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Literary Review & Calendar for the West

MAY 2026

Daily Listings

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Poetry Flash Reading Series

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17 APRIL 2026 — friday

• No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.

18 APRIL 2026 — saturday

• Join "Last Days Poet" to share your poetry, write a poem during a poetry movement exercise, and meet other poets, Robbie Waters Library Meeting Room, 7336 Gloria Drive, Sacramento, free, 1:30 pm (Registration via email simone@lastdayspoet.com)
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• Beast Crawl Literary Festival presents "When the Smoke Comes Writing Workshop," part of the festival to promote diverse literary artists and provide a space to share arts from writers, poets, and other artists, Black Panther Party Museum, 1427 Broadway, Oakland, free/donations, 1:30 pm-3:00 pm (event page

Beast Crawl Literary Festival presents "Ancestral Futures/World Fantasy Con Reading," the event is a part of the festival to promote diverse literary artists and provide a space to share arts from writers, poets, and other artists, BAM HOUSE, 1540 Broadway, Oakland, free/donations, 4:00 pm-5:30 pm (event page

Beast Crawl Literary Festival presents the "Colossus Press Reading," the event is a part of the festival to promote diverse literary artists and provide a space to share arts from writers, poets, and other artists, eve Night Heron, 1780 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, free/donations, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm (event page

Beast Crawl Literary Festival presents "Sultry Sessions Erotic Poetry Showcase," the event is a part of the festival to promote diverse literary artists and provide a space to share arts from writers, poets, and other artists, ZANZI Oakland, 9 Grand Avenue, Oakland, free/donations, poets read at 8:00 pm-9:30 pm (event page

Join poet Jamie Asaye FitzGerald for a generative workshop: "World Within a Poem: From Micro to Macro and Back Again," hosted by Sehba Sarwar and Lester Graves, Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, 2659 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, free, 11:00 am (altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/16133533)

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Walker Brents III talks on topics TBA, Bird & Beckett Books and Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm (birdbeckett.com/events)

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19 APRIL 2026 — sunday

• Beast Crawl Literary Festival presents a Book Fair, Open Mic will be held during the event at 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, Northlake Lot #2270, 2270 Broadway, Oakland, free/donations, Noon-4:00 pm (event page

Celebrate the posthumous launch of Mary Rudge's Romance of Flowers and Dance, honoring the first Poet Laureate of Alameda, with readings from her work, tributes by fellow poets, an open mic, and a poetry dance performance, Frank Bette Center for the Arts, 1601 Paru Street, Alameda, free, 1:00 pm (www.frankbettecenter.org)

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20 APRIL 2026 — monday

• No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.

21 APRIL 2026 — tuesday

• Join local poets reading their contributions to the poetry anthology Catching Fire: The Los Angeles Wildfires, featuring Susan Auerbach, Mary Anne Berry, Teresa Mei Chuc, Spencer Griffin, Richard Modiano, Riot Renwick, Maryrose Smyth, Loma Alta Park Gymnasium, Multipurpose Room, 3330 Sunset Ridge Road, Altadena, free, 6:00 pm (Registration required at altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/16123059)
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22 APRIL 2026 — wednesday

• No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.

23 APRIL 2026 — thursday

• The Altadena Library hosts their first ever Adult Literacy Book Club, a limited supply of books will be available on a first-come, first serve basis, Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, 2659 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, adults nineteen or older, free, 10:30 am (altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/15871102)
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• City Lights and University of California Press present Scott Kurashige to celebrate the publication of American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism, in conversation with journalist Jeff Yang, in-store and on Zoom, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, registration required for the Zoom, 7:00 pm PDT (www.eventbrite.com/e/scott-kurashige-american-peril-tickets-1979945436098?aff=oddtdtcreator, and )
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• San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita Kim Shuck and special guests celebrate the publication of poet Jeffrey Bryant's The Catacombs of Vanished Lovers at SFPL's monthly poetry reading, San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 pm (sfpl.org/events/2026/04/23/performance-kim-shucks-poem-jam-celebrates-catacombs-vanished-lovers)
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24 APRIL 2026 — friday

• No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.

25 APRIL 2026 — saturday

• Small Press Traffic presents Terrence Arjoon, Sophia Dahlin, and Ronaldo V. Wilson with introductions by Ebti, Jacob Kahn, and Kristen Nelson, event takes place at Et al., 2831 a Mission Street, San Francisco, free, doors open at 6:30 pm, reading starts at 7:00 pm (Registration required: www.smallpresstraffic.org/event/terrence-arjoon-sophia-dahlin-ronaldo-wilson)
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• In celebration of twenty years of the Altadena Libraries' Altadena Poets Laureate Program, and as the Closing Event for the After the Fire Series, the Altadena Library presents "Poetry & Cookies," a reading with an open mic, featuring writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, poets published in Altadena Poetry Review 2026, indie publishers and their poets, with art activities by the Altadena Library and Armory Center for the Arts, and the announcement of the Altadena Poets Laureate 2026–2028, hosted by Sehba Sarwar and Lester Graves Lennon, Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, Bob Lucas Parking Lot, Bob Lucas Reading Court, 2659 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, adults nineteen or older, free, 3:00 pm (altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/16132810)
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26 APRIL 2026 — sunday

• Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading by Rebecca Foust, You Are Leaving the American Sector: Love Poems, and Diane Frank, Prayer to the Invisible, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm (poetryflash.org).
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• San Francisco's 9th Poet Laureate Genny Lim hosts a special program featuring San Francisco's first Youth Poet Laureates: SF Youth Poet Laureate Karan Gupta, Vice SF Youth Poet Laureate Aisha McCulloch and Tika Zahiri, SF Youth Poet Laureate Cohort Member, with butterfly harp music performed by Harriet Lim, San Francisco Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 1:00 pm (sfpl.org/events/2026/04/26/performance-sf-poet-laureate-genny-lim-and-sf-youth-poet-laureates)
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• Village Poets presents a reading by Lois P. Jones, award-winning poet, editor, and former host of Poets Café on KPFK, and Susan Rogers, poet and Pushcart Prize nominee, with open mic, Bolton Hall Museum, 1011 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, three-minute open mic, PG-13 content, refreshments, free, $5 donation suggested, 4:30 pm (RSVP: pero@earthlink.net, additional information at villagepoets.blogspot.com)
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27 APRIL 2026 — monday

• No events listed for this date. Find out how to submit your event listing.

28 APRIL 2026 — tuesday

• Bird & Beckett hosts Jeanne Carsten to discuss her new book, A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis, Bird & Beckett Books and Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, free, 7:30 pm (birdbeckett.com/events)
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• Book Society presents "Motherhood, Adoption, Inheritance: A Conversation," with Kate Shatz, Where the Girls Were, and Tracy Clark-Flory, My Mother's Daughter, exploring the stories we inherit from our mothers, Book Society, 2945 College Avenue, Berkeley, $45, members $30, 6:00 pm (Purchase tickets online: www.booksociety.social/event-details/motherhood-adoption-inheritance-a-conversation-with-kate-schatz-tracy-clark-flory)
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• City Lights and HarperCollins present Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff celebrating the publication of their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, both in-store and on Zoom, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, registration required for Zoom, 7:00 pm PDT (www.eventbrite.com/e/quinn-slobodian-and-ben-tarnoff-tickets-1979948819217?aff=oddtdtcreator, and citylights.com/events/quinn-slobodian-and-ben-tarnoff)
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29 APRIL 2026 — wednesday

• The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers' Series at SDSU presents Blas Falconer in a poetry reading from his newest book Rara Avis, in-person at San Diego State University Library, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, in the Leon Williams Room, LL430, Love Library, Fourth Floor, free, 7:00 pm (library.sdsu.edu/events#event-details/49327f40-616e-4f1a-8ba1-a188dc054cb1)
  event page

30 APRIL 2026 — thursday

• The Altadena Library hosts their first ever Adult Literacy Book Club, a limited supply of books will be available on a first-come, first serve basis, Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, 2659 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, adults nineteen or older, free, 10:30 am (altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/15871103)
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• Molly Crabapple, Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund, in conversation with queer, jewish, poet and writer Sam Sax, both in-store and on Zoom, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, free, registration required for Zoom, 7:00 pm PDT (www.eventbrite.com/e/molly-crabapple-in-conversation-with-sam-sax-tickets-1982664999385?aff=oddtdtcreator, and citylights.com/events/molly-crabapple-here-where-we-live-is-our-country-the-story-of-the-jewish-bund)
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• Poet and writer Eileen Myles in conversation with poet James Schuyler's biographer, Nathan Kernan, A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler, with additional discussion and reading of Schuyler's work by Tom Carey, Jason Morris, and Hannah Zeavin, Bird & Beckett Books and Records, 653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, free, 7:30 pm (birdbeckett.com/events/)
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