Late in our hibernation, a controversy erupted where the bookfair at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference was temporarily excluding the general public from the fair on its final day, Saturday, March 1. It was a break from tradition that AWP said was due to complexities in Seattle’s tax code, which, they say, differ from other cities that host the conference.

I’ll be attending the conference next week, and attending to as many readings and panels as I can manage on Thursday and Friday, but, like the final day of the book fair, there are a bunch of great events that happening off-site that are open to the public. Here are a few that I recommend checking out:

Festival of Language, Rock Bottom, Wednesday, February 26, 5pm-10pm (website)

I’m not familiar with most of the fifty (!) writers booked for this reading, and that’s part of the fun. The night will be divided up into three 90-minute segments. The readings will be short, forcing authors to grab listeners immediately and turn them on to their writing. And even if not, it’ll be just a few moments until the next one takes the microphone. The one author on the roster I am most familiar with is Alissa Nutting, who wrote the scandalous Tampa, one of the most talked-about books of 2013 (though I liked her gripping and unique short story collection Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls a little more).

AWP Event with Tin House Books, Wave Books, and Tumblr, Chop Suey, Thursday, February 27, 8pm, free  (website)

This party may actually literally have it all: readings from great writers (Dorothea Lasky, Peter Mountford, Bianca Stone, and Matthew Zapruder), DJ sets from Mas y Menos and New Dadz, and free drinks, provided by Tumblr. I recommend finding a copy of Mountford’s brand new novel The Dismal Science, and asking him to sign it for you. It’s the best novel you’ll read all year that features Paul Wolfowitz.

MFA vs. NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction, Vito’s Restaurant, Thursday, February 27, 7pm-9pm, free (website)

This is the launch party for the a new anthology that explores the two predominant “scenes” of American fiction, edited by Chad Harbach (with N+1 magazine and author of the popular novel The Art of Fielding). This is one of the books I’m most anxious to read, and I did find The Art of Fielding to be an entertaining read, so this is on my must-see list. There was also an excerpt from the book, about the famous editor Gordon Lish, on the New Yorker’s website.

Slate Live: Audio Book Club Podcast Recording: Hugh Howey on Kurt Vonnegut, Town Hall, Thursday, February 27, 7:30pm, $10 tickets. (website)

A live taping of the Slate podcast will include a discussion about the beloved Kurt Vonnegut, and will feature Slate writers Dan Kois (Slate Book Review editor), and Hanna Rosin, plus Hugh Howey, author of the popular WOOL series.

Sex Death and Memoir Reading, Babeland, Friday, February 28, 5pm-6:30pm (website)

This reading is hosted by former students who had taken Portland author Lidia Yuknavitch’s Ecstatic States workshop. The workshop’s aim is to “go beyond the clichés of sex and death” and that’s exactly what makes Yuknavitch’s writing so compelling. Her 2011 memoir, The Chronology of Water, is such a compelling book because whether she’s writing about abuse, sex, or swimming, Yuknavitch knows that the right words are often the most direct. It’s beautifully written because Yuknavitch is honest with her readers, even when it doesn’t paint her in the most flattering light. It is one of the books that has stuck with me since reading it. I can’t wait to hear first-hand how Lidia Yuknavitch directly influenced a subsequent group of authors.

Jazz and Poetry Soiree with Molly Ringwald, Heather McHugh, Robert Pinsky, and friends, Chihuly Boathouse, Friday, February 28, 5pm, $135 tickets. (website)

Tickets for this event are long sold out, and you really didn’t want to go anyway.

VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Hugo House, Friday, February 28, 8pm, $10 minimum donation (website)

This is one of the higher-profile readings, and for good reason. It’s loaded. It features beloved authors like Cheryl Strayed (Wild), Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City), Pam Houston (Cowboys Are My Weakness), Natalie Diaz (When My Brother Was an Aztec), Kate Lebo (A Commonplace Book of Pie), and more. The readings start at 10pm, I’d recommend getting to the Hugo House much earlier.

Bedtime Stories, Elliott Bay Book Company, Saturday, March 1, $15 tickets (which includes a copy of Suzy Vitello’s new book The Moment Before) (website) 

The theme of this evening reading at Elliott Bay Book Company is “adult bedtime stories” and it stars some very well known authors: Chelsea Cain, Chuck Palahniuk, Monica Drake, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Suzy Vitello (all of whom, I think, are friends in Portland). The EBBC website says the first fifty people to arrive in the bedtime attire (safe for bookstores, presumably) will be handed a heart-shaped box of chocolates by Chelsea Cain.

{Photo by Tom Murphy VII, from Wikicommons}