Allison (10/7); jazz and poetry with Vince Balestri, Greta Nintzel, and Pamela Moore Dionne (11/4); the Wasted Motel Tour, with Shar Rednour, Michelle Tea, Jackie Strano, Kassy Kayaitos, and Sash Sunday (11/25); and the Columbia City Showcase, with hip-hop artists Elevated Elements and others TBA (12/2). All events $5/$3 members. Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S Alaska, 725-1650.

Northwest Bookfest—Nasdijj reads from The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams. Sherman Alexie introduces The Toughest Indian in the World. Nancy Atherton presents Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil. Paulina Borsook scolds the Cyberselfish. Sandra Brown shares The Switch. Bonnie Burnard builds A Good House. Frederick Busch advises Don’t Tell Anyone. Kevin Canty goes Nine Below Zero. Lisa Carey travels In the Country of the Young. Novella Carpenter and Traci Vogel read from Don’t Jump! Ana Castillo presents Peel My Love Like an Onion. Stephen Coonts journeys to Hong Kong. George Dawson suggests that Life Is So Good. Anne Enright asks What Are You Like? Amy Ephron grows a White Rose. Brenda Feigen’s Not One of the Boys. Gregory Gibson reads from Gone Boy. Peter Gillman recalls The Wildest Dream. James Gleick goes Faster. Ariel Gore’s on The Mother Trip. Allison Green shares Half-Moon Scar. Jane Hamilton explores Disobedience. Jan Harper-Haines conjures up Cold River Spirits. Teri Hein presents Atomic Farmgirl. Susan Hertog introduces Anne Morrow Lindberg. Kief Hillsbery reads from War Boy. Pramila Jayapal takes a Pilgrimage. Ha Jin describes The Bridegroom. Charles Johnson tells of King. Mira Kamdar displays Motiba’s Tattoos. Alan Kaufman reads from Jew Boy. Carolyn Mackler goes off on Love and Other Four Letter Words. Scott L. Malcomson donates One Drop of Blood. Gregory Martin enters Mountain City. Claire Messud recounts The Last Life. Stephen Mitchell gets Hindu with Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. Jack Olsen reads from Last Man Standing. Lucia Perillo unfolds The Oldest Map with the Name America. Lynn E. Ponton examines The Sex Lives of Teenagers. Paisley Rekdal recalls The Night

My Mother Met Bruce Lee. Katherine Russell Rich shares The Red Devil. Robert Sullivan goes on A Whale Hunt. Andrew Vachss reads from Dead and Gone. Andrew Ward presents Dark Midnight When I Rise. Terry Tempest Williams takes a Leap. Judd Winick reflects on Pedro and Me. Art Wolfe offers photographs of The Living Wild. Stadium Exhibition Center, 378-1883 or www.nwbookfest.org, 10/21-22.

Open Books: A Poem Emporium—Carlos Reyes shares his translation of Josephina de la Torre’s Poemas de la Isla (9/28). Alan Chong Lau offers both poetry and prose in Blues and Greens (10/5). Robin Seyfried reads from her new collection, Balancing Acts (10/12). Poetry MFA students from the Antioch and UW programs present a joint reading of their work (10/26). 2414 N 45th, 633-0811.

Richard Hugo House—The ‘Zine Archive Project (9/8). Donna Miscolta, Joann Farias, and Felicia Gonzalez explore their roots through the “Familia” reading (9/19). The award-winning fiction and nonfiction writer Thomas Farber (9/20). Susan Howe headlines the Subtext Reading Series (10/4). Disappearances, Hugo House’s third annual cultural inquiry, features writing workshops and readings (readings at UW campus, Kane Hall) with Irish poet Eavan Boland (author of Lost Land) and Li-Young Lee (author of The City in Which I Love You); a reading with Alicia Partnoy and Susan Rich; discussions on regional history, disappearance of culture and language, and erasure’s role in the creative process; visual art by Mary Ann Peters, Gilbert Neri, and Ann Borwick; and a musical performance by David Mahler. Other participants include Walt Crowley, Paul Dorpat, Mildred Andrews, Mayumi Tsutakawa, Audrey Wright, Charles Mudede, Joan Fiser, Matt Briggs, Rich Jensen, and Philip Red-Eagle (10/7-8). Allison Green, Susan Rich, and Elizabeth Austen get physical at “Mapping the Body: Three Writers Read Their Work” (11/29). 1634 11th (unless otherwise noted), 322-7030.

Seattle Arts & Lectures—Reynolds Price, the North Carolina-based novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright, kicks off the season by sharing the creative genius that went into the National Book Award-winning Kate Vaiden, the memoir A Whole New Life, Roxanna Slade, and Blue Calhoun (10/2). One of England’s most acclaimed and controversial novelists, Jeanette Winterson wrote Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the award-winning fictionalized account of her childhood as the adopted daughter of evangelical Christians and her coming of age as a lesbian, as well as eight other novels, including The Passion and Sexing the Cherry (11/8). A stand-up comic, award-winning director, and writer for Three Kings, Third Watch, and Martin, John Ridley’s true ambition is to be a novelist: “Writing for TV is mindless factory work and screenplays have too many built- in limitations. Novels, on the other hand, offer an unparalleled level of freedom.” Looks like his dream’s coming true: Ridley penned the novels Stray Dogs, Love Is a Racket, and last year’s Everybody Smokes in Hell (11/28). Benaroya Hall, S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, 621-2230 or www.lectures.org.

Seattle Mystery Bookshop—Ann Rule signs a special 20th anniversary edition of Stranger Beside Me and the reissue of And Never Let Her Go: Thomas Capano, the Deadly Seducer (9/12). Laura Lippman signs Sugar House, her fifth in the multi-award-winning series with Baltimore PI Tess Monoghan. Also, British author Val McDermid signs her latest mystery, Place of Execution (9/13). John Gilstrap signs his latest thriller, Even Steven (9/14). Margaret Coel signs The Spirit Woman, her sixth mystery set on Wyoming’s Arapaho reservation (9/22). Archer Mayor signs The Marble Mask, his 11th with Vermont cop Joe Gunther (10/4). Lawrence Block signs Hit List, his first full-length novel (10/30). 117 Cherry, 587-5737.

Third Place Books—Jayne Ann Krentz continues in the futuristic fantasy romance vein with After Dark (9/8). Allen Noren travels around the Baltic Sea in STORM: A Motorcycle Journey of Love, Endurance, and Transformation (9/11). Wyn Wachhorst reflects on The Dream of Spaceflight: Essays on the Near Edge of Infinity (9/14). Sharyn McCrumb introduces The PMS Outlaws (9/15). Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura asks Do I Stand Alone?: Going to the Mat Against Political Pawns and Media Jackals (9/22). Art Wolfe braves The Living Wild (9/28). Liz Smith is The Natural Blonde who became the highest-paid female print journalist in the world (9/29). Teri Hein reads from Atomic Farmgirl (10/3). Susan Vreeland describes Girl in Hyacinth Blue (10/4). Sherman Alexie makes writing The Toughest Indian in the World look easy (10/5). Lowen Clausen strolls down First Avenue (10/7). Anne Perry makes a profit off of Slaves of Obsession (10/9). Alan Kaufman reads from Jew Boy (10/18). Candace Bushnell proves there’s life after Sex & the City with Four Blondes (10/24). 17171 Bothell Wy NE, 366-3300.

University Book Store—Sybil Evans pushes Hot Buttons (9/11). Terry Brooks reads from Isle Witch: Voyage of the Jerle Shannara (UW campus, Kane Hall, 9/12). Herbert Bix speaks on Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (Town Hall, 9/15). Jeffrey Cockburn offers Al Gore, A User’s Manual (UW campus, Kane Hall, 9/18). Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, and Nisi Shawl discuss Dark Matter (9/20). Jack Olsen presents Last Man Standing (9/21). Jack DuVall describes A Force More Powerful (UW campus, Kane Hall, 9/22). Alan Lau paints Blues and Greens (9/26). Melvin Morse tells Where God Lives (Seattle First Baptist Church, 9/26). T.C. Boyle becomes A Friend of the Earth (9/27). David Leavitt introduces Martin Bauman: Or, a Sure Thing (9/29). Alan McHughen opens Pandora’s Picnic Basket: The Risks and Potential of Genetically Modified Foods (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/2). Miles Harvey visits The Island of Lost Maps (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/3). Brian Herbert and Kevin Jamison continue Dune: House Harkonnen (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/4). Laurel K. Hamilton receives A Kiss of Shadows (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/11). Pepper Schwartz argues that Everything You Know About Love and Sex Is Wrong (10/12). Neal Pollack lugs around The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (10/14). Maya Lin establishes Boundaries (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/17). Alice Walker believes The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart (Town Hall, 10/17). Will Self relates How the Dead Live (11/17). Roger Simpson tries Covering Violence (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/18). Paul Klebnikov reads from The Godfather of the Kremlin (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/19). Paulina Borsook’s not Cyberselfish (UW campus, Parrington Hall, 10/20). Todd Balf dips into Last River: The Tragic Race for Shangri-La (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/23). Armistead

Maupin introduces The Night Listener (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/25). Howard Gardner has The Disciplined Mind (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/27). Anna Deveare Smith says Talk to Me (UW campus, Kane Hall, 10/30). Ursula LeGuin reads from The Telling (UW campus, Kane Hall, 11/8).Simon Schama reflects on A History of Britain (UW campus, Kane Hall, 11/15). Thomas Frank shares One Market Under God (UW campus, Kane Hall, 11/17). Caleb Carr reads from Killing Time (11/19). 4326 University Wy NE (unless otherwise noted), 634-3400.

Washington Center for the Book—Brenda Fowler gets archaeological in Iceman: Uncovering the Life and Times of a Prehistoric Man Found in an Alpine Glacier (9/20). Participants in “Seattle’s Favorite Poems: A Celebration” include Seattle Symphony Director Gerard Schwartz, Hoh/McCaw elder Mary McQuillen, 92-year-old Buddhist teacher Grace McLeod, UW English Department Chair Shawn Wong, landscape architect Grant Jones, ACT Director Gordon Edelstein, and featured poet Tess Gallagher (Town Hall, 9/25). Ruthann Lum McCunn returns to 19th-century China’s Pearl River Delta in The Moon Pearl (10/2). Rebecca Goldstein explores Properties of Light: A Novel of Love, Betrayal, and Quantum Physics (10/5). As part of the Living History Series, award-winning humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson visits Seattle to portray three historical figures, Thomas Jefferson (Town Hall, 11/14), Francis Bacon (First United Methodist Church, 11/15), and Meriwether Lewis (First United Methodist Church, 11/16). Seattle Public Library (unless otherwise noted), Lee Auditorium, 1000 Fourth, 386-4650.