Featured

• Michael Wall + Jonathon Keats
  City Lights presents philosopher Jonathon Keats in conversation with Michael Wall about Wall's "Out There: A Scientific Guide to Alien Life, Antimatter, and Human Space Travel (For the Cosmically Curious)." The book is written in a question-and-answer format using humor and pop culture to make difficult ideas more palatable, which both does and doesn't mirror […]
• Emily Yoon, Sam Sax, Monika Sok
  Green Apple Books presents an evening with three brilliant young poets: Emily Jungmin Yoon, whose debut collection "A Cruelty Special to Our Species" explores themes of gender, race and violence; Sam Sax, whose "Bury It" was selected by Tyehimba Jess as winner of the 2017 James Laughlin Award; and Monika Sok, a Stegner Fellow whose […]
• Da Do SF 6
  Three Rooms Press presents a release party for the 12th issue of "Maintenant: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art," with readings by a wild list of contributors that includes Carol Dorf, Jack Hirschman, Maw Shein Win, Neeli Cherkovski and Mahnaz Badihian. At the famous Spec's Bar, guests are encouraged to get the full […]
• Kiese Laymon and Tongo Eisen-Martin
  Kiese Laymon visits Marcus Books Oakland to read from his remarkable new book "Heavy: An American Memoir," a layered and time-bending coming-of-age account of growing up in Jackson, Mississippi. Joining him is local poet and educator Tongo Eisen-Martin ("Heaven Is All Goodbyes"), whose dynamic recitations match the sustained emotional intensity of Laymon's prose.
• Poetry from USFs Graduate Program in Writing
  D. A. Powell ("Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys") presents students of his USF Graduate Program in Writing course "San Francisco Poetics" reading new works. The students will share the stage with the poet and founding diretor of the program Aaron Shurin ("Citizen"), who reads and discusses his own work and how it relates […]
• Norma Cole and Steve Dickison
  Richmond-based indie publishing powerhouse Omnidawn celebrates the release of two books by local authors: "Fate News" by poet, translator and visual artist Norma Cole ("Actualities," "Where Shadows Will") and "Inside Song" by poet and director of The Poetry Center Steve Dickison ("Disposed"), selected by Tyrone Williams as winner of the Omnidawn Poetry Chapbook Prize.
• Flight of Poets
  The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art presents the third annual "Flight of Poets" pairing California poets, wines and food. Curated by poets Tess Taylor ("Work & Days") and Hollie Hardy ("How to Take a Bullet, And Other Survival Poems"), this year features Julia Bouwsma ("Midden"), Joseph Rios ("Shadowboxing: Poems and Impersonations"), Sam Sax ("Bury It") […]
• Howard Zinn Book Fair
  The 5th annual Howard Zinn Book Fair, themed "Fighting for the Air We Breathe," brings together authors, activists and critical thinkers for a day of readings, discussions and workshops that explore the value of dissident histories in building a better future. Volunteer-organized, the festival features a wide-ranging book fair and programming on everything from climate […]
• Babylon Salon
  The quarterly Babylon Salon series features readings by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Vanessa Hua ("A River of Stars"), Beth Winegarner ("Tenacity: Heavy Metal in the Middle East and Africa"), Heather June Gibbons ("Her Mouth as Souvenir"), Sara Mumolo ("Mortar") and Christine O'Brien ("Crave: A Memoir of Food and Longing") in the downstairs performance space of […]
• Janice Lee and Brenda Iijima
  The Poetry Center presents Portland, OR-based essayist, fiction writer and editor Janice Lee ("The Sky Isn't Blue," "Reconsolidation") reading with Brooklyn-based poet, editor and publisher Brenda Iijima ("Remembering Animals," "eco language reader") for the second installment of the In Common Writers Series and the organization's first collaboration with Alley Cat Books.