The essay collection, edited by Kristen Millares Young, was named a finalist for the 2021 Washington State Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, administered by the Washington Center for the Book.

The following essay by Rena Priest is part of Seismic: Seattle, City of Literature, a new collection edited by Kristen Millares Young. In it, a host of locals—Jourdan Imani Keith, Claudia Castro Luna, Charles Johnson, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Tim Egan, Wei-Wei Lee, Anastacia-Reneé, Dujie Tahat, and Ken Workman—delve into what Seattle’s UNESCO City of Literature designation means.

KUOW shared Jourdan Imani Keith’s essay as part of their Seattle Story Project.

Washington state’s poet laureate on how inclusivity could inspire a literary renaissance.