
Rusty Morrison
Photo: Josie Gallup
Rusty Morrison and Steven Rood
12 JUNE 2024 — wednesday
Poetry Flash co-presents a book launch with Rusty Morrison, Risk, and Steven Rood, Music from Behind a Stone Wall, Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org, Pegasus: 510-649-1320, www.pegasusbookstore.com)
Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event and at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash. This event and many others are (or will be) posted on the Poetry Flash YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UClwdR-uPFNz7XxbBbLcnoEA.
MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Rusty Morrison's new book of poems is Risk. Forrest Gander says, "Most of the breath-stopping poems in Risk are defined by strong lineal caesuras—as though the poems were torn open to show 'the deaths you carry within.' And yet, the dominant theme of Risk is bonding–the bonding of a couple, and the bonding that language might engender…Risk reminds us of the mutability of identity and its collaborative constructs in our interactions with others and with the world itself." She is the author of five previous books: After Urgency, winner of Tupelo's Dorset Prize; the true keeps calm biding its story, winner of the Ahsahta's Sawtooth Prize, James Laughlin Award, Northern California Book Award, and Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award; Beyond the Chainlink; Whethering, winner of the 2004 Colorado Prize for Poetry; and Book of the Given. She is the senior editor, co-publisher, and co-founder of Omnidawn and lives in Richmond, California.
Steven Rood's new book of poems is Music from Behind a Stone Wall, from Omnidawn. His previous collection, also from Omnidawn, is Naming the Wind. Colorado Review says, "…naming the wind is a metaphor for how we struggle to make sense of what is beyond our control. This is the work of a mature poet, one who makes the details of everyday life luminous and gives meaning to suffering while offering a glimpse of the sublime." His work has appeared in such journals and anthologies as Quarterly West, Southern Poetry Review, Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Fugue, Lyric, Hayden's Ferry Review, Tar River Poetry, New Letters, Marlboro Review, Atlanta Review, Notre Dame Review, and elsewhere. He's a practicing trial lawyer and lives in Berkeley.


Daily Listings
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9 AUGUST 2026 — sunday
- Poetry performance by poet Carla Harryman with saxophonist Jon Raskin, who is well known for his integral role as a founding member of the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, and other projects; among them his collaborations with poet Carla Harryman; hosted by Harry Bernstein at a private home in Berkeley, seats are $30, payable in advance via PayPal or Venmo, email Harry Bernstein for location and admission information; event begins at 5:00 pm (Harry Bernstein, harry@fullplatemedia.com)
- Vroman's Bookstore presents Rey M. Rodriguez, attorney, discussing and signing copies of his debut poetry collection Todos Somos Sagrados/All Are Sacred, in conversation with professor Obed Silva, Vroman's Bookstore, 695 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, free, 3:00 pm (RSVP requested: vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-08-09/rey-m-rodriguez)
10 AUGUST 2026 — monday
11 AUGUST 2026 — tuesday
- Book Soup presents Eliot Glazer, comedian, discussing and signing copies of his new book The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Gay: Essays, in conversation with Trixie Mattel, drag performer, Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, $34.74 ticket includes a book, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (Tickets available: www.eventbrite.com/e/eliot-glazer-discusses-the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-gay-tickets-1986275345026)
- Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore presents S.C. Godfrey reading from and signing copies of her new thriller The Enigma Challenge, in conversation with Michelle Chouinard, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (RSVP requested: mrsdalloways.com/event/2026-08-11/sc-godfreys-enigma-challenge)
12 AUGUST 2026 — wednesday
13 AUGUST 2026 — thursday
- Hollie Hardy presents a six-session poetry revision workshop with the goal of refining toward publication in a generous and supportive environment, meeting August 13 to October 22, alternating Thursdays, for written feedback and small group workshops, bring new or old work, optional revision prompts also provided, online via Zoom, $475, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Sign up at: holliehardy.com/shop/p/poetry-revision-workshop-fall-2026)
14 AUGUST 2026 — friday
- Artists' Television Access, City Lights, and PM Press present a four-day seven-film Guy Debord retrospective hosted by Ken Knabb, translator and radical theorist, to celebrate release of The Cinema Must Be Destroyed: The Films of Guy Debord, along with recent re-releases of other works by Ken Knabb, today's program features "In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni," Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, $10, 7:00 pm (citylights.com/events/the-cinema-must-be-destroyed-the-films-of-guy-debord)
- Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore presents Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize-winner, and 1995-1997 US Poet Laureate, introducing his new book A Third Commonness: Essays on Poetry, Poetics, and the Natural World, in conversation with Brenda Hillman, book signing to follow, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT, RSVP TO JOIN WAIT LIST: mrsdalloways.com/event/2026-08-14/robert-hass-third-commonness)
15 AUGUST 2026 — saturday
- Artists' Television Access, City Lights, and PM Press present a four-day seven-film Guy Debord retrospective hosted by Ken Knabb, translator and radical theorist, to celebrate release of The Cinema Must Be Destroyed: The Films of Guy Debord, along with recent re-releases of other works by Ken Knabb, today's program features "Guy Debord: His Art and His Time," Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, $10, 7:00 pm (citylights.com/events/the-cinema-must-be-destroyed-the-films-of-guy-debord)
- San Francisco Public Library Bernal Heights presents Sally Love Saunders to discuss poetic process and read from her new poetry collection Sally's Casserole, San Francisco Public Library, Bernal Heights Branch, 500 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco, free, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, reservation required: call (415) 355-2810, email bhemfr@sfpl.org, or sign in at the library reference desk (sfpl.org/events/2026/08/15/author-sally-love-saunders-sallys-casserole)
16 AUGUST 2026 — sunday
17 AUGUST 2026 — monday
18 AUGUST 2026 — tuesday
19 AUGUST 2026 — wednesday
- In anticipation of the upcoming releases of A Crown of Thorns and Roses The Acotar Countdown Book Club is revisitng the romantasy saga by Sara J. Maas, 2945 College Avenue, Berkeley, $30, 6:30 pm (www.booksociety.social/event-details/the-acotar-countdown-book-club-2026-08-19-18-30)
- Pegasus Books Downtown presents Devyn Defoe, celebrating the release of her debut novel Burnside, in conversation with novelist Kate Folk, Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, free, 7:00 pm (pegasusbookstore.com/event/2026-08-19/devyn-defoe-burnside-kate-folk)
20 AUGUST 2026 — thursday
21 AUGUST 2026 — friday
22 AUGUST 2026 — saturday
- Berkeley Poetry Festival presents "Poetry Takes Root," a free community fundraiser, the celebration features poetry readings by Natasha Dennerstein, Jennifer Hasegawa, and James Cagney, along with music, dance, refreshments, community prizes, and opportunities to support Berkeley Poetry Festival; funds raised will help the organization expand its programs, partnerships, and opportunities for poets and audiences; Donkey & Goat Winery, 1340 Fifth Street, Berkeley, 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm, free/donations encouraged (For information and accessibility inquiries, email: theberkeleypoetryfestival@gmail.com, or visit www.berkeleypoetryfestival.com)
23 AUGUST 2026 — sunday
24 AUGUST 2026 — monday
25 AUGUST 2026 — tuesday
26 AUGUST 2026 — wednesday
- Bathers Library presents Summer Symposium, a five-day series of talks, readings, workshops, screenings, performances, and gatherings, August 26-30, Wednesday-Sunday, schedule TBA second week of August, Bathers Library, 2310 Telegraph Avenue, and other venues around Oakland, early-bird tickets $40-$100, regular tickets $60-$120, volunteers welcome (Tickets available: bathers-library.square.site/product/summer-symposium-2026-early-bird-passes/ENFWV7WZ6GLFVGRVNMG5JIJV?cs=true&cst=custom&utm_source=bathers-library.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=summer-symposium-2026)
27 AUGUST 2026 — thursday
28 AUGUST 2026 — friday
29 AUGUST 2026 — saturday
- Fourth Saturdays Poetry at the Claremont Library presents a reading by Anna Zumbahlen, poet and educator, and Serena Chopra, poet and multidisciplinary artist, Helen Renwick Library, 208 North Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm (www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html)
30 AUGUST 2026 — sunday
31 AUGUST 2026 — monday
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