
Susan Browne
Susan Browne and Jeanne Wagner
12 JUNE 2025 — thursday
Poetry Flash presents a reading by Susan Browne, Monster Mash, and Jeanne Wagner, One Needful Song, the 2024 Catamaran Poetry Prize-winner, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event, and Susan Browne's will also be available at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash. This event will be posted on the Poetry Flash YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UClwdR-uPFNz7XxbBbLcnoEA. Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Susan Browne's new poetry book is Monster Mash. Diane Seuss says, "There it is—the timing of a great comedian, and the devastation at the center of every magnificent joke. The result is a book of poems that captures, for me, what it feels like to exist in a culture and a world falling apart at the seams….It tracks the span of a life, the early loss of a mother, and exposes the wisdom that comes to those who endure long enough to earn it, that 'the intelligent thing is to offer everything / to infinite love.'" Her previous poetry collections include Buddha's Dogs, winner of the Four Way Books Intro Prize; Zephyr, winner of the Steel Toe Books Editor's Choice award; and Just Living, winner of the Catamaran Poetry Prize. Her poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, Poetry, The Sun, The Southern Review, Rattle, New Ohio Review, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the James Dickey Poetry Prize, Los Angeles Poetry Festival Prize, River Styx International Poetry Contest, Fischer Poetry Prize, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center fellowship. She lives in Northern California.
Jeanne Wagner's new poetry book is One Needful Song, winner of the 2024 Catamaran Poetry Prize. John Sibley Williams says, "This is a rare creation of song and scar, of vulnerability and both emotional and structural complexity. In One Needful Song, the outer and inner, conceptual and human worlds mingle in accessible yet complex ways. Brimming with meditations on history and myth, family and nostalgia, landscape and personal identity, these vibrant poems remain grounded in a universal familiarity that opens us up to something greater. If one of the aims of poetry is to condense our vast, contradictory, and beautifully human world into the briefest of songs, One Needful Song, being both intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging, stands as a testament to its possibility." Her previous poetry collections include four chapbooks and four previous full-length collections: Everything Turns Into Something Else, runner-up for the Grayson Book Prize; In the Body of Our Lives, Sixteen Rivers Press; and , NFSPS Poetry Prize-winner. Her work has appeared in North American Review, Cincinnati Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. Her honors include the Joy Harjo Award, Naugatuck Prize, and the Cloudbank Prize. She lives in Kensington, California.
Daily Listings
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8 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 includes "The Society of the Spectacle," 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)
- Book Soup presents Douglas Messerli, poet and publisher of Sun and Moon Press, discussing and signing copies of new book My Queer Cinema: LGBTQ+ Films Coded and Explicit, Volume 1, 1887-1919, signed copies also available online if purchased before event, Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, free, 7:00 pm (booksoup.com/event/2026-08-08/douglas-messerli)
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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