Photo:
Lindy West speaks at Benaroya Hall on April 15. Photo credit: Jenny Jimenez
Witches are in, and it’s partially because of a certain “New York Times” op-ed written by a Seattle author.
Lindy West, who once wrote movie reviews for “The Stranger” and now is the author of a bestselling book and a “New York Times” contributing writer, is quick to acknowledge that there are people who do, in fact, identify as witches. How she uses the word is meant more as a tool for people, particularly those who identify as female, to reclaim power.
“As a woman, you’re so often made to feel in danger and disempowered because of physicality,” she says. But “there’s something intellectual about wickedness,” one of the prime adjectives used to describe a certain type of witch. “[Using the word ‘witch’] is a way that we can take power and strike back using intellect and strategy and emotional intelligence that I think is really empowering.”
Like that? Then consider going to hear West speak at Benaroya Hall next month.
It’s the author’s first time presenting at Benaroya and she’s stoked to speak at one of her city’s biggest performance spaces in front of “my hometown people.”
As for what she’ll be presenting at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, expect brand new material.
“It’ll be like stuff that I’ve done before and probably an amalgam of all the different things I go on about,” says West, who’s a stepmom of two kids. “But it’ll be a newly written piece with a goofy PowerPoint to both illustrate what I’m talking about and hopefully lighten the mood when I’m talking about darker things.”
But is it suitable for kids? West says it’s actually not young people who struggle with her work, which she “always wants to feel open-ended [with] a current of hope and actionable items.”
“Kids kind of innately have that kind of optimism,” West says. “That’s not something I necessarily have to teach young people but it is something that adults need to be reminded of, myself included.”
Making sure her audience is as inclusive as possible was of particular importance to West. She says she haggled the ticket prices down as much as possible, knowing that the cheapest — $19, which includes seats both on the third tier and in the orchestra — may still be too steep. Still, she hopes to create an event that’s accessible on a variety of levels.
As for her hopes for how the evening goes, West says she wants “people to leave feeling empowered and confident and connected to other people.”
Pretty wicked, right?
If you go..When: “Lindy West: The Witches Are Coming” is at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 15 |
