Cozy UW alumni creations we’re reading, watching, listening to and playing this winter

A 35mm photo from the UW archives by Mary Levin shows a student paging through a book in Allen Library.

Need a reason to stay inside this winter? Check out our media recommendations for books, games, music and TV by UW alumni.

Hygge season has arrived, so bundle up and read on. From poetry to cooking to a video game that’s all self-expression and no violence, here are some of our favorite cozy media creations by UW alumni for the upcoming rainy days.
Blue book cover for Frog Day featuring a green frog illustration

Frog Day: 24 Hours and 24 Amphibian Lives

by Marty Crump, illustrated by Tony Angell
University of Chicago Press, 2024

Illustrator Tony Angell, ’62, came to Seattle on an athletic scholarship in the late 1950s. While pursuing a degree in speech communications, he often explored outside the city and made drawings of the nature and wildlife he encountered. Now 83, Angell is a renowned illustrator and artist with several books and with work in the collections of museums around the U.S. and in England. With descriptions from herpetologist Marty Crump, “Frog Day” charmingly describes amphibian habits and distinctive physical traits while highlighting the wide-ranging ecology of frogs and toads.


Book cover for Sunlight & Breadcrumbs, featuring soft illustrations of food and wine

Sunlight & Breadcrumbs: Making Food with Creativity & Curiosity

by Renee Erickson and Sara Dickerman
Abrams Books, Oct. 2024

Acclaimed Seattle chef and restaurateur Renee Erickson, ’95, who earned a degree in painting form the UW School of Art + Art History + Design, got back in touch with her creative side with this new cookbook. She provides ideas for simple-but-exciting food to make for friends and family.


Book cover for This One We Call Ours, featuring a large illustration of tangled green plants

This One We Call Ours

by Martha Silano, ’93
Lynx House Press, June 2024

Winner of the 2023 Blue Lynx Prize, Martha Silano’s new collection of poems explores grief through loss of the natural environment and human losses. Silano, a New Jersey native who came to the UW to complete her MFA, fills her book with works that explore astronomy, marine species and backyard birds. Her poems express her deep, enduring love for the world.


Stardew Valley logo, made up of small sticks against a mountainous background

Stardew Valley, 1.6 update

by Eric Barone
Nov. 2024

In 2016, Eric Barone, ’11, a UW Tacoma alumnus, created the popular role-playing indie video game “Stardew Valley” in which players farm, fish and encounter monsters and treasure underground. Since then, the game has sold more than 30 million copies. The update adds more festivals and events, holiday decorations, a new meadowland farm type, additional pets and other features to “add more things, make it better, make it cooler, make people happy,” Barone told PC Gamer.


“Tinsley”

by Olivia Tinsley, ’15

With a self-titled album and a headlining tour on the way, Tinsley has cemented herself as a rising star in Seattle. A physical release of “Tinsley,” her debut full-length record, awaits listeners in the new year thanks to a chance email exchange with KEXP DJ John Richards, who offered to press the album on vinyl. Tinsley, who has played local festivals like Capitol Hill Block Party and Bite of Seattle, hits the road this winter with appearances in Tacoma, Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C.


KEXP yellow logo for Sounds of Survivance

Sounds of Survivance

by UW American Indian Studies professor Tory Johnston (Quinault) and Kevin Sur (Kānaka Maoli)
KEXP

Before you find him teaching “Contemporary Indigenous Environmental Issues” on campus, Tory J is up bright and early to share Indigenous music from around the world. Every Monday from 3 a.m. 5 a.m., tune in to Sounds of Survivance (a portmanteau of survival and resistance) on KEXP with Kevin Sur and Tory J (or if you’re not a morning person, listen later on KEXP’s website).


Ken Jennings wearing a suit, standing behind a podium that reads "Jeopardy!"

Jeopardy!

featuring Ken Jennings
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

This Edmonds-born game show host, who attended the UW for a year before transferring, was a favorite of the late Alex Trebek after providing 2,700 correct responses and winning 74 games, becoming the highest-earning American game show winner of all time. (Who is Ken Jennings?) Jennings continues his gig as Jeopardy! host in 2025 with a new season beginning on Jan. 8.