MONDAY Our week begins with the Monorail Poetry Series at Fred Wildlife Refuge. Local author Tara Atkinson, who has a book coming out from Instant Future soon that I’m very excited to read, will be joined by Portland author Rachael Jensen and a Brooklyn writer with the unbelievable name of Sampson Starkweather. Jensen recently published her first chapbook with Snoot Books, and Starkweather has written a lot of books and also created “a multi-media website of pop/love GIF poems.” Can one read a GIF at a reading? Maybe you’ll find out tonight.

TUESDAY University Book Store hosts local sci-fi author Nancy Kress, who’ll be reading with Brenda Cooper. Kress is reading in support of a best-of collection of her work, and Cooper, who is also the Chief Information Officer for the City of Kirkland, reads from her new book Edge of Dark.

WEDNESDAY Head to the Kangaroo and Kiwi pub in Ballard for Librarian’s Revenge Trivia. As part of Seattle Public Library’s Booktoberfest promotion, librarians will be a-drinkin’ and a-trivia-in’ it up in an adults-only setting. This is such a ridiculously lovable idea.

THURSDAY At a very special setting — “the rooftop garden of the historic Union Arts Coop, in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill” — contributors to literary magazines Willow Springs and Los Angeles Review will read prose and poetry. Booze will be served, too. Readers include Maggie MK Hess, Johnny Horton, Kate Lebo, Sam Ligon, Gary Lilley, Kirsten Lunstrum, Christine Robbins, and Philip Shaw. That’s a fine array of talent, from new-ish names to well-established local (and used-to-be-local) writers.

FRIDAY Cascade Writers, an organization that “ brings dozens of educational seminars and workshops to members of the public interested in writing and publishing,” will present a group reading at University Book Store. Tonight’s readers are local sci-fi writers Ellen Datlow, Elliott Kay, and Kat Richardson, along with mystery author Tom Wright. It’s a genre-riffic kind of an evening.

SUNDAY As we prepare for the ginormous Lit Crawl happening on October 22nd, it’s probably smart to check out a smaller literary crawl just to stretch our reading muscles. Don’t want to pull an eye-hammy, after all. So it’s good news that Rainier Valley Lit Crawl is happening, with readers including Jeanine Walker, Greg Bem, Monique Franklin, Wendy Call, and Lindsey Walker.