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11 SEPTEMBER 2022 — sunday
- Omnidawn presents "Breaking the Bowl," a new writing course led by poet David Koehn, Scatterplot, focusing on breaking formal traditions in poetry, the course runs four weeks, September 11-October 2, and features a different special guest each week, this first week features poet Kaveh Akbar, Pilgrim Bell, sliding scale $750-$1000, online, classes are split into two sections, with section one running 11:00 am – Noon PDT, and section two running 1:00-2:00 pm PDT (Enroll here by Thursday, September 8: www.omnidawn.com/breaking-the-bowl-a-new-organic-forms-class-led-by-david-koehn)
- The Poets Corner presents a reading and conversation with poet Ellen Bass, Indigo, reading from her various collections and discussing the craft of poetry, her influences, and themes from her poems, in conversation with Meg Weston, founder of The Poets Corner, online via Zoom, free, 4:00-5:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.thepoetscorner.org/events/black-coffee-a-conversation-with-ellen-bass)
- The Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium presents a reading with Bob Gómez, first Poet Laureate of Watsonville, and poet and activist Victoria Bañales, online via Zoom, free, 2:00 pm PDT (To receive the Zoom link, email: jfellguth@sbcglobal.net)
- 41st Annual Northern California Book Awards, honoring the published works and authors of Northern California, as well as California translators state-wide. FRED CODY AWARD: Isabel Allende, accepting by video. RECOGNITION and GROUNDBREAKER AWARDS to ZYZZYVA literary journal and Mule Kick Blues, Michael McClure, edited by Garrett Caples; Nominees: POETRY: Derrick Austin (Tenderness), Ari Banias (A Symmetry), Mai Der Vang (Yellow Rain), Benjamin Gucciardi (West Portal), Amanda Moore (Requeening), Erin Rodoni (And if the Woods Carry You); FICTION: Chang-rae Lee (My Year Abroad), Tom Lin (The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu), Keenan Norris (The Confession of Copeland Cane), Claire Oshetsky (Chouette), and Shruti Swamy (The Archer); CREATIVE NONFICTION: LaDoris Hazzard Cordell (Her Honor: My Life on the Bench…What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It), Joan Steinau Lester (Loving before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White), Joshua Mohr (Model Citizen), Shugri Said Salh (The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert), and Liz Tichenor (The Night Lake: A Young Priest Maps the Topography of Grief); GENERAL NONFICTION: Cynthia L. Haven (Czeslaw Milosz: A California Life), Michael Lewis (The Premonition: A Pandemic Story), Michael Pollan (This Is Your Mind on Plants), Rebecca Solnit (Orwell's Roses), and David Talbot and Margaret Talbot (By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution); CALIFORNIA TRANSLATION IN POETRY: Maria Baranda, edited and partially translated by Paul Hoover (The New World Written: Selected Poems), Shang Qin, translated by John Balcom (The All-Seeing Eye: Collected Poems by Shang Qin(), and Blanca Varela, translated by Lisa Allen Ortiz and Sara Daniele Rivera (The Blinding Star); CALIFORNIA TRANSLATION IN PROSE: Beatriz Bracher, translated by Adam Morris (Antonio), Wendy Guerra, translated by Achy Obejas (I Was Never the First Lady), and José Emilio Pacheco, translated by Katherine Silver (Battles in the Desert); CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, YOUNGER READERS: Mac Barnett (What Is Love?), Mitali Perkins (Home Is in Between), and Elizabeth Shreeve (Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas); MIDDLE GRADE: Jennifer L. Holm (The Lion of Mars), Aimee Lucido (Recipe for Disaster), and Shanthi Sekaran (The Samosa Rebellion); YOUNG ADULT: Stacey Lee (Luck of the Titanic), Anna-Marie McLemore (The Mirror Season), and Tess Sharpe (The Girls I've Been), bookselling by Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore follows, in-person, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, poetryflash.org/programs/?p=ncba_2022 or https://sfpl.org/events)
12 SEPTEMBER 2022 — monday
- Skylight Books presents short fiction writer Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, discussing her new book, What We Fed to the Manticore, a collection of nine vivid stories narrated from animal perspectives, in conversation with novelist Melissa Chadburn, A Tiny Upward Shove, in-person, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-talia-lakshmi-kolluri-presents-what-we-fed-manticore-melissa-chadburn)
13 SEPTEMBER 2022 — tuesday
- Skylight Books presents novelist and short story writer T.C. Boyle, Drop City, finalist for the 2003 National Book Award, reading from and discussing his new collection, I Walk Between the Raindrops: Stories, in-person, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tc-boyle-presents-i-walk-between-raindrops)
- Coastside Poetry presents a reading by Berkeley poet David Rosenthal, The Wild Geography of Misplaced Things, followed by an open mic, up to twenty readers, three-minutes per reader, online via Zoom, free, 6:00-8:00 pm PDT (RSVP to attend: coastsidepoetry.org)
- Cobalt Poets presents a poetry reading featuring former ballet dancer, poet, and artist Eike Waltz, with open mic to follow, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
- Arion Press presents the next installment of the Kirkpatrick Speaker Series, with a conversation between novelist Tobias Wolff, The Barracks Thief, Our Story Begins, winner of The Story Prize in 2008, and his son, musician Patrick Wolff, moderated by Robert Mailer Anderson, with musical performance to close out the evening by Patrick Wolff and members of his jazz trio, bassist Marcus Shelby and drummer Hamir Atwal, Arion Press and Grabhorn Institute, 1802 Hayes Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.eventbrite.com/e/kirkpatrick-speaker-series-tobias-wolff-and-patrick-wolff-tickets-396866487347)
14 SEPTEMBER 2022 — wednesday
- Women's National Book Association presents a virtual poetry reading and discussion on themes of social justice, featuring award-winning activist poets Joan Gelfand, Extreme, Judy Juanita, Virgin Soul, and Andrena Zawinski, Born Under the Influence, free, online, 5:00 pm PDT (RSVP to attend: wnba-sfchapter.org/social-justice-poetry)
- Kearny Street Workshop presents Iris A. Law, Periodicity, Swati Rana, Race Characters, Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Notes from the Birth Year, C.E. Shue, Ann Inoshita, and Dena Igusti, in celebration of the publication of They Rise Like a Wave a new anthology of Asian American poetry, online, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.eventbrite.com/e/they-rise-like-a-wave-book-launch-and-celebration-tickets-410039237397)
- City Lights Books celebrates the publication of Get the Money!: Collected Prose (1961-1983), by Ted Berrigan (1934-1983), a significant poet in the second-generation New York School, with an online launch party and reading; this collection draws on his numerous essays, reviews, introductions, and other writings he produced for hire as he supported his own work as a poet; also reading are Edmund Berrigan, More Gone, Anselm Berrigan, Come In Alone, Alice Notley, Grave of Light: New and Selected Poems 1970-2005, all poets and family of Ted Berrigan, as well as poet Nick Sturm, online via Zoom, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: citylights.com/events)
- Point Reyes Books presents poet Jenny Xie, Eye Level, winner of the Walt Whitman Award, reading and discussing her new collection, The Rupture Tense, in conversation with poet and translator Forrest Gander, Be With, online, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/jenny-xie-and-forrest-gander)
15 SEPTEMBER 2022 — thursday
- City Lights Books presents poets Jody Gladding, I entered without words, and Tawanda Mulalu, Please make me pretty, I don't want to die, reading from new collections, both published by Princeton University Press, online via Zoom, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: citylights.com/events)
- The Poetry Night Reading Series presents Mischa Kuczynski, finalist for the 2009 Ruth Lily Poetry Fellowship, and Jordan Karnes, More Silver Than Gold, hosted by Dr. Andy Jones, Poet Laureate emeritus of the City of Davis, on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street, Davis, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.natsoulas.com/poetry-night)
- The Poetry Center presents a solo reading and conversation with Simon J. Ortiz, poet, short fiction writer, storyteller, and documentary filmmaker, significant Indigenous voice and tribal member of the Acoma Pueblo Nation in New Mexico, author of Woven Stone, Beyond the Reach of Time and Change, and the forthcoming Light as Light, The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, free, 1:00-2:30 pm PDT (More information here: poetry.sfsu.edu/simon-ortiz-solo-reading-and-conversation)
16 SEPTEMBER 2022 — friday
- Skylight Books presents short story writer Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi, finalist for the 2009 PEN/Studzinski Award, reading from and discussing her new book, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories, a series of interconnected stories of four fearless Nigerian women, in-person, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-omolola-ijeoma-ogunyemi-presents-jollof-rice-and-other-revolutions)
- Green Apple Books presents poet and essayist Lubna Safi, celebrating her debut collection, Your Blue and the Quiet Lament, joined by poet Nathalie Khankan, Quiet Orient Riot, recipient of the 2021 California Book Award in poetry, in-person, Green Apple, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-lubna-safi-nathalie-khankan)
17 SEPTEMBER 2022 — saturday
- Celebrate the launch of the Fall 2022 issue of Catamaran, with featured readings by contributors Brady Alexander, Michelle Bitting, Julia Ciapella, Emily Coletta, Gail Entrekin, Lisa Francesca, Frank Galuszka, Julia Levine, Diane McGee, and Andy Ollove; the reading will be followed by an art gallery viewing, showcasing works from the magazine, R. Blitzer Gallery, 2801 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, free, 5:00 pm PDT author reception begins, 5:30 pm readings begin (More information here: catamaranliteraryreader.com/events-2022/fallissuelaunch)
- Babylon Salon presents a reading featuring fiction writer and journalist Charlie Jane Anders, Victories Greater Than Death, novelist Vanessa Hua, Forbidden City, novelist Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, novelist Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You, and playwright Zoe Olivia Young, co-presented with The Booksmith, outdoors at The Sycamore, 2140 Mission Street, San Francisco, free, 5:30 pm PDT (More information here: www.booksmith.com/event/babylon-salon-fall-2022)
- Great weather for MEDIA celebrates the publication of Arriving at a Shoreline, their new anthology of poetry and short fiction, featuring readings by contributors Roger Aplon, S.K. Azzara, M.A. Dennis, Lil DeThomas, Tobey Hiller, Richard Loranger, Violeta Orozco, Aimee Wright Clow, and Yvonne, hosted by Mary McLaughlin Slechta, online, free, 4:00-5:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.eventbrite.com/e/arriving-at-a-shoreline-book-celebration-1-tickets-410541940997)
- Medicine for Nightmares presents a reading and conversation with poet and storyteller Simon J. Ortiz, Woven Stone, and poet Jennifer Elise Foerster, The Maybe Bird, sponsored by The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 3:00-4:30 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
- Beyond Baroque presents a reading to celebrate the launch of Interstellar Theme Park, a new collection by poet and musician Jack Skelley, also reading are poet Amy Gerstler, Index of Women, and short story writer and artist Benjamin Weissman, Headless, in-person, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach, Los Angeles, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html)
- Point Reyes Books presents Javier Zamora, Unaccompanied, winner of the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, discussing his much-anticipated memoir, Solito, an unforgettable story about his migration from El Salvador to the United States, a three-thousand-mile journey he undertook at the age of nine to reunite with his parents, in person, Dance Palace, 503 B St, Point Reyes Station, free, donations welcome, 4:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/javier-zamora)
18 SEPTEMBER 2022 — sunday
- The Desert Split Open Mic celebrates Banned Books Week with an open reading, rather than sharing original work, readers are invited to share excerpts from books that have been challenged or banned, six-minutes per reader, Space Cowboy Books, 61871 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree, free, 5:00-7:00 pm PDT (More information here: susanrukeyser.com/the-desert-split-open)
- Omnidawn presents "Breaking the Bowl," a new writing course led by poet David Koehn, Scatterplot, focusing on breaking formal traditions in poetry, the course runs four weeks, September 11- October 2, and features a different special guest each week, this second week features poet and translator Maria Nazos, Still Life, sliding scale $750-$1000, online, classes are split into two sections, with section one running 11:00 am-Noon PDT and section two running 1:00-2:00 pm PDT (Enroll here by Thursday, September 8: www.omnidawn.com/breaking-the-bowl-a-new-organic-forms-class-led-by-david-koehn)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk 2022 - 11:00 am PDT, Hotel Petaluma, 205 Kentucky Street: Sixteen Rivers Press celebration kicks off the Walk with Terry Ehret, Night Sky Journey, Nancy Morales, Patrick Cahill, Eliot Schain, Westering Angels, and Dane Cervine, Earth is a Fickle Dancer; new spring releases launched here: Plagios/Plagiarisms, Volume Two, by celebrated Mexican poet Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon, (1928-2009), translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy Morales, The Machinery of Sleep by Patrick Cahill, The Distant Sound by Eliot Schain, and The World is God's Language, by Dane Cervine; Noon PDT, Artaluma, 145 Keller Street: Jack Crimmins, Sonoma County Poet Laureate Elizabeth Herron, David Rollison; 1:00 pm PDT, Life On Earth Art, 8 Fourth Street: Nancy Cavers Dougherty, Phyllis Meshulam, Cathryn Shea; 2:00 pm PDT, Helen Putman Plaza: Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar; 3:00 pm PDT, 140 Kentucky Street: Avotcja, David Madgalene, Stephen Meadows; 4:00 pm PDT, Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Geri Digiorno, Sonoma County Poet Laureate emerita and founder of the Petaluma Poetry Walk, presenting poems about Geri from poet-friends and colleagues, surprises from her daughter Michelle Baynes; 5:00 pm PDT, Petaluma Historical Museum, 20 Fourth Street: Sandra Anfang, Raphael Block, Joyce Jenkins; 6:00-8:00 pm PDT, Aqus Café, Foundry Wharf, 189 H Street (this location is the farthest, you might want a ride for this venue): Anthology Reading from The Freedom of New Beginnings, Poems of Witness and Vision from Sonoma County, California, edited by Phyllis Meshulam, with Gail King, Gwynn O'Gara, and Terry Ehret, with contributors to the anthology, including Jon Jackson, Sherrie Lovler, J.D. Langdon, Alexandra Ellen Appel, Maureen Hurley, Ella Wen, Steve Trenam, Rebecca Patrascu, Sandra Anfang, Jodi Hottel, Donna Emerson, Michael Sheffield, Phyllis Meshulam, and Abby Bogolmony; all in walking distance across Petaluma, all free, 11:00 am PDT to 8:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.petalumapoetrywalk.org)
- Book Passage presents award-winning novelist Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, The Revisioners, winner of the 2020 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, discussing her new book, On the Rooftop, a powerful story about a mother's drive for musical stardom and the clash with her daughters' dreams of their own lives, set in 1950s San Francisco, in conversation with novelist R.O. Kwon, The Incendiaries, in person, Book Passage, 51 Tama Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, free, 4:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.bookpassage.com/event/margaret-wilkerson-sexton-ro-kwon-rooftop-corte-madera-store)
19 SEPTEMBER 2022 — monday
- Mrs. Dalloway's presents poet, essayist, and artist Sandra Cisneros, recipient of the Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature and the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, among others, reading from her new book, Woman Without Shame, her first poetry collection in twenty-eight years, in conversation with Reyna Grande, author of the best-selling memoir, The Distance Between Us, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free, 7:00-8:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.mrsdalloways.com/events/sandra-cisneros-reading-her-new-poetry-collection)
20 SEPTEMBER 2022 — tuesday
- Cobalt Poets presents a poetry reading featuring Madeline Cash, writer and runner of the Forever reading series, with open mic to follow, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
21 SEPTEMBER 2022 — wednesday
- Medicine for Nightmares presents novelist Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, silver medalist for the California Book Award for First Fiction, in a special bilingual reading of her new memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, in conversation with Nancy Garcia Jimenez, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore and Gallery, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
- Book Passage presents award-winning novelist Yiyun Li, Must I Go, discussing her new book, The Book of Goose, a story of intimacy and obsession, from rural France to an English boarding school to Pennsylvania, in conversation with novelist Garth Greenwell, What Belongs to You, winner of the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, online, free, 5:30 pm PDT (RSVP to attend: www.bookpassage.com/event/yiyun-li-garth-greenwell-book-goose-online-event)
- Skylight Books presents sociologist and author Anthony Christian Ocampo, discussing his new book, Brown and Gay in L.A.: The Lives of Immigrant Sons, an homage to second-generation gay men who redefined what it means to be gay and to be a person of color in predominately white gay spaces, in conversation with Traci Thomas, creator of the acclaimed podcast The Stacks, in-person, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-anthony-christian-ocampo-presents-brown-and-gay-la-traci-thomas)
- The Green Arcade presents a reading by poets Aaron Shurin, The Blue Absolute, and Robert Glück, Reader, both celebrating their seventy-fifth birthdays, co-presented with The Poetry Center at SF State, McRoskey Mattress Co., 1687 Market Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (More information here: thegreenarcade.com)
22 SEPTEMBER 2022 — thursday
- Green Apple presents short story writer Jocelyn Nicole Johnson discussing her new collection, My Monticello, six stories exploring the burdens of displacement and living in a world that is at once home and not, in conversation with novelist Carolina de Robertis, Cantoras, winner of a Stonewall Book Award, Green Apple Books, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-angie-cruz-ingrid-rojas-contreras)
- Lyrics & Dirges presents a special bilingual reading by the writing collective Las Chingonas, featuring poets Aideed Medina, Violeta Orozco, El cuarto de la luna, Susana Praver-Pérez, Hurricanes, Love Affairs, and Other Disasters, Yaccaira Salvatierra, and Carla Schick, hosted by poets Sharon Coleman and MK Chavez, online via Zoom, free, 7:00-8:00 pm PDT (RSVP to attend: www.facebook.com/lyricsdirges)
- Grand Piano TV presents a series of live readings and performances, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the final volume of The Grand Piano: An Experiment in Collective Autobiography/San Francisco 1975-1980, a series of autobiographical writings centered on ten Bay Area poets, this week features poet Rae Armantrout, Versed, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, online via Zoom, free, 5:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsceyrrDwrEtHr06pb8qItOsP9H6jP2mvq)
23 SEPTEMBER 2022 — friday
24 SEPTEMBER 2022 — saturday
- Backyards: Poets for Local Change reading featuring Rhony Bhopla, Susana Praver-Pérez, Hurricanes, Love Affairs, and Other Disasters, winner of the 2022 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, Kelliane Parker, Down the Foggy Streets of My Mind, Georgina Marie Guardado, The Length of Trauma Covets, Lara Gularte, Kissing the Bee, and Youssef Alaoui, Death at Sea/em>, curated and hosted by poet Sharon Coleman, part of the 100,000 Poets for Change annual worldwide reading, online via Zoom, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.facebook.com/events/1196639864234933/?ref=newsfeed)
- Green Apple Books presents the latest reading of Books on the Garden, Wildflowers and Wildfires: Poetry, featuring Bay Area poets James Cagney, Martian: The Saint of Loneliness, winner of the 2021 James Laughlin Award, Jennifer S. Cheng, House A, winner of the Omnidawn Poetry Prize, Amanda Moore, Requeening, Christine No, and Preeti Vangani, Mother Tongue Apologize, with musical performance by C.W. Danzig, books by featured poets will be available for purchase, San Francisco Botanical Garden, 1199 9th Avenue, San Francisco, free, 1:00-2:30 pm PDT (More information here: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/offsite-books-garden-wildflowers-and-wildfires-poetry-reading)
- 29th Dancing Poetry Festival, a celebration of dance and poetry as a unified art form, featuring Natica and Richard Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company, the Artists Embassy International Gold Seal Book Award for River of Stars, Poet's of the Vineyards Anthology, edited by Judy Hardin Cheung, awarded poets reading from their work, including Abbie Johnson Taylor, Dad Fats, and Me, Jabez Churchill, El Verbo Entregarse, James Tweedie, Tango, and more, along with many more dancing poetry showcases, presented by Artists Embassy International, online, Noon PDT (RSVP to attend: www.dancingpoetry.com)
- Fourth Saturdays presents a reading by poets Elline Lipkin, The Errant Thread, winner of the Kore Press Book Award, and Jose Hernandez Diaz, The Fire Eater, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT
- Celebrate the book release of two Bay Area writers, Julian Mithra, Unearthingly from Kernpunkt Press, and Steve Arntson, Gypsy and Other Poems from Last Laugh Productions, followed by an open mic reading, hosted by Richard Loranger and Paul Corman-Roberts, outdoors next to the Berkeley Art Center at Live Oak Picnic Area #2, across Walnut Street from the main section of the park, free, Noon-4:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.facebook.com/events/821178658919914/?source=6&ref_notif_type=plan_user_invited&action_history=null)
- Poets in Conversation presents a reading and discussion with Connie Post, Prime Meridian, finalist for the American Fiction Awards, and Janine Certo, Elixir, winner of the New American Poetry Prize and the Lauria/Frasca Poetry Prize, online via Zoom, free, 4:00-5:30 pm PDT (More information here: phyllispoetry.com)
- "Catastrophic Molting," an experiential performance of poetry, music, movement, and communion, based on the poetry collection of the same name by writer and editor Amy Shimshon-Santo, featuring performances by Robin Sukhadia, Amen Santo, Valecia Phillips, Alixx Lucas, Jenise Miller, Bruria, and Yonatan Perry, with a Q&A with Trifari White, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, 12453 Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, $25, ticket includes a signed copy of the book, no one turned away for lack of funds, 7:30-10:00 pm PDT (Purchase tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/amys-book-birth-catastrophic-molting-tickets-409637856857)
25 SEPTEMBER 2022 — sunday
- The Benicia Literary Arts presents a reading from the publication Yearning to Breathe Free: A Community Journal of 2020, featuring poets Jerry Bolick, Peter Bray, Johanna Ely, Carol Gieg, Brandon Greene, Galen Kusic, Ramona Lappier, Aqueila Lewis-Ross, Katrina Monroe, Deborah Morrison, James Quinn, Deborah Schmidt, Nina Serrano, Sherry Sheehan, Tom Stanton, Roger Straw, Diana Tenes, and Becky Bishop White, followed by a conversation on the impact of the pandemic and social distancing and the power of poetry to strengthen communities and confront challenges in our society and the world, online via Zoom, free, 3:00-5:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.benicialiteraryarts.org)
- Omnidawn presents "Breaking the Bowl," a new writing course led by poet David Koehn, Scatterplot, focusing on breaking formal traditions in poetry, the course runs four weeks, September 11-October 2, and features a different special guest each week, this week features Annie Finch, recipient of the Robert Fitzgerald Award and author of Calendars, among other titles, sliding scale $750-$1000, online, classes are split into two sections, with section one running 11:00 am-Noon PDT and section two running 1:00-2:00 pm PDT (Enroll here by Thursday, September 8: www.omnidawn.com/breaking-the-bowl-a-new-organic-forms-class-led-by-david-koehn)
- Rebecca Giblin, Director of the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, and Cory Doctorow, science fiction writer and activist, discussing their new book, Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We'll Win Them Back, in conversation with security journalist Joseph Menn, San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 2:00-3:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: sfpl.org/events/2022/09/25/author-rebecca-giblin-and-cory-doctorow-moderated-joseph-menn)
26 SEPTEMBER 2022 — monday
- City Lights Books presents poet Hafizah Augustus Geter, Un-American, finalist for the NAACP Image Award and PEN Open Book Award, discussing her new memoir, The Black Period: On Personhood, Race, and Origin, a groundbreaking account of the poet's origin story as the queer daughter of a Muslim Nigerian immigrant and a Black American artist, in conversation with essayist and novelist Kiese Laymon, Heavy: An American Memoir, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, online via Zoom, free, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: citylights.com/events/hafizah-augustus-geter)
27 SEPTEMBER 2022 — tuesday
- City Lights Books presents Julian Aguon, Chamorro human rights lawyer and founder of Blue Ocean Law, discussing his new book, No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay, part memoir, part manifesto, weaving together indigenous rights and environmental justice, in conversation with feminist writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me, in person, Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Café, between Columbus and Grant Avenues, San Francisco, free, 6:00 pm PDT (More information here: citylights.com/events)
- Medicine for Nightmares presents a double poetry book launch, featuring readings by Tiff Dressen and Alex Mattraw reading from their new collections, Of Mineral and Raw Anyone, respectively, Medicine for Nightmares Boookstore and Gallery, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
- Left Margin Lit presents "Next Level: Advanced Poetry Workshop," led by poet David Roderick, Blue Colonial, winner of the APR/Honickman Prize, this is a graduate-style workshop focused on discussing your poems, enrollment is limited to eight people, runs six weeks, September 27-November 8, no class on October 4, $495, in-person, Left Margin Lit, 1543 Shattuck Avenue, Suite B, Berkeley, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (Enroll here: www.leftmarginlit.org/next-level-advanced-poetry-2)
- Poetic License Sonoma presents a poetry reading featuring the eight poets Joseph Cutler, Susanne Arrhenius, Paul DeMarco, Leo McCloskey, Steve Trenam, Judith Vaughn, Jaime Zukowski, and Kusum Irene Jain, with special guest poet Sande Anfang, host of the Rivertown Poets monthly reading series and author of Xylem Highway, with guest student poet Dirk Dunning; the reading will explore the theme "Equinox," part of the Fourth Tuesday Zoom Poetry Series hosted by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 South High Street, Sebastopol, $5/donations welcome, 7:00-8:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.sebarts.org/classeslectures/p/poetic-license-sonoma-sandra-anfang)
- Cobalt Poets presents a reading featuring poet and spoken word artist Zomkhonto, with open mic to follow, free, online via Zoom, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
28 SEPTEMBER 2022 — wednesday
- Skylight Books presents poet Taneum Bambrick, Vantage, winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Award, discussing her new collection, Intimacies, Received, in conversation with poet Dorothy Chan, Babe, forthcoming from Diode Editions, in-person, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-taneum-bambrick-presents-intimacies-received-dorothy-chan)
29 SEPTEMBER 2022 — thursday
- The Booksmith presents artist and graphic designer George McCalman, discussing his debut book, Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and Unseen, a stunning collection of 145 portraits of Black heroes and icons throughout America's history, with short biographies about their contributions to activism, science, politics, medicine, entertainment, the arts, and more, The Booksmith, 1727 Haight Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.booksmith.com/event/george-mccalman)
- Writers Read Ukiah presents a reading featuring former Ukiah Poet Laureate Linda Noel, Red Indian Road West, followed by an open mic, six minutes per reader, Grace Hudson Museum, 431 South Main Street, Ukiah, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/new-events)
- The Center for Literary Arts of San Jose presents a reading by acclaimed poet and novelist Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Whiting Award, and others, Hammer Theatre Center, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose, tickets range from $45-$75 and a include signed copy of Vuong's best-selling collection Time is a Mother, 7:00 pm PDT (Purchase tickets here: www.clasanjose.org/ocean-vuong)
30 SEPTEMBER 2022 — friday
- Green Apple presents novelist Angie Cruz, Dominicana, finalist for the Women's Prize, discussing her new book, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, in conversation with Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, Green Apple Books, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-angie-cruz-ingrid-rojas-contreras)
- Point Reyes Books presents poets Jody Gladding and Tawanda Mulalu, reading from and discussing their new collections, I Entered Without Words and Please make me pretty, I don't want to die, respectively, the latest publications in the Princeton Contemporary Poets series, online, free, Noon PDT (Register to attend: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/jody-gladding-and-tawanda-mulalu)
- Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center presents "True Tales of Family," a reading that explores family history and conflict from the perspectives of five Latin American authors, featuring memoirist Juanita Mantz, Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender, or how I became a punk rock lawyer, nonfiction writer Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, Late Bloomer, poet Cecilia Caballero, short story writer Pat Alderete, Ghost and the Spirit, and poet Allison Hedge Coke, Look at This Blue, followed by a Q&A, in-person, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach, Los Angeles, free, 8:00-10:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html)
- Bookshop Santa Cruz presents best-selling author Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, celebrating the release of her new book, Woman Without Shame, her first collection of poems in twenty-eight years, co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz and the Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz, at Cowell Ranch Historic Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, $33, ticket includes a copy of the book, 7:00 pm PDT (Purchase tickets here: www.bookshopsantacruz.com/sandra-cisneros-2022)
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