Books, Bitters, & Chocolate! A Valentine’s Party at Odd Mondays

Red wine, chocolate, & words of love! Join Odd Mondays for its Valentine’s party Books, Bitters, & Chocolate!, Monday, February 11, from 7pm to 8pm at Folio Books San Francisco, 3957 24th St. in Noe Valley. Authors Jennifer Barone Poetry, Rebekah Eppley, and Peg Alford Pursell read about love, illustrator Carmen Cortez prepares love bitters, Michael’s Chocolates will have Valentine’s chocolates for sampling and sales, and there’ll be free red wine for all! No-host dinner nearby at 5:30pm, Haystack Restaurant, 3881 24th St.

Here’s more about the participants!
Jennifer Barone is an Italian-American poet and artist. She is the author of three books of poetry, her most recent: SAPOROSO – POEMS OF ITALIAN FOOD & LOVE. She is the host of the monthly WordParty Poetry & Jazz Series and has been a featured poet at LitQuake, SFJazz Poetry & Jazz Festival, The SF Public Library, The Red Poppy Art House, SF MoMa, and more. She won the 2007 and 2012 SF Public Library’s Poets Eleven contest for North Beach, where she resides, and has been published in literary journals such as the Marin Poetry Center Anthology, CCSF’s Forum, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and Quiet Lightning’s sPARKLE & bLINK. She is currently working on a new collection of poetry. Visit:jenniferbarone.wordpress.com

Maria del Carmen Cortez (Carmen) is an Herbalist, Permaculturalist, and Medicine Maker. Her passions are gardening, growing her own medicine, and creating art. She was born in Purepero, in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, with an extended family of storytellers who also instilled in her a love of plant medicine. She grew up as a migrant farm worker in the San Joaquin Valley and currently lives in Oakland.

Rebekah Eppley holds a Master’s of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University, a Master’s in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and a BFA in Writing, Literature & Publishing from Emerson College. She published a chapter in an oral history collection, Nine Lives, Uncovering the Wealth of Life Stories Within our Nursing Homes and her fiction and poetry have appeared in magazines such as the Santa Clara Review, Watchword Press, and Lodestar Quarterly. She lives in Oakland with her wife, Carmen Cortez, and works as a librarian at the Dimond Branch of the Oakland Public Library.

Peg Alford Pursell is the author of SHOW HER A FLOWER, A BIRD, A SHADOW, the 2017 Indies Book of the Year for Literary Fiction, and selected for the annual “5 over 50” feature in Poets & Writers Magazine (2017). A GIRL GOES INTO THE FOREST, a collection of stories, will be published by Dzanc Books July 2019. Her work has been published in many journals and anthologies, including Joyland magazine, Connotation Press, and Permafrost. She is the founder and director of the national reading series Why There Are Words and the founder and director of WTAW Press, an independent publisher of exceptional literary books. Learn more at www.pegalfordpursell.com

Michael’s Chocolates is a San Francisco-based chocolatier, which makes small-batch handcrafted chocolates and confections. They proudly feature their Good Food Awards 2018 Winner, Lemon Burst Bonbon Collection, and also offer special Seasonal Collections, in addition to popular items such as Salted Caramels and Old Potrero Rye Whiskey Bonbons. www.michaelschocolates.com