[cid:image001.jpg@01D86B5B.83C87CA0] If you didn't have plans for this evening, NOW you do! The Washington State History Museum has FREE admission from 3:00-8:00 PM, and not only can you see the exhibitions on view, but also participate in incredible opportunities to hear from scholars speaking about some of the nation's most relevant conversations today. Find out about exhibits here<https://www.washingtonhistory.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/>, and read about tonight's scholar conversations below: [Author Talk and Book Signing with Candacy Taylor 1] Author Talk and Book Signing with Candacy Taylor, Leading Green Book Scholar, accompanied by the African American Writers Alliance Thursday, May 19, 6:00-8:00 PM FREE Meet scholar Candacy Taylor<http://www.taylormadeculture.com/resume>, whose book Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America<http://www.taylormadeculture.com/the-green-book> formed the basis for the Smithsonian exhibition that is on view this spring at the Washington State History Museum<https://www.washingtonhistory.org/exhibit/the-green-book/>. Taylor's research included driving the routes listed in every Green Book published between 1936 and 1966! She has recently written and published a young adult version of the book, too. The event will be held in the museum's auditorium beginning at 6:00 PM with members of Seattle's African American Writers Alliance<https://www.aawa-seattle.org/> reading their original written responses to passages from Overground Railroad; Then, Candacy Taylor will take the stage to talk about her Green Book quest, and bringing the Black past alive. She will be in conversation with Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, president of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, and Jackie Peterson, a Seattle-based exhibit developer and curator. Afterward, guests will have an opportunity to have books signed. Overground Railroad will be available for purchase ($35.00), and visitors are welcome to bring their own copies of Taylor's books as well. The Washington State Historical Society will distribute 100 free copies of the youth version of Overground Railroad to young readers and families on a first-come, first-served basis. The Negro Motorist Green Book was created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with Candacy Taylor and made possible through the generous support of Exxon Mobil Corporation. This exhibition has been locally supported by ArtsFund, Humanities Washington, and KNKX Public Radio. Public programming for the exhibition is supported by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. [Green Book programs logo collage] [UWT Scholarly Selections 2] UWT Scholarly Selections: FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music: A Woman's Truth Thursday May 19, 6:00-7:00 PM FREE Through poems and songs, women speak their truth, and in so doing create and sustain a discourse of FemPoetiks which is passed down through the generations. Linda Nicole Blair<https://directory.tacoma.uw.edu/employee/nblair> presents the key points of her book, FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music: A Woman's Truth<https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793621269/FemPoetiks-of-American-Poetry-and-Americana-Music-A-Woman's-Truth> and links to American history through the works of the three female poets: Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Emily Dickinson. She'll also explore the history of FemPoetiks through poets and songwriters from Washington State. Book review of FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music: A Woman's Truth: "How do American poems and songs written by women portray society-and more importantly, how do they change that society? These are two of the many fundamental questions that Nicole Blair explores in her phenomenal book, FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music: A Woman's Truth. Through a deeply intersectional approach, Blair examines six pioneers of songwriting and poetry who have developed a counternarrative that speaks truth to power. This book gives long overdue scholarship to songwriters Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, and Lucinda Williams, pairing each songwriter with a poet known for her trailblazing work: Anne Bradstreet, the first American published in the American colonies; Phillis Wheatley the first African-American to publish a poetry book; and Emily Dickinson. What all these writers have in common is a resistance to the injustices of their epochs-and a commitment to use art to present the complex truths of their lives. Blair's scintillating prose is every bit as able to distil complex topics such as feminism, slavery, and racism, as it is in parsing out the intricacies of poetic lines. Her insights are like lightning that illuminates the night sky. This is a deeply necessary book on the power of women's poetry, songs-and the courage to sing one's truth." - Associate Professor Charlotte Pence, author and editor of The Poetics of American Song Lyrics. Linda Nicole Blair is an Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma where she teaches literature and writing. Her other scholarly work includes the book Virginia Woolf and the Power of Story: A Literary Darwinist Reading of Six Novels<https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/ias_books/89/>. She has also recorded and released three CDs of original Americana music, Little Queenie<https://lindanicole.bandcamp.com/album/little-queenie> (2016), No Limits <https://lindanicole.bandcamp.com/album/no-limits> (2017) and most recently, By Your Side <https://www.amazon.com/Your-Side-Linda-Nicole-Blair/dp/B09DMYN75Q> (2021). Image courtesy University of Washington Tacoma Third Thursday is generously supported by Columbia Bank. 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