Thank you, lovelies, for coming out to these things. It moves me in ways I hope I intimate in my overly excited hugs and handshakes. To be a finalist in this year’s book awards still carries the aura of impossibility.
Sitting there giggling during the group photo; feeling loved by the small ocean of friends who surrounded me in the bleachers; reflecting on how I’m nominated in the same category as friggin’ Charles R Johnson… no, I didn’t win the top award, but, well, neither did he, and you don’t hear him complaining about it. Personally, I’m still trying to figure out how I actually got nominated in the first place!
I couldn’t be more honoured to stand in the company of such a vastly talented group of finalists and winners, and no matter how many accolades come my way I’ve got a sneaky feeling I’m always going to feel like an ugly duckling crashing the party. Can we help who we are? I’m pretty sure I’ll always feel most at home taking the S-curves on Rainier at Brandon, or sitting in the back of the 358 talking to somebody about where to buy the best flowers. But before heading back out into that world, you bet I had a blast with you all who were there, eating those fancy cupcakes and clicking our dress shoes.
Meanwhile, we’ve got a few exciting items lined up if you weren’t able to make this event. There’s more besides these in the works (like that film screening! Give me time!), but in terms of what’s been nailed down thus far:
- November 23rd: Holiday Bookfest, in Greenwood. Reading and discussion with myself and other local authors. I may not be driving the 5 anymore, but with August’s Greenwood Senior Center reading and this, I feel like I’m in the neighborhood just as regularly. Say hi to Tom at Phinney Books!
- December 6th: Book talk with Susanna Ryan at the Lake Forest Park Third Place Books. This is going to be huge. Susanna Ryan is fantastic, and I couldn’t be more excited to do a double-headed book-loving bonanza of a night with her.
- Date Unknown: I’m an author in the upcoming fall issue of ARCADE Magazine (37.2 Liminal Spaces). A bit more on that here.
- February 19th: You love the thought of going to an hour-long lecture on a weeknight. Yes, it’s true. I promise to make this fun! MOHAI has been gracious enough to allow me to host one of their ongoing History Café series. Mine will be called “What Bus Lines Tell Us About Seattle.”
- February 27th: Nonfiction Visiting Writer at PLU in Tacoma. I don’t make it down there often, but I hope to make this worth your while, with a day of various events. Stay tuned.
Nathan Vass is an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and author by day, and a Metro bus driver by night, where his community-building work has been showcased on TED, NPR, The Seattle Times, KING 5 and landed him a spot on Seattle Magazine’s 2018 list of the 35 Most Influential People in Seattle. He has shown in over forty photography shows is also the director of nine films, six of which have shown at festivals, and one of which premiered at Henry Art Gallery. His book, The Lines That Make Us, is a Seattle bestseller and 2019 WA State Book Awards finalist.