Lit Lounge: A Columbia City Pop-Up for Poets and Writers of Color

For some, the term "literary salon" may evoke visions of dreary afternoons spent in hard chairs, quiet rooms, and idle chatter. However, Lit Lounge: The People's Art — an evening literary series helmed and hosted by Seattle author Jodi-Ann Burey — presents a marrying of literature and hanging out that's far more accessible, approachable, and fun.

A typical Lit Lounge goes something like this: Every fourth Friday (more or less), doors open at 7 p.m. and attendees are urged to arrive early at The Station in Columbia City to get some food, find good seats, and grab something to drink. (The Station closes at 5 p.m. but opens back up at seven for Lit Lounge, and offers both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.) At 7:59 p.m. on the dot, Burey will come on to the microphone to introduce the first reader of the evening as people settle, take pictures, and eat food. The rest of the night is a mishmash of DJing and reading, and at the end, the writers mingle with the crowd, and the music goes until late.

Started by Burey in January, Lit Lounge is a place for lit-lovers to listen to Black and Brown writers and poets share their work, eat food from local chefs, pick up a book from the mam's books pop-up, and groove to the musical stylings of DJ TOPSPIN.

With previous readers including poet Quenton Baker and writer Keeonna Harris — this month's lineup is former Seattle Civic Poet Anastacia-Reneé, Washington State Book Award winner E.J. Koh, and Shade Literary Arts founder and poet Luther Hughes — attendees are encouraged to chat, move around, and meet new people. The emphasis at Lit Lounge is not a didactic event with a clear line between audience and speaker — it's about community and good vibes. And by featuring both poets and prose writers, the delineation between the two separate forms becomes joyfully murky and reflects the strength of the city's literature scene.

Lit Lounge's roots stretch back to the summer of 2020 when Burey — whose debut book, Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work, comes out in September — created an online version of the series, interviewing authors about their writing and work. That specific iteration of Lit Lounge ended in late 2024, but the concept still stuck with Burey. As someone with a master's in public health, she understood the importance of third spaces, especially for underrepresented communities, and she knew Lit Lounge needed to be a physical space.

"We need to be able to connect — this needs to be outside of home, outside of work. A casual environment where we can meet other people, build community, and most importantly, in a predictable place," Burey said in a recent interview. "It's not that Lit Lounge happens once — it has to keep happening so it becomes like a place where you know you're going to see your people."

Having a community space specifically for appreciating Black and Brown writers felt urgent to Burey. While UNESCO deemed Seattle a "city of literature" in 2017, Burey says that the experience of being a Black writer in Seattle is to feel unsupported by the bigger establishments here. That's on top of the isolating experience of writing itself, which demands big doses of alone time in order to get work done. Burey wants to make it easier for writers of color to feel better connected, better supported, and less lonesome.

"There's a sense that the literary community in Seattle does not come out for book events, specifically for Black and Brown authors," she said. "A big part of Lit Lounge, for me, is its long term impact — I hope, is to continue to cultivate the vibrant literary community that's here and roll deep at [events]."

Burey considers this current season of Lit Lounge as a sort of pilot for the series. March is the final entry for this winter and plans to put Lit Lounge on break through the warmer months, bringing it back in the fall when everyone wants to be cozy indoors. Lit Lounge has been immensely popular, with this month's edition selling out before the artist lineup could even be announced — so be sure to stay on top of updates over on their website.

The March edition of Lit Lounge, featuring E.J. Koh, Anastacia-Reneé, and Luther Hughes, takes place on March 21 at The Station in Columbia City. The Station is wheelchair accessible, and there will be an ASL interpreter at the March 21 event.