Hannah Sward
Rose Black and Hannah Sward
27 APRIL 2023 — thursday
Poetry Flash presents "An Evening of Poetry & Memoir," reading and discussion with poet Rose Black, Green Field, and memorist Hannah Sward, Strip, both writers work with Right to Write Press, a nonprofit that supports emerging writers who are incarcerated in California prisons; in-person, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this event will be available for signing at the event and at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash. Proceeds from the in-person book sales will benefit Poetry Flash, and a portion of the online proceeds will also support the series.
MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Hannah Sward's new book is Strip: A Memoir. She tells of being abandoned by her mother and living with her poet father on an island with no stores or cars. Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee says, "Hannah Sward's memoir of how she blundered into the sex industry is touchingly honest, and written with a light touch." Booklist wrote, "Elegant prose, stripped of all sensationalism and demands for pity…a fresh, literary addition to the courageous and resonant addiction-memoir genre." Her writing has appeared in Halcoyne, Arts & Letters, Red Wheelbarrow, and Porter Gulch Review, among other magazines. She was Editor and Columnist at Third Street Villager Los Angeles, and has written for Fix and Your Tango. A longtime contributor at Erotic Review, she is also a Board member of Right to Write Press, a nonprofit that supports emerging writers who are incarcerated.
Rose Black's poetry books are Clearing, Winter Light, and Green Field. David St. John says, "Rose Black's superb new collection of poems, Green Field, is a sobering volume of recollections, reflections and meditations upon a life's ravaged hopes, the echoes of a personal past, and the raw realities of our present. Like fables and dreams gone dark in the lens, these poems instruct us in the complex measures we need to employ in determining what values still remain—and endure—in our lives." A Pushcart nominee, her poetry has been widely published, and her first two books are included in Yale's Beinecke Library for the Yale Collection of American Literature. She teaches poetry at Salinas Valley State Prison and is one of the founders of Right to Write Press, a nonprofit that promotes the growth of emerging poets who are incarcerated in California state prisons. She will read from her own work and from poetry by incarcerated writers, including Ubaldo Teque, Jr., who recently won first place in a statewide prison poetry contest with thousands of entries. She edited his chapbook, Niño Inmigrante. Rose Black lives and works at Renaissance Studios, an artists' collective in East Oakland.
Daily Listings
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8 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday
9 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday
- Left Margin Lit welcomes writers of all experience levels for their workshop, "12 Flash Prompts in 12 Days," running over twelve days (September 9 to 20, 2024), the workshop will encourage writing to prompts that focus on different aspects of craft and voice, and are designed to challenge and motivate, hosted by Rachel Sarah, Girl Warriors and Climate Champions, virtual on Slack, $50, Asynchronous (For more information, visit: leftmarginlit.org/late-summer-shorts-3-meserve-sarah)
- Pegasus Books welcomes scholar and author Sunaura Taylor, Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation, for a discussion on her new title, Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert, in conversation with Yomi Young; Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, free, 6:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.pw.org/literary_events/sunaura_taylor_disabled_ecologies_lessons_from_a_wounded_desert_with_yomi_young)
10 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday
- Warwick's presents novelist and TV/film writer Gary Goldstein, The Last Birthday Party, to read from and discuss his latest, Please Come to Boston, Warwick's, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/goldstein-2024)
11 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday
- Vroman's Bookstore welcomes Ava Dellaira, In Search of Us, for a discussion of her new novel, Exposure, Vroman's Bookstore, 695 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.vromansbookstore.com/event/ava-dellaira-discusses-exposure)
- Open Book welcomes acclaimed fiction writer Percival Everett, James, and David Mas Masumoto, Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm, an organic peach and grape farmer and memorist, for a Q&A and book signing; A Noise Within Theatre, 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.pw.org/literary_events/literary_titans_percival_everett_and_david_mas_masumoto_in_conversation)
- The Blue Whale Reading Series presents Jace Turner and Catherine Abbey Hodges, In a Rind of Light, for a featured poetry reading followed by an open mic, Unity Church Of Santa Barbara, 227 East Arrellaga Street, Santa Barbara, $5 suggested donation, 5:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.independent.com/events/the-blue-whale-reading-series)
12 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday
13 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday
- Society of Young Inklings presents their annual two-day (September 13 to September 14, 2024) writing conference "The Way Words Move Us," celebrating the launch of the annual Inklings Book, featuring a keynote event with children's book author Joanna Ho, creative writing breakout sessions, workshops on using movement to bring words to life, experiments in word play, a storytelling workshop, reflective writing, a silent auction with literary-themed baskets and a pop-up bookstore; Reception and autograph session with all the conference authors, including youth published in the Inklings Book 2024; Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley, $50-$300, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-way-words-move-us-tickets-893677833457?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)
14 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday
- THIS EVENT IS CANCELED - Point Reyes Books welcomes poet Ellery Akers in celebration of her new collection, A Door Into the Wild: Poetry and Art, joined by Jane Hirshfield and others; Point Reyes Presbyterian Church, 11445 CA-1, Point Reyes Station, free, 3:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/ellery-akers-jane-hirshfield-and-more)
- The Garlicky Group of Poets welcomes all for their monthly poetry reading and open mic; Come perform and listen to poetry in a relaxed, judgment free environment, Gilroy Library, 350 West Sixth Street, Gilroy, free, 3:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: sccl.bibliocommons.com/events/65691a42067df23e0029839b)
- California State Parks and Quiet Lightning, in partnership with Friends of China Camp, present Poetry in Parks 2024, a daylong literary arts festival, featuring a set from Better Ancestors with Karla Myn Khine, Alex Feliciano Mejia, Kato Bisase, Zouhair Mussa and Sarah O'Neal, China Camp Village, 100 China Camp Village Road, San Rafael, free, Noon PDT (For more information, visit: friendsofchinacamp.org/event/poetry-in-parks-2024)
- Point Reyes Books welcomes Laura Marris in celebration of her debut essay collection, The Age of Loneliness, Dance Palace Church Space, 503 B Street, Point Reyes Station, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/laura-marris)
15 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday
- The Petaluma Poetry Walk is an annual poetry festival founded in 1996 by the late poet Geri Digiorno, this year features over two dozen poets at eight venues: 11:00 am, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street: Sixteen Rivers Press kicks off the Walk with Christina Lloyd, Alice Templeton, and Murray Silverstein, with event presenter Terry Ehret; Noon, The Petaluma Cheese Shop, 112 Washington Street: Raleigh Review Geri Digiorno Prize Winner Emily Schulten, Lynn Watson, Gene Berson, with event presenter Bill Vartnaw; 1:00 pm, Keller Street CoWork, Main Lounge, 140 Keller Street: Jonah Raskin, Lisa Summers, Stacey Tuel, and Steve Shain on Standup Bass, with event presenter Daedalus Howell; 2:00 pm, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street: Avotcja, Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş, Nancy Miller Gomez, with event presenter Elizabeth Herron; 3:00 pm, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street: California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick and former San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate Genny Lim, with event presenter Iris Jamahl Dunkle; 4:00 pm, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd. North: Marin Poetry Center Poets, Ellery Akers and Lee Rossi, with event presenter Francesca Bell; 5:00 pm, Petaluma Historical Museum, 20 4th Street: Georgina Marie Guardado, Jodi Hottel, Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, with event presenters Sabine Wolpert and John Johnson; 6:00-8:00 pm, Aqus Café, 189 H Street (this location is the farthest, you might want a ride for this venue): The Grande Finale with Emilie Lygren, Kirk Lumpkin, Chris Olander, Lin Marie DeVincent, Fran Carbonaro, and Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter, with event presenter Gwynn O'Gara; all in walking distance across Petaluma, all free, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.petalumapoetrywalk.org)
- Rumi's Caravan returns to Berkeley for recitations of world poetry, featuring an improvised poetic conversation with music, the presentation quotes from the works Rumi, Hafiz, Mary Oliver, Kabir, Wendell Berry, Neruda, Rilke, Robert Bly, Yeats, Naomi Shihab Nye, William Stafford, Maya Angelou, Leonard Cohen, Seamus Heaney, Denise Levertov, Antonio Machado, May Sarton and others, ticket sales support the work of the Middle East Children's Alliance; The Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, $29 Advance or $39 Door, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: secure.thefreight.org/14235/rumi-caravan-0915, or www.RumisCaravan.com)
16 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday
- Warwick's welcomes Brenda Novak, Summer on the Island, author of more than sixty novels, to discuss and read from her latest, The Banned Books Club, Warwick's, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, free, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/novak-2024)
- The Booksmith welcomes Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room, to read from and discuss her most recent novel, Creation Lake, The Booksmith, 1727 Haight Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.booksmith.com/event/rachel-kushner)
17 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday
- KQED Live welcomes San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, Blood in the Fog, for "Rhymes for Reform," a reading and discussion about how poetry can ignite action, The Commons, 2601 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.kqed.org/event/4431)
18 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday
19 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday
- Marin Poetry Center welcomes Joan Baranow, Reading Szymborska in a Time of Plague, and Matthew Gellman, Beforelight, for a poetry reading and discussion, Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, free, 6:15 pm PDT (For more information, visit: marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events/joan-baranow-matthew-gellman-poetry-reading)
- Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading by Yiskah Rosenfeld, reading from her two new collections, Tasting Flight and Naked Beside Fish, and LA poet and performance poet Linda Ravenswood, A poem is a house, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
20 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday
- Santa Barbara Public Library and the Santa Barbara Poetry Series present an afternoon poetry reading by celebrated poets Mariano Zaro, Decoding Sparrows, Christine Penko, Thunderbirds, and B.D. Salvas, hosted by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf; Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: calendar.library.santabarbaraca.gov/event/santa-barbara-poetry-series-reading-16527)
21 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday
- Beyond Baroque welcomes novelist and memoirist Terry Wolverton, Season of Eclipse, and Jaime Balboa, Missing Possibilities, 826LA executive director and short story author, for a discussion on their newest releases, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach, Los Angeles, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/an-afternoon-of-fiction-with-terry-wolverton-jaime-balboa-tickets-962483934357?aff=oddtdtcreator)
22 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday
- Marcus Books welcomes Code Tenderloin founder Del Seymour and author Alison Owings, Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich, for a discussion and reading from their book, The Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco, followed by a book signing, Marcus Books, 3900 Martin L King Jr Way, Oakland, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.instagram.com/marcus.books/?hl=en)
23 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday
24 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday
25 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday
- Gilman Brewing Company welcomes Anastasia DiFonzo, for a celebration of her new poetry collection, Girl, in conversation with artist Natalie Kaye Gunn and writer Joshua Peralta, Gross Americana, Gilman Brewing Company, 912 Gilman Street, Berkeley, free, 6:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/girl-anastasia-difonzo-book-launch-tickets-926333056107?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)
26 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday
- Warwick's welcomes historical and contemporary fiction author Aimie K. Runyan, The Memory of Lavender and Sage, to discuss her latest book, Mademoiselle Eiffel, in conversation with historical fiction author Kate Quinn, Empress of Rome Saga, Virtual on Zoom, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/runyan-2-2024)
- Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore welcomes poet Matthew Zapruder, Come on All You Ghosts, for a discussion and reading from his new poetry collection, I Love Hearing Your Dreams, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.mrsdalloways.com/events/matthew-zapruder-presents-his-new-poetry-collection-i-love-hearing-your-dreams)
- Sebastopol Center for the Arts welcomes all writers for their September Writers' Salon, each reader will have five minutes; Any type of writing is welcome including prose, poetry, essay, etc., Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 South High Street, Sebastopol, $10, 3:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.sebarts.org/classeslectures/p/writers-salon-sept-2024)
27 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday
- Love Language Events presents "Mental Penetration: Erotic Poetry Night," a poetry reading focused on the depths of desire, intimacy, and passion through the art of poetry; VV LUXE Events, 3698 San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, $28, 9:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/love-language-events-presents-mental-penetration-erotic-poetry-night-tickets-951797992417?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)
- Beyond Baroque presents "Anyhow, I Love You," a celebration exploring the soundtrack in author Susan Hayden's lyrical, hybrid memoir, Now You Are a Missing Person; Susan Hayden will share these songs and discuss how they accompanied the writing of the book, in conversation with her husband, music journalist Steve Hochman, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach, Los Angeles, free, 8:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/anyhow-i-love-you-susan-hayden-in-conversation-with-steve-hochman-tickets-978844208377?aff=oddtdtcreator)
28 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday
- Fourth Saturdays Poetry at the Claremont Library monthly poetry reading presents featured poets Tiffany K. Elliott, Bones Awaiting the Blaze, and Scott Noon Creley, Digging a Hole to the Moon, Helen Renwick Library, 208 North Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/events/1797746840635833/?ref=newsfeed)
- Left Margin Lit welcomes writers of all experience levels for their workshop, "Speaking from Experience: Writing Personal Narrative," runs over four Saturdays (September 28 to October 19, 2024), the workshop explores elements of craft pertinent to personal writing: voice, narrative distance, detail, characterization, using writers's personal lives and experiences to generate new writing, work toward a draft of one personal essay by the end of the month, hosted by Jaclyn Moyer, On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family from Punjab to California, virtual on Zoom, $275, 10:00 am PDT (For more information, visit: www.leftmarginlit.org/speaking-from-experience-moyer)
29 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday
- In this "line break" poetry workshop, "Poetry of the Sixth Sense," participants will use dreams, tarot, the powers of sensory and textual associations, and several generative prompts to help them unblock and access new images and narrative, hosted by poet Alex Mattraw, Raw Anyone, private garden location, South Berkeley, $90-$180, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.alexmattraw.com/linebreakworkshops)
30 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday
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