Spring Arts: Literature
Our picks for the city's can't-miss spring lit events
By 3063Brangien Davis and Dana Standish February 8, 2011
4/6
Michio Kaku
Despite being a cofounder of light-core string field theory (related to string theory, but please don’t ask us how), physicist Michio Kaku is known for popularizing science—such as in his TV series, Sci-Fi Science, wherein he discusses flying saucers, teleportation, time travel and more. In this Town Hall appearance, he’ll blow our minds with futuristic talk from his brand-new book, Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. 7:30 p.m. Times and prices vary. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.652.4255; townhallseattle.org
4/18
Joyce Carol Oates
Perhaps you haven’t had time to finish all 50-some novels, 20 short story collections, 10 books of poetry and myriad other works by Joyce Carol Oates, but if you’ve read even one—say, the recent, gripping New Yorker essay detailing the last days of her husband’s life—you have a sense of the way her breathless writing picks you up and won’t put you down. Let her lift you off your feet again at this Seattle Arts and Lectures talk. 7:30 p.m. $25–$50. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St.; 206.621.2230; lectures.org
5/1
David Sedaris
Having delved deeply into the foibles and failures of the human species, essayist and This American Life commentator David Sedaris recently turned his rapier wit toward delineating those of our four-footed friends in his latest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (2010), whose off-kilter, pseudo-moralistic fables channel Aesop, by way of Lewis Carroll’s rabbit hole. Always best heard straight from the horse’s mouth. 7 p.m. $38–$47. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St.; 206.215.4747; benaroyahall.org
5/12–5/14
Vis A Vis Society
Poetry is perhaps best served on a bed of song, dance, film and statistical research. At least that’s how it feels when Rachel Kessler and Sierra Nelson, aka the Vis A Vis Society, conduct their live poetry experiments. In this new show, Hello, Again, Hello, the literary ladies tackle everything from contagious loneliness to bioluminescence. 8 p.m. Prices vary. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave.; 206.829.7863; nwfilmforum.org