May 19-20: Author Julie Otsuka Will Appear at 4 Seattle Reads Programs to Discuss 'The Swimmers'
release date: April 21, 2023
Seattle residents can dive more deeply into their experience of reading this year’s Seattle Reads selection, “The Swimmers” by Julie Otsuka, at four programs with the author on Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20. Seattle Reads programs also include an exhibit at the Central Library and a Thursday, May 4 gallery walk at the Frye Museum.
Described as a “brilliant and disarming dive into the characters' inner worlds” (Publishers Weekly), “The Swimmers” is the book selection for Seattle Reads, The Seattle Public Library’s citywide book group, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Otsuka is the only author in Seattle Reads’ history whose books have been selected twice. Otsuka’s debut novel, the acclaimed “When the Emperor Was Divine,” was selected in 2005.
SEATTLE READS 2023 PROGRAMS
All Seattle Reads programs are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Find registration links on the calendar events, or go to www.spl.org/SeattleReads.
Seattle Reads programs featuring Julie Otsuka. Programs will take place at Library locations and two of Seattle’s senior centers.
- Julie Otsuka with Tom Ikeda. From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Friday, May 19. Southeast Seattle Senior Center, 4655 S. Holly St. Tom Ikeda, founder of Densho, established the nonprofit in 1996 to preserve and share WWII Japanese American incarceration history, promoting justice and equity.
- Julie Otsuka with Naomi Kawamura. From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, May 19. Central Library, Level 1 – Microsoft Auditorium. Naomi Ostwald Kawamura is the Executive Director of Densho and is currently completing doctoral work at the University of British Columbia on the intergenerational transfer of memory in the Japanese American and Japanese Canadian communities.
- Julie Otsuka with Dr. Kristoffer Rhoads. From 11 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 20. Lake City Branch, 12501 28th Ave. N.E., Seattle. Dr. Kristoffer Rhoads, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, specializes in the evaluation and rehabilitation-oriented treatment of dementia and neurodegenerative disorders. He is also a neuropsychologist at the UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
- Julie Otsuka with Dr. Kristoffer Rhoads. From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, May 20. Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St., Seattle.
Exhibit: Celebrating 25 Years of Seattle Reads. Opens Monday, April 24, and runs through Monday, June 26. Central Library, Level 8 Gallery. Seattle Reads was the first program of its kind and has been replicated throughout the world, from Dublin, Ireland, to Bucheon, Korea. Visit the exhibit to learn about Seattle Reads’ history and to share memories about the program through the years. In addition, papercut artist Lauren Iida will be creating a “Memory Net” – a hand-cut paper temporary installation/performance piece – for the Library that is inspired by “The Swimmers.”
Frye Museum Gallery Tour and Talk. From 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, May 4. Frye Museum. Join the Frye's Chief Curator, Amanda Donnan, for a gallery tour of the aquatic works in "Flying Woman: The Painting of Katherine Bradford." The gallery walk will be followed by a moderated book discussion of "The Swimmers” at the Memory Hub, next door to the Frye.
FIND A COPY OF ‘THE SWIMMERS’ AND THE DISCUSSION GUIDE
Print, e-book and e-audiobook copies of “The Swimmers” are available in the Library’s catalog. Limited copies are also available for informal borrowing (meaning patrons don’t need to check out the copies) at most Library locations and at several community partner locations, including the Frye Art Museum.
Download a discussion guide for “The Swimmers,” which includes discussion questions, recommended reading by the Library and event partners, and details on the Seattle Reads programs.
Seattle Reads 2023 is presented in partnership with Densho; Frye Art Museum, Creative Aging Programs; the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s Greenwood Senior Center; The Memory Hub; and UW’s Memory and Brain Wellness Center. It is made possible by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and The Wallace Foundation. Additional support provided by media sponsor The Seattle Times.
ABOUT JULIE OTSUKA AND ‘THE SWIMMERS’
“The Swimmers” is the story of what happens to a group of obsessed recreational swimmers when a crack appears at the bottom of their local pool. One of these swimmers is Alice, who is slowly losing her memory. Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps, Alice is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war. Alice's estranged daughter, reentering her mother's life too late, witnesses her stark and devastating decline.
This searing, intimate story of mothers and daughters — and the sorrows of implacable loss — is the “most commanding and unforgettable work yet from a modern master” (from the publisher).
Alice’s story also connects to the subject of Otsuka’s novel, “When the Emperor Was Divine,” which “describes in poetic detail the travails of a Japanese family living in an internment camp during World War II, raising the specter of wartime injustice in bone-chilling fashion” (Publishers Weekly).
Julie Otsuka was born and raised in California. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her first novel, “When the Emperor Was Divine” won the 2003 Asian American Literary Award and the 2003 American Library Association Alex Award. Her second/* novel, “The Buddha in the Attic,” an international bestseller, was a finalist for the National Book Award 2011 and won the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2011 Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction. She lives in New York City.
ABOUT SEATTLE READS
Founded in 1998, Seattle Reads is a citywide book group in which people are encouraged to read and discuss the same book. Originally called “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” Seattle Reads was the first “One Book, One City” program. It proved so popular that that concept has inspired similar programs across the United States and internationally.
Seattle Reads is designed to deepen engagement in literature through reading and discussion. Everyone is invited to participate by reading the featured book, joining a book discussion or attending programs with the featured writer.
25 YEARS OF SEATTLE READS
- 2023: “The Swimmers” by Julie Otsuka
- 2022: “The House of Broken Angels” by Luis Alberto Urrea
- 2021: "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett
- 2020: "There There" by Tommy Orange
- 2019: "The Best We Could Do" by Thi Bui
- 2018: "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi
- 2017: "The Turner House" by Angela Flournoy
- 2016: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" by Karen Joy Fowler
- 2015: "The Painter" by Peter Heller
- 2014: "For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey" by Richard Blanco
- 2013: "Stories for Boys" by Gregory Martin
- 2012: "The Submission" by Amy Waldman
- 2011: "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave
- 2010: "Secret Son" by Laila Lalami
- 2009: "My Jim" by Nancy Rawles
- 2008: "The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears" by Dinaw Mengestu
- 2007: "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
- 2006: "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi
- 2005: "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka
- 2004: Seattle Reads Isabel Allende: The 2004 series featured seven titles from Allende's body of work.
- 2003: "A Gesture Life" by Chang-rae Lee
- 2002: "Wild Life" by Molly Gloss
- 2001: "Fooling With Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft" by Bill Moyers
- 1999: "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest Gaines
- 1998: "The Sweet Hereafter" by Russell Banks
Find book synopses for all Seattle Reads titles on this Seattle Reads web page.
MORE INFORMATION
The Library believes that the power of knowledge improves people's lives. We promote literacy and a love of reading as we bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community.
Contact the Library’s Ask Us service by phone at 206-386-4636 or by email or chat at www.spl.org/Ask. Staff are ready to answer questions and direct you to helpful resources and information.