San Francisco Bay Area

• THE LIVING WORD PROJECT, "TRADITIONS IN TRANSITION," SAN FRANCISCO: October 27: The New Note, a benefit for Youth Speaks, with DJ Kool Herc, James Brown's original drummer Clyde Stubblefield, and DJ Funklor, 9:00; Bruno's, 2389 Mission Street, $15. October 25-27 and November 1-3: Scourge, a Living Word Project repertory piece created by poet/performance artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and his cast of musicians, poets, and dancers, which looks at Haiti in its two hundredth year as a nation, 8:00; ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street, $25/$10 age eighteen and under. For information, www.youthspeaks.org.

• SPOKEN WORD SOUL FEST, OAKLAND, OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 4: Presented by Hotwater Cornbread and Scorpio Blues, readings, performances, workshops. Day 1: Jump Off at Mouth Off, features Bahamadia, Mystic, Sunni Patterson, Oveous Maximus, Omir Sulaiman, Andrew Tyree, Rodzilla, at Air Lounge, 492 9th Street, $15, 7:30. Day 2: Cafe Nuba, features Fertile Ground, Martin Luther, Ursula Rucker, Shihan, Ainsley Burrows, Tshaka, Urban Folk, and Medusa, location to be announced, $25, 8:00. Day 3: The Sanctuary, Jaguar Wright, Eric Roberson, Anthony David, Georgia Me, Kelly Love Jones, Malik Salaam, Abyss, Kelsey Davis, at Kimball's Carnival, 215 Washington, $25, 8:00. Day 4: The Soul Cypher, Conya Doss, Queen Sheba, Ise Lyfe, Lemon, N'dombi, Mayda del Valle, Queen Godis, J Myers, Keile Young, Club Anton's, 428 3rd Street, Oakland, $25, 7:00. Day 5: The Last Word, spoken word artist meet and greet with complimentary food and spirits, features Scorpio Blues, Prentice Powell, Black Ice, Taalam Acey, Sandbloom, Mahogany Browne, special guests, Club Anton's 428 3rd Street, $25, 7:00. Register for admission discounts, www.spokenwordsoulfest.com.

• GREAT BOOKS POETRY WEEKEND, ALAMO, NOVEMBER 10-11, 2007: This friendly retreat to discuss poetry among peers, not experts, is held annually at the Westminster Retreat in Alamo, near Walnut Creek. No special expertise needed. The weekend features three discussions, and usually a guest speaker on Saturday evening. The discussions focus on the work of poets such as Seamus Heaney, Chaucer, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson. Cost: $150, includes four meals, overnight dormitory accommodations. Call Theda or Oscar Firschein at (650) 854-3980, or e-mail oscarfl@earthlink.net. If no response, call Brent Browning, (408) 353-6340.

• SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE, FEBRUARY 15-17, 2008: The fourth annual conference will feature more than one hundred agents, authors and editors. Keynote speakers are Daisy Maryles and April Sinclair, author of Coffee Will Make You Black. Presenters include Marta Acosta, freelance journalist, Cara Black, author of the Aimee Le Duc mystery series, Robin Carpenter, Edible San Francisco contributor, Rosemary Daniell, Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women's Lives, Constance Hale author of Wired, Sin, and Syntex, Brad Henderson, Andy Jones, Milton Kahn, Kim Wong Keltner, author of The Dim Sum of All Things, Bharti Kirchner, author of Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, Darjeeling, Allen Klein, Teresa LeYung Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart, D.P. Lyle, author of Forensics for Dummies, Mary Mackey, author of Breaking the Fever, Michael Modzelewski, author of Inside Passage, Raymond Obstfeld, Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual, Douglass Rees, Barbara Santos, author of Maui Tacos, Sheldon Segel, Elisa Southard, author of Break Through the Noise. Editors Jennifer Enderlin, St. Martin's Press, Michelle Howry, Touchstone Fireside, Daisy Maryles, Executive Editor at Publishers Weekly, Christine Pride, Random House, Alan Rinzler and Chuck Sambuchino will also appear. Seven literary agents will be on hand. There will be "how to" sessions, workshops, Speed Dating For Editors and Agents (pitching books one on one to New York and California literary agents and editors), and the San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest, over forty talks and breakout sessions. Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel, Nob Hill; conference rate $142 per night (use code SFWC). To make a reservation call (415) 392-3434, or visit the web site for online registration. Registration cost: $495; after November 1, $595. Speed Dating for agents an additional $45. To register for the 2008 Conference, visit www.SFWriters.org, or call 1-866-862-7392.

• MYSTERY WRITERS CONFERENCE, CORTE MADERA, JUNE 26-JUNE 29, 2008: The four-day Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference has a strong tradition of great authors and teachers. It covers developing ideas and writing skills to finding a publisher. Students work closely with mystery writers, agents, editors, and publishers as well as investigators and crime-fighting professionals. Editors, agents, and publishers tell students what they need to know to get published. Authors offer classes on setting, dialogue, suspense, point of view, and openings. They tell how to write about private eyes, amateur sleuths, and police protagonists, and how to create thrillers and historical mysteries. Panels of detectives, forensic experts, police, and other crime-fighting professionals provide information that allows crime fiction writers to put realism in their work. The collegial atmosphere attracts students and faculty from all over the country. Opportunities for faculty and students to talk and exchange ideas in classes, workshops, panels, and informal lunches. Conference is chaired by mystery writers Sheldon Siegel and Jacqueline Winspear. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. Conference Coordinator: Karen West, 1-800-999-7909x238, e-mail: kwest@bookpassage.com; www.bookpassage.com.

• CHILDREN'S WRITERS & ILLUSTRATORS CONFERENCE, CORTE MADERA, JULY 24-27, 2008: This second annual conference covers all aspects of writing for children---from developing ideas and writing skills to finding a publisher. Students work closely with other writers and illustrators, as well as with agents, editors, and publishers. The Conference is designed to meet the differing needs of those who write for different age groups. Students will choose an area of emphasis for the morning sessions, such as picture books, early readers, young adult books, and then work with a teacher in a workshop setting. In the afternoon, students choose from panels of common interest: marketing, promotion, and literary prizes. There will be many opportunities for faculty and students to talk and exchange ideas. The faculty includes many important editors, publishers, agents and authors. The 2007 conference included these great writers, illustrators, agents & publishing professionals: Isabel Allende, author of The House of the Spirits; Oliver Chin, author of The Monster Hunters; Gennifer Choldenko, author of Al Capone Does My Shirts, Newberry Honor Book; Ellen Klages, author of The Green Glass Sea; Frank Portman, author of King Dork; Kelly Sonnack, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. Conference Coordinator: Kathryn Petrocelli, 1-800-999-7909x234, e-mail kathryn@bookpassage.com; www.bookpassage.com.

• TRAVEL WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS CONFERENCE, CORTE MADERA, AUGUST 14-17, 2008: 17th annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference has a strong reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. The Conference offers an array of workshops, panels, and evening activities. There are many hours of informal interaction between faculty and students. Conference Chair is Donald George, pioneering travel writer and editor, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon.com and Lonely Planet. Photography Chair is Robert Holmes, two-time winner of Travel Photographer of the Year from the Society of American Travel Writers. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. Conference Coordinator: Karen West, 1-800-999-7909x238, e-mail: kwest@bookpassage.com; www.bookpassage.com.

Northern California

• THE ART OF PEACEMAKING, NOVEMBER 9-11, 2007: The Art of Peacemaking is a Meditation and Writing Retreat led by Maxine Hong Kingston, editor of Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, Wendy Johnson, and Therese Fitzgerald, assisted by novelist James Janko and Clare Morris. Silence, community, and meditation, sharing meals in silence, writing in community and dialogue. Open to all; veterans and their families and those who work with veterans are especially invited. Writing and contemplation. Ben Lomond Quaker Center, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cost: $175, $160 if you register before October 20. Call Karen at (831) 338-8026, or e-mail dharmafriends@aol.com for information about the veterans writing program.

• IWWG VOICES CONFERENCE, MARCH 14-16, 2008, SANTA CRUZ: International Women's Writing Guild presents Early Spring in California, at the retreat owned by Bosch Bahái School on sixty-seven acres of redwood forest, meadows, and trails facing the ocean. Mary Reynolds Thompson on Dangerous Voices: Writing to Change Lives, Gayle Brandeis on Embodied Voices, Rachel de Baere on Poetic Voices, Hanelore Hahn on Musings, Open reading. Entire weekend, $385/$365; commuter one-day rates available. Call (415) 456-4574, (212) 737-7536, or visit www.iwwg.org.

• UKIAHAIKU FESTIVAL, UKIAH, APRIL 27, 2008: Ukiah is a town whose name spelled backwards is 'haiku'. The city of Ukiah, in conjunction with its Poet Laureate Committee hold its 6th annual haiku contest and festival. The festival start at 2:00; winners of the contest will read their poems. Winning haiku will be published in a book, and winners will receive a copy along with a modest cash award or gift certificate. Local, national, and international submissions are welcome. Winners are strongly urged to attend the festival and read their poems. The entry fee is $2 for one haiku, $5 for three; no more than three can be submitted per entrant. Entrants must be age nineteen or older. Please download entry forms from the website: www.ukiahaiku.org. Enter by e-mail: submit@ukiahaiku.org, or U.S. mail to: P.O. Box 865, Ukiah, CA 95482.The March 15, 2008 deadline is a postmark deadline, or e-mail by March 15, 2008.

• SURPRISE VALLEY COMMON GROUND, JUNE 5-8, 2008, CEDARVILLE: A conference with field trips, storytelling, poetry reading, and a barn dance, with poet Gary Snyder, Eldridge Moore, Malcolm Margolin, and Darryl Babe Wilson. Discussions on the Western Water Crisis, The 1,000 Year Forest, Rural Sustainability, and Ecology of Place, with experts in hydrology, ecology, archaeology, botany, and silviculture. Sponsored by Modoc Forum. For information, call (530) 279-2099 or visit www.modocforum.org.

• CREATIVE ARTS FELLOWSHIP, MONTEREY & SACRAMENTO: Gatherings seeking self-awareness and presence through a practice of contemplation, creative sharing and mutual support. Bring an image, poem, song, story, dance or other creative expression that intrigues you. Meets first Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon September through December in both Monterey, where it is facilitated mostly by Donald Williams Matthew, and Sacramento, where it is facilitated by Carol Mathew-Rogers. For information call (831) 373-7809 or visit www.creative-edge.org.

Southern California

• GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS: A FESTIVAL OF MARGINALIZED LANGUAGES, IRVINE, OCTOBER 24-26, 2007: The International Center for Writing and Translation celebrates its fifth anniversary with a conference that focuses on revitalizing, restoring and translating marginal languages. A place for scholars, writers, performers, practitioners and activists to exchange ideas, the festival includes such notables as Kofi Anyidoho, Sudipto Chatterjee, poet/translator Peter Cole, 2007 receipient of a MacArthur fellowship, Ganesh N. Devy, Ronald Snake Edmo, Rita Kothari, Gatua wa Mbugwa, poet Simon J. Ortiz, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and poet Sholeh Wolpé. For information: www.humanities.uci.edu/icwt.

• LA JOLLA WRITERS CONFERENCE, NOVEMBER 2-4, 2007: Paradise Point Resort, Pacific Beach. This year's faculty includes Bob Goodman, memoir and publishing; literary agents Taryn Fagerness, Sally Van Haitsma, and Caryn Wiseman; Greg Godek, marketing and branding; Linda Lael Miller, western romance, romantic suspense; Ken Kuhlken, fiction/narrative nonfiction; Stephen J. Cannell, TV and screenwriting; Tracy and Laura Hickman, fantasy and sci fi; Warren Lewis, screenwriting; Deborah Halverson, chldren's books, young adult fiction, editing; Peggy Lang, memoir; Mike Sirota, fiction; Martha Lawrence, nonfiction and mystery; Sara Lewis, fiction, memoir, essay, short story; Dale Fetherling, nonfiction, book proposals; and many others. Visit www.lajollawritersconference.com.

• LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL, NOVEMBER 9-11, 16-18, 2007, SAN LUIS OBISPO: The twenty-fourth annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival, Language of the Soul, presents two weekends of poetry readings and events, including readings by the new Poet Laureate of San Louis Obispo and past poet laureates. November 9: Past San Luis Obispo Poet Laureate Rosemary Wilvert, new San Luis Obispo Poet Laureate Dian Sousa, and selected readers to be announced, San Luis Obispo Art Center, 1010 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00. November 10: Kevin Clark, Hernan Castellano-Giron, and selected readers to be announced, San Luis Obispo Art Center, 1010 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00. November 11: Phoebe MacAdams, Michael Hannon, and selected readers to be announced, San Luis Obispo Art Center, 1010 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00. November 16: David St. John, winner of the Prix de Rome Fellowship in Literature, Cal Poly Performing Arts Center, Phillips Recital Hall, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00. November 17: Andrea Selch, Jackson Wheeler, Nixson Borah, and selected readers to be announced, Steynberg Gallery, 1531 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00. November 18: Dan Gerber, A Primer On Parallel Lives, Leo Victor Briones, and Indigo Moor, Tap-Root, plus an open reading and closing party, Linnaea's Café, 1110 Garden Street, San Luis Obispo, $3/$2 students, seniors, 7:00, For more information: (805) 547-1318, www.languageofthesoul.org.

• THE ART OF WRITING SYMPOSIUM, NOVEMBER 16-18, 2007, SANTA BARBARA: The Pacifica Graduate Institute presents a three-day symposium by scholars in various genres of writing. Friday, November 16, 7:00-9:00: Author and comedian John Cleese, a former member of the Monty Python group speaks on his lifelong interest in creativity and on writing for film, TV. Saturday, November 17, 10:00 a.m.-5:00: Richard Tarnas, author/scholar of archetypal studies and the history of Western thought and culture. Sunday, November 18, 9:00 a.m.-1:00: Six concurrent sessions with depth psychologists Nancy Galinda and Jennifer Leigh Selig, ; mythologist Dennis Patrick Slattery; poet Nils Peterson; writer and psychologist Elizabeth Nelson; writer/script analyst Dara Marks; and depth psychologist Nancy Cater; $360/$310 students, Pacifica alumni, seniors, includes meals. For information (805) 969-3626x103, or visit www.pacifica.edu.

• DIY CONVENTION, FEBRUARY 14-17, 2008, LA: The DIY Convention (and awards ceremony) will be held at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, marking the third year in a row at the venue. Parties, panels, film screenings and music. This sixth annual program also celebrates the DIY Book Festival, awards for self-published, independent, or print on demand books in categories of Nonfiction, Fiction, Biography/autobiography, Children's Books, Teenage, How-to, Audio/Spoken Word, Photography, Art, Comics, 'zines, Fan Fiction, Poetry, E-Books, Cookbooks and Science Fiction. (All entries must be in English, self-published, or released by an independent publishing house that has published less than fifty works since the entry cut-off point. iUniverse, AuthorHouse, PublishAmerica, Infinity Publishing, and other print-on-demand books are eligible. Deadline for entry is past.) Winning books will be announced on the web site. Visit www.diyconvention.com, or call (323) 665-8080.

Rocky Mountains & The West
(COLORADO • IDAHO • NEVADA)

COLORADO

• TATTERED COVER, DENVER: This famed independent bookstore features author readings almost every night at three locations: Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue, 2526 East Colfax Avenue, (303) 322-7727; Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester Street, Highlands Ranch Town Center, (303) 470-7050; and Tattered Cover Historic Lower Downtown (LoDo), 1628 16th Street, (303) 436-1070. October 22: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo, Bridge of Sighs, Historic LoDo, 7:30. October 26: Donis Casey, The Drop Edge of Yonder: An Alafair Tucker Mystery, and novelist Mara Purl, Child Secrets, discuss "Writing Western Women's Lives," Colfax Avenue, 7:30. November 4: 7th Annual Banned Books Week Essay Contest Awards Reception, young winners read their essays, Colfax Avenue, 2:00. November 12: Second Monday Poetry Reading with Susan Deborah King, One-Breasted Woman, Colfax Avenue, 7:30. November 13: Novelist Stewart O'Nan, "bard of the working class," Last Night at the Lobster, Colfax Avenue, 7:30. November 14: Rodger Kamenetz, The History of Last Night's Dream: Discovering the Hidden Path to the Soul, Colfax Avenue, 7:30. November 14: Rocky Mountain Land Series with acclaimed writer William Kittredge, The Next Rodeo: New and Selected Essays, Historic LoDo, 7:30. November 16: Lakota author Joseph M. Marshall III, Hundred in the Hand, a novel of historical fiction written from the Native American viewpoint, Historic LoDo, 7:30. Visit www.tatteredcover.com.

• NAROPA UNIVERSITY EXTENDED STUDIES, BOULDER: Evening talks, weekend programs, and public classes. Most talks held at the Nalanda Campus, 6287 Arapahoe Road, (303) 546-3572, www.naropa.edu.

• BOULDER BOOK STORE: Author appearances and readings. November 2: Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche reads from How To Visualize, Recite, & Dissolve, 7:30. November 8: Susan Fox Rogers, Antarctica: Life On The Ice, an essay collection, 7:30. November 12: Michael Shellenberger, Break Through: From The Death Of Environmentalism To The Politics Of Possibility, 7:30. November 13: Out of the Book presents a groundbreaking series of short films about authors, this installment celebrates the work of David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, 7:30. November 27: Poet/creative nonfiction author Richard Shelton, Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer, and Ken Lamberton, Time Of Grace, 7:30. November 29: David Whyte reads from his new book of poetry River Flow, 7:30. Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder, (303) 477-2074, www.boulderbookstore.com.

• UNITY OF BOULDER CHURCH: Sunday, November 4, 2007: Best-selling author Paul Krugman reads from The Conscience of a Liberal, 4:00. Unity of Boulder Church, 2855 Folsom Avenue. Tickets $7 at Boulder Book Store, (303) 447-2074.

• BOULDER LIBRARY: Saturday, November 10, 2007: Boulder Public Library's 100th Anniversary with local authors Margaret Coel, Sybil Downing, Marlys Milhiser and Sylvia Pettem, 10:30 a.m. Boulder Public Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd., (303) 441-3100.

• ARVADA: Desert in the City "contemplative centering prayer nite" which includes writers on spiritual search and how their writing affects them and the broader community. Writers read their writings aloud. Once each week, Wednesday 7:00-9:00. Preferably seeking senior