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16 APRIL 2024 — tuesday

• City Lights presents fiction writer Elwin Cotman reading from his collection Weird Black Girls: Stories; the seven speculative fiction short stories in this collection explore the anxieties of living while Black, City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 to 8:00 pm PDT (For more information: citylights.com/events/elwin-cotman)
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17 APRIL 2024 — wednesday

• Medicine for Nightmares presents The Last Supper Party, a monthly spoken word and music series curated by Kimi Sugioka, featuring Ryan Nanako, I Am Minor, Lia Le-Nguyen, and Katherine Park, followed by an open mic, Medicine for Nightmares, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (RSVP to attend: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
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• The Holloway Series presents a reading by poet Tim Wood, Otherwise Known as Home, Maude Fife Room, 315 Wheeler Hall, Berkeley, free, 5:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: events.berkeley.edu/english/event/237723-holloway-poetry-series-tim-wood)
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18 APRIL 2024 — thursday

• City Lights presents award-winning author Ana Raquel Miniana as she discusses her new book,In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States; this work of narrative history follows the lives of four migrants: a Central American asylum seeker, a Cuban exile, a European war bride, and a Chinese refugee, as they leave their home countries and make a life for themselves in America, City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 to 9:00 pm PDT (For more information: citylights.com/events/ana-raquel-minian)
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• Center for Literary Arts presents Leila Mottley reading from her latest books, Nightcrawling, a novel, winner of the Northern California Book Award, and Poems for Reckoning Day, Hammer Theatre, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose, free, 7:00 pm PDT (Reserve tickets: hammertheatre.vbotickets.com)
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• Copperfield's Books welcomes fiction writer and poet Michael Ondaatje in celebration of his new book of poetry, A Year of Last Things: Poems, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm PDT (For tickets, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/michael-ondaatje-tickets-824379038897?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)
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• San Francisco Public Library presents Morton Paley, Emeritus Professor English at University of California, Berkeley, discussing William Blake's illustrated Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A, Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00-7:30 pm PDT (More information here: sfpl.org/events/2024/04/14/performance-roots-and-resonance-poetry-reading-monica-mody-and-sophia-naz)
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• Medicine for Nightmares presents Speaking Axolotl, a monthly Latinx/Chicanx reading series every third Thursday of the month, hosted by poet Josiah Luis Alderete, Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos, featuring Xavi Burgos and Elvira Prieto, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
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19 APRIL 2024 — friday

• City Arts and Lectures welcomes young adult fiction novelist Leigh Bardugo, author of the Shadow and BoneNinth House series, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $36, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/leigh-bardugo)
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• Los Angeles Times Festival of Books presents the 44th annual LA Times Book Prizes, University of Southern California campus, Bovard Auditorium, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, limited public tickets are available, $20/VIP $75, 7:00 pm PDT (Tickets: events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes)
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• The Poetry Center presents the Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series, featuring poet and filmmaker Safaa Fathy, who will showcase her work in both poetry and film, as well as engage in conversation with the audience; Fathy is the author of Where Not to Be Born and Revolution Goes Through Walls, both recently translated from Arabic to English, Artists Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-9:00 pm PDT (More information here: poetry.sfsu.edu)
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20 APRIL 2024 — saturday

• Medicine for Nightmares presents Ajay Singh Chaudhary, political theorist and executive director of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, discussing his new book, The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World, in conversation with Daniel Aldana Cohen, A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal, Medicine for Nightmare Bookstore, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 7:30-9:30 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
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• LA Times Festival of Books in partnership with Skylight Books presents a special Ideas Exchange event with RuPaul in celebration of the release of his memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, University of Southern Callifornia campus, Bovard Auditorium, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, $35-$75, 12:30 pm PDT (To purchase tickets, visit: www.tixr.com/groups/latimesfob/events/festival-of-books-rupaul-ideas-exchange-94506)
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• This workshop, "Less is More! Writing Micro Fiction," taught by flash fiction writer and children's book author Britta Stromeyer Esmail, will teach you how to compact narratives, refine prose, hone editing skills, and help you find literary journals that accept flash fiction, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, $80, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.bookpassage.com/event/less-more-writing-micro-fiction-britta-stromeyer-esmail)
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21 APRIL 2024 — sunday

• Alta (1942-2024), legendary Berkeley poet, prose writer, and publisher, passed on March 10; she is best known as the founder of the feminist press Shameless Hussy Press and editor of the Shameless Hussy Review; her 1980 collection The Shameless Hussy won the American Book Award in 1981; her memorial will take place at the Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, Noon PDT
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• This two-day workshop, "Building a Story: Plot," is led by author Nina Schuyler, Afterword ; each session of the course will cover a different plot structure; the first session, April 14, will cover causation plot; the second session, April 21, will cover braided or episodic plot, discrete events not connected causally but loosely by imagery, theme, or something else, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, $125, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.bookpassage.com/event/nina-schuyler-building-story-plot)
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• The San Francisco Public Library presents a screening of two documentaries about renowned Beat poets Diane Di Prima and Allen Ginsberg, The Poetry Deal: A Portrait of Poet Diane Di Prima and The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A, Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 1:00-3:15 pm PDT (More information here: sfpl.org/events/2024/04/21/film-poetry-deal-life-and-times-allen-ginsberg)
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22 APRIL 2024 — monday

• Medicine for Nightmares presents a reading with four California poets, Karla Brundage, Swallowing Watermelons, Ashia Ajani, Heirloom, Kevin Dublin, Eulogy, and Arthur Kayzakian, The Book of Redacted Paintings, winner of the inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series, Medicine for Nightmare Bookstore, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, 3:30-5:30 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
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• Fresno State University's Armenian Studies Program and Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing present "Armenian Memory, Writing Across the Borders: A Reading and Talk," with Pulitzer-prize winning poet Peter Balakian, Black Dog of Fate and Ozone Journal, book signing follows, Alice Peters Auditorium, 5245 North Backer Avenue, Fresno, free, 6:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: calendar.fresnostate.edu/index.php?eID=2288)
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23 APRIL 2024 — tuesday

• Cobalt Poets an all open reading, for all poets to come and share their work or just listen to others, free, online via Zoom, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
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• City Lights and Wave Books present a reading by CA Conrad and Lisa Jarnot in celebration of Conrad's new book of poetry, Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return and Jarnot's new collection of autobiographical essays, Four Lectures, that examines what it means to be a woman in a male-centered experimental tradition, to have white privilege, and to write poetry, online via Zoom, free, 6:00 to 8:00 pm PDT (To register, visit Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/e/ca-conrad-and-lisa-jarnot-tickets-776956687367?aff=oddtdtcreator)
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24 APRIL 2024 — wednesday

• Point Reyes Books presents iconic novelist Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club, celebrating her latest book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Red Barn, 75 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station, $40, each ticket comes with a copy of the book, 7:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.ptreyesbooks.com/events)
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• City Lights, ALTA Journal, and Heyday Books celebrate the publication of Greg Sarris's new short story collection, The Forgetters, and the paperback release of his memoir in essays, Becoming Story: A Journey Among Seasons, Places, Trees, and Ancestors, City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 to 9:00 pm PDT (For more information: https://citylights.com/events/greg-sarris-in-conversation-with-blaise-zerega)
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25 APRIL 2024 — thursday

• The Poetry Center, in conjunction with TurkxTaylor Initiative, presents "Trans Temporal Resistances," writers and artists deconstruct trans archives and architecture through text and movement, featuring performances by three local writers, Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, Rowan Powell, and Mason J., co-curated by Emji Saint Spero and Leila Weefur, Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00-8:30 pm PDT (More information here: poetry.sfsu.edu)
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• San Francisco Public Library presents a reading by Bay Area poets Dena Rod, Scattered Arils, Taneesh Kaur, Thawing: A Poetic Memoir, and Tony Aldarondo, reading from new work, hosted by San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita Kim Shuck, What Unseen Thing Blows Wishes Across My Surface?, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A, Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00-7:30 pm PDT (More information here: sfpl.org/events/2024/04/25/performance-new-poetry-books-bay-area-poets-read-recent-publications)
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• Writers Read Ukiah presents Haiku Night, featuring a presentation and reading of haikus and other short forms of poetry, followed by an open mic reading, six-minutes per reader, emceed by Michael Riedell, Grace Hudson Museum, 431 South Main Street, Ukiah, $5 suggested donation, 7:00 pm PDT (Email: innisfreeriedell@gmail.com for more information)
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26 APRIL 2024 — friday

• City Arts and Lectures welcomes Catherine Lacey, Biography of X, Pew, The Answers, Nobody Is Ever Missing, and journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Chloé Cooper Jones discussing Jones's new memoir, Easy Beauty; Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $39, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/chloe-cooper-jones)
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• The Book of Light Poetry Series, a reading series that celebrates the spirit and soul of the poetry of Lucille Clifton, featuring Jackson Holbert, winner of the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and author Winter Stranger, Books Inc., 1344 Parks Street, Alameda, free, 6:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.booksinc.net/event/jackson-holbert-books-inc-alameda)
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27 APRIL 2024 — saturday

• This workshop, "Writing Historical Fiction," taught by historical novelists Siobhan Curham, The Storyteller of Auschwitz, and Linda Joy Myers, The Forger of Marseille, covers the key elements of writing historical fiction including idea, research, character, and plot, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, $105, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.bookpassage.com/event/writing-historical-fiction)
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• Fourth Saturdays presents a reading with featured poets Jodie Hollander, Nocturne, and Veronica Michalowski, One: Family of Poetry, free, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.facebook.com/fourthsaturdayspoetry)
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• Sonoma Valley Authors Festival presents "Authors on the Plaza" featuring authors David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, Colm Tóibín,The Magician, and Amy Tan,The Joy Luck Club, Sonoma Plaza, 453 First Street East, Sonoma, free, registration required, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: svauthorsfest.org/authors-on-the-plaza)
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• City Lights, Morbid Curiosity, and Strange Attractor Press present an afternoon in appreciation of the life and work of Mel Gordon, in celebration of the posthumous publication of his Cabarets of Death: Death, Dance and Dining in Early Twentieth-Century Paris, a documentation of three cabaret-restaurants in the Montmartre district of Paris from 1892 until 1954, moderated by Joanna Ebenstein and Peter Maravelis, with Maer Ben-Yisreal, Ati Citron, J. Hoberman, La Pustra, Mark Pilkington, Jill Tracy, Christina Ward, and others, online via Zoom, free, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm PDT (To register, visit Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/voluptuous-life-a-tribute-to-the-life-and-work-of-mel-gordon-tickets-810502062487?aff=oddtdtcreator)
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28 APRIL 2024 — sunday

• Litquake and Litcamp present, "How They Did It: High-Stakes Memoir," a conversation with five intrepid authors of recent memoir including Eddie Ahn Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice, Sylvia Brownrigg,The Whole Staggering Mystery: A Story of Fathers Lost and Found, Margaret Juhae Lee,Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, Susan Lieu,The Manicurist's Daughter, and Carvell Wallace,The Sixth Man, Another Word for Love; the event will be moderated by author Rachel Howard, The Risk of Us, Page Street Co-Working Space, 297 Page Street, San Francisco, free, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.litquake.org/upcoming-events.html)
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• San Francisco Public Library presents a reading featuring contributors to the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, including Nicole Henares, Karen Melander-Magoon, Phyllis Klein, Cesar Love, Ed Mycue, Antoinette Vella Payne, Rafael Pineda, Dan Richman, Alice Rogoff, John Rowe, Eva Helene Stern, and Nellie Wong, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A, Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 4:00-5:00 pm PDT (More information here: sfpl.org/events/2024/04/28/performance-poetry-preserves-44-years-vital-verse)
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• Medicine for Nightmares presents the Odd Verse Reading Series, a poetry reading and open mic that amplifies underrepresented voices, in a safe space for discourse, community solidarity, and collective action for social justice, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, free, donations welcome, 4:30-7:00 pm PDT (More information here: medicinefornightmares.com/events)
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• Poetry Flash presents a reading by Dan Alter, My Little Book of Exiles, and Cintia Santana, The Disordered Alphabet, 2727 California Street, a cooperative art space, Berkeley, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
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29 APRIL 2024 — monday

• Mechanic's Institute presents "No Poetry No Peace," a reading celebrating human poetic expression, hosted by award-winning multidisciplinary writer Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte, featuring poets Aileen Cassinetto, Lisa DeVuono, Poems from the Playground of Risk, Benjamin Gucciardi, West Portal, Lucille Lang Day, Becoming an Ancestor, O'Cyrus, Sacred, and Noah Warren, The Complete Stories, Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, free for members, $10 nonmembers, 6:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.milibrary.org/events/events-activities)
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• City Arts and Lectures welcomes historian Doris Kearns Goodwin as she discusses her new book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, a historical biography inspired by notes, journals, and letters by Goodwin's late husband, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/doris-kearns-goodwin-3)
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30 APRIL 2024 — tuesday

• A celebration for the launch of prizewinning anthropologist Angela Garcia's moving work of narrative nonfiction, The Way That Leads Among the Lost: Life, Death, and Hope in Mexico City's Anexos, based on over a decade of research, Garcia's book examines the anexos, community-based recovery houses serving people struggling with addiction in Mexico City, City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, 7:00 to 9:00 pm PDT (For more information: citylights.com/events/angela-garcia)
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• Cobalt Poets presents a reading with featured poet Ray Jane, Black Like That, followed by an open mic, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
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• Skylight Books presents poet Callie Siskel, celebrating her debut collection, Two Minds, joined in a reading by poets L.A. Johnson, Little Climates, and Armen Davoudian, The Palace of Forty Pillars, Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, free, 7:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-callie-siskel-presents-two-minds-w-la-johnson-armen-davoudian)
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