Wile & Wing Poetry Book Launch

A poetry reading hosted by author and songwriter Kimi Sugioka.

Author and songwriter Kimi Sugioka is a mesmerizing—and folkloric—figure in the Bay Area literary community. She is described as maternal, witchy, and passionate by Anne Waldman, author of Trickster Feminism. For decades, Sugioka has been involved in the Bay Area’s literary community, and was a former curator of the legendary Café Babar poetry series of the 1990s. Now, Sugioka says, poetry readings are more significant than ever in a shifting San Francisco: “the [literary] community subsists on artistic freedom—and it is still free. There are multiple poetry readings every night and they don’t cost anything. They cut across class, race and culture, and engender the expression of diverse voices that share the paradoxical wit, wisdom, terror and joy of our times.”

On December 17, the Tenderloin Museum will have the privilege of hosting the book launch for Wile & Wing, Sugioka’s latest series of poems which explore themes of Invisible borders, personal boundaries, and social justice. In classic “Babarian” fashion, Sugioka will also be joined by authors Natasha Dennerstein and Susan Dambroff, where they will each read book excerpts and original poems.

About the poets:

Kimi Sugioka

Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and raised in Berkeley, California, Kimi Sugioka is a poet, songwriter, and educator. She performs her work frequently throughout the Bay Area. She has worked in public education for decades, and earned her BA from San Francisco State University and MFA from the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Natasha Dennerstein

Natasha Dennerstein was born in Melbourne, Australia. She has an MFA from San Francisco State University. Natasha has had poetry published in many journals internationally. Her collections Anatomize (2015), Triptych Caliform (2016) and her novella-in-verse About a Girl (2017) were published by Norfolk Press in San Francisco. Her trans chapbook Seahorse (2017) was published by Nomadic Press in Oakland. She lives in Oakland, California, where she is an editor at Nomadic Press and works at St James Infirmary, a clinic for sex-workers in San Francisco. She was a 2018 Fellow of the Lambda Literary Writers’ Retreat.

Susan Dambroff

Susan Dambroff is a poet, performer, and teacher drawn to the detailed placement of words and the alchemy of timing and sequence. She has published the chapbook,“Conversations with Trees.”