A children’s book author, an open mic, and two readings today, including a pretty exciting one, by a debut author.

At the Douglass-Truth Branch of the Seattle Public Library, two poets are reading. Lynne Thompson reads from her most recent collection of poems, Beg No Pardon. Carletta Carrington Wilson is working on a book-length poem, and I believe she’ll be taking it out for a test-drive today, which should be interesting.

And at the Elliott Bay Book Company, Todd Wodicka reads from his debut novel, All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well. The title comes from a quote by Julian of Norwich, who was roundly chastised hundreds of years ago because she believed that God was loving. The novel is about a medieval reenactor with a gigantic, deformed nose who’s trying to reconnect with his son, and it’s full of those little bursts of beautiful writing that are simply stunning, the kind of stuff that most authors can’t maintain for hundreds of pages. Wodicka maintains the ingenuity all the way through the book. We’ll be seeing a lot more from him, I’m sure, so this is a good opportunity to catch him on the way up.

Full readings calendar, including the next week or so, here.