Listen in to actor and playwright Jesse Eisenberg give a reading and in conversation with Seattle's Sherman Alexie about Eisenberg's debut story collection. "Bream Gives Me Hiccups" takes its title from the story that opens the book -- a series of restaurant reviews written by a precocious nine-year-old who is taken out for expensive meals by his newly divorced mother. Other humorous, poignant stories are grouped into thematic sections like "Family," "Sports," and "Self-Help" that open with illustrations by award-winning cartoonist Jean Jullien. -- "A moving portrait of human beings at their weaker moments, and a wonderful send-up of the insanities of modern America." - Sherman Alexi. -- Jesse Eisenberg is an Academy Award-nominated actor, playwright, and contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s. He is the author of three plays, including “The Revisionist,” which starred Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave. His latest, “The Spoils,” won the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award. His acting credits include "The Social Network," "The Squid and the Whale," and "The End of the Tour." Forthcoming acting credits include "Batman v. Superman."

Listen to a panel discussion featuring Matthew Dillon, Tom Douglas, Maria Hines and Rachel Yang, moderated by Bethany Jean Clement, food writer for The Seattle Times. We’re famous for our coffee, seafood and locally-sourced ingredients. Yet Northwest cuisine is largely undefined – or is it?

The Washington Center for the Book and Jack Straw Productions present readings by 12 of the literary artists who were selected for the program by curator Kevin Craft. This event features readings by Linda Andrews, Emily Bedard, Laura Da', Bernard Grant, Clare Johnson, Martha Kreiner, Erin Malone, Ross McMeekin, L. J. Morin, Matthew Schnirman, Anca Szilagyi, and Jeanine Walker. -- The purpose of the Jack Straw Writers Program is to introduce local writers to the medium of recorded audio, to encourage the creation of new literary work, and to provide new venues for the writer and their work. The program was created in 1997. Each year a single curator selects 12 writers/writing teams out of dozens of applicants based on artistic excellence, diversity of literary genres, and a cohesive grouping of writers.

Join Ayse Birsel, author of "Design the Life You Love: A Step by Step Guide to Building a Meaningful Future," for a short talk and workshop on how to create a life you love using design principles and process. -- "Life, just like a design problem, is full of constraints -- time, money, age, location, and circumstances, said Birsel. "You cannot have everything, and if you want more out of it, you have to be creative about how to make what you need and what you want coexist. This requires design thinking." -- Learn how to create a meaningful life using Birsel’s four-step process, "Deconstruction:Reconstruction." The methodology is based on the idea of designing a life that is consistent and coherent with who you are. Drawing from concepts in art, fashion, gastronomy and design, Birsel demonstrates how to apply design principles to real-life problem-solving using four simple steps. You will learn how to apply design thinking to help you focus on what you want, and discover ways to turn constraints into opportunities through visualization and holistic thinking strategies. -- Birsel has been designing award-winning products for over twenty years. She is the co-founder of Birsel+Seck, an innovative design studio in New York that partners with leading brands and Fortune 500 companies, including Target, Hewlett Packard, Johnson and Johnson and Toyota. Born in Izmir, Turkey, she arrived in the US in 1986 to attend Pratt Institute on a Fulbright Scholarship and remained in New York after graduating.

Orhan Pamuk's latest novel tells the story of street vendor Mevlut, the woman to whom he wrote three years' worth of love letters, and their life in Istanbul. -- Twelve-year-old Mevlut travels from Central Anatolia to Istanbul and survives by hawking boza, the traditional Turkish drink. He's so hapless he inadvertently marries the sister of a girl he loves. Yet as he wanders the streets, enthralled by the city's glorious history and its booming future, he senses a satisfying "strangeness" that finally leads him to recognize what he's really wanted in life. -- 'A Strangeness in My Mind' is translated from the Turkish by Ekin Oklap. -- Walter Andrews, Professor of Ottoman and Turkish Literature, University of Washington, joins Pamuk for a conversation about Pamuk's novel. -- Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006. His novel 'My Name Is Red' won the 2003 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His work has been translated into more than sixty languages. Other works include the novels 'The New Life', 'The Black Book', 'My Name Is Red' and 'The White Castle.'

Listen to a public conversation with different community voices brought together to imagine ways to contend with gun violence as a pervasive and often divisive social problem. Gun violence has entered our headlines many times this year to heartbreaking effect. We present a public conversation with different community voices brought together to imagine ways to contend with this pervasive and often divisive social problem.

Author and former Prosecutor Chris Bayley discusses his successful fight to end a deeply ingrained system of corruption that existed in Seattle’s law enforcement and political spheres until the early 1970s. Many view Seattle as a progressive and high-tech city, but Seattle’s history includes 100 years of vice and official corruption. City officials turned a blind eye to illegal gambling, unlicensed bars, and prostitution, in exchange for which police officers demanded "operating fees" in the form of cash payments from establishment owners. The money trail that started on the streets ended high up in the Seattle Police Department and affected top levels of both city and county government. -- 'Seattle Justice' is the story of Chris Bayley’s underdog fight to defeat the incumbent Prosecutor, reform the Prosecutor’s office, and investigate and prosecute officials for the payoff system. The new “Justice Model” established by Bayley demonstrated that an aggressive but non-political prosecutor can restore public confidence in the justice system and rebuild law enforcement morale. These reforms of 45 years ago resonate strongly today in the post-Ferguson era, as Mr. Bayley will discuss with the audience.

Take the next step in starting and growing your business. Explore the many avenues toward financing your venture, including SBA commercial loans, alternative lending, microloans, retirement rollovers, and crowdfunding in a moderated, informative panel of experts. You will learn about the 5 C's of credit,"bootstrapping," and the difference between a secured and an unsecured loan. This is your opportunity to get your questions answered by the experts.

Join us for an evening with award-winning novelist Colum McCann. McCann will read and be joined by John Freeman, himself an award-winning writer and book critic. A novella evoking insecurity in the age of security cameras and three heartbreaking stories make up McCann’s first fiction collection in 12 years. -- Praise for 'A New Way of Looking': “A superbly crafted and deeply moving collection of fiction … underscores [McCann's] reputation as a contemporary master.” -Kirkus starred review. -- “Separate and together, these four works prove McCann a master with a poet's ear, a psychologist's understanding, and a humanitarian's conscience.” Publishers Weekly starred review. -- Colum McCann is the internationally bestselling author of six novels including "TransAtlantic” and “Let the Great World Spin,” winner of the National Book Award and the International Dubliln IMPAC Literary Award. He has also written two critically acclaimed story collections, and his fiction has been published in 35 languages. -- John Freeman’s new anthology, “Freeman’s: The Best New Writing on Arrival,” includes a piece by McCann. Freeman is the former editor of Granta and president of the National Book Critics Circle. He has written about books for more than 200 publications worldwide, including The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.

Join us for an evening with beloved children’s authors as they discuss their latest projects, moderated by Jolie Stekly, instructor of the Writing for Children program at the University of Washington. -- Author of the Newbery Honor Book "Al Capone Does My Shirts," Gennifer Choldenko shares her newest novel "Chasing Secrets," an exciting historical mystery set in San Francisco during the Gilded Age. Choldenko’s writing brings history to life for young readers, exploring a medical mystery, race relations and the introduction of immunizations. -- Three-time Newbery Honor author Jennifer Holm discusses her most recent projects, including the widely popular "The Fourteenth Goldfish." Inspired in part by her own childhood and her doctor father, Holm has crafted a brilliantly quirky, thought-provoking novel that celebrates the wonders of science and will make you believe in the possible. -- Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal winner for "When You Reach Me," joins us to talk about her new release, "Goodbye Stranger," a captivating and intriguing novel that explores friendship, love, bullying, double standards, and what it means to be true to yourself and to those you love.