February 22, Wednesday
In the Burning World Reading Hardcore purists may not love Isaac Marion’s young-adult novel Warm Bodies—zombies who can talk? Sacrilege! But everyone else seems to have fallen pretty hard. In the new sequel, the semi-alive protagonist learns how to reconnect with the human race and come to terms with his past. Bellevue Library, 1111 110th Ave., 425-450-1765, kcls.org. All ages. 7 p.m. PAUL CONSTANT
Not This Time Community Forum Join Andre Taylor, whose brother, Che, was shot and killed one year ago by Seattle police, to talk about issues of police violence, accountability, and reform. Seattle Vocational Institute, 2120 S. Jackson St., notthistime.global. Free. All ages. 6–8 p.m. CASEY JAYWORK
February 23, Thursday
Faggots in the Stacks Likely due to its controversial name, the listing for this book group warns that “this event is not officially sponsored or endorsed by the Seattle Public Library.” Officially endorsed or not, it’s a must-attend discussion of Martin Duberman’s Hold Tight Gently, a true story of two artists during the AIDS epidemic. Capitol Hill Library, 425 Harvard Ave. E., 684-4715, spl.org. Free. All ages. 6 p.m. PC
Chicano Batman This Los Angeles four-piece offers the best that a Mexican/American hybrid might muster: south-of-the-border garage riffs, nods to Brazilian and Peruvian psychedelia à la tropicália, chichi vintage West Coast ’60s guitar fuzz, and righteous black American soul. Named among the best of 2014 by NPR’s Alt.Latino, Chicano Batman will also be in town recording live at KEXP for future video posterity. With 79.5, SadGirl. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618, thecrocodile.com. $15. All ages. 7 p.m. GREGORY SCRUGGS
Zahara There’s a crush of great Seattle hip-hop and R&B right now, but Zahara’s effortless, soaring vocals and interesting production—exemplified in her December debut, Efflorescence—proved she’s one to watch. If you’re into soul-bearing singing and the subtler end of electro-pop, don’t miss her performing tonight. With Forrest Reed. The Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., theveraproject.org. $6–$8. All ages. 8 p.m. KELTON SEARS
February 24, Friday
Juliana Huxtable Let your freak flag fly when NYC’s DJ, model, and poet extraordinaire brings her trans icon status to the DJ booth a year after she brought down the house at Chop Suey. A belle of the Big Apple’s art scene, Huxtable is also an accomplished club jock known for stutter-stop sets that lurch from booty-bumpin’ hip-hop and sexy slow jams to abstract noise. An iconoclast in and out of the nightlife world, this wild party will definitely keep you on your toes. With Gaika, Yves Tumor, Nordra/Tengu Yawn, CCL. Kremwerk, 1809 Minor Ave., 682-2935, kremwerk.com. $12–$15. 21 and over. 10 p.m. GS
Funky Congregation (Note: this event has been cancelled since publication) Sassyblack’s party series is in for an especially stacked one tonight, featuring DJ sets from some of Seattle’s slickest selectors, like Chocolate Chuck and Reverend Dollars (known for her own party series, Darqness), as well as live performances from Gifted Gab and Sassyblack herself. Northwest African American Museum, 2300 S. Massachusetts St., 518-6000, naamnw.org. $15 adv./$20 DOS. 21 and over. 8 p.m. KS
Dear White People As all manner of people take to the streets to protest Trump for so many reasons, it is easy for some of us (white people) to forget that his election had a hell of a lot to do with race. Boom Boom L’Roux’s burlesque-plus revue should remind us what is really going on here. Broad in both its disciplines (from burlesque to poetry to dance) and in its identities, the show features performers of color tangling with culture, gender, sexuality, and race in a series of brief, sometimes hilarious, and often deeply personal performances. Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., 340-1049. $25–$40. 21 and over. 8 p.m. MARK BAUMGARTEN
February 25, Saturday
Adventures in Property Management Book Launch Party Seattle author Chelsea Werner-Jatzke’s new book is a chapbook from Sibling Rivalry Press, a collection of (somewhat true) micro-fiction about a single apartment building. Tonight’s party features a reading from Werner-Jatzke along with guest appearances by local writers and a multimedia artist. Hugo House, 1021 Columbia St., 322-7030, hugohouse.org. Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PC
Riff Raff Forget “My Oh My.” When I want to hear a rap song about Seattle sports, I pull up Riff Raff’s absurd “Sleepless in Seattle,” in which he rhymes “Griffey Senior” with “bottle of Zima” and name-checks Brian Bosworth (for the video, he somehow got access to the inside of CenturyLink field). On his return to Seattle, the Houston rapper will appear with Bay Area collaborator DollaBillGates, a nice hat tip to our favorite local billionaire. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618. $26.50. All ages. 8 p.m. DANIEL PERSON
February 26, Sunday
Laughing All the Way to the Mosque Reading Zarqa Nawaz created a Canadian sitcom called Little Mosque on the Prairie. This afternoon, she debuts her new comic memoir about being a Pakistani-Canadian, subtitled The Misadventures of a Muslim Woman. Nawaz is in town for the Search for Meaning festival at Seattle University. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. All ages. 3 p.m. PC
February 27, Monday
Gaslighting in Government Two UW professors—David Domke, a communications expert, and Christopher Sebastian Parker, who specializes in political science—will discuss with a mental-health professional the idea of gaslighting: the imposing of a false reality upon an innocent victim who gradually accepts the fiction as real—and how that relates to the Trump administration. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255, townhallseattle.org. $5. All ages. 7:30 p.m. PC
Mykki Blanco and Cakes Da Killa A scion of the Afropunk scene nurtured by the NYC festival of the same name, the brash rapper, né Michael David Quattlebaum Jr., wields a queer, gender-fluid, and undeniably fierce alter ego named Mykki Blanco that Pitchfork described as the “progeny of riot grrrl and Lil’ Kim.” The firebrand wordsmith is currently on tour with New Jersey’s Cakes da Killa, who isn’t afraid to muscle in on your hetero relationship as he archly declares he’s “ya man’s wet dream.” Mondays don’t get much more lit than this. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. $15. All ages. 8 p.m. GS
February 28, Tuesday
George Saunders Bardo is a Tibetan term for a postmortem state in which a human’s soul has not completely passed into the afterlife. Renowned short-story writer George Saunders’ debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, is a bizarre trip through this half-dead state, but through a feat of great writing, the reader never feels lost in the foreign land. In fact, it immerses one in a moment in American history that no straight history could possibly penetrate: the dark struggle Lincoln faced following the death of his son Willie. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255. $35. 7:30 p.m. DP
Bridges Not Walls Many Seattleites will be attending George Saunders’ reading tonight, but this event, which features Seattle authors like Donna Miscola and Kathleen Alcalá, deserves your attention as well. It’s designed to examine who deserves a platform, and whom you’re silencing when you speak. Seems appropriate for the time. Juan Alonso-Rodriguez Gallery, 206 S. Washington St. #104, 390-4882, ravenchronicles.org/bridges-not-walls. Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PC
