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Poetry Flash Reading Series
Cintia Santana and Dan Alter
4/28, Berkeley
more info
Sixteen Rivers Press: Christina Lloyd, Murray Silverstein, Alice Templeton
5/19, Berkeley
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Carolyn Tipton and Sandra Yannone
6/20, Berkeley
more info


Northern California

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1 JUNE 2015 — monday

    CENTRAL:
  • POETS! series presents Dan Liberthson and the Poetry of Davis Hallstrom, hosted by Jerry Ferraz, open mic follows, Bird & Beckett Books and Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, 7:00 (415/586-3733, www.birdbeckett.com)
  • Asymetrical Press's WordTasting Tour 2015, authors Colin Wright, Josh Wagner, and Shawn Mihalik present storytelling, humor, and live music by violinist Skye Steele, Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, 7:00 (www.pegasusbookstore.com/event/wordtasting-tour-2015)
    NORTH:
  • Rivertown Poets presents "A-Muse-ing Mondays," featuring the former and current Poets Laureate of Livermore, Connie Post and Kevin Gunn, an open mic follows, reading slots limited to three minutes, Aqus Café, 189 H Street, Petaluma, 6:00 (www.aquscafe.com)

2 JUNE 2015 — tuesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Novelist Lucy Sanna reads from The Cherry Harvest, based on the presence of POWs in Door County Wisconsin, Book Passage, Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, 6:00 (www.bookpassage.com)
  • Journalist Sarah Tomlinson reads from her new memoir, Good Girl, about her unconventional upbringing, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 7:00 (www.bookpassage.com)

3 JUNE 2015 — wednesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Shakespeare dramatic readings presents a participatory reading of Hamlet led by UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Joel Altman, University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, $20/$15 students, rsvp for supper and libations, 6:00-8:00 (510/548-0585, universitypressbooks.com)
    NORTH:
  • Historian and journalist Hampton Sides presents In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, his recounting of the heroic 1879 expedition to the North Pole, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 7:00 (www.bookpassage.com)

4 JUNE 2015 — thursday

    CENTRAL:
  • Vendela Vida, founding editor of Believer magazine, reads from her mystery/thriller The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty, which demonstrates a woman's right to determine her future, Books Inc., 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 (www.booksinc.net)
    NORTH:
  • The Marin Poetry Center Traveling Show presents an installment of their summer series at various venues, hosted by Prartho Sereno, Poet Laureate of Marin County, readers include Ed Coletti, Jennifer Gennar, Terri Glass, Kathleen McClung, Ed Rosenthal, and Paul Watsky, Diesel, A Bookstore, 2419 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur, 7:00 (www.dieselbookstore.com)
  • Peter Nichols reads from his new mystery, The Rocks, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 7:30 (www.bookpassage.com)

5 JUNE 2015 — friday

6 JUNE 2015 — saturday

    CENTRAL:
  • Bay Area Poets Coalition presents an open mic, three to five minutes per person, Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison Street, Berkeley, 3:00 (www.bayareapoetscoalition.org)
  • The Oakland book launch of Neeli Cherkovski's new poetry collection, The Crow and I, with guest poets David Meltzer, William Gainer, Julie Rogers, and William Taylor Jr., hosted by Paul Corman-Roberts, The Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster Street #170, Oakland, 7:00 (oaklandoctopus.org)
  • Poetry reading by Marvin R. Hiemstra, Death of a SUV, and Ed Mycue, La Promenade Café, 3543 Balboa Street, San Francisco, 7:00 (415/221-6063, www.lapromenadecafe.com)
  • The first annual two-day Bay Area Book Festival presents 300 authors, 160 exhibitors, and 145 keynotes, interviews, panels, and performances at eleven venues in a ten-block radius of downtown Berkeley; some Saturday events and participating writers, see website for full schedule: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning children's author Mac Barnett, Extra Yarn, tells stories on the Children's Stage; Children's book authors Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts and Marissa Moss, Barbed Wire Baseball, California Book Award-winner; also appearing on Saturday are Molly Antopol, whose debut story collection, The UnAmericans, was long listed for the 2014 National Book Award; Dodie Bellamy, TV Sutras and Cunt Norton, whose feminist writing merges fiction, essay, and poetry; Frances Dinkelspiel, founder and editor of Berkeleyside; Poetry for the People Director Aya de Leon; poet Gloria Frym, Homeless at Home; novelist Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Book Club; nonfiction author and poet Susan Griffin moderates "Transforming Terror"; novelist Maria Hummel, Motherland; travel essayist Pico Iyer, "On the Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere"; novelist Kevin Killian, Spreadeagle; Maxine Hong Kingston, recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letter and National Medal of Arts; poet Joseph Lease, Testify; novelist and short story writer Yiyun Li, Kinder Than Solitude; Wendy Lesser, founding editor of The Threepenny Review; novelist Edan Lepucki, California; poet, travel writer, and novelist Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Best Places in Northern California; novelist and memoirist Anchee Min, The Cooked Seed; novelist, poet, and essayist Steven Nightingale, Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God; Graywolf Press editor Ethan Nosowsky; fiction writer Ann Packer, The Dive from Clausen's Pier; Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction writer and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards; Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society in New York and journalist Orville Schell; Rebecca Solnit, winner of the Northern California Book Award in Nonfiction 2015, The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness; queer feminist poet, fiction writer, and memoirist Michelle Tea, How to Grow Up: A Memoir; Vendela Vida, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty; event locations all around downtown Berkeley include the Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley Public Library, Magnes Museum, The Marsh, Brown Center, Dharma College, San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight and Salvage, East Bay Media Center, City Hall, and Civic Center Park, San Francisco Chronicle editors and reporters will moderate panels, additional events and stages for children and teens, including a reading by WritingCoach Connection's contest winners and a performance by youth from Hip Hop for Change, Poetry Flash exhibits on Literary Lane, visit to see Poetry Flash's Watershed Poetry Festival broadsides; Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Berkeley, indoor sessions free (except for Judy Blume), reserve tickets online, reservations recommended, 10:00 a.m.-6 p.m. (www.baybookfest.org)
  • The Bay Area Book Festival presents young adult author Judy Blume reading from her new adult novel, In the Unlikely Event, and discussing the fight against banning books since her own books were censored in the 1980s, The Berkeley Community Theater, 1930 Allston Way, Berkeley, tickets: $12 students to two seats and two books, 7:00 (www.baybookfest.org)
    NORTH:
  • David Downie, A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light, in conversation with Don George, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 4:00 (www.bookpassage.com)

7 JUNE 2015 — sunday

    CENTRAL:
  • The first annual two-day Bay Area Book Festival presents 300 authors, 160 exhibitors, and 145 keynotes, interviews, panels, and performances at eleven venues in a ten-block radius of downtown Berkeley; some Sunday events and participating writers, see website for full schedule: Lebanese-American poet, memoirist, and playwright Elmaz Abinader, This House, My Bones moderates the discussion "Writing the New Neighborhood: Narratives of the Shifting Cities"; Rabih Alameddine, author of National Book Award and Northern California Book Awards finalist An Unnecessary Woman and Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) in the conversation "Talking About Writing & All the What-Not"; novelist Daniel Alarcón, Executive Producer of Radio Ambulante, a Spanish language journalism podcast, reads in "Radio Ambulante: A Showcase of Latin American Stories"; "How Poems Change the World," a panel with Jane Hirshfield, Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World, Robert Hass, The Apple Trees at Olema, and giovanni singleton, Ascension; husband-and-wife novelists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman converse in "Up Close with Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman"; also appearing on Sunday are Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics, who incorporates science into writing on change in worldview and society; poet Lorna Dee Cervantes, publisher of the Chicana/o literary journal MANGO; writer and filmmaker Phil Cousineau; translator and mindfulness advocate Gary Gach, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism; poet and scholar Sandra Gilbert, The Culinary Imagination: From Myth to Modernity; nonfiction author and poet Susan Griffin moderates "Sustainability and the Soul"; travel essayist Pico Iyer, Video Night in Kathmandu, in conversation; actor and memoirist Peter Coyote, The Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education, in conversation with Northern California Book Award-winner for Creative Nonfiction Gary Kamiya, Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco; Andrew Lam, Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora; short story writer Kathryn Ma, All That Work and Still No Boys; Beat poet, essayist, and playwright Michael McClure; John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review Editor and others in "Not Just Content: The Future of Writing and Reading"; Northern California Book Award-finalist Nayomi Munaweera, Island of a Thousand Mirrors; Vietnamese-American novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer; novelist Elizabeth Rosner, The Speed of Light; Robert Scheer, political journalist and former Vietnam correspondent, They Know Everything About You: How Data Collecting Corporations and Snooping Government Agencies are Destroying Democracy; Jack Shoemaker, Editorial Director and co-founder of Counterpoint Press; poet, self-help author, comedian, and writer Bucky Sinister, Black Hole; political journalist Edward Wasserman; event locations all around downtown Berkeley include the Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley Public Library, Magnes Museum, The Marsh, Brown Center, Dharma College, San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight and Salvage, East Bay Media Center, City Hall, and Civic Center Park, San Francisco Chronicle editors and reporters will moderate panels, additional events and stages for children and teens, including a reading by WritingCoach Connection's contest winners and a performance by youth from Hip Hop for Change, Poetry Flash exhibits on Literary Lane, visit to see Poetry Flash's Watershed Poetry Festival broadsides; Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Berkeley, indoor sessions free, reserve tickets online, reservations recommended, 10:00 a.m.-6 p.m. (www.baybookfest.org)
  • Small Press Traffic presents the annual Leslie Scalapino Memorial Lecture in 21st Century Poetics, delivered by Ronaldo V. Wilson, Narrative of the Life of the Brown Boy and the White Man, presenting poetry on race and identity, Grad Writing Studio, California College of the Arts, 195 De Haro Street, San Francisco, 5:30 (smallpresstraffic.org)
    NORTH:
  • Brenda Knight presents her new book, Be a Good in the World: 365 Days of Good Deeds, Inspired Ideas and Acts of Kindness, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 7:00 (www.bookpassage.com)
  • Bette Lamb reads from her new book of dystopian fiction, The Organ Harvesters, and J.J. Lamb reads from the fourth book in his Z.T. Rolfe III P.I. series, No Pat Hands, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 1:00 (www.bookpassage.com)

8 JUNE 2015 — monday

    CENTRAL:
  • Poetry reading with Diana Whitney, Wanting It, blogger on motherhood and sexuality for The Huffington Post, Stegner Fellow Allison Davis, Poppy Seeds; and Kundiman Fellow Shelley Wong, Granny Smith Room, Green Apple Books, 506 Clement Street, San Francisco, 7:00 (www.greenapplebooks.com)

9 JUNE 2015 — tuesday

    NORTH:
  • Poetic Tuesdays starts its new season with four readers and a musical guest, Maya Chinchilla, Cha Cha Files, Vernon Keeve III, Diana Whitney, Wanting It, and Gregg Wrenn, Centaur, with traditional Son Jarocho music by Tarimba, bring your lunch and sunscreen, Jessie Square, Yerba Buena Gardens, 760 Mission Street, San Francisco, 12:30-1:30
  • Poetry at the Albany Library features a reading by John Shoptaw, Times Beach, open mic follows, hosted by Catherine Taylor, this series goes on hiatus for July and August and, after this event, will return in September, Albany Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Avenue, Albany, free, 7:00-9:00 (510/526-3720, albanylibrary.wordpress.com)
    SOUTH:
  • Poetry Santa Cruz and A New Cadence Poetry Series co-present a reading by Filipino American poet Shirley Ancheta, Nils Michals, Come Down to Earth, and Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, Erica Goss, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, $3, 7:30 (831/423-0900, www.bookshopsantacruz.com)

10 JUNE 2015 — wednesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Laura Dave reads from her debut novel, Eight Hundred Grapes, about a woman who just before her wedding seeks the comfort of home at her family's vineyard, only to find her family arguing and planning to sell the vineyard to a corporation, Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, 6:00 (www.bookpassage.com)
    SOUTH:
  • The Not Dead Yet Poets Society presents featured readers Casey FitzSimons and Joel Katz, an open reading follows, The Main Gallery, 1018 Main Street, Redwood City, 7:00 (themaingallery.org)

11 JUNE 2015 — thursday

    CENTRAL:
  • The Poetry Circle is a participation-based reading, bring original work or poems from any person, period, and place, Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Avenue, Berkeley, 6:30 (510/981-6820, www. berkeleypubliclibrary.org/events/poetry-circle-claremont)
  • Poetry Flash presents a reading by Francisco X. Alarcón and Devreaux Baker, hosted by Richard Silberg, request ASL interpreters one week in advance from editor@poetryflash.org, wheelchair accessible, Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/849-2087, www.moesbooks.com)
  • Jewish poets on Jewish Poets is a reading of the work of dead Jewish poets by Bay Area Jewish poets, the performance was envisioned by poet and art critic Bill Berkson, featuring readings by Bill Berkson, Renny Pritikin, Maxine Chernoff, Suzanne Stein, Alan Bernheimer, Susan Gevirtz, Norman Fischer, Alli Warren, David Meltzer, and Norma Cole from the poetry of Joel Oppenheimer, Paul Celan, Gertrude Stein, Robert Desnon, Lossif Ventura, Nelly Sachs, Jackson Mac Low, Adrienne Rich, Stacy Doris, Jerome Rothenberg, Heine, Charles Renikoff, F.T. Prince, and Kenneth Koch, in conjunction with Bound to be Held: A Book Show, a solo exhibition of work by San Francisco-based conceptual artist Josh Greene that celebrates the relationship between a reader and a book (the exhibit runs through June 28), Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street, free with museum entry, $5 after 5:00, San Francisco, 6:30 (415/655-7800, www.thecjm.org)
  • Presidio Dialogues presents San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejando Murguía discussing history, poetry, and memoir exploring indigenous and Latino-Hispanic history in San Francisco, Presidio Officers' Club, 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, free but registration required, 7:00 (www.presidioofficersclub.com/event/la-mission-name-and-place)

12 JUNE 2015 — friday

13 JUNE 2015 — saturday

    CENTRAL:
  • Galería de la Raza presents a poetry reading by Claudia Rodriguez, Everybody's Bread, Galería de la Raza, 2857 24th Street, San Francisco, 5:00 (415/826-8009, www.galeriadelaraza.org)
  • Valona Deli presents a poetry reading by Pamela Uschuk, Blood Flower, and Jeanne Wagner, In the Body of Our Lives, open mic follows, hosted by Connie Post, Terry Henry Jazz trio performs after poetry, Valona Deli, 1323 Pomona Street, Crockett, reading 4:00, open mic 5:00 (510/787-2022)
  • Book launch and reading celebrating Temp Words, a new poetry collection by Alison Hart, the author will be joined by members of MISSSEY, Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth, a portion of the proceeds from the evening's sales benefit the nonprofit organization, 7:00 (510/522-2226, www.booksinc.net, misssey.org)
  • Kate Schatz and illustrator Miriam Klein Stahl present Rad American Women A-Z, their book of famous and unsung American heroines for grades 3-8, South San Francisco Public Library, 840 West Orange Avenue, South San Francisco, 2:00 (www.ssf.net/521/Library)

14 JUNE 2015 — sunday

    CENTRAL:
  • Quiet Lightning presents "Chemical Wedding" with Name Drop Swamp Records and The Emerald Tablet to launch issue two of Quiet Lightning's magazine vitriol, the launch features a reading by Jayinee Basu, Jesús Castillo, Mauro Javier Cardenas, and Raina J. León, with music by Billy Banks and others to be announced; the magazine features more than forty contributing artists including poetry and fiction by Benjamin Wachs, Melissa Stein, Alejandro Murguía, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras, essays by Jack Foley and Dr. Indre Viskontas, music by Shenandoah Davis, Sean Nelson, and Garrett Pierce, and visual art by Cal Tabuena-Frolli, Cate White, and Akira Beard, Piazza Market, 627 Vallejo Street, at Columbus, San Francisco, $10 admission includes a magazine, no one turned away for lack of funds, doors open 7:00, show 7:30 (www.quietlightning.org)
  • Poetry Flash presents a celebration for Autumn House Press, featuring a reading by poets Chana Bloch, Andrea Hollander, and Danusha Laméris, request ASL interpreters one week in advance from editor@poetryflash.org, wheelchair accessible, Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue, Oakland, 3:00 (510/653-9965, dieselbookstore.com)
    NORTH:
  • The 40th Anniversary Mendocino County Poetry Celebration presents two open readings, four-minute limit, all poems will be considered for broadcast by Dan Roberts on KZYX&Z, Hill House, 10701 Pallette Drive, Mendocino, sign up at noon for the 1:00 reading and at 5:00 for the 6:00 reading (707/937-4107, www.artsmendocino.org)

15 JUNE 2015 — monday

    CENTRAL:
  • Brandon Christopher reads from his memoir, The Job Pirate: An Entertaining Tale of My Job-Hopping Journey in America, a collection of stories about the eighty-two American grunt jobs he has worked over a twenty-year span, as part of his summer book tour, "Work is Hell," Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster Street, Oakland, 7:00 (oaklandoctopus.org)
  • Litquake and Green Apple Books present "The Epicenter," the San Francisco launch of Maggie Nelson's genre-bending memoir, The Argonauts, featuring a conversation between the author and novelist Lucy Corin, Viracocha, 998 Valencia Street, San Francisco, $10-$15, 7:00 (www.litquake.org)

16 JUNE 2015 — tuesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Bloomsday Songs and Readings, an all day open mic in honor of James Joyce's Ulysses, The Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster Street, Oakland, 7:00 a.m.-9:00 (oaklandoctopus.org)
  • Berkeley novelist Robert Roper reads from his latest book, The Savage Professor, a satirical thriller set in Berkeley, Pegasus Books on Solano, 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (www.pegasusbookstore.com)
  • Mrs. Dalloway's presents Thomas Lynch and George Davis continuing the annual Bloomsday reading of James Joyce's Ulysses, covering the second half of chapter eight, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Mechanic's Institute and Crossroads Irish-American Festival present Bruce Bierman, Renee Gibbons, John Ilyin, Esther Mulligan, Melanie O'Reilly, Josiah Polhemus, Laura Sheppard, and Anne Goess performing dramatic readings, Irish music, and dance to celebrate James Joyce's Ulysses, Mechanics Institute, Fourth Floor meeting room, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, 6:00 (www.milibrary.org)
  • Bird and Beckett presents an all-day reading of James Joyce's Ulysses, with one ten-minute reading at the start of every hour, working through the book so that the segments are read at the same time of day that they happen in the book, Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, 11:00 a.m.-8:00, (www.birdbeckett.com)
  • Poet, translator, and essayist Stephen Kessler celebrates the release of Where Was I?, his new collection of prose poems; Need I Say More?, portraits, confessions, reflections, and his new translation of the poetry of Luis Cernuda, Forbidden Pleasures: New Selected Poems, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 (www.citylights.com)

17 JUNE 2015 — wednesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Peter Davis reads from his novel, Girl of My Dreams, set in Hollywood's golden 1930s, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Lyrics & Dirges presents an exciting evening of brief readings by Bay Area poets, this event features Richard Loranger, Tim Donnelly, Maw Shein Win, Cassandra Dallet, Tomas Moniz, Rohan DaCosta, Paul Corman-Roberts, Harold Tzn, Lauren Traetto, Vernon Keeve III, Amos White, Sharon Coleman, Maisha Z. Johnson, Mg Roberts, Yume Kim, Freddy Gutierrez, Benjamin Perez, James Cagney, Suzy Huerta, Joel Landmine, and A. Razor, Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (www.pegasusbookstore.com)
  • Crosstalk, Color, Composition: A Berkeley Poetry Conference, a series of conversations, performances, and readings, two days of seminars and four evening readings held each day, today features "Reconfiguring Subjectivity" with Robert Harrison, giovanni singleton, Javier Huerta, Truong Tran, and Julian Talamantez Brolaski, "Asian-American Avant-Garde" with Sean Labrado y Manzano, reading by giovanni singleton, Douglas Kearney, and Craig Santos Perez, seminars at Wheeler Hall, University of California, 2222 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, reading at Betti Ono Gallery, 1427 Broadway, Oakland, seminars at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30, Oakland reading 7:00 (crosstalkcomposition.com)

18 JUNE 2015 — thursday

    CENTRAL:
  • Brandon Brown reads from his new biography of German physicist Max Planck, Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War, discoverer of Planck's Law, used to determine the radiation leaking from any object in the universe, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Cassandra Dallett launches her new book of prose poetry, Bad Sandy, with additional readings and performances by Vernon Keeve III, Jason Bayani, James Cagney, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Daniel Riddle Rodrigeuz, the Octopus Literary Salon, 2102 Webster Street, Oakland, 7:00 (oaklandoctopus.org)
  • KPFA Radio presents a reading by Michelle Goldberg from her biography of Indra Devi, the Russian aristocrat who trained in India as a Yogi in the early twentieth century, The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West, hosted by KPFA's Laura Prives, Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley, $12 advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com or in store at Pegasus, Moe's, Walden Pond Books, Diesel Books, Mrs. Dalloway's Books, Modern Times (San Francisco), $15 door, 7:30 (www.kpfa.org/events)
  • Poetry Flash presents a reading by Ivan Argüelles and Neeli Cherkovski, hosted by Richard Silberg, request ASL interpreters one week in advance from editor@poetryflash.org, wheelchair accessible, Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/849-2087, www.moesbooks.com)
  • Crosstalk, Color, Composition: A Berkeley Poetry Conference, a series of conversations, performances, and readings, two days of seminars and four evening readings held each day, today features "Post-Crisis Poetics" with Brian Ang, "Closing Convention," reading with Javier Huerta, Hugo Garcia Manriquez, Truong Tran, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, seminars at Wheeler Hall, University of California, 2222 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, evening reading at La Commune Café & Bookstore, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, seminars at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30, Oakland reading 7:00 (crosstalkcomposition.com)
    NORTH:
  • Third Thursday Poetry & Jazz Improv Reading Series features Robin Rule and Daniel Essman, reading begins with live jazz and an open mic with jazz improv, 215 Main Pub, 215 Main Street, Point Arena, 7:00 (707/882-3215, www.facebook.com/215main)

19 JUNE 2015 — friday

    CENTRAL:
  • Three Great Poets Read, a poetry reading by Ron Silliman, Against Conceptual Poetry, Laura Moriarty, The Fugitive Notebook, and Brian Ange, who edits ARMED CELL in Oakland, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, $5-$10, doors open 7:00, reading 7:30-9:30 (510/472-3170)
    EAST:
  • Squaw Valley Community of Writers' Poetry Workshop presents a benefit reading featuring the summer faculty, poets Forrest Gander, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, J. Michael Martinez, Sharon Olds, and Evie Shockley, proceeds support the scholarship and financial aid programs, Setzer Auditorium, Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street, Sacramento, $20 advance/$25 door, $12 advance/$15 door for students, purchase tickets online from Brown Paper Tickers or SVCW website, 7:00 (877/537-8073, squawpoet@ureach.com, www.squawvalleywriters.org)

20 JUNE 2015 — saturday

    CENTRAL:
  • Alta Solano Lit Out Loud monthly series presents a reading by poets Constance Rowell Mastores and Diane DePisa, open mic precedes the featured readers, hosted by Jannie Dresser, Folk & Fine Art Gallery, 1861-A Solano Avenue, Berkeley, $5-$10 sliding scale, 7:30-9:00 (janniedres@att.net, www.folkandfineart.com)
    NORTH:
  • Jennifer Caloyeras reads from her young adult novel, Strays, Four-Eyed Frog Books, 39138 Ocean Drive, Gualala, 4:00 (www.foureyedfrog.com)
  • Poet and writer Patti Trimble leads a memoir workshop, The Sitting Room: A Community Library, 2025 Curtis Drive, Penngrove, free, 2:00-5:00 (415/663-9000, www.sittingroom.org)

21 JUNE 2015 — sunday

    CENTRAL:
  • Neeli Cherkovski reads from his new book of poetry The Crow and I, with honored guest, poet Diane di Prima, Bird & Beckett Books & Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, 2:00 (www.birdbeckett.com)
    NORTH:
  • Healdsburg Literary Guild presents performance poet Matthew Brouwer, Stories We Must Tell, and Santa Rosa poet and playwright Ed Thompson, The Bean Affair Coffee Shop, 1270 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, open mic sign up 1:00, reading 1:30-3:30 (hbglitguild.org)

22 JUNE 2015 — monday

    CENTRAL:
  • Bay Area Generations presents a reading by sets of two linked poets, Laila El-Sissi and Agga Agthandiwal; John Oliver Simon and Tai Rockett; Mary Loughran and Alison Montcrieff; Miz Red O'Hare and Paul Corman-Roberts; Richard Silberg and Sharon Coleman, guest curator Amos White, to propose a future fifteen-minute reading or performance, see submission guidelines on their website, full bar, Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, $7/$10 includes souvenir chapbook, doors open 7:00, show 7:30 (www.bayareagenerations.com)
  • Litquake and Green Apple Books present "The Epicenter," the San Francisco launch of Katherine Taylor's novel, Valley Fever, on the lives that revolve around wine-grapes, featuring a conversation between the author and Berkeleyside online magazine's co-founder Frances Dinkelspiel, whose forthcoming book, Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obession and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California, covers the same stomping grounds, Viracocha, 998 Valencia Street, San Francisco, $10-$15, 7:00 (www.litquake.org)

23 JUNE 2015 — tuesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Richard Wolinsky, host of the KPFA radio show Bookwaves, in an onstage conversation with novelist T. Geronimo Johnson about Welcome to Braggsville, Pegasus Books on Solano, 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (www.pegasusbookstore.com)
    NORTH:
  • Sugartown Publishing presents Four 'Activist' Poets Reading, a reading by poets from the Activist tradition, son of its founder, Lawrence Hart, and Pitt Poetry Prize-winning writer, John Hart, The Climbers, Patricia Nelson, Among the Shapes That Fold & Fly, Judith Yamamoto, At My Table, and Bonnie Thomas, Sun of the Rind, part of Marin Poetry Center's "Traveling Poetry Show," Marin City Library, 164 Donahue Street, Sausalito, 6:30 (sugartownpublishing.com)

24 JUNE 2015 — wednesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Gary Turchin, Falling Home, reads in San Francisco's oldest continuous reading series, Sacred Grounds Café, 2095 Hayes Street, San Francisco, 6:30 (sugartownpublishing)
  • Red Hen Press poetry reading features Ron Carlson, Room Service: Poems, Meditations, Outcries, and Remarks, Dean Kostos, This is Not a Skyscraper, and Amy Uyematsu, The Yellow Door, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 (www.citylights.com)
    SOUTH:
  • In Deep Radio appears live at Kepler's Books, host Angie Coiro talks to Aspen Baker Pro-Voice: How to Keep Listening When the World Wants a Fight, then collaboratoring authors David B. Feldman and Lee Daniel Kravetz, Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success, RSVP online to be part of the live studio audience, Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, 11:00 a.m. (www.keplers.com)

25 JUNE 2015 — thursday

    CENTRAL:
  • The San Francisco History Center of the San Francisco Public library in association with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library presents a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Ina Coolbrith's crowning as the first poet laureate of California, Aleta George, Ina Coolbrith: Bittersweet Song of California's First Poet Laureate, will speak about the poet, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, 6:00 (415/557-4277, sfpl.org)
  • "American Poetry in the 21st Century: A Close-Reading Group" with poet and educator Barbara Claire Freeman, Every Day But Tuesday, this is the third meeting of the reading group, space limited, RSVP to outreach@universitypressbooks.com, University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, 6:00 (510/548-0585, universitypressbooks.com)
  • Kate Walbert on her new novel, The Sunken Cathedral, about a pair of widowed immigrants who moved to New York City during World War II, an art historian, and their painting instructor, in conversation with novelist Ann Packer, Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Thursday at Readers Poetry Series presents Patti Trimble with music on hand-made instruments by Peter Whitehead, hosted by Jack Hirschman, Readers Bookstore, Fort Mason, Building C, South End, Fort Mason Center, off Marina Blvd. at Buchanan Street, San Francisco, 6:30 (415/771-1076, www.friendssfpl.org/?Events)
    NORTH:
  • Marin Poetry Center Traveling Poetry Show presents Judy Wells, The Glass Ship, Dale Jensen, Yew Nork, Latif Harris, Barter Within the Bark of Trees, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Rearrangement of the Invisible, and Charles Glaser, hosted by True Heitz, Depot Bookstore & Café, 87 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, 7:00 ( www.marinpoetrycenter.org)
    SOUTH:
  • Vendela Vida reads from her latest literary thriller, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty, Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, 7:30 (www.keplers.com)

26 JUNE 2015 — friday

    CENTRAL:
  • Kwame Alexander reads from his 2015 Newbery Award-winning novel for middle grades, fourth to seventh grades, The Crossover, about brothers whose lives revolve around basketball, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 5:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Pegasus Books Solano presents a reading by Buddhist authors Kevin Griffin, Recovering Joy: A Mindful Life After Addiction, and Tom Catton, May I Sit With You?: A Simple Approach to Meditation, followed by a reception, Pegasus Books on Solano, 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (www.pegasusbookstore.com)
  • Beatnik Shindig, San Francisco's Beat festival, has invited all of its speakers to the Pre-Party, including featured poets David Meltzer and ruth weiss; the children of Neal and Carolyn Cassady, Cathy, Jami, and Allen Cassady; Al Hinkle, friend of Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg; composer David Amram, internationally acclaimed musician featured in the 1959 film Pull My Daisy with Kerouac and Ginsberg; psychiatrist Dr. Philip Hicks who told Ginsberg in 1955 it was okay to be gay, quit his job, and write poetry; and Ryan Cassata, transgender activist/musician, a VIP event followed by an evening of celebrating open to the public, food and drink from Tony's Pizza of North Beach and Napa's Uvaggia Winery, The Beat Museum, 540 Broadway, San Francisco, $99 VIP wristband/$25 general public, event with VIP wristband: 7:00-9:00, general public: 9:00-1:00 a.m. (www.beatnikshindig.com)

27 JUNE 2015 — saturday

    CENTRAL:
  • The Beat Museum presents the Beatnik Shindig, a two-day festival of Beat Poetry and the largest Beat Generation gathering in twenty years, the day starts with "Beatnik Yoga," a real session of yoga practice, followed by continuous events, presentations, and live performances: Jerry Cimino hosts orientation to the festival; there will be an actual Hudson Car Show inspired by Neal Cassady's Hudson; Will Durst leads a comedy workshop; Jonah Raskin presents a talk on San Francisco in 1955; Hilary Holladay, Herbert Huncke and the Art of Friendship, discusses friendship; Joe Donohoe presents a talk on self publishing in 2015; Heather Dalton, Joshua Hassel, and Hina Chowdhry host a West Coast premiere screening of their film Neal Cassady, The Denver Years; Tom Swindell and Tate Swindell talk about the late poets Jack Micheline and Harold Norse; Domenic Priore talks about the Beat Generation in Los Angeles; Gerd Stern talks to Brian Hassett about not losing the Joan Anderson letter; Chris Felver presents his film Ferlinghetti; Kip Steinberg talks to Allen Ginsberg's psychiatrist, Dr. Phillip Hicks; Neeli Cherkovski leads a poetry writing workshop; Cathy, Jami, and John Cassady discuss growing up around Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac with Levi Asher; Hilary Holladay's former students, Alexandra Parker, Peter Mulcahy, Jr., Logan Hill discuss beat poetry; RE/Search editor V. Vale and Marian Wallace talk about William S. Burroughs; Ryan Cassata presents on his personal experiences and influences in Ginsberg's poetry; composer and musician David Amram gives a performance of music and talks about collaborating with Kerouac, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco, purchase tickets online, $99 for entire conference, 8:30 a.m.-9:00 (www.beatnikshindig.com)
  • Small Press Traffic presents Endless Summer, a summer kick-off with a garden party and open mic marathon, participants should sign up to read at the event by reserving a five-minute time slot and emailing a three- to five-minute video of themselves reading to SPT by Friday, June 19, buy tickets online, $20 general/$50 premium tickets to physically or virtually attend the event, San Francisco, email for exact location, noon to midnight (smallpresstraffic@gmail.com, smallpresstraffic.org)
    NORTH:
  • Karen Levy reads her memoir, My Father's Garden, about her Israeli-American childhood, Four-Eyed Frog Books, 39138 Ocean Drive, Gualala, 4:00 (www.foureyedfrog.com)
  • Solstice Readings presents Cameo Archer, Nancy Cavers Dougherty, Alethea Eason, Jayne McPherson, and Amy Trussell celebrating Midsummer with a poetry reading on nature, family, and culture, The Sitting Room, 2025 Curtis Drive, Penngrove, 2:00 (www.sittingroom.org)
    SOUTH:
  • Kepler's Books presents Mystery-Thriller Saturday: An Afternoon of Chaos, Killing, Crime, and Kidnapping @Kepler's, participating writers will be Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc series; David Corbett, The Mercy of the Night; Paul Draker, New Year Island; Seth Harwood, Altitude Adjustment; Steve Hockensmith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies; Catriona McPherson, COME TO HARM; Keith Raffel, Temple Mount; Janet Rudolph, Editor of the Mystery Readers Journal; and Terry Shames, A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge; three main events: "Face-Off: Plotters Versus Pantsers," a battle between two writers who outline and two who plunge right into their writing; "It's Not Me, Babe," about writing a character different than you; and Mystery Trivia with prizes and snacks, order tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets, Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, $10,1:00-5:00 (www.keplers.com)

28 JUNE 2015 — sunday

    CENTRAL:
  • The Beat Museum presents the Beatnik Shindig, a two-day festival of Beat Poetry and the largest Beat Generation gathering in twenty years, this day starts with "Beatnik Yoga," a real session of yoga practice, followed by continuous events, presentations, and live performances: Jerry Cimino and David Amram in conversation about poetry, jazz, and storytelling in the Beat Generation; Dennis McNally presents a talk on visual artist Wally Hedrick; Jack Hirshman talks on "The Politics of Poetry"; Nicole Henares discusses On the Road; Marc Olmsted talks about Allen Ginsberg and Buddhism; David Amram hosts and performs music at a screening of the cult 1959 film Pull My Daisy; RE/Search editor V. Vale talks about the Beat, Hippie, and Punk movements; Mary Kerr discusses San Francisco's North Beach in the 1950s; Agneta Falk talks on how to improve delivery in a poetry performance; Gerd Stern and Levi Asher discuss the early years of the Beat Generation; Brenda Knight talks about the Women of the Beat Generation; Brian Hassett presents on the Boulder '82 SuperSummit; Eric Drooker talks about his animation work for the film Howl; David Meltzer reads from his poetry; Heather Dalton, Joshua Hassell, and Hina Chowdry host a second screening of Neal Cassady: The Denver Years; ruth weiss, Doug O'Connor, Rent Romus, and Hall Davis perform live poetry and jazz, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco, purchase tickets online, $99 for entire conference, 9:00 a.m.-9:00 (www.beatnikshindig.com)
  • Writer Megan Lambert and illustrator David Hyde Costello present their children's book A Crow of His Own, about a rooster who must try to take the place of "the best rooster ever," Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 2:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
  • Poetry reading by Gloria Frym, Lewis Warsh, and Tod Thielman, La Commune worker-owned café and bookstore, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, 2:00-4:00 (www.lacommuneoakland.com)
    NORTH:
  • Poetry reading by Doreen Stock, In Place of Me, and poet and translator Stephen Kessler, Where Was I?, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 7:00 (www.bookpassage.com)

29 JUNE 2015 — monday

30 JUNE 2015 — tuesday

    CENTRAL:
  • Pegasus Books Solano presents story time for adults in a celebration of SF Pride month and LGBTQI writing, featuring guest reader Nia King, Queer and Trans Artists of Color, Pegasus Books on Solano, 1855 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (www.pegasusbookstore.com)
  • Tara Austen Waever reads from her memoir Orchard House: How a Neglected Garden Taught One Family to Grow, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, 7:30 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
    SOUTH:
  • Karen Joy Fowler reads from her new book of short fiction, black glass, with Meg Waite Clayton, Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, 7:30 (www.keplers.com)

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