
Elena Karina Byrne
Elena Karina Byrne and Gail Wronsky
9 DECEMBER 2021 — thursday
Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading by Elena Karina Byrne, If This Makes You Nervous, and Gail Wronsky, Under the Capsized Boat We Fly: New & Selected Poems, online via Zoom, free, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link to join the reading)
Please join us for a Poetry Flash virtual reading on Thursday, December 9 at 7:00 pm PST! We are excited to bring you this compelling reading via Zoom. To register for this reading, please click on the link in the calendar listing above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event. Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series during these unprecedented times.
This reading is co-sponsored by Moe's Books in Berkeley; the featured books are available at bookshop.org/lists/poetry-flash-readings.
MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Elena Karina Byrne's new book is If This Makes You Nervous, a book of lyric poetry that responds to works of art. Molly Bendall says, "In this original and beguiling collection, Byrne offers us her private gallery and guides us through episodes of her life, revealing to us not only how works of art have instructed and nurtured her, but also how her life became imprinted on the art." A Pushcart Prize recipient, her previous books include No, Don't, Squander, MASQUE, and The Flammable Bird. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, Kyoto Journal, Verse Daily, Poetry International, Plume, Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, Kenyon Review, Narrative, Volt, TriQuarterly, and BOMB. She's currently writing screenplays, short stories, and completing a collection of hybrid essays entitled "Voyeur Hour: Poetry, Art, Film, & Desire." Former Regional Director of the Poetry Society of America, Elena Karina Byrne is a freelance editor and lecturer, Programming Consultant & Stage Manager for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, poetry programs curator for the Craft Contemporary Museum, and literary programs director for The Ruskin Art Club.
Gail Wronsky's new book is Under the Capsized Boat We Fly: New & Selected Poems David St. John says, "Gail Wronsky is an astonishing poet whose work I've turned to for more than twenty-five years to find the most deeply compassionate, artistically complex and intellectually astute poetry being written in this country. She is a literary revisionist of the most exquisite order, reconstructing the poetic canon, challenging the historical conventions of poetry and striking urgent, lyric chords of female empowerment. …With this book she takes her rightful place among the most celebrated of American poets." Her previous poetry collections include Imperfect Pastorals, Poems for Infidels, and Dying for Beauty (finalist for the Western Arts Federation Poetry Prize). She is the translator of Argentinean poet Alicia Partnoy's book Fuegos Florales/Flowering Fires, winner of the American Poetry Prize from Settlement House Press. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Boston Review, Antioch Review, Poetry International, and Volt. Her work has appeared in anthologies, including Poets Against War, The Black Body, In Possession of Shakespeare, The Poet's Child, and Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles.


Daily Listings
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8 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday
- City Lights presents Alan Chong Lau, Seattle poet, painter, and arts editor, and Russell C. Leong, recipient of an American Book Award and PEN Josephine Miles Award, celebrating Alan Chong Lau's new book, This Single Road: Postcards and Notebooks from Kyoto, and Russell C. Leong's new book Moth Sutra: For Bicycle Delivery Men, New York City, an illustrated graphic poetry portfolio honoring migrant bicycle delivery workers in Manhattan's Chinatown, City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, and online via Zoom, free, 7:00 pm (Registration required for online attendance: citylights.com/events/alan-chong-lau-and-russel-leong)
9 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday
10 SEPTEMBER 2026 — thursday
- City Lights presents Jon Else, documentary filmmaker, Professor Emeritus at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, MacArthur Fellow, two-time Oscar nominee and five-time Emmy winner, producer and director of the first film about J. Robert Oppenheimer (The Day After Trinity), celebrating his new book, Frenchman Flat: The Rise and Fall of Atomic Bombs, in-person at City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, and online via Zoom, free, 7:00 pm (Registration required for online attendance: citylights.com/events/jon-else)
- Et Al and Litmus Press present a 25th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit for Litmus Press, honoring poet and visual artist Norma Cole, with readings by Tonya M. Foster, Aja Couchois Duncan, Norman Fischer, Camille Roy, and Syd Staiti, Et Al Gallery, 2831A Mission Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 pm (etaletc.com/events)
11 SEPTEMBER 2026 — friday
- Et Al Gallery presents Street Poets Publish Books, a poetry reading featuring Sarah Menefee, Monolith, Bridget Clancy, Charlie Getter, and Martin Hickel, open mic to follow, Et Al Gallery, 2831A Mission Street, San Francisco, free, 5:30 pm-7:30 pm (etaletc.com/events)
12 SEPTEMBER 2026 — saturday
- Sixteen Rivers Press presents a poetry reading by Molly Fisk, Walking Wheel, Inaugural Poet Laureate emerita of Nevada County, and Susan Kelly-DeWitt, Frangible Operas, former Wallace Stegner fellow, Camille Norton will introduce, Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley, free, 3:00 pm (sixteenrivers.org/readings-events)
13 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday
14 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday
15 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday
16 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday
17 SEPTEMBER 2026 — thursday
18 SEPTEMBER 2026 — friday
19 SEPTEMBER 2026 — saturday
- Beyond Baroque presents "What Remains: Erasure as Resistance and Reclamation," a generative writing workshop with Elina Katrin, recipient of scholarships and fellowships from Lambda Literary, the Vermont Studio Center, and Periplus, at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, Los Angeles, $95.49 general admission, $84.99 for members, 11:00 am (Tickets available: www.eventbrite.com/e/what-remains-erasure-as-resistance-and-reclamation-tickets-1996286048309?aff=ebdsoporgprofile)
- 45th annual NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS, honoring the books and authors of Northern California, as well as California translators state-wide; presentation of the Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service, the NCBA Groundbreaker Award, and the NCBA Recognition Award, presentation of awards in Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Translation In Poetry and Prose by California translators, and Children's Literature: Younger Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult; bookselling and a reception open to all in the SFPL's Latino/Hispanic Community Room follows, nominated books are selected by the Northern California Book Reviewers, event presented by Poetry Flash and the San Francisco Public Library, with our community partners Women's National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter and Mechanics' Institute Library, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free and open to the public, 2:00 pm (Check back for updates and nominee announcements, poetryflash.org/programs/?p=ncba_2026 or sfpl.org)
20 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Award-Winning Poets," with readings by Farnaz Fatemi, Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Emerita; Ellen Kombiyil, Raleigh Review's Geri Digiorno Multi-Genre Prize-winner, and Claire Drucker, 2026-2028 Sonoma County Poet Laureate, with event host Kary Hess, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, free, 2:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Found Poets in The Round," with readings by Lorrie Chang, Mahrs Emerson Schoppman, mOody bLaCk, with event host Original Giotis, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street, Petaluma, free, 1:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- The Freight presents Rumi's Caravan, an evening of spoken word with musical accompaniment in an improvised poetic conversation that meanders through moods of prayer and grief to humor and celebration, with words by poets from Rumi and Hafiz to Yeats, Rilke, Neruda, and Mary Oliver, benefitting the Middle East Children's Alliance, The Freight, 2020 Addison Street Berkeley, $30 advance, $35 at the door, 7:30 pm, doors open 7:00 pm (Tickets available: secure.thefreight.org/16039/16041-rumis-caravan-260920)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Sixteen Rivers Press Poets," with poetry readings by Dane Cervine, Lenore Myers, and Carolyn Miller, with event host Terry Ehret, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, free, 11:00 am (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Taurean Horn and Friends," with readings by Donna Emerson, Jack Crimmins, and Dr. Jeanne Powell, with event host Bill Vartnaw, founder of Taurean Horn Press and Petaluma Poetry Walk director emeritus, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, free, 4:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Tender Hearts Poets," with poetry readings by Maw Shein Win, Lourdes Figueroa, and Luisa Giulianetti, with event host Ingrid Keir, Jess Brown Design, 144 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, free, 5:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk and the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum present "Translator Poets," with readings by Pat Nolan, Adrian Arias, and Francesca Bell, with event host Jennifer Barone, The Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, 20 Fourth Street, Petaluma, free, 3:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Word Flights," with readings by Deyci Carrillo López, Wendy M. Thompson, and Cintia Santana, with event host Daedalus Howell, The Big Easy, 128 American Alley, Petaluma, free, 6:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
- Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Youth Poets," with readings by Elizabeth Foster, Nika Grajqevci, and Juno Phipps, with event host Maxine Flasher-Düzgünes, Keller Street CoWork, 140 Keller Street, Petaluma, free, Noon (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
21 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday
22 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday
23 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday
24 SEPTEMBER 2026 — thursday
25 SEPTEMBER 2026 — friday
26 SEPTEMBER 2026 — saturday
- Fourth Saturdays Poetry at the Claremont Library presents a reading by poet and essayist Maurya Simon, The Blue Bridge, and Adam O. Davis, poet and editor, Helen Renwick Library, 208 North Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm (www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html)
27 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday
28 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday
29 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday
30 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday
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