
devorah major
Photo: Victoria Smith
devorah major and James Cagney
9 AUGUST 2020 — sunday
Poetry Flash presents a virtual poetry reading by devorah major, Califia's Daughter, and James Cagney, Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory, online via Zoom, free, 3:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link and information on how to join the reading)
MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Please join us for the Poetry Flash's first virtual reading on Sunday, August 9 at 3:00 pm PDT! We are excited to bring you devorah major and James Cagney via Zoom. To register for this reading, please click here. After you register, you will receive an email with a link and information on how to join the reading. We hope this virtual reading will be the first of many more to come. Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series during these unprecedented times.
devorah major's new poetry collection is Califia's Daughter; her previous books include and then we became, Where River Meets Ocean, and The Other Side of the Postcard. Juan Felipe Herrera, US Poet Laureate 2015-17, says, "All the dimensions of devorah major's life and (yours) are here —from the 'beginning before the beginning,' galactic particles to the bebopness of our lives. She speaks of being, of becoming, of totality. Is it a journal, an investigation, the life philosophy of a great poet woman? …In this work, devorah charts the infinite music inside of us all." San Francisco's third Poet Laureate, devorah major is a writer, editor, writing coach, spoken word performer, recording artist, and poetry professor. Poet-in-Residence at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, she has toured in Italy, Bosnia, Jamaica, Venezuela, Belgium, England, Wales, and throughout the United States, performing her poetry and speaking on African-American poetry, Beat Poetry, and poetry of resistance. In 2015, her play Classic Black: Voices of 19th Century African-Americans premiered in San Francisco.
James Cagney's recent book is Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory. Sam Sax wrote, "I remember first hearing James Cagney read poems in a packed backroom in Oakland and being entirely shook by what this man can do with language. Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory makes good on that promise of strangeness, urgency, lyric prowess, and invention. Toggling between loss, therapy, the pastoral, illness, the humorously personable, and the darkly familial—at every turn this book surprises, aches, and delights. 'what flower / cuts thru the bullshit / between people'—do yourself a favor and read it thrice." Cagney's poems "interrogate identity, family, loneliness, and the expectations of masculinity. Using dreams, blues, and a chorus of voices, this collection of poems examines the complexities of intimacy for an adopted person trying to find balance between two families—one rattled by age and illness; the other, holding space for a son that doesn't exist." A Cave Canem fellow, he studied writing and poetry independently, via the public library, workshops, and the open mic scene in the Bay Area.


Daily Listings
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2 OCTOBER 2025 — thursday
3 OCTOBER 2025 — friday
4 OCTOBER 2025 — saturday
- North Bay Letterpress Arts and ReVillage celebrate the power of the printed and spoken word at this one-day event featuring local vendors, food trucks, poetry readings, music, and the signature Steamroller Print Event, the festival brings together printmakers, poets, publishers, for a day of community and creativity, food trucks, handmade goods, local beer and wine, free, Graton Town Square, 9155 Graton Road, Graton, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (www.northbayletterpressarts.org)
5 OCTOBER 2025 — sunday
- Annual Ekphrastic Poetry Workshop with poet Sarah Kobrinsky, part of the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, a month-long juried show with the work of artists who live and/or work in Emeryville; ekphrastic refers to literary works written in response to visual art; the poetry workshop will be followed by a reading on October 26, when a jazz group will inprov from poems written in the workshop in response to the art; poems will be written in response to the art in this year's Emeryville Celebration of the Arts show, free but spaces are limited, register on Eventbrite, Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, 5905 Shellmound Street, Public Market, Emeryville, 2:00-4:00 (www.eventbrite.com/e/ekphrastic-poetry-workshop-with-sarah-kobrinsky-2025-tickets-1685553779729?aff=oddtdtcreator)
- Bazaar Writers Salon features a reading by poet and memoirist Alice Jones, Cadence of Vanishing, a mixed genre memoir; novelist Susanna Kwan, Awake in the Floating City; novelist Peter Mann, World Pacific; and poet Rachel Richardson, Smother, co-founder of Left Margin LIT; event hosted by Peter Kline, first Sunday of the month, Bazaar Café, 5927 California Street, San Francisco, 6:00 (www.peterklinepoetry.com/bazaar-writers)
6 OCTOBER 2025 — monday
7 OCTOBER 2025 — tuesday
8 OCTOBER 2025 — wednesday
- Womb House Books presents Diana Arterian, reading from Agrippina the Younger, her collection of poems that reach into the past to try to understand the patriarchal systems of today, in conversation with poet J. Michael Martinez, Womb House Books, 470 49th Street, Oakland, free, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm (www.eventbrite.com/o/womb-house-books-79447203573)
- City Arts and Lectures presents Daniel Handler discussing his new memoir, And Then? And Then? What Else?, which reflects on his childhood in San Francisco, the authors who shaped his voice, and the traumatic early-life experiences that have informed the way he moves through the world, in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning author Andrew Sean Greer, The Story of a Marriage, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 (www.cityarts.net/event/daniel-handler-5)
9 OCTOBER 2025 — thursday
10 OCTOBER 2025 — friday
11 OCTOBER 2025 — saturday
- Litquake presents An Evening with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, reading from and discussing Startlement, New and Selected Poems, her new collection spanning nearly twenty years of emphatic, fearlessly original poetry; Limón looks back on her distinguished career and shares new work, Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market Street, San Francisco, $20 advance, $25 door, 7:30 pm-9:00 pm (www.ticketweb.com/event/an-evening-with-ada-limn-swedish-american-hall-tickets/13826814)
12 OCTOBER 2025 — sunday
13 OCTOBER 2025 — monday
14 OCTOBER 2025 — tuesday
15 OCTOBER 2025 — wednesday
16 OCTOBER 2025 — thursday
- City Arts and Lectures presents acclaimed historian, The New Yorker staff writer, and Dean of Columbia Journalism Jelani Cobb reading from and discussing his newest book, Three or More is a Riot, a collection of narrative journalism, criticism, and penetrating profiles that capture the crisis, characters, movements, and art of an era, in conversation with john a. powell, Professor of Law and African American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 (www.cityarts.net/event/jelani-cobb-3)
17 OCTOBER 2025 — friday
18 OCTOBER 2025 — saturday
- City Arts and Lectures presents Andrew Ross Sorkin, journalist for The New York Times and co-anchor of Squawk Box, CNBC's signature morning program, reading from and discussing his new book, 1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash of Wall Street, a spellbinding narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history, in conversation with CEO of Stripe Patrick Collison, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $64-$69, 7:30 (https://www.cityarts.net)
19 OCTOBER 2025 — sunday
20 OCTOBER 2025 — monday
21 OCTOBER 2025 — tuesday
22 OCTOBER 2025 — wednesday
23 OCTOBER 2025 — thursday
- City Arts and Lectures presents photographer Richard Misrach discusses his new book, Half-Baked Stories about My Dead Mom, photographs of cargo ships to and from the Port of Oakland, in conversation with award-winning author and historian Rebecca Solnit, Recollections of My Nonexistence, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 (https://www.cityarts.net)
24 OCTOBER 2025 — friday
- Transit Books presents A Very Fine Fête, a fundraiser celebrating Transit's tenth anniversary, eat and drink among friends, enjoy Edward Gorey tarot readings, a book apothecary, special edition merch, a prize for best costume, and more, Edward Gorey-inspired dresswear encouraged: Edwardian costume, fur coats, top hats, fascinators, or something that's been calling in your closet, Cellar Maker Brewing Co., 940 Parker Street, Berkeley, $30-$10,000, 7:00-10:00 (www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/a-very-fine-fete)
25 OCTOBER 2025 — saturday
- Fourth Saturdays: Poetry at the Claremont Library presents a reading by Nicelle Davis and Chiwan Choi, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, in the Claremont Village, Claremont, free, 2:00 (909/621-4902, www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html)
26 OCTOBER 2025 — sunday
27 OCTOBER 2025 — monday
28 OCTOBER 2025 — tuesday
29 OCTOBER 2025 — wednesday
30 OCTOBER 2025 — thursday
31 OCTOBER 2025 — friday
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