We wish our colleague Karen Maeda Allman @bookmonger_seattle well as she retires today after 23 years. Karen has not only enriched Elliott Bay, but the entire Seattle literary community with her work as Events Coordinator, and as an advocate for the marginalized, and promotor of so many new and first time authors. Karen has been our resident expert on all things Northwest (history, design, nature, literature), diverse children’s books, Health, Recovery, Women’s Studies, translated books, debut authors, LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction, Religion, BIPOC and Asian and Pacific writers and history. Most evenings you would find Karen hosting or co-hosting at events at the Seattle Public Library, Town Hall, Benaroya, NAAM, Hugo House, Langston Hughes, and so many other venues introducing authors to communities beyond the walls of the bookstore, often with the assistance of her wife, Elizabeth. Karen served as an inaugural judge on the National Book Awards for the Best Translated Literature Prize, the Kirkus Non-Fiction Prize Awards, and the Washington State Book Awards. In 2017, Karen won the Seattle Arts and Lectures Prowda Award which recognizes individuals and organizations that make Seattle an outstanding place for writers and readers. ⁠ ⁠ The Seattle literary community and Elliott Bay have been enriched because of Karen’s remarkable passion for bookselling. Thank you, Karen. We appreciate you and will miss you greatly.