Wednesday July 12th: Kay Kenyon and Nancy Kress

See our Literary Event of the Week column for more details. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., 634-3400, http://www2.bookstore.washington.edu/. Free. All ages. 7 p.m.

Thursday July 13th: The Dollhouse Reading

The first novel from Fiona Davis takes place in the Barbizon Hotel for Women, a real women’s hotel in 1950’s New York. Women who moved to New York — including Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion — would stay at the Barbizon while trying to get their careers off the ground in a chauvinistic society. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com . Free. All ages. 7 p.m.

Friday July 14th: The Atlas of Forgotten Places Reading

New-to-Seattle author Jenny D. Williams debuts her very first novel, The Atlas of Forgotten Places — about ivory smuggling and civil war in Uganda and the Congo — with a big fancy reading as only Elliott Bay can do it. Williams traveled extensively as part of the research for this book, and she has many fascinating stories to tell. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com . Free. All ages. 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 15th: Dock Street Salon

The ongoing reading partnering Greenwood bookstore Phinney Books with Ballard publisher Dock Street Press celebrates summers with three writers from Spokane. Leyna Krow brings her debut book of stories, I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking along with two poets — Tim Greenup (Without Warning) and Ben Cartwright (After Our Departure). Phinney Books, 7405 Greenwood Ave. N., 297-2665, http://phinneybooks.com. Free. All ages. 7 p.m.

Sunday July 16th: Making My Pitch Reading

According to press materials, Ila Borders “was the first female to win a scholarship to play men’s collegiate baseball.” She also pitched minor league baseball with men. In her spare time, she’s a firefighter in Portland. Yes, you’ve just found a new hero. She’s in town with her memoir Making My Pitch: A Woman's Baseball Odyssey. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com . Free. All ages. 3 p.m.

Monday July 17th: Jack Straw Writers

You should always pay attention to the Jack Straw Writers. The program, in which twelve new-ish writers learn how to better communicate their ideas via readings and recordings, is often an incubator for writers who are on the verge of becoming major forces in Seattle literature. Tonight’s readers include Ellie Belew, Wancy Young Cho, Steph Kesey, Hera McLeod, and D.A. Navoti. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com . Free. All ages. 7 p.m.

Tuesday July 18th: Battle Hill Bolero Reading

Every summer, the awesome Seattle writing organization Clarion West brings sci-fi writers to town for a summer reading series. The latest reading features Daniel Jose Older, whose most recent series of music-themed novels involves a battle between the living and the half-dead on the streets of New York City. Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Ave., 386-4636, spl.org. Free. All ages. 7 p.m.