Writers' Room
The Eulalie and Carlo Scandiuzzi Writers’ Room, located on Level 9 of the Central Library, offers a space for writers to work on their projects and access Library resources. Use of the room is through an application process for the Writers’ Room Residency.
Writers' Room Residency
The Residency is intended to help individual writers with their projects while facilitating a supportive writing community. Writers’ Room Residents work in a variety of writing fields and genres, and are committed to using the space several days per month. We look for applicants who:
- Are currently pursuing a defined writing project
- Plan to use collections, reference and research assistance, and / or other resources available at the Central Library in support of their work
- Connect with the goals of the residency to build a supportive writing community
- Can benefit from access to the Writers’ Room specifically with any challenges they face with working on their writing project
Writers granted a residency will have an orientation to the space, the Central Library, and Library resources available related to their projects.
Writers' Room Residency Application
Applications for the 2025 Writers' Room Residency have closed. Applications for the 2026 Writers' Room Residency will open in late fall of 2025.
Current Residents
Adriana Gomez-Weston
Green Lake
Currently writing: Music journalism for Vinyl Apothecary (which has a special focus on music from the Pacific Northwest) and as a freelancer
Alec Mazzoli
Central District
Currently writing: The Scenario Room; Untitled Angel Project
Past works: Miscellaneous stories and poems
Ally Ang
Capitol Hill
Currently writing: An untitled second poetry collection
Past works: Let the Moon Wobble (Alice James Books, 2025)
Amanda Hosch
Madison Valley
Currently writing: The Ninth Location
Past works: Mabel Opal Pear and the Rules for Spying
Amontaine Aurore
Pioneer Square
Currently writing: Novel set in 1960s and ‘70s
Past works: Plays including Don’t Call it a Riot; The Ever-Expanding Moment; Legacies: A Ghost Story
Blair Milbourne
North Capitol Hill
Currently writing: The Heaven Spot (feature screenplay)
Past works: Copywriting for Nike, Jordan Brand, Converse, MasterCard, Revolt Media, McDonald's, Peacock TV
Cameron Bellm
Bryant
Currently writing: The Sacrament of Paying Attention: How Writers, Artists, and Mystics Can Lead Us into Sacred Human Communion
Past works: No Unlikely Saints: A Mental Health Pilgrimage with Sacred Company
Ching-In Chen
Lake Forest Park
Currently writing: Breathing in a Time of Disaster – a community-based project on breath; Spells for Collective Resonance
Past works: Shiny City (forthcoming Autumn 2025); recombinant; The Heart’s Traffic: a novel in poems.
Dr. Corey Minatani
International District
Currently writing: Sefer Gevurat Yahweh (The Book of Yahweh's Power); Doctor of Exegetical Theology Dissertation: Blood and Sin
Past works: The Scrolls of Dega (Published Articles and Fictional Stories); PhD Dissertation in Lore: Piercing the Demonic Veil: Exorcism Via Multiple Pathways; The Demonologist's Handbook V1
Dori Gillam
Queen Anne
Currently writing: A memoir – Heavy Lift: How I Conquered Caregiving and How You Can Too
Past works: Contributor to 3rd Act Magazine, the University of Washington, and various newsletters and publications on a freelance basis
Elizabeth Anne Mailo “Lizzy” Paulson
Beacon Hill
Currently writing: Lima Taupou, a short story collection about five Samoan women, resilience and paranormal forces
Past works: Washington University’s Jeopardy Magazine and Hunger Mountain; a short story “Tiene Aitu Ma Tagata” was featured in the Talanoa anthology
Lady Izdihar
Capitol Hill
Currently writing: Research-based nonfiction project Soviet Seattle
Past works: Scripts and educational videos on labor, communism and Soviet history
Evelyn Iritani
Maple Leaf
Currently writing: Safe Passage: The Little-Known Story of Ocean Liners, Diplomatic Intrigue and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians in World War II (Slated for publication March 2026)
Past works: An Ocean Between Us; numerous articles in the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Frank Abe
Mt. Baker
Currently writing: No-No Boy, a play
Past works: We Hereby Refuse; The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration; John Okada
Gabriel Moseley
Capitol Hill
Currently writing: The Godspore King
Past works: A Man Stands Tall (short story)
Haley Shapley
Downtown
Currently writing: Night Owl (St. Martin's Press, Macmillan)
Past works: Strong Like Her (Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster)
James T. Washburn
Capitol Hill
Currently writing: A companion essay on Queering Polish folk dance, connected to a "folk dance ballet" short film currently in pre-production
Past works: Achilles + Patroclus (Seattle Opera); Rust: A Ghost Story
Jamie Li
San Diego, CA and Rainier Valley
Currently writing: A coming-of-age campus novel with a plucky female protagonist who hails from South Seattle
Past works: “To Be Is To Beam” (published in Mangoprism, Sept. 2021)
Jill Leininger
Central District
Currently writing: Noctographia and Kiln, Crucible, Glacier, Space: experiments in ekphrasis
Past works: Roof Picnic Skies: New York; Sky Never Sleeps
Julene Tripp Weaver
Seattle
Currently writing: A memoir about her experience being a long-term survivor living with HIV/AIDS, who worked in AIDS services for 21 years
Past works: Slow Now With Clear Skies; Truth Be Bold
Kalehua Kim
Mercer Island
Currently writing: Currently promoting first poetry collection, Mele, from Trio House Press
Kate Olson
West Seattle
Currently writing: Improvise Authentically in Any Genre
Past works: Musical scores
Katura Reynolds
Greenwood
Currently writing: Round and Round, an activity book about the history of wheels
Past works: Essays and articles for the Los Angeles Times, Bitch Magazine, and Taking the Lane zine
Krista Lee Hanson
Mt. Baker
Currently writing: Memoir and essays on parenthood, disability and complex care
Past works: Published in The Rumpus, The Normal School, Rad Families anthology, and Short Reads
Dr. Lakeya Afolalu
Seattle
Currently writing: Mixed-genre collection of essays and poems
Past works: “The Truth About Being a Black Woman in a Liberal City” (ZORA Magazine)
Lynne Ellis
Mercer Island
Currently writing: A poetry collection that works to celebrate my Mexican heritage, heal inherited trauma, and lift up the endangered Western Migrating Monarch butterfly
Past works: Future Sketchbook (2024 Washburn Prize, Harbor Review) and In these failing times I can forget (2018, Papeachu Press)
Meg van Huygen
Crown Hill
Currently writing: Sophon: Soul Food from the Khmerican Diaspora
Past works: Nearly 25 years of journalism covering local restaurants, performance, travel, and PNW history; The Stranger, Seattle Times, Seattle Met, Seattle magazine, many other publications
Nikita C. Anderson
Seattle
Currently writing: A novel and a 10-minute play
Past works: Short stories – "Let the Church Say Amen," "Night Shift," "The Suitcase," "Simple Mindplay on Crazy Rose"; Original stageplay – The Polaroid
Sharon Hashimoto
Tukwila
Currently writing: Novel, poetry, short stories
Past works: The Crane Wife; More American (2022 Washington State Book Award winner in poetry); Stealing Home
Siri Ballestad
Ballard
Currently writing: I Became a Tree (children’s book); The Seattle Plant Journal (nonfiction)
Past works: Editor of Disabled in Nature (online publication)
Stacy D. Flood
Redmond
Currently writing: Wardenclyffe, The Importance of Emergency Lighting
Past works: The Salt Fields; Morning in America or How to Set a Body on Fire; The Optimist or What Space Travel Means to Me
About the Space
The Writers’ Room is a beautiful, contemporary light-filled space on Level 9 of the Central Library, with large windows looking southwest. There are six writing desks, each with an adjustable chair, light, and outlet. Writers are free to use any open desk during a visit.
There is no ceiling, and ambient noise and occasional conversations can be heard in the space.
Access to the room is via key code, and is available only to the residents selected.
Level 9 can be reached by elevator, stairs, or by escalator plus ramp or stairs. The closest restrooms are on Level 7.
Other Spaces to Write at the Central Library
The Level 10 Reading Room is an excellent open space for research and writing. For more suggestions of places to write at the Central Library, please ask a staff at one of the reference desks.
Questions about the Writers’ Room and the residency? Please send us an email via Ask Us.