SAL/on air

Romance, as a genre of literature, has long been skewered for its impossibilities, unlikelihoods, and flat-out fantasies. But part of what has made Abby Jimenez’s books into global phenomena is her unwillingness to separate romance from the truth of our flawed, human existence.These are romance books that serve as reminders that we all deserve love, joy, connection, and that we do not have to be perfect to accept it, nor does our world. Abby Jimenez is known for first catapulting into the spotlight as the champion of the hit TV show Cupcake Wars, which lead to her bakery Nadia Cakes and numerous other Food Network competition wins and delicious confections. On stage with SAL, Jimenez guides the reader through her journey from cupcakes to writing bestselling novels selling over 1.5 million copies, and how it all began in a tent during a thunderstorm where this soon to be author told her daughters the story that would become her first novel.

Leading up to his novel, Afterlives—which won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature—Abdulrazak Gurnah’s books had been out of print in the United States for several decades. Thus, many modern American readers first encountered Gurnah’s prose through the story of Ilyas, a boy stolen from his home by German colonial troops, and sprawling forward into a multi-generational saga of displacement, resilience, and love. As novelist Imbolo Mbue wrote in the New York Times Book Review,“[Gurnah] is a novelist nonpareil, a master of the art form who understands human failings in conflicts both political and intimate — and how these shortcomings create afflictions from which nations and individuals continue to suffer, needlessly, generation after generation.” Grappling with questions of quote “belonging and unbelonging,” Gurnah joined SAL in 2022 for a philosophical discussion of the long spiral of colonialism as it intersects with art and literature.

You don't have to have the right equipment, or a secret location, or a car to start foraging. Plenty of tasty foraged foods are easier to find than you might think: your backyard, parks, and local trails. SAL is thrilled to share KUOW's episode of "Seattle Eats" taped at our event with Alexis Nikole Nelson, also known as the @BlackForager on TikTok. Host Brandi Fullwood spoke with Alexis about her new cookbook, "Happy Snacking, Don't Die!" and its many delicious and informative recipes for every season.

In our hectically paced media landscape, the tale of Robin Wall Kimmerer and her beloved book Braiding Sweetgrass is a story of human miracle. First published in 2013, Braiding Sweetgrass joined the best seller list in 2020, having risen into its readers hands person by person, gift by gift, whisper by yell. The book’s subtitle “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” struck a chord in our society in 2020 as we re-examined how we want to relate and began to seek guiding knowledge the way roots break through concrete.

Sound bites obfuscate intent. Click bait headlines twist the truth. Deep fake videos destroy shared reality. And that makes critical thinkers and clear-eyed observers like M. Gessen all the more needed. Gessen does not talk down to people who are scared, does not suggest you should not believe your eyes as the famous George Orwell quote goes, does not downplay fear. As a journalist living in Moscow during Vladimir Putin’s ascendancy, Gessen brings a perspective on democracy that slices knife-like through the stories America tells and shows how a few short years have changed us from a people who thought of ourselves a nation of immigrants to a country zipping up its borders, unsure of what truth means. Through their writing, Gessen sits with you on the page and discuss what happens when you no longer recognize the country you live in as your own.

It is easy to dismiss poetry as being disconnected from the human, the everyday, the useful; to deride it for being uppity, dense, or purposefully confusing. What is difficult is encountering the kind of poetry that makes the world clear. Li-Young Lee is a poet of clarity, even if that clarity is admitting to multiplicity and to wonder at the simplest, most difficult facts of life. Born in Jakarta after his parents fled China, Lee is a poet of witness to exile, loss, family, love, and stitched through it all: the intimacy of faith. Whether that bond appears in his poetry between a father and son, a god and a human, or a body and the air around, Lee dares each of us to open our eyes wider to the world. There is nothing as divine as this life. There is nothing flawed that is not deserving of a poem. Author of six beloved poetry collections, a memoir, and a translation of the Dao De Jing, Lee is a poet whose voice has shaped generations of writers.

In this episode of SAL/on air we were joined in the studio by Janae Lu and Zackary Mickelson for a conversation about Janae’s experience as the 2024-25 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate, and discussion of her chapbook published by Poetry NW Editions, In All Spaces Liminal. Janae Lu is a writer whose work explores the nuances of transition, identity, and self-discovery through free-verse poetry and creative prose. Janae has been a member of SAL’s Youth Poetry Fellowship program for the last two years, and Mr. Mickelson is a language arts teacher at Tesla STEM High School.

SAL is pleased to support our friends at Hinton Publishing with the premiere episode of their brand-new podcast, Hinton Cast! Hinton Publishing prioritizes amplifying the voices of underinvited communities in the Pacific Northwest. The podcast features Hinton publishers, Marcus Harrison Green & Maggie Block, speaking with the storytellers who are carving a path of creative disruption through the publishing industry. Enjoy their debut episode as the Hinton team interviews author Reagan E J Jackson about her book "Still True: The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist."

What makes a poet’s voice timeless? For more than 40 years, Naomi Shihab Nye has been writing poems, novels, and stories; teaching workshops to adults, children, and incarcerated individuals. Every piece of her work cherishes and honors, be it people or relationships or olive trees, and each of these vivid snapshots create a timeline of her work that seems to extend forever. In between her poems and laugh out loud stories, Naomi refers to “these hard times of disconnection.” This talk was recorded in 2009, and it is one of the great joys of sharing the SAL archive to hear these moments from so long ago and reckon with how those times felt. Together, we remember those precious evenings, what was difficult now and what was difficult then, how we have changed and how we wish to become still better, more generous, kinder poets.

Ed Yong’s bestselling first book, "I Contain Multitudes," prompted us to look at ourselves and the microbes we contain as the interconnected, interdependent systems that we are. And his follow-up, "An Immense World," was named one of the best books of the year by numerous publications while opening our eyes to the glorious world right before us. Yong visited SAL virtually in 2022, when microbes were in the news every day and the onslaught of new information overwhelmed, and his talk on the nature of journalism did a world of good.