Seattle Arts and Lectures

Writers in the schools (wits) - during the year ended june 30, 2023, in-school programming through the organization's award-winning literary Arts education program, writers in the schools, dedicated to inspiring students and improving reading and writing in public k-12 classrooms and hospital rooms through on-site, year-long residencies with local professional writers. For the year ended june 30, 2023, wits directly served approximately 5,162 students and 141 teachers at 31 public schools in the Seattle, highline, lake Washington, snoqualmie valley, and port townsend school districts, as well as two hospital-based programs at Seattle children's.

Literary Arts series - the organization's hallmark program, the literary Arts series is one of the premier literary series in the nation presenting original talks with the leading fiction and non-fiction writers of our time. During the year ended june 30, 2023, most programs were produced both in-person and virtually. A total of 8,165 tickets were issued and estimated attendance was 12,247, as many couples or families purchased one ticket to watch virtually from home.

Sal presents - a diverse program featuring timely, topical conversations with authors, artists, and thinkers promoting new books, as well as free events focused on racial equity and social justice, and events celebrating the work of our local wits writers-in-residence. For the year ended june 30, 2023, sal issued 16,622 tickets and estimate 24,933 attended in- person or virtually.

Community curated series - sal's three-part series showcases local bipoc writers engages new and existing audiences by bringing that year's curator's vision for a series to life. Last year's series curator was author sasha lapointe. For the year ended june 30, 2023, sal issued 682 tickets and estimated 1,023 people attended in-person or virtually.poetry series - this series ensures that this essential literary form thrives on all levels in this community by presenting the best and most influential contemporary poets for readings and conversations. In the year ended june 30, 2023, the organization issued 1,215 tickets and an estimated 1,822 watched virtually. In the year ended june 30, 2022, the organization issued 1,085 tickets and an estimated 1,627 (unaudited) watched virtually.youth poet laureate (ypl) - the program also hosted the Seattle youth poet laureate program in collaboration with urban word from nyc, mentoring a cohort of 11 writers and supporting Seattle's youth poet laureate in community-wide leadership, speaking opportunities, and the publication of their first book. The ypl program aims to identify youth writers and leaders who are committed to poetry, performance, civic and community engagement, education, and equity across the puget sound region. At community events throughout the year, youth poet laureates share their powerful voices, leadership, and love of community, and also publish a collection of their poems in collaboration with poetry northwest.summer book bingo - a free summer reading program for adults and kids, presented in partnership with the Seattle public library. This program engaged readers from our region in reading over 24,000 books in the summer of 2023.