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Literary Review & Calendar for the West
OCTOBER 2024
PROGRAMS
Denise Low and Lucille Lang Day< previous month | show all FEBRUARY | next month >
5 FEBRUARY 2021 — friday
- Mechanics' Institute presents a discussion of Dutch House, the latest novel from Ann Patchett, best-selling author and co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, in conversation with short story writer and novelist Patrick Ryan, free with the code Membershiplibrary, online, 2:30 pm PST (Register to attend: www.milibrary.org/events/ann-patchett-author-dutch-house-conversation-writer-patrick-ryan-feb-05-2021)
- Blue Light Press presents Blue Light at the Gallery, a poetry reading featuring Mary Kay Rummel (Nocturnes: Between Flesh and Stone), Cary Waterman (Threshold: New and Selected Poems), Karen Poppy (Crack Open/Emergency), and Florence Weinberger (Ghost Tattoo), free, online via Zoom, 6:00 pm PST (Email: bluelightpress@aol.com for Zoom link)
6 FEBRUARY 2021 — saturday
- The 31st Annual "Celebration of African Americans and Their Poetry" features poetry readings, music and dance performances, and artwork by a myriad of writers and artists of all ages, this year in collaboration with Dr. Kim McMillon, host of the virtual series "Wake Up America!," with the theme "The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity," taken from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, children and youth as well as new poets are especially encouraged to participate, contact wolaacp@gmail.com for more information about the featured or open mic, tribute to the late poet Adam David Miller, free, online via Facebook Live, 1:00-4:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.facebook.com/wanda.sabir)
- Eastwind Books of Berkeley presents for a book launch for Generation Rising: A New Politics of Southeast Asian American Activism, by Loan Thi Dao, PhD, a fascinating look at the formation and development of Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), the LGBTQ+ youth-led organization of Southeast Asian American families who immigrated to Providence, Rhode Island, and the activism of this co-ethnic community, co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center of UC Berkeley, free, online, 1:00-2:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.eventbrite.com/e/generation-rising-book-launch-with-loan-dao-and-prysm-tickets-133897453889)
7 FEBRUARY 2021 — sunday
- No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.
8 FEBRUARY 2021 — monday
- Poet and translator Brenda Hillman leads this micro-workshop on "Ecopoetics," presented by the Community of Writers, explore the use of nature and ecology in poetry, this is the second ninety-minute workshop, held on February 8, deadline to apply is January 8, $60 for one workshop, online, 3:00-5:00 pm PST both days (Register to attend: communityofwriters.org/events/event/micro-workshops-on-ecopoetics-with-brenda-hillman)
9 FEBRUARY 2021 — tuesday
- Jack Foley, along with Nina Serrano, Jovelyn Richards, and Jennifer Stone, hosts Cover to Cover, a radio show celebrating poetry and prose of all sorts, Tuesdays on KPFA in Berkeley, free, online, 2:00 pm PST (For more information: kpfa.org/program/cover-to-cover/)
- PEN Out Loud 2021 presents best-selling authors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell and their short story anthology, Kink: Stories, in conversation with Melissa Febos and Brandon Taylor, contributors to the anthology, $20 general admission, online, 8:00-9:00 pm EST/5:00-6:00 pm PST (Purchase tickets here: pen.org/event/pen-out-loud-ro-kwon-and-garth-greenwell-with-melissa-febos-and-brandon-taylor/?mc_cid=bc289b7dbb&mc_eid=95aa4eab74)
- Cobalt Poets presents a reading featuring poet Jasminne Mendez, open mic to follow, free, online via Zoom, 7:30 pm PST (Zoom link here: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
10 FEBRUARY 2021 — wednesday
- The San Francisco Writing Institute hosts this one-time drop-in poetry workshop, "Love Poems," led by poet Hollie Hardy, attendees will read and write poems on the age-old subject of love, all levels are welcome, $30, online, 5:00-8:00 pm PST (Register to attend: sfwriting.institute/events/drop-in-poetry-workshop-3-2021)
- Book Passage presents by Robert B. Reich discussing The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fixed It, he is the former Secretary of Labor and author of numerous economic nonfiction works, co-presented by the Institute for Leadership Studies at Dominican University, $30, ticket includes a complementary copy of the book, online, 6:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.bookpassage.com/reich-system)
11 FEBRUARY 2021 — thursday
- The Poetry Center presents a reading and conversation with poets Uche Nduka and Sophia Dahlin, both with new books published by City Lights Spotlight Series, Facing You by Nduka and Natch by Dahlin, emceed by poet Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, free, online, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: poetry.sfsu.edu/events/29183-uche-nduka-and-sophia-dahlin-reading-and-conversation)
- The San Francisco Public Library presents a monthly Poem Jam, a poetry reading with special guests TBA, free, online, 6:00-7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: sfpl.org/events/2021/02/11/performance-sf-poet-laureate-monthly-poem-jam)
- Vroman's Bookstore presents a reading and discussion of Andomeda Romano-Lax's latest novel, Annie and the Wolves, a story of one woman's obsession with Annie Oakley and the mysteries surrounding her life, in conversation with novelist Gayle Brandeis, free, online, 6:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.vromansbookstore.com/event/andromeda-romano-lax)
12 FEBRUARY 2021 — friday
- No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.
13 FEBRUARY 2021 — saturday
- Join performative poet Peggy Dobreer for this six-week workshop, "Write into Spring," attendees learn different methods to find inspiration for poetry, workshop runs six Saturdays, from February 13-March 20, and includes a reading for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) on April 11, $150, online, 10:00 am-Noon PST (Register to attend: www.eventbrite.com/e/write-into-spring-embodied-poetry-6-week-workshop-w-peggy-dobreer-tickets-134706774589)
- Join numerous poets and writers in celebrating the launch of Death by Arrangement, a suspense novella by author and dance choreographer Kathleen Taylor, followed by an open mic featuring both poetry and prose, on the theme of women's empowerment, all are welcome to sign up, theme is optional, free, online, 5:00 pm PST (Register to attend/sign up for open mic: www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-empowerment-open-mic-kathleen-torian-taylordeath-by-arrangement-tickets-138348749835?keep_tld=1)
14 FEBRUARY 2021 — sunday
- Skylight Books presents a discussion of three new poetry collections, Blackspace: On the Poetics of An Afrofuture by Anaïs Duplan, The New World by Kelly Schirmann, and Soap for the Dogs by Stacey Tran, free, online, 4:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.skylightbooks.com/event/live-crowdcast-ana%C3%AFs-duplan-kelly-schirmann-and-stacey-tran-discuss-their-new-poetry)
- The Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium presents a poetry reading by Jennifer Lagier and Mary Kay Rummel, free, online via Zoom, 2:00 pm PST (Email: jfellguth@sbcglobal.net by 5:00 pm PST, Saturday, February 13 for Zoom link)
- City Lights Books celebrates the launch of 100 Boyfriends, by writer and musician Brontez Purnell; the book is a collection of vignettes of the lives of queer men, at times irreverent and darkly funny, at others deeply moving and vulnerable, in conversation with novelist and poet Melissa Broder, free, online via Zoom, 6:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.citylights.com/bookstore/?fa=event&event_id=3742)
15 FEBRUARY 2021 — monday
- Skylight Books presents a reading of Speculative Los Angeles, an anthology of stories centered around the city of Los Angeles, filled with sci-fi and paranormal themes, featuring Denise Hamilton, editor of the anthology, and two contributing authors, Alex Espinoza and Aimee Bender, free, online, 6:30 pm PST (Register to attend: www.skylightbooks.com/event/live-crowdcast-speculative-los-angeles-group-reading-editor-denise-hamilton-and-contributors)
- Odd Mondays presents a reading featuring three returning authors, poet Eveline Landau Kanes, short story writer Joe Sutton, and poet/novelist David Watts, reading from new work, free, online, 7:00 pm PST (RSVP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/859173061497900/, or email: oddmondaysnoevalley@gmail.com for Zoom link)
16 FEBRUARY 2021 — tuesday
- Jack Foley, along with Nina Serrano, Jovelyn Richards, and Jennifer Stone, hosts Cover to Cover, a radio show celebrating poetry and prose of all sorts, Tuesdays on KPFA in Berkeley, free, online, 2:00 pm PST (For more information: kpfa.org/program/cover-to-cover)
- PEN Out Loud 2021 presents a discussion of the novel The Removed by Brandon Hobson, novelist and National Book Award finalist, in conversation with novelist Rebecca Makkai, $20 general admission, online, 8:00-9:00 pm EST/5:00-6:00 pm PST (Purchase tickets here: pen.org/event/pen-out-loud-brandon-hobson-with-rebecca-makkai)
- The Brilliant Playground offers the workshop "The Artist's Way," based on the best-selling book of the same name by Julia Cameron, led by poet and musician Maxima Kahn, in which attendees will discover methods and tools for expanding their creativity amid an intimate community of writers and artists, runs for thirteen weeks (February 16-May 18, with one week off), registration closes February 2, $697, online, 3:00-6:00 pm PST (Register to attend: brilliantplayground.com/artists_way_online)
- Cobalt Poets presents a poetry reading featuring Ron Koertge, open mic to follow, free, online via Zoom, 7:30 pm PST (Zoom link here: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
- San Diego Writers, Ink, offers the workshop Points of Light: Writing Tips and Techniques, led by Diane Malloy, author, editor, and host of the Off the Wall open mic series, held over two 75-minute sessions on February 16 and 23, $45 members, $52.50 nonmembers, online via Zoom, 1:00-2:15 pm PST (Register to attend: www.sandiegowriters.org/02-16-online-points-of-light-writing-tips-and-techniques-with-diane-malloy)
17 FEBRUARY 2021 — wednesday
- The Poetry Center presents a reading with poets Fanny Howe (Second Childhood, finalist for the National Book Award) and Linda Norton (Wite Out: Love and Work), emceed by Norma Cole, free, online, 4:00 pm PST (Register to attend: poetry.sfsu.edu/events/29184-fanny-howe-and-linda-norton-reading-and-conversation)
18 FEBRUARY 2021 — thursday
- Book Passage celebrates the debut of two poetry collections, Index of Haunted Houses by Adam O. Davis and Stay Safe by Emma Hine, both winners of the Kathryn A. Morton poetry prize, free, online, 5:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.bookpassage.com/event/adam-o-davis-emma-hine-index-haunted-houses-stay-safe)
- Join poet Hollie Hardy for "Poetry IV: Generative Poetry Workshop," attendees will read, write, and workshop new poetry, with a different theme each week, hosted by the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute, all levels welcome, runs six weeks (February 18-March 25), $375, online, 6:00-9:00 pm PST (Register to attend: sfwriting.institute/events/poetry-workshop-iv)
- Point Arena Third Thursday Poetry presents a reading featuring poet Michelle Penaloza, open mic to follow, email blake@snakelyone.com to read at the open mic, free, online via Zoom, 7:00 pm PST (Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us/j/84400514767?pwd=aC8rVjZrcXNBRnpRdHp6cW1WeEl2UT09; for more information: www.facebook.com/thirdthursdaypoetry)
- Join the You're Going to Die Team for this open mic, Poetry, Prose, and Everything Goes, performance time five minutes maximum, bring poetry, prose, music, dance, artwork to perform in this online community space, sign up during the Zoom meeting, with Ned Buskirk, music from Saroon, free, suggested donation $10, online via Zoom, 6:30 pm PST (Register to attend: www.facebook.com/events/904234767000320)
19 FEBRUARY 2021 — friday
- No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.
20 FEBRUARY 2021 — saturday
- The Richmond Literary Arts Center presents a poetry reading featuring two UK-based poets, Jane Burn and Golnoosh Nour, free, donations welcome, online via Zoom, Noon PST (Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us/j/86987929407?pwd=clR0THp5VnplM2RFTWxraE1TemlBZz09; donate to support Richmond Literary Arts Center: www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=W4PDAEDZ322NA)
21 FEBRUARY 2021 — sunday
- California Writers Club presents the Speaker Series, this month titled "Focus + Finish the Writing that Matters," featuring poet and nonfiction writer Sage Cohen, about setting and fulfilling writing goals, and building good practices when it comes to writing, $5 members, $10 nonmembers, online, 1:00-3:00 pm PST (Purchase tickets here: www.ticketsource.us/california-writers-club-berkeley-branch/cwc-speaker-series-sage-cohen-focus-finish-the-writing-that-matters/e-krmlom)
- The San Francisco Public Library, in conjunction with the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute, presents "Dispatches from Quarantine," a reading of work that reflect on the present moment and the struggles of living during a global pandemic, featuring readings by Paul Corman-Roberts, Hollie Hardy, Alexandra Kostoulas, Kim Shuck, San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, and more, free, online, 2:00 pm PST (Register to attend: sfpl.org/events/2021/02/21/performance-dispatches-quarantine)
- Poetry Flash presents a virtual poetry reading by Connie Post, Prime Meridian, Margo Taft Stever, Cracked Piano, and Stephanie Strickland, How the Universe is Made: Poems New & Selected, online via Zoom, free, 3:00 pm PST (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link to join the reading)
22 FEBRUARY 2021 — monday
- No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.
23 FEBRUARY 2021 — tuesday
- Join hosts Amos White and Kimi Sugioka, Poet Laureate of the City of Alameda, for part II of the fourth annual Alameda Black History Month Black Authors and Poets Reading, featuring a panel of Bay Area poets: Anna Allen, Monique Jonath, Norm Mattox, Vernon Keeve, and Dr. Raina Leon discussing their work and the Black voice in poetry, free, with donations welcome, online, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.booksinc.net/event/black-history-month-panel-part-ii)
- Jack Foley, along with Nina Serrano, Jovelyn Richards, and Jennifer Stone, hosts Cover to Cover, a radio show celebrating poetry and prose of all sorts, Tuesdays on KPFA in Berkeley, free, online, 2:00 pm PST (For more information: kpfa.org/program/cover-to-cover)
- Cobalt Poets presents a reading featuring poet Trish Hopkinson, open mic to follow, free, online via Zoom, 7:30 pm PST (Zoom link here: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
- The Museum of the African Diaspora, in conjunction with Litquake, celebrates the launch of Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity and the Truth About Where I Belong by journalist Georgina Lawton, in conversation with journalist and model Jess Cole, free, with a pay-what-you-can option, online, 12:00-1:00 pm PST (Register to attend: : www.moadsf.org/event/book-launch-raceless-georgina-lawton-in-conversation-with-jess-cole/?instance_id=15912)
- Join Poetic License Sonoma every fourth Tuesday for an evening of poetry readings featuring the nine poets that make up Poetic License Sonoma, Susanne Arrhenius, Jeffrey Bartfeld, Joseph Cutler, Paul DeMarco, Kusum Irene Jain, Leo McCloskey, Steve Trenam, Judith Vaughn, and Jaime Zukowski, this reading featuring special guest Prartho Sereno, Poet Laureate emeritus of Marin County, emceed by Joe Cutler, free, with additional donations welcome, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.sebarts.org/classes-lectures/finding-form-through-poetry-feb23)
24 FEBRUARY 2021 — wednesday
- City Lights Books presents a discussion of music critic Daphne A. Brooks' latest book, Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound, an examination of Black women in music and how these figures, despite their popularity, are often overlooked and placed on the outskirts of the music industry, in conversation with Ann Powers, music critic and correspondent for NPR, free, online via Zoom, 6:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.citylights.com/bookstore/?fa=event&event_id=3743)
- Point Reyes Books celebrates the paperback release of Lydia Millet's novel A Children's Bible, finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, free, donations welcome, online, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/lydia-millet)
- The Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives presents a reading and discussion featuring poet Vi Khi Nao (Human Tetris) and artist and poet Dao Strom (Instrument), emceed by Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, co-presented with the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network at San Francisco State University, free, online, 2:00 pm PST (Register to attend: poetry.sfsu.edu/events/29185-vi-khi-nao-and-dao-strom-reading-and-conversation)
25 FEBRUARY 2021 — thursday
- The Center for Literary Arts of San Jose presents a reading and discussion of Trust Exercise, by novelist Susan Choi, winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction, in conversation with Noelle Brada-Williams, founder of the journal Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies, free, online, 6:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.clasanjose.org/susanchoi)
- Mechanics' Institute presents a reading and discussion of In the Company of Men, a novel by Véronique Tadjo, which uses real accounts of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa within the story, in conversation with memoirist Faith Adiele, co-sponsored by Museum of the African Diaspora, free for members, $5-$10 for nonmembers, online, Noon PST (Register to attend: www.milibrary.org/events/company-men-novel-zoom-feb-25-2021)
- Copperfield's Books presents journalist Gina Wilkinson, reading from her latest novel When the Apricots Bloom, a poignant story of two families' politics and sacrifices in Baghdad, free, online, 7:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.copperfieldsbooks.com/event/gina-wilkinson-online)
- City Lights Books presents a reading of new work with novelists Lidia Yuknavich, reading from Verge: Stories, and Lance Olsen, reading from My Red Heaven, free, online, 6:00 pm PST (Register to attend: www.citylights.com/bookstore/?fa=event&event_id=3755)
26 FEBRUARY 2021 — friday
- Small Press Traffic presents the High Dawn Reading Series, this month featuring readings from Stephon Lawrence, artist and writer, and Muriel Leung, poet and author of Bone Confetti, introduced by poet Angie Sijun Lou, with music performed by Beast Nest, a performing project by Sharmi Basu, free, online, 6:00-7:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: smallpresstraffic.org/upcomingevents/stephon-lawrence-muriel-leung)
27 FEBRUARY 2021 — saturday
- Aqus presents the series Poets in Conversation, featuring poets Kathleen McClung and Sande Anfang reading their work and answering questions from the audience, free, online, 4:00 pm PST (Email: poetry@phyllispoetry.com for the Zoom link)
28 FEBRUARY 2021 — sunday
- Les Figues Press and the Echo Theater Company present Mrs. Porter's Salon, an art and literary salon featuring a diverse array of creative performance, including poetry, visual arts, music, and dance, if attending please bring something to share with the group, each attendee is given two to five minutes to perform, co-hosted by Teresa Carmody and Johanna Blakely, founders of Les Figues Press, free, online, 3:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.echotheatercompany.com/mrs-porters)
- Sixteen Rivers Press presents a poetry reading featuring José Luis Gutiérrez (The Motel Entropy and Other Sorrows) and Ricardo Pau-Llosa (The Turning), part of the Sixteen Rivers Presents reading series, free, online via Zoom, 3:00 pm PST (Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us/j/84755044899?pwd=R1BsajF6aWQ2ZjhCSHhYbTJxdm5VQT09; for more information: sixteenrivers.org/category/readings-events/)
- Friends of the Claremont Library poetry reading features Jennifer K. Sweeney (Foxlogic, Fireweed) and Diana Marie Delgado (Tracing the Horse, part of the Fourth Sundays reading series, free, online via Facebook Live, 2:00 pm PST (RSVP to attend: www.facebook.com/fourthsundayspoetry)
- Poetry Flash presents a virtual poetry reading by Nathalie Anderson, Stain, and Terry Tierney, The Poet's Garage, online via Zoom, free, 3:00 pm PST (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link to join the reading)
- Harriet A. Washington, author of the acclaimed book Medical Apartheid, discusses her newest work, Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Medical Consent, about the violations when it comes to consent to medical research, and how these violations disproportionately affect people of color, hosted by Revolution Books in Berkeley and New York, free, online, 2:00 pm PST/5:00 pm EST (Register to attend: facebook.com/events/172268234400910)
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