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Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library presents

2012 Seattle Reads THE SUBMISSION by AMY WALDMAN

(206) 386-4636 • www.spl.org Schedule of Events with Amy Waldman Dramatic Readings

Meet the Author Main Event Book-It Repertory Theatre Thursday, May 3 An Evening with Amy Waldman Staged Readings from 12 p.m. Friday, May 4 The Submission Seattle Central Community College 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 24 Broadway Performance Hall Central Library 7 p.m. Microsoft Auditorium West Seattle Branch Meet the Author Thursday, May 3 Meet the Author Monday, April 30 7 p.m. Saturday, May 5 7 p.m. Northeast Branch 11 a.m. Green Lake Branch Ballard Branch Book-It Repertory Theatre Staged Readings from Meet the Author Friday, May 4 The Submission Saturday, May 5 12 p.m. Friday, May 4 4 p.m. Central Library 12 p.m. Columbia Branch Microsoft Auditorium Central Library Join Book-It Repertory Theatre for Microsoft Auditorium staged readings from The Submission, adapted by Rachel Atkins and directed by Book-It co-artistic director Jane Jones. Author Amy Waldman joins adapter, director, and cast for May 4 post-performance discussion. Seattle Reads

2012 Seattle Reads THE SUBMISSION by AMY WALDMAN

Amy Waldman’s novel, The Submission, opens with a Manhattan jury’s charge to choose a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Through a blind admissions process, the jury is torn between two design finalists but eventually decides on the Garden, a four-square geometric design with a pavilion. When the jury learns that the plan they selected was drafted by a young Muslim American architect, Mohammad Khan, they know that their selection will unleash a firestorm of controversy and they are proven right.

The story focuses on two central characters, Claire Burwell, the wife of a victim and a memorial juror who fought for the selection of the Garden, and Mohammad Khan, the stubborn, inscrutable architect who defends his design and his right, as an American, to enter and win the project. A well- drawn cast of secondary characters add their voices to create an atmosphere © Pieter M. Hattem Van of urgency and controversy.

The Submission reveals the welter of emotions that America embodied in the wake of the national tragedy. The author explores the complexity of emotional and political response, the contradictions in identity politics, and how easily emotion and prejudice can overwhelm rhetoric. Waldman’s debut, named Best Book of 2011 by Entertainment Weekly and Esquire, asks some hard questions about the American values of tolerance, diversity, and community in the face of very real challenges.

About the Author Amy Waldman was a reporter for The New York Times for eight years, including three as co-chief of the New Delhi bureau. She was also a national correspondent for the Atlantic.

The Submission was named a New York Times Notable Book for 2011, one of NPR’s Ten Best Novels, Esquire‘s Book of the Year, Entertainment Weekly‘s #1 Novel for the Year, a Washington Post Notable Fiction Book, and one of Amazon’s Top 100 Books and top ten debut fiction. It was a finalist for the Guardian (UK) First Book Award. It has been or will be published in more than a dozen countries. Waldman’s fiction also has appeared in the Atlantic, the Boston Review and the Financial Times, and was anthologized in The Best American Non-Required Reading 2010.

She graduated from Yale University and has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and at the American Academy in Berlin. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.

“A Reading Group Toolbox for The Submission” is available at all Seattle Public Library locations and on the Library’s Web site: www.spl.org. Other Related Events

“Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision” “My Architect: A Son’s Journey” Monday, April 9 Sunday, April 15 7 p.m. 2 p.m. Central Library Central Library Microsoft Auditorium Microsoft Auditorium Freida Lee Mock, Nathaniel Kahn, director director (1994, (2003, 116 minutes) 105 minutes) When celebrated This Academy Award- architect Louis Kahn died, winning documentary he left behind a wife and is about sculptor and daughter, and families architect Maya Lin who, with two longtime at age 21, designed mistresses. Son Nathaniel the Vietnam Veterans Kahn sets out to understand his father’s life, visiting his Memorial in Washington, father’s buildings, culminating in a trip to the National D.C. The film tells the story behind the Vietnam Assembly Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Memorial and explores a decade of her creative work.

Park51 Community Center “We Come Here to Remember” Thursday, April 12 Wednesday, April 25 7 p.m. 7 p.m. Central Library Central Library Microsoft Auditorium Microsoft Auditorium Park51 cultural center in Before Sydney Dobson lower Manhattan opened became executive its doors Sept. 21, 2011, director of the Seattle with “NYChildren,” Architecture Foundation a photo exhibit of in 2002, she was the first children of different executive director of the

ethnicities by Brooklyn Oklahoma City National © Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum photographer Danny Goldfield. Sa’ad Ansari, director of Memorial Foundation. The organization was charged with operations, Park51, describes Park51’s role in promoting developing the memorial to those survived and those understanding of the Muslim-American community in who died in the April 19, 1995, Murrah Federal Building New York. bombing in Oklahoma City. Dobson shares her experience with developing the memorial design. Book Groups at The Seattle Public Library

Join us for a discussion of The Submission. Books and reading group toolboxes are available at the hosting library.

Central Library Low Vision Green Lake Afternoon Group Readers Group Wednesday, May 9 Level 4, Meeting Room 5 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 12 p.m. Greenwood Tuesday, May 8 Central Library Tuesday Group 6:30 p.m. Level 4, Meeting Room 6 Tuesday, May 15 High Point 12 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 6:30 p.m. Ballard Morning Group Friday, June 15 Lake City Afternoon Group 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 16 Rainier Beach 1 p.m. Sunday, May 13 Ballard Evening Group 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 16 Magnolia Evening Group 6:45 p.m. Monday, May 14 South Park Evening Group 6:30 p.m. Meets at South Park Beacon Hill Neighborhood Center Magnolia Morning Group Wednesday, May 16 Wednesday, May 16 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17 6:30 p.m. 11 a.m. Broadview Evening Group South Park Morning Group Monday, July 16 Montlake Meets at South Park 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19 Community Center 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10 Broadview Afternoon Group 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 16 Northeast 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 University 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 21 Capitol Hill 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2 Northeast Seniors 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 18 Wallingford 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 8 Columbia 6:45 p.m. Monday, May 21 Northgate 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 17 West Seattle 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 14 Fremont 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 6:30 p.m. Seattle Reads

2012 Seattle Reads

The Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library invites everyone to take part in “Seattle Reads,” a project designed to deepen engagement in literature through reading and discussion. Each year the Library hosts an author for a series of free programs. Prior to the visit, we develop a reading group toolbox and encourage people throughout the region to read and discuss the featured book. We also present a series of programs, film screenings, readings, and other events around the themes of the featured work.

Reading Group Toolboxes Reading group toolboxes, designed to enhance a book group’s discussion, are available at all Seattle Public Library locations, at many local bookstores, and online at www.spl.org.

Books for Book Groups The Washington Center for the Book lends hundreds of copies of the featured book to book groups during the two months prior to the author’s visit. To request books for your book group, e-mail [email protected].

The Seattle Public Library 206-386-4636 • ww.spl.org

Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library [email protected]

Seattle Reads The Submission is made possible by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and The Wallace Foundation, with additional support from media sponsors The Seattle Times and KUOW 94.9 Public Radio, and Picador, The Elliott Bay Book Co., University Book Store, and Seattle Central Community College.