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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180825T160000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180825T180000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180705T002530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180705T002530Z
UID:46629-1535212800-1535220000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Kids 10 & up! Pablo Cartaya
DESCRIPTION:Presenting Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish. One boy’s search for his father leads him to Puerto Rico in this moving middle grade novel\, for fans of Ghost andSee You in the Cosmos. \nTo reserve your seat\, purchase a copy of Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by speaking to a bookseller or ordering from our website. \n\n\n\n\n\nSaturday\, August 25\, 2018 – 4:00pm\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarcus Vega is six feet tall\, 180 pounds\, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you’re only in the eighth grade\, you’re both a threat and a target. \nAfter a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension\, Marcus’s mom decides it’s time for a change of environment. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don’t remember or have never met. But Marcus can’t focus knowing that his father–who walked out of their lives ten years ago–is somewhere on the island. \nSo begins Marcus’s incredible journey\, a series of misadventures that take him all over Puerto Rico in search of his elusive namesake. Marcus doesn’t know if he’ll ever find his father\, but what he ultimately discovers changes his life. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way. \n\nPablo Cartaya’s novels explore identity\, place\, and the spaces in-between. His debut novel about a boy standing up for his community\, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora\, received three starred reviews. When Pablo isn’t writing\, he’s spending time with his family or dreaming of his next visit to Puerto Rico. Learn more about Pablo at pablocartaya.com and follow him on Twitter @phcartaya.\n\n\n\n\n\nEvent address:\n\n\n\n2904 College Avenue\n\nBerkeley\, CA 94705
URL:https://litseen.com/event/kids-10-up-pablo-cartaya/
LOCATION:Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore\, 2904 College Ave\, Berkeley\, CA\, 94705\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cartaya.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180825T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180825T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180702T212436Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180702T212436Z
UID:46470-1535223600-1535230800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:BOOK RELEASE: BLACK STEEL MAGNOLIAS BY JAMES CAGNEY
DESCRIPTION:Join us at our Uptown\, Oakland\, location for the much-anticipated release of James Cagney’s first full-length poetry collection\, Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory! \nIt’s going to be an amazing evening of readings\, live music\, gnosh / refreshments\, and friends of Nomadic Press as we launch this treasure of a book into the universe. \nReadings by TBA\, pop-up surprise Nomadic Press readers\, and of course\, the star of the evening\, James Cagney. Books will be available for purchase and there will be a signing following the event ($12 each). Music by TBA! \nHope to see you there!
URL:https://litseen.com/event/book-release-black-steel-magnolias-by-james-cagney/
LOCATION:Nomadic Press: Uptown\, 2301 Telegraph Ave.\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cagney.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180825T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180825T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180818T221210Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180818T221210Z
UID:47401-1535223600-1535232600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Saturday Night Special\, An East Bay Open Mic Presents: Nighttime
DESCRIPTION:As school starts back up and summer slides to its close\, SNS celebrates “Nighttime.” Give us stars\, dreams\, darkness\, a night on the town—Feel free to interpret our theme in any way that suits your fancy. \nAs always\, we’d love to hear your (three-minute) poems\, stories\, comedic sketches\, songs\, or dances\, on our optional theme (or any topic). \nOur fabulous featured readers for August are: Heather June Gibbons & Rohan DaCosta \nFirst come first served. Sign-up starts at 7pm and closes when it fills up or when the reading starts\, so get there early if you want to read! (Note: Sometimes the list is full by 7:03pm) \nEach reader will have 3 minutes maximum. For prose writers this is about one and a half double-spaced pages. \nPLEASE NOTE: We are strict about the 3 minute max. When you reach your time limit at SNS\, we turn on the disco lights! So\, please plan ahead. Practice your piece out loud. Time yourself! \nAfter the reading\, stick around for karaoke starting at 10pm \nSaturday\, August 25\, 2018\n7 – 9:30 pm \nNick’s Lounge (21+)\n3218 Adeline Street\, Berkeley\, CA\n1 block south of Ashby BART\nBetween Fairview St & Martin Luther King Jr Way \nFREE!\nBut bring CASH if you want to buy drinks (which you sort of have to\, because there’s a 1-drink minimum!) \nHosted by Hollie Hardy \nPlease help out by liking our FB page\, where you can also find more details and photos from past events: \nhttps://www.facebook.com/Saturday-Night-Special-an-East-Bay-open-mic-112174188880786/ \nBIOS \nHeather June Gibbons was born in Utah and grew up on an island in Washington. She is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir\, winner of the 2017 Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press). She is also the author of two chapbooks\, Sore Songs (Dancing Girl Press)\, and Flyover (Q Avenue Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals\, including Blackbird\, Boston Review\, Drunken Boat\, Gulf Coast\, Indiana Review\, jubilat\, New American Writing\, and West Branch. She received an MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, where she held a Callen Graduate Scholarship\, and she has been the recipient of a Full Fellowship Residency from the Vermont Studio Center\, the Pavel Strut Poetry Fellowship from the Prague Summer Program\, the Agha Shahid Ali Scholarship from the Fine Arts Work Center\, and the Harold Taylor Prize from the Academy of American Poets. Heather teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University\, and in the community. She lives in San Francisco. \nRohan DaCosta is a multi-disciplinary artist from the city of Chicago\, working primarily through photography\, writing\, and song. Often approaching his work with great emotional sensitivity\, Rohan explores complex dilemmas\, and frequencies found in lovers\, in families\, in ecosystems\, and in places. In his candid street photography and in his poetry\, Rohan keenly examines intimacy and relativity\, often finding the personal angle to political problems. In verse\, he expresses the profound joy and quandary of black life in America. He is the founder of and curator for GRACEGOD The Collective\, which celebrates the unique work of artists\, craftsmen\, and activists from all over the world. His work in graphic design and clothing has been featured as limited edition merchandise at The Koppel Project in London. His photography has been featured at The Flight Deck Gallery as a solo exhibition titled Ordinary People (2018). His photography has also been featured at Root Division Gallery as part of a group exhibition titled Let Me Be a Witness (2018). His book of photography\, poetry\, and song\, The Edge of Fruitvale\, was published by Nomadic Press on April 28\, 2018.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/saturday-night-special-an-east-bay-open-mic-presents-nighttime/
LOCATION:Nick’s Lounge\, 3218 Adeline St.\, Berkeley\, CA\, 94703\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/saturday.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180827T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180827T200000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180824T233035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180824T233035Z
UID:47354-1535396400-1535400000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Celebrating Judith Levy-Sender\, Ramon Sender\, & 17 Years of Odd Mondays
DESCRIPTION:For 17 years\, Judith Levy-Sender and Ramon Sender organized Odd Mondays readings as community and literary events. Come celebrate their work Monday\, August 27\, from 7pm to 8pm at Folio Books San Francisco\, 3957 24th St. in Noe Valley. Judy will tell the history of the Odd Mondays reading series\, why it began and how it grew\, and both she and Ramon will read from their own work. Hosted by their friend\, Rick May\, who will continue the series with readings beginning in September. Free admission and free celebratory food and drink!
URL:https://litseen.com/event/celebrating-judith-levy-sender-ramon-sender-17-years-of-odd-mondays/
LOCATION:Folio Books\, 3957 24th St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94114\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Judy-and-Ramon.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180827T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180827T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180719T012709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180719T012709Z
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SUMMARY:Laura Van Den Berg and Anthony Marra
DESCRIPTION:Laura Van Den Berg discusses her new novel\, The Third Hotel with Anthony Marra. \n\nPraise for The Third Hotel \n\n“I love Laura van den Berg for her eeriness and her elegance\, the way the fabric of her stories is woven on a slightly warped loom so that you read her work always a bit perturbed. The Third Hotel is artfully fractured\, slim and singular; it’s a book that sings\, but always with a strange pressure more felt than heard beneath the song.” —Lauren Groff\, author of Fates and Furies \n  \n“In this gorgeous\, frighteningly smart novel\, a woman deranged by grief becomes an imposter in her own life. As inventive and inexorable as a dream\, The Third Hotel is a devastating excavation of the unconscionable demands we place on those we love\, and a profound portrait of the uncanny composite creature that is a marriage. Laura van den Berg is one of our best writers\, an absolute marvel.” —Garth Greenwell\, author of What Belongs to You \n  \n“I love the way Laura van den Berg writes. The Third Hotel is another of her beguiling little masterpieces. One that\, with ruminative grace and sublime wit\, answers and elucidates the question of what it means to be human.” —Miriam Toews\, author of All My Puny Sorrows \n  \nAbout The Third Hotel \n\nIn Havana\, Cuba\, a widow tries to come to terms with her husband’s death—and the truth about their marriage—in Laura van den Berg’s surreal\, mystifying story of psychological reflection and metaphysical mystery. \n  \nShortly after Clare arrives in Havana\, Cuba\, to attend the annual Festival of New Latin American Cinema\, she finds her husband\, Richard\, standing outside a museum. He’s wearing a white linen suit she’s never seen before\, and he’s supposed to be dead. Grief-stricken and baffled\, Clare tails Richard\, a horror film scholar\, through the newly tourist-filled streets of Havana\, clocking his every move. As the distinction between reality and fantasy blurs\, Clare finds grounding in memories of her childhood in Florida and of her marriage to Richard\, revealing her role in his death and reappearance along the way. The Third Hotel is a propulsive\, brilliantly shape-shifting novel from an inventive author at the height of her narrative powers.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/laura-van-den-berg-and-anthony-marra/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books on the Park\, 1231 9th Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94122\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/the-third.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180828T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180828T183000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180824T233252Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180824T233252Z
UID:47431-1535477400-1535481000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Sanpaku with Kate Gavino
DESCRIPTION:Meet the cartoonist\, Kate Gavino! \nSanpaku tells the story of Marcine\, a woman fascinated with the Japanese idea of Sanpaku—that seeing the white around the iris of your eyes is a bad omen. But it’s everywhere Marcine looks—her grandmother has it\, some classmates at Catholic school have it\, JFK had it… Even Marcine might suffer from this odd condition. Eating a strict macrobiotic diet and meditating is supposed to help\, but no matter how much Marcine wants it to\, it can’t save her grandmother’s life or make her days at school any easier.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/sanpaku-with-kate-gavino/
LOCATION:San Francisco Public Library\, Excelsior\, 4400 Mission Street\, San Francisco\, 94112
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screenshot_3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180828T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180828T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180702T220400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180702T220400Z
UID:46499-1535482800-1535490000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:SPANISH LANGUAGE BOOK CLUB MEETING
DESCRIPTION:Please join us for a lively discussion about \n“La Balsa de Piedra” by Jose Saramago \nTo join the book group please contact iranyi@me.com
URL:https://litseen.com/event/spanish-language-book-club-meeting-3/
LOCATION:Adobe Books\, 3130 24th St.\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94110\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/spanish-language.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180828T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180828T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180730T234652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180730T234652Z
UID:47067-1535482800-1535490000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Genevieve Hudson\, Thomas Moniz\, and Nancy Au
DESCRIPTION:This event will be held at our Clement street location. \nPlease join us at Green Apple Books on Clement street on Tuesday\, August 28th at 7:00 p.m. as we welcome Genevieve Hudson to celebrate her debut collection of stories (from Future Tense Books)\, Pretend We Live Here. Genevieve will be joined by two more readers; Tomas Moniz\, creator of the popular zine Rad Dad\, and Nancy Au\, a writer\, artist\, and teacher living in Oakland. Editor and publisher Brian Hurley will be moderating the reading. \n\nGenevieve Hudson. \nIn her debut collection of stories\, Pretend We Live Here\, Genevieve Hudson explores the idea of home and what it means to find one: in the body\, in the world\, in other people. Her characters are seekers\, whose actions are influenced by their slippery identities and by the strange landscapes that surround them.  \n  \n“A terrific collection of stories. There are echoes here of Flannery O’Connor\, Barry Hannah\, and Denis Johnson\, but Genevieve Hudson is her own writer–impressively and gloriously so. Her eye for the clinching detail is unnerving and her sympathies are fascinatingly conflicted. I hope\, and suspect\, this book will be the start of a long and inspiring career.” -Tom Bissell\, author of The Disaster Artist and Magic Hours \n\n“In Pretend We Live Here\, characters bleed and breathe with a caustic energy that dares the reader to keep pace as they are taken from the Deep South to Western Europe and back again. Genevieve Hudson is a new\, coming-of-age voice that spotlights rural America\, injecting it with a queer freshness that makes her writing impossible to forget.” -Jing-Jing Lee\, author of How We Disappeared \n  \nTomas Moniz \nLibrary Journal (01/01/2017): Writing professor Moniz’s Rad Dad started as a zine over ten years ago\, and this reviewer had the pleasure of critiquing that title in 2011 during its growing pains. Now\, with a few more kids\, Rad Dad has a full-fledged family\, and this latest offering [Rad Families: A Celebration] exhibits growth in depth and advice. These collected essays\, written by various contributors\, are raw\, inspired\, and artful\, capturing the joys and pains of parenting with no apologies and no lack of grace. As such\, some entries will speak more to readers than others\, but the truth and beauty they evoke is elegant and grounding\, celebrating the victories and struggles of a generation of parents: “I did not grow up in a family where anything seemed possible. The future did not really exist because surviving the present was the priority.” Topics range from sex to incarceration to adoption and include the viewpoints of mothers and fathers both new and seasoned\, introspective and wishing for a do-over. VERDICT For the literary-minded\, this Rad Dad collective is a gem of inspired thought\, though this reviewer still loathes the book jacket. \n  \nNancy Au \n“I am a queer\, bisexual writer\, artist\, and teacher living in Oakland\, California. I graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in anthropology. I have an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University. I am currently an instructor at California State University Stanislaus\, where I teach creative writing (to biology majors!). And\, I am co-founder of The Escapery\, a collective of teachers who are dedicated to diversity\, and to writing and art as a form of resistance. \nMy short stories\, flash fiction\, creative nonfiction\, and poetry often center on the experiences of the elderly\, the young\, immigrants\, as well as with characters who struggle with mental health issues. I endeavor to write about (and to amplify\, diversify\, complicate) the voices that have been historically ignored (or stereotyped or diminished or demonized) within academia and literature. I am also particularly interested in exploring the lives of American-born Chinese and Chinese immigrants\, with an eye towards diverse perspectives and outlooks.” – Peas & Carrots
URL:https://litseen.com/event/genevieve-hudson-thomas-moniz-and-nancy-au/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books\, 506 Clement St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94118\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pretend.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180828T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180828T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180605T212323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180605T212323Z
UID:46205-1535484600-1535490000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:BINDERY: Mara Altman / Gross Anatomy
DESCRIPTION:The Bindery hosts an evening with Mara Altman\, as she celebrates her new book Gross Anatomy. Please join us! \n  \nMara Altman’s volatile and apprehensive relationship with her body has led her to wonder about a lot of stuff over the years. Like\, who decided that women shouldn’t have body hair? And how sweaty is too sweaty? Also\, why is breast cleavage sexy but camel toe revolting? Isn’t it all just cleavage? These questions and others like them have led to the comforting and sometimes smelly revelations that constitute Gross Anatomy\, an essay collection about what it’s like to operate the bags of meat we call our bodies. \n  \nDivided into two sections\, “The Top Half” and “The Bottom Half\,” with cartoons scattered throughout\, Altman’s book takes the reader on a wild and relatable journey from head to toe — as she attempts to strike up a peace accord with our grody bits. \n  \nWith a combination of personal anecdotes and fascinating research\, Gross Anatomy holds up a magnifying glass to our beliefs\, practices\, biases\, and body parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness. \n  \n\n  \n“I love how Gross Anatomy delightfully reveals Mara Altman’s upbeat and life-affirming obsession with the human body — our lovelinesses and not-so-lovelinesses. Lots of people will soon feel far more body-positive because of this book.”– Jon Ronson\, author of The Psychopath Test \n  \n “Forget that old fake news about sugar and spice. With wit and candor\, Mara Altman tells us what girls are really made of – and it’s a hair-raising revelation.”– Tom Robbins\, author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues \n  \n“Gross Anatomy is a charming\, deeply-researched\, whole-hearted embrace of our imperfections\, the things that women don’t talk about because we feel they mar our societally imposed notions of femininity. But after reading Mara Altman’s exploration of her body (and ours) you’ll feel more comfortable with yourself\, from head to toe.” – Jennifer 8. Lee\, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles \n  \n\n  \n \nMara Altman enjoys writing about issues that embarrass her (e.g. chin hair)\, because she has found that putting shame on the page diffuses the stigma\, leaving her with a sense of empowerment and freedom. Her first book\, Thanks for Coming\, an investigation into love and orgasm\, was translated into three languages. Her work has appeared in The New York Times\, Salon and New York Magazine among other publications. Before going freelance\, She worked as a staff writer for the Village Voice and daily newspapers in India and Thailand. She is an alumna of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in San Diego with quite a few other hairy beings. \n  \nPlease note: this event will be at The Bindery\, 1727 Haight. \n  \nBar opens at 7\, event begins at 7:30pm. \n  \nRSVP appreciated but not required.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/bindery-mara-altman-gross-anatomy/
LOCATION:The Bindery\, 1727 Haight St\, San Francisco \, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gross.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180829T183000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180829T203000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180818T213642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180818T213717Z
UID:47379-1535567400-1535574600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:H O L L O W A Y : R E A D I N G : S E R I E S Annual Faculty Reading\, with Cecil Giscombe\, Robert Hass\, Lyn Hejinian\, Geoffrey G. O’Brien\, John Shoptaw\, and Sara Nicholson
DESCRIPTION:Annual Faculty Reading\, with Cecil Giscombe\, Robert Hass\, Lyn Hejinian\, Geoffrey G. O’Brien\, John Shoptaw\, and Sara Nicholson\nREADINGS ARE FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
URL:https://litseen.com/event/annual-faculty-reading-with-cecil-giscombe-robert-hass-lyn-hejinian-geoffrey-g-obrien-john-shoptaw-and-sara-nicholson/
LOCATION:Maude Fife Room\, UC Berkeley\, 2000 Carleston Street\, Berkeley\, CA\, 94720\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Holloway.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180829T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180829T220000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180830T213846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180830T213846Z
UID:47604-1535569200-1535580000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Jan Steckel at Sacred Grounds Open Mic
DESCRIPTION:Lambda Literary Award-winning poet Jan Steckel is featured tonight at San Francisco’s longest-running weekly open mic at Sacred Grounds Café. Your host is Daniel Philip Brady at this open mic that has run every Wednesday night since at least 1972. Open Mic slots are five minutes\, shorter if very crowded; sign up at 7 PM. Food is good and reasonably priced. A video will be shot of you at the open mic if you don’t object\, so you can look at it later online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sacred-Grounds-café or http://www.creativeideasforyou.com/SacredGrounds_YouTube.htm and polish your performance skills or just admire yourself.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/jan-steckel-at-sacred-grounds-open-mic/
LOCATION:Sacred Grounds\, 2095 Hayes at Cole\, San Francisco\, 94117
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JanPublicity.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180829T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180829T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180605T213027Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180605T213027Z
UID:46215-1535571000-1535576400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:BOOKSMITH: Thomas Page McBee / Amateur
DESCRIPTION:Booksmith hosts an evening with Thomas Page McBee as he celebrates his new book\, Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man. Please join us! \n  \nFrom an award-winning writer whose work bristles with “hard-won strength\, insight\, agility\, and love” (Maggie Nelson)\, an exquisite and troubling narrative of masculinity\, violence\, and society. \n  \nIn this groundbreaking new book\, the author\, a trans man\, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence. Through his experience boxing–learning to get hit\, and to hit back; wrestling with the camaraderie of the gym; confronting the betrayals and strength of his own body–McBee examines the weight of male violence\, the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes\, and the limitations of conventional masculinity. A wide-ranging exploration of gender in our society\, Amateur is ultimately a story of hope\, as McBee traces a new way forward\, a new kind of masculinity\, inside the ring and outside of it. \n  \nIn this graceful\, stunning\, and uncompromising exploration of living\, fighting\, and healing\, we gain insight into the stereotypes and shifting realities of masculinity today through the eyes of a new man. \n  \n\n  \n“Until I read this book\, I didn’t realize how tired I was of reading about masculinity as cold\, hard\, and fixed. Amateur is a warm hug. It’s also an invitation to everyone who’s ever struggled to accept failure\, searched for a sense of belonging\, or said “Ugh\, men” in an exasperated tone to think harder and be kinder. I want the world to read it.” – Ann Friedman\, New York Magazine columnist and co-host of Call Your Girlfriend \n  \n“Amateur is a brutally honest look at the problems with masculinity\, laced through with hope\, and joy\, and possibility. Thomas McBee confronts fears and realities with grace\, toughness and poetry. A beautiful book.” – Michelle Tea\, author of Black Wave and How to Grow Up \n  \n\n  \nThomas Page McBee is the author of the Lambda award-winning memoir Man Alive: A True Story of Violence\, Forgiveness\, and Becoming a Man\, which was named a best book of 2014 by NPR\, BuzzFeed\, Kirkus Reviews\, and Publishers Weekly. His writing has appeared in The New York Times\, Playboy\, Glamour\, The Rumpus\, and Pacific Standard. He lives in Brooklyn. \n  \nRSVP is appreciated\, but not required.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/booksmith-thomas-page-mcbee-amateur/
LOCATION:The Booksmith\, 1644 Haight St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/amateur.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180829T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180829T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180713T001806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180713T001806Z
UID:46798-1535571000-1535578200@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Joe Clifford in conversation with David Corbett
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday\, August 29\, 7:30pm\nPegasus Books Downtown \nMystery authors Joe Clifford (Broken Ground) and David Corbett (The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday) discuss their most recent works.\n  \nA former homeless junkie\, Joe Clifford has dedicated his life to education and the craft of writing and helping other ex-junkies find a voice and a platform for their creative energies. He is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and holds an MFA degree from Florida International University. He is the acquisitions editor for Gutter Books and the producer of Lip Service West\, a gritty reading series in Oakland\, California. Clifford is the author of several acclaimed books―two of which were Anthony Award nominees: Lamentation\, his first novel in the Jay Porter series\, and his anthology (editor) Trouble in the Heartland. Broken Ground is the fourth novel in his Jay Porter series. In all his Jay Porter novels\, Clifford uses the backdrop of drug abuse to shine a light on the misunderstood and marginalized\, while weaving personal tragedies into narratives that compel and transcend as well as entertain. Clifford lives with his wife\, Justine\, and two sons in the San Francisco Bay Area.\n \nDavid Corbett worked as a private investigator for fifteen years before becoming the widely acclaimed author of multiple novelsincluding The Devil’s Redhead\, Done for a Dime (a New York Times Notable Book)\, Blood of Paradise (nominated for numerous awards\, including the Edgar)\, and Do They Know I’m Running. David’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies\, with two stories selected for Best American Mystery Stories. He has taught at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program\, 826 Valencia\, Chuck Palahniuk’s LitReactor\, and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/joe-clifford-in-conversation-with-david-corbett/
LOCATION:Pegasus Books Downtown\, 2349 Shattuck Ave\, Berkeley \, CA\, 94704\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pegasus.png
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180830T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180830T170000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180830T223642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180830T223642Z
UID:47721-1535616000-1535648400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Tim Burkett: Zen in the Age of Anxiety
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday\, September 11\, 7:30pm\nPegasus Books Downtown \nTim Burkett discusses Zen in the Age of Anxiety: Wisdom for Navigating Our Modern Lives. \nABOUT ZEN IN THE AGE OF ANXIETY \nZen wisdom for identifying the causes of mental and emotional anxiety epidemic in today’s world and for finding the path to a peaceful heart in the midst of them–a path that leads directly though the center of the anxiety we’re trying to escape. \nWrestling with fear doesn’t have to be a negative experience. This book offers an approach to life that unlocks a new way of thinking and being in the world\, one that leads directly through the center of the anxieties we seek to avoid. Written in the style of an owner’s manual\, a guide to being human\, Burkett focuses on areas of pain and anxiety as they tend to manifest for modern people: feelings of unworthiness\, and issues surrounding sex\, money\, failure\, and even death. Providing wisdom from Zen (channeled through his many experiences as a psychotherapist) and using language and metaphors from popular culture\, he takes anxiety and teaches us to turn those fears into the building blocks of a fulfilling life. \nTIM BURKETT \nTim Burkett began practicing Zen Buddhism in San Francisco in 1964 with renowned teacher Shunryu Suzuki (author of Zen Mind\, Beginner’s Mind). Tim’s first book\, Nothing Holy About It\, discusses how Zen’s core teachings unfold within the ordinary comedies and tragedies of everyday life. In his books\, as in his life\, Tim reveals how to live in the world with a deep joy that comes from embracing the work and play of this very moment. Tim is the former CEO of the largest non-profit organization in Minnesota for individuals with mental illness. He is a psychologist\, a Zen Buddhist priest\, and the Guiding Teacher of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. \n\nPRAISE\n“This is a book imbued with love and wisdom\, full of passages of fluid prose\, woven in with carefully chosen Zen stories\, poetry\, and relevant research findings. It includes clear explanations of the power of diligent meditation practice to transform our various human difficulties into clear seeing\, equanimity\, and ease\, followed by practical exercises about how to go about this work. This is a book about the substance and beauty of Zen practice\, a book I will happily read and recommend to my own students.”—Jan Chozen Bays\, author of Mindful Eating and How to Train a Wild Elephant \n“I gained so much from reading Tim’s book\, especially about how to hold and handle my own anxieties. Here is an encouraging handbook on how Buddhist values and practices can increase our sense of connectedness and foster inner—and outer—peace. I especially liked Tim’s Nine Keys that can open any of us to healing powers in life events and in ourselves too.”—David Richo\, author of The Five Things We Cannot Change and How to Be an Adult in Relationships \n“With an artless simplicity born of deeply integrated and compassionate wisdom\, Tim Burkett speaks to the beginner’s mind in each one of us.”—Cynthia Bourgeault\, author of The Heart of Centering Prayer \n“Now the guiding teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis\, Burkett uses his teacher’s advice to frame a thoughtful life manual for modern seekers and meditators—especially those who\, like Burkett\, lean away from the rigidity of formal religion. For Burkett\, the Buddhist precepts are gifts\, not rules\, that frame a wholesome life. Zen in the Age of Anxiety can help nontraditionalists find their way with those gifts in hand.”—Tricycle: The Buddhist Review  \n“Through companionable wisdom and focused practice\, Zen in the Age of Anxiety is a guidebook for applying Zen principles to our troubled and harried lives. The book explores the paradox of the centered peace of Zen beliefs in the chaos of modernity. As both a psychologist and a Zen Buddhist priest\, Tim Burkett’s vocations pair a broad knowledge of human behavior with the compassion\, humor\, and openness of Zen.”—Foreword Reviews \n\n\n\n\nEvent date:\n\nTuesday\, September 11\, 2018 – 7:30pm\n\n\n\nEvent address:\n\n\n\nPegasus Books Downtown\n2349 Shattuck Ave\n\nBerkeley\, CA 94704
URL:https://litseen.com/event/tim-burkett-zen-in-the-age-of-anxiety/
LOCATION:Pegasus Books Downtown\, 2349 Shattuck Ave\, Berkeley \, CA\, 94704\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/zen.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180830T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180830T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180721T031252Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180721T031252Z
UID:46997-1535655600-1535662800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Lisa Locascio\, Open Me
DESCRIPTION:Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes Lisa Locascio for a reading and signing of her evocative novel\, Open Me—the final event in our Debuts of Summer series.  \n  \nRoxana Olsen has always dreamed of going to Paris\, and after high school graduation finally plans to travel there on a study abroad program—a welcome reprieve from the bruising fallout of her parents’ divorce. But a logistical mix-up brings Roxana to Copenhagen instead\, where she’s picked up at the airport by Søren\, a twenty-eight-year-old guide who is meant to be her steward. Instantly drawn to one another\, Roxana and Søren’s relationship turns romantic\, and when he asks Roxana to accompany him to a small town in the north of Denmark for the rest of the summer\, she doesn’t hesitate to accept. There\, Roxana’s world narrows and opens as she experiences fantasy\, ritual\, and the pleasures of her body\, a thrilling realm of erotic and domestic bliss.  She is so enamored by her cohabitation and intense connection with Søren that at first\, she almost doesn’t notice that he does not give her a key to the apartment\, leaving her locked in each day while he works in the library on his African-American literature thesis. \nAs their relationship deepens\, Søren’s temperament darkens\, revealing his depression\, anxiety and prejudices.  Roxana finds herself increasingly drawn to a local outsider\, in many ways Søren’s polar opposite\, whom she learns is a Bosnian Muslim refugee from the Balkan War.  When she decides to sneak out to find him her experiences open in a way she could never have imagined. \nAn erotic coming-of-age like no other\, Open Me is a daringly original and darkly compelling portrait of a young woman discovering her power\, her sex\, and her voice; and an incisive examination of xenophobia\, migration\, and what it means to belong. \n  \nLisa Locascio’s work has been published in The Believer\, Salon\, n+1\, Bookforum\, Tin House\, American Short Fiction\, The Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. She is co-publisher of Joyland and editor of 7x7LA. Lisa was born in Chicago and raised in River Forest\, Illinois\,  and received her PhD in Creative Writing and Literature and MA in English Literature from the University of Southern California. She currently teaches creative writing at Wesleyan. Open Me is her first novel. \n  \n“Locascio’s story of a young American abroad is unflinching in its portrayal of sex\, desire\, racism\, and the excitement and confusion of youth. Infused with erotics and politics\, this is a novel that will haunt you.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen\, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer \n“Through the care of her tremendous observations and the beauty of her prose\, Lisa Locascio writes a kind of love letter to the female body and all its power and visceral complexity. This is a story of many important layers\, but one of the many reasons it remains distinct in my mind is because of its honesty about our complicated\, yearning physical selves. A remarkable\, fearless debut.”—Aimee Bender\, author of The Color Master \n“Captivating and darkly clever\, Locascio’s debut melds self-discovery and self-abnegation with raw\, muscular grace.  By turns beguiling\, guileless\, and penetratingly felt\, this book seethes with eroticism\, both physical and emotional—you won’t dare to pry yourself away from it.”—Alexandra Kleeman\, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine \n“A lush\, evocative novel you won’t be able to put down. Open Me is a masterful debut.” —T.C. Boyle\, author of The Harder They Come \n  \nThis free event will take place at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Chairs for open seating are usually set up an hour before the event begins.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/lisa-locascio-open-me/
LOCATION:Bookshop Santa Cruz\, 1520 Pacific Ave\, Santa Cruz \, CA\, 95060\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,South Bay
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/lisa-locasio.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180830T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180830T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180605T212505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180605T212505Z
UID:46208-1535657400-1535662800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:BINDERY: MariNaomi / Losing the Girl
DESCRIPTION:The Bindery hosts MariNaomi as she presents her new book Losing the Girl\, the first of the three-book series Life on Earth. Please join us! \n  \nClaudia Jones is missing. Her classmates are thinking the worst… or at least the weirdest. It couldn’t be an alien abduction\, right? \n  \nNone of Claudia’s classmates at Blithedale High know why she vanished — and they’re dealing with their own issues. Emily’s trying to handle a life-changing surprise. Paula’s hoping to step out of Emily’s shadow. Nigel just wants to meet a girl who will laugh at his jokes. And Brett hardly lets himself get close to anybody. \nIn Losing the Girl\, the first book in the Life on Earth trilogy\, Eisner-nominated cartoonist MariNaomi looks at life through the eyes of four suburban teenagers: early romance\, fraying friendships\, and the traces of a mysterious — maybe otherworldly — disappearance. Different chapters focus on different characters\, each with a unique visual approach. \n  \n\n  \n“Losing the Girl is a success from top to bottom. … There are many familiar elements of teen romance here\, to be sure\, but MariNaomi approaches with a level of sophistication and humanity that’s rare for any story of this kind.” – The Comics Journal \n  \n“…gripping\, affecting graphic novel. … A moody\, compassionate reflection of  adolescence in turmoil.” – Kirkus Reviews \n  \n“(MariNaomi’s) creative artistic effects amplify the tension and awkward emotions\, transforming a familiar story of young love into something memorable and new.” – Publisher’s Weekly \n  \n\n  \nMariNaomi is the award-winning author and illustrator of four comic memoirs and creator of the Cartoonists of Color database. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and many cats and dogs. Visit her website atmarinaomi.com. \n  \n  \nPlease note: this event will be at The Bindery\, 1727 Haight. \n  \nThis is an all ages event. The bar opens at 7\, event begins at 7:30pm. \n  \nRSVP appreciated but not required.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/bindery-marinaomi-losing-the-girl/
LOCATION:The Bindery\, 1727 Haight St\, San Francisco \, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/losing.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180830T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180830T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180719T012914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180719T012914Z
UID:46907-1535657400-1535664600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Paul McHugh and Leah Garchik
DESCRIPTION:Paul McHugh discusses his new novel The Blind Pool with  Leah Garchik. \n\nPraise for The Blind Pool \n\n“A taut thriller by a terrific storyteller. The political headlines of today make it timely as hell.” Dan Rather \n\n“You’ll rip through pages to find out what happens!”– Rorke Denver\, former Navy SEAL\, New York Times best-selling-author of “Damn Few” and star of the film “Act of Valor.” \n\nAbout The Blind Pool \n\nA Russian crime ring scores entry to the USA by forging an alliance with a criminal gang that uses a West Texas private prison as their base. Felons are secretly released from that prison and sent out across the nation to work as hard-case enforcers. An assault on a bridge in the Florida Keys tips off authorities to the alliance’s grand plot to subvert\, exploit\, and terrorize the American public. But agents who start to investigate are betrayed by a high-placed FBI mole. Stakes rise to life-or-death when the agents and their women are kidnapped by the cabal. To achieve escape\, wreak vengeance and exact justice stretches the tradecraft and loyalties of these U.S. operators close to a breaking point – and beyond.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/paul-mchugh-and-leah-garchik/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books on the Park\, 1231 9th Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94122\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/the-blind.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180831T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180831T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180730T234840Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180730T234840Z
UID:47070-1535742000-1535749200@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Paco Marquez
DESCRIPTION:Please join us at Green Apple Books on Clement on Friday\, August 31st at 7pm as we welcome Paco Márquez to read from his new collection of poetry\, Portraits in G Minor. \n\nPraise for Portraits in G Minor \nReveling in the mystic wonders that can emerge even from “the palm of a corporate boss\,” the poems of Paco Márquez “splash the sky wide\,” exposing the magic in the quotidian — the “unnoticed silhouettes / imprinted in the grass.” In the tender violence of these portraits\, “that which spoke the rose into being” also hums through daily life\, holding a man’s hand\, looking him in the eye\, and saying\, “the kitchen window is open.” To open this book is to see the world illuminated. \n  \nOriginally from Mexico and Northern California\, Paco Marquez is also poetry editor at Washington Square. His work has appeared in Apogee\, the Squaw Valley Review\, and OccuPoetry (prior to joining the editorial team). One of his poems went up on public mural\, through the Sacramento Metropolitan Art Commission’s Del Paso Words & Walls Project. He’s been featured as Lo-Writer of the Week in Juan Felipe Herrera’s California Poet Laureate website\, and he recently completed an MFA in poetry at NYU.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/paco-marquez/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books\, 506 Clement St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94118\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/paco-marquez.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180901T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180901T220000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180802T050955Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180802T051304Z
UID:47232-1535828400-1535839200@litseen.com
SUMMARY:JOURNAL RELEASE: NOMADIC JOURNAL 2017: WONDER (RETRO!)
DESCRIPTION:Join us at our Uptown\, Oakland\, location for the much-anticipated release of Nomadic Journal 2017 (Retro!): Wonder! \nIt’s going to be an amazing evening of readings\, live music\, gnosh / refreshments\, and friends of Nomadic Press as we launch this treasure of a book into the universe. \nReadings by TBA and pop-up surprise Nomadic Press readers. Books will be available for purchase and there will be a signing following the event ($15 each). Music by TBA! \nHope to see you there!
URL:https://litseen.com/event/journal-release-nomadic-journal-2017-wonder-retro-3/
LOCATION:Nomadic Press: Uptown\, 2301 Telegraph Ave.\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/nomadic.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180903T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180903T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180830T214649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180830T214649Z
UID:47661-1536001200-1536008400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Charlie Getter & Aqueila M. Ross followed by an open mic
DESCRIPTION:Charlie Getter has been the ringleader for the poetry that happens in the 16th & Mission BART plaza for a decade.  Aqueila M. Ross\, we’ll tell you about shortly! \nhttp://evergreenreview.com/read/the-new-san-francisco-poetry-underground-charlie-getter/ \nKim Shuck\, San Francisco Poet Laureate\, is shouldering most of the booking duties for the time being\, in conjunction with the series’ long-time host\, Jerry Ferraz\, both San Francisco natives of Eureka Valley; both native to San Francisco poetry.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/charlie-getter-aqueila-m-ross-followed-by-an-open-mic/
LOCATION:Bird & Beckett Books and Records\, 653 Chenery St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94131\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/bird.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180904T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180904T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180731T002401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180731T002401Z
UID:47113-1536087600-1536094800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Gabriela Alemán
DESCRIPTION:with special guests Mauro Javier Cardenas and Dick Cluster \ncelebrating the release of \nPoso Wells \npublished by City Lights Books \nAn ABA Summer/Fall 2018 Indies Introduce Selection \nCelebrated Ecuadorian author Gabriela Alemán’s first work to appear in English: a noir\, feminist eco-thriller in which venally corrupt politicians and greedy land speculators finally get their just comeuppance! \nIn the squalid settlement of Poso Wells\, women have been regularly disappearing but the authorities have shown little interest. When the leading presidential candidate comes to town\, he and his entourage are electrocuted in a macabre\, darkly hilarious accident witnessed by a throng of astonished spectators. The sole survivor—next in line for the presidency—inexplicably disappears from sight. \nGustavo Varas\, a principled journalist\, picks up the trail\, which leads him into a violent\, lawless underworld\, and ultimately to a strange group of almost supernatural blind men. Bella Altamirano\, a fearless local woman\, is on her own crusade to pierce the settlement’s code of silence\, ignoring the death threats that result from her efforts. It turns out that the disappearance of the candidate and those of the women are intimately connected\, and not just to a local crime wave\, but to a multinational magnate’s plan to plunder the country’s ecologically sensitive cloud forest. \nA political satire and noir thriller\, laced with humor and a sci-fi twist\, Poso Wells plunges its readers into dark passages where things are as uncontrolled and overheated as the lava from a smoking volcano\, which is where the story ends. \nGabriela Alemán\, based in Quito\, Ecuador\, has played professional basketball in Switzerland and Paraguay and has worked as a waitress\, administrator\, translator\, radio scriptwriter\, and film studies professor. She received a PhD at Tulane University and holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. Her literary honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006; member of Bogotá 39\, a 2007 selection of the most important up-and-coming writers in Latin America in the post-Boom generation; one of five finalists for the 2015 Premio Hispanoamericano de Cuento Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) for her story collection La muerte silba un blues; and winner of several prizes for critical essays on literature and film. Her other books include the short story collections\, Maldito corazón\, Zoom\, Fuga permanente\, and Álbum de familia; her novels in Spanish include Body Time\, Poso Wells\, and Humo. Her stories have appeared in anthologies in French\, English\, Chinese\, Hebrew\, and Serbo-Croatian. This is her first full-length work to appear in English. \nPraise for Poso Wells: \n“Poso Wells is ironic\, audacious\, and fierce. But what is it\, exactly? A satire? A scifi novel? A political detective yarn? Or the purest reality of contemporary Latin America. It’s unclassifiable––as all great books are.”––Samanta Schweblin\, author of Fever Dream \n“Poso Wells is brilliant\, audacious\, doubtlessly playful and at the same time so dark and bitter. A truly unforgettable book.”––Alejandro Zambra\, author of Multiple Choice \n“One part Thomas Pynchon\, one part Gabriel García Marquez\, and one part Raymond Chandler\, Alemán’s novel contains mystery\, horror\, humor\, absurdity\, and political commentary . . . A concoction of political thriller and absurdist literary mystery that never fails to entertain.”––Kirkus Reviews \n“By expertly weaving multiple narratives around the figure of Vinueza\, the hapless (but wealthy!) presidential candidate who resembles so many corrupt (but wealthy!) presidential candidates in the modern history of Ecuador\, Gabriela Alemán depicts with verve and humor the horrors and absurdities of a society intent on perpetuating itself.”––Mauro Javier Cardenas\, author of The Revolutionaries Try Again \n“Gabriela Alemán has a rhythm worth watching . . . she does something unexpected\, things fly apart\, she leaps into the void\, and you think\, ‘there’s no way she can pull this off’––but no\, everything fits together\, falls into place\, flows\, and the story goes on.”––Pedro Mairal\, author of The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra \n“Through scalding wit and straight-faced parody this no-holds-barred absurdist adventure that seems more a movie than a book will have you laughing till you cry as the cruelty of its South American reality sinks in. Imagine a mix of Hunter S. Thompson and Gabriel García Márquez. A small masterpiece.”––Michael Taussig\, author of Beauty and the Beast \n“This compulsively readable book is Gabriela Alemán’s debut as a novelist in the English-language. Sparklingly original\, full of dry wit\, and deliciously suspenseful\, Poso Wells could well earn Gabriela Alemán a cult following.”––Jon Lee Anderson\, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life\, Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World\, and The Fall of Baghdad \n“Poso Wells explores the dichotomy between the new and old worlds of Ecuador through an exciting noir about missing women\, corrupt politicians\, and a journalist’s attempt to unravel the secrets of the infinitely labyrinthine cityscape of Poso Wells. This is an exciting debut translation of a celebrated Ecuadorian author\, and one that should lead to more translations of her work.”––Ely Watson\, A Room of One’s Own Bookstore (Madison\, WI) \n“Poso Wells is a rare achievement in which a reader comes out the other end wanting to start again. It is a bold and clever tale with a unique voice\, and it is poised to have a longstanding impression on readers for years to come.”––Rebecca George\, Volumes Bookcafe (Chicago\, IL) \n“Thriller and farce\, Poso Wells is a magical realist sci-fi\, a fierce and biting social allegory by turns hilarious and tragic\, cynical and hopeful . . . this is a twenty-first-century cautionary tale of the war between humanity and avarice . . .”––Maria Agui Carter\, director of Culture Shock and Rebel \n“Gabriela Alemán’s Poso Wells drops the reader\, as if dangling from a helicopter’s ladder\, into a riveting page-turner set in coastal Ecuador. Forces of global capitalism want to mine all that is profitable from the earth\, no matter the consequences. By the end we’re not sure if Jacob’s ladder leads to heaven or hell. The upshot of Alemán’s brilliant novel\, however: for every rapacious action\, there is an equal\, opposite\, and tenacious resistance.”––Mauricio Kilwein Guevara\, author of Autobiography of So-and-So: Poems in Prose \n“Poso Wells is an intriguing name for a thrilling novel of politics\, environmental destruction and wildly imaginative occurrences that slide right to the edge of reality. The landscape includes the threatened rape of a cloud forest\, a collection of fantastical blind heroes\, and a presidential candidate who pees himself to death on stage. The English translation is fast and clear as the story rolls towards its ending on a steaming volcano. The first English translation of noted Brazilian-Ecuadorian novelist\, Gabriela Alemán. I hope that many more follow.”––Stephen Williams\, contributor to the New York Times\, GQ\, Newsweek
URL:https://litseen.com/event/gabriela-aleman/
LOCATION:City Lights Bookstore\, 261 Columbus Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94133\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/aleman.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180904T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180904T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180712T222143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180712T222143Z
UID:46710-1536089400-1536096600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Arjun Singh Sethi / American Hate: Survivors Speak Out
DESCRIPTION:Booksmith hosts an evening with Arjun Singh Sethi\, editor ofAmerican Hate: Survivors Speak Out. More information TBA soon — save the date and join us! \n  \n“Why am I in this country now? Should I move elsewhere? Do I want to raise my kids in this country\, where hate is so visible and rampant? I’ve been in this fight for decades\, but even I struggle. Deep down\, though\, I know we need to stay the course and continue the fight.” – Marwan Kreidie\, after a pig’s head was thrown at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society Mosque in Philadelphia \n  \nIn American Hate: Survivors Speak Out\, Arjun Singh Sethi\, a community activist and civil rights lawyer\, chronicles the stories of individuals affected by hate. In a series of powerful\, unfiltered testimonials\, survivors tell their stories in their own words and describe how the bigoted rhetoric and policies of the Trump administration have intensified bullying\, discrimination\, and even violence toward them and their communities. \n  \nWe hear from the family of Khalid Jabara\, who was murdered in Tulsa\, Oklahoma\, in August 2016 by a man who had previously harassed and threatened them because they were Arab American. Sethi brings us the story of Jeanette Vizguerra\, an undocumented mother of four who took sanctuary in a Denver church in February 2017 because she feared deportation under Trump’s cruel immigration enforcement regime. Sethi interviews Taylor Dumpson\, a young black woman who was elected student body president at American University only to find nooses hanging across campus on her first day in office. We hear from many more people impacted by the Trump administration\, including Native\, black\, Arab\, Latinx\, South Asian\, Southeast Asian\, Muslim\, Jewish\, Sikh\, undocumented\, refugee\, transgender\, queer\, and people with disabilities. \n  \nA necessary book for these times\, American Hate explores this tragic moment in U.S. history by empowering survivors whose voices white nationalists and right-wing populist movements have tried to silence. It also provides ideas and practices for resistance that all of us can take to combat hate both now and in the future. \n  \n\n  \nArjun Singh Sethi is a community activist\, civil rights lawyer\, writer\, and law professor based in Washington\, DC. He works closely with Muslim\, Arab\, South Asian\, and Sikh communities and advocates for racial justice\, equity\, and social change at the local and national levels. His writing has appeared in CNN\, The Guardian\, The Los Angeles Times\, Politico Magazine\, USA Today\, and The Washington Post\, and he is featured regularly on national radio and television. He holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School\, and presently co-chairs the American Bar Association’s National Committee on Homeland Security\, Terrorism\, and Treatment of Enemy Combatants. He lives in Washington\, D.C. \n  \nRSVP appreciated but not required. \n 
URL:https://litseen.com/event/arjun-singh-sethi-american-hate-survivors-speak-out/
LOCATION:The Booksmith\, 1644 Haight St\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/hate.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180904T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180904T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180730T235409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180730T235409Z
UID:47073-1536089400-1536096600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Lydia Kiesling Book Release
DESCRIPTION:Lydia Kiesling joins us to celebrate the release of her new novel\, The Golden State\, with Ismail Muhammad. \n\nPraise for The Golden State \n\n“The Golden State is a perfect evocation of the beautiful\, strange\, frightening\, funny territory of new motherhood. Lydia Kiesling writes with great intelligence and candor about the surreal topography of a day with an infant\, and toggles skillfully between the landscape of Daphne’s interior and the California desert\, her postpartum body and the body politic. A love story for our fractured era.”—Karen Russell\, author of Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Swamplandia! \n\n“The Golden State is a rare and important novel not only because it depicts with blazing accuracy the everyday experience of raising a young child\, but also because it uses the quotidian to reveal larger truths about humanity’s gifts and deficits. In Lydia Kiesling’s remarkable first novel\, the familiar and the foreign are not so different after all\, and what we remember may not be what is. A profound book.”—Edan Lepucki\, author of Woman No. 17 and California \n  \n“The Golden State is spectacularly good at rendering maternal obsession and panic\, and the way the narcissism involved in the attempt to hold one’s self together can turn frenetic caring to neglect. Separated from a husband stuck abroad with a green card situation and wrung out by the relentlessness of toddler-rearing\, millennial Daphne\, in her traumatized withdrawal from a privileged life\, registers that despite her intelligence\, her life has been comprised not so much of decisions as realities that seemed to ecstatically assert themselves at the time\, and that all of the measures she employs to deal with stress involve harm she’ll now be passing along to her cherished child.  Lydia Kiesling is brilliant on our certainty that for all we feel\, we don’t do nearly enough for those we love.”—Jim Shepard\, author of The World to Come \n\nAbout The Golden State \n\nIn Lydia Kiesling’s razor-sharp debut novel\, The Golden State\, we accompany Daphne\, a young mother on the edge of a breakdown\, as she flees her sensible but strained life in San Francisco for the high desert of Altavista with her toddler\, Honey. Bucking under the weight of being a single parent―her Turkish husband is unable to return to the United States because of a “processing error”―Daphne takes refuge in a mobile home left to her by her grandparents in hopes that the quiet will bring clarity. \n  \nBut clarity proves elusive. Over the next ten days Daphne is anxious\, she behaves a little erratically\, she drinks too much. She wanders the town looking for anyone and anything to punctuate the long hours alone with the baby. Among others\, she meets Cindy\, a neighbor who is active in a secessionist movement\, and befriends the elderly Alice\, who has traveled to Altavista as she approaches the end of her life. When her relationships with these women culminate in a dangerous standoff\, Daphne must reconcile her inner narrative with the reality of a deeply divided world. \n  \nKeenly observed\, bristling with humor\, and set against the beauty of a little-known part of California\, The Golden State is about class and cultural breakdowns\, and desperate attempts to bridge old and new worlds. But more than anything\, it is about motherhood: its voracious worry\, frequent tedium\, and enthralling\, wondrous love.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/lydia-kiesling-book-release/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books on the Park\, 1231 9th Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94122\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/golden-state.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180905T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180905T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180731T235819Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180731T235819Z
UID:47180-1536174000-1536181200@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Challenged\, Censored\, Banned
DESCRIPTION:Featured readers: Judy Wells\, Dale Jensen\, Fred Dodsworth\, Missy Church. Open Mic Night follows the featured readers. Sign-up now for Ist Annual Open Mic Award’s Contest. Book & Broadside Giveaway. Free\, 7-9 pm. The Octopus Literary Salon\, 2101 Webster St.\, Oakland.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/challenged-censored-banned/
LOCATION:The Octopus Literary Salon\, 2101 Webster St #170\, Oakland \, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pande.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180905T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180905T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180712T222314Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180712T222314Z
UID:46713-1536175800-1536183000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Launch for Mia Ayumi Malhotra with Jennifer S. Cheng and Pinbokeh / Isako Isako
DESCRIPTION:The Bindery hosts the launch party for Mia Ayumi Malhotra‘s debut collection of poems\, Isako Isako. Joining Mia areJennifer S. Cheng (Moon: Letters\, Maps\, Poems) and the experimental improv group Pinbokeh. We hope to see you there! \n  \nIsako Isako follows a single family lineage spanning four generations of female Japanese Americans to explore the chilling historical legacies of cultural trauma — internment\, mass displacement\, and rampant racism — in the United States\, and how it weaves together with current events. \n  \nIsako Isako was born from a series of conversations Malhotra had with her maternal grandmother who shared stories about her immigration to the US from Japan after WWII\, stories about living in Japan during the war and the ensuing American occupation\, and most of all\, stories about her own mother (the author’s great grandmother). Through the women in her family\, Malhotra discovered her own history and connection to the past along with a legacy of pain\, strength\, and resiliency. \n  \n\n  \n“The personal pronoun ‘I’ has brinks on all sides\, over which you can fall and become anyone and no one. Isako Isako deeply explores these soaring and dangerous precipices of identity through the magnetic voice of a Japanese-American internment camp survivor who is both an individual and collective\, a citizen and a prisoner\, broken and healing. Mia Ayumi Malhotra has written a brilliant and searing debut.” – Maria Hummel\, author of Still Lives and House and Fire \n  \n“Isako Isako is a powerful testament to poetry’s capacity for alchemizing history\, memoir\, and the lyric: the poems here intimately address the landscapes of war and the reverberations of violence through bodies and bloodlines. Malhotra’s visionary debut collection spans generations\, countries\, and loves\, weaving the story of a mother survivor with reflections on the limits and reaches of memory.” – Brynn Saito\, author of Power Made Us Swoon \n  \n“In these poems\, haunted equally by historical events and the timelessness of human suffering\, we find a stunning imagination at work on the sacred task of bodying forth\, through an uncommon compassion\, the stories that history might otherwise eclipse. . . . Malhotra’s poetry demonstrates what is still best in us\, the counterpart to cruelty coming back in the surviving descendant’s intimacies and empathies\, her innovations in language and\, ultimately\, love.” –Pimone Triplett\, author of Supply Chain and Rumor \n  \n\n  \nMia Ayumi Malhotra is a Kundiman Fellow\, and her poems have appeared in Greensboro Review\, Drunken Boat\, Best New Poets\, and DISMANTLE: An Anthology of Writing from the VONA/Voices Writing Workshop. She received her BA from Stanford and her MFA from the University of Washington and is a founding editor of Lantern Review. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters. Find her online at miamalhotra.com. \n  \n  \nJennifer S. Cheng received her BA from Brown University\, MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa\, and MFA in Poetry from San Francisco State University. She is the author of MOON: Letters\, Maps\, Poems\, selected by Bhanu Kapil as winner of the Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize (May 2018)\, HOUSE A\, selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the Omnidawn Poetry Book Prize\, and Invocation: An Essay (New Michigan Press)\, a chapbook in which fragments of text\, photographs\, found images\, and white space influence one another to create meaning. A U.S. Fulbright scholar\, Kundiman fellow\, and Bread Loaf work-study scholar\, she is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets Harold Taylor Award\, the Ann Fields Poetry Award\, the Mid-American Review Fineline Prize\, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her poetry and lyric essays appear in Tin House\, AGNI\, Conjunctions\, Black Warrior Review\, The Normal School\, DIAGRAM\, The Volta\, The Offing\, Sonora Review\, Seneca Review\, Hong Kong 20/20 (a PEN HK anthology)\, and elsewhere. Having grown up in Texas\, Hong Kong\, and Connecticut\, she currently lives in rapture of the coastal prairies of northern California. \n  \nPinbokeh is Nathan Chamberlain\, Josiah Branaman\, and Paul Sakai. They are from Oakland\, CA. \n  \n  \n  \nPlease note: this event will be at The Bindery at 1727 Haight. \n  \nThis is an all ages event. Doors and the bar open at 7pm. The event starts at 7:30pm. \n  \nRSVP appreciated but not required.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/launch-for-mia-ayumi-malhotra-with-jennifer-s-cheng-and-pinbokeh-isako-isako/
LOCATION:The Bindery\, 1727 Haight St\, San Francisco \, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/isako.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180905T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180905T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180730T235534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180730T235534Z
UID:47076-1536175800-1536183000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Readings from They Said\, A Collaborative Anthology
DESCRIPTION:Jacqueline Doyle\, Chiyuma Elliott\, Tracy Jane Gregory\, Steve Gutierrez\, Carla Harryman\, Persis Karim\, Caroline Kessler\, Rae Liberto and Dean Rader read pieces from They Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing. \n\nPraise for They Said \n\nCarlos Fuentes argued that the most important literary occasions are those in which “genre” is recirculated. Writing survives—thrives\, even—on recirculation and the reconception of genre. The collaborations collected here represent such a change\, as important\, in their own way\, as concretism\, found\, sound or random poetry. Making the author plural\, through joint composition\, repositions the work\, its voice and its experiential and emotion contexts. The more seamless these collaborations seem and most do seem seamless—the more radical their gestures. Lyric\, discursive\, sometimes political these pieces manage their changes in compelling duets.—Michael Anania \n\nAccording to the Greeks\, the origin of the word anthology can literally be translated as “flowergathering”. They Said gathers the most original and complementary blossoms in the literary garden and creates rare and distinctive bouquets. From poetry to creative non-fiction and more\, from voices both familiar and yet-to-be discovered by some\, there are splendid petals here for every reader to pluck.—Lynne Thompson \n\nWith They Said\, we’re presented with an anthology of contemporary work that beautifully illustrates the generative potential and dynamic energy of collaboration—a literary art too often overlooked. For any writer or poet\, it’s impossible not to be inspired by the possibilities suggested here.—Laura Cogan and Oscar Villalon \n\nAbout They Said \n\nThey Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing includes poetry\, fiction\, and creative nonfiction\, as well as hybridized forms that push the boundaries of concepts like “genre” and “author.”
URL:https://litseen.com/event/readings-from-they-said-a-collaborative-anthology/
LOCATION:Green Apple Books on the Park\, 1231 9th Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94122\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/they-said.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180906T060000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180906T190000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180824T233014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180824T233014Z
UID:47352-1536213600-1536260400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Meet author Gabriela Alemán in conversation with translator Dick Cluster
DESCRIPTION:Meet Gabriela Alemán\, celebrated Ecuadorian writer and author of the novel Poso Wells. Among other honors\, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and was recognized by Bogotá 39\, a 2007 list of the most important up-and-coming Latin American writers. Poso Wells is her first full-length work published in English. It’s a madcap\, feminist mash-up of noir\, thriller\, Science Fiction and satire\, and has been featured in The Paris Review\, The New Yorker\, and the Los Angeles Times Review of Books\, and was selected as one of the American Booksellers Association’s Independent Booksellers’ 10 Debut Picks of the Season. “One part Thomas Pynchon\, one part Gabriel García Marquez\, and one part Raymond Chandler\, Alemán’s novel contains mystery\, horror\, humor\, absurdity\, and political commentary . . . A concoction of political thriller and absurdist literary mystery that never fails to entertain.” (Kirkus Reviews) \nOakland’s own Dick Cluster is a writer\, editor and translator. He is the translator of Poso Wells and was instrumental in bringing it to an English reading audience. Among other work\, he is the editor and translator of Kill the Ámpaya!: Best Latin American Baseball Fiction\, co-author of The History of\nHavana\, and author of a mystery series featuring a car mechanic turned amateur detective. \nBooks will be available for sale and signing.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/meet-author-gabriela-aleman-in-conversation-with-translator-dick-cluster/
LOCATION:Oakland Main Library\, 125 14th St\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:East Bay,Free
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/photos-and-cover-poso-wells.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180906T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180906T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180712T230516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180731T002455Z
UID:46746-1536260400-1536267600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Vanessa Hua in conversation with Lydia Kiesling
DESCRIPTION:In a powerful debut novel about modern-day motherhood\, immigration\, and identity\, a pregnant Chinese woman makes her way to California and stakes a claim to the American dream.“Vanessa Hua’s debut is an utterly absorbing novel.”—Celeste Ng\, author of Little Fires Everywhere \nHoled up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles\, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China\, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the owner\, Boss Yeung. Now she’s carrying his baby. Already married with three daughters\, Boss Yeung is overjoyed because the doctors have confirmed that he will finally have the son he has always wanted. To ensure that his child has every advantage\, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off to give birth on American soil. U.S. citizenship will open doors for their little prince. \nAs Scarlett awaits the baby’s arrival\, she chokes down bitter medicinal stews and spars with her imperious housemates. The only one who fits in even less is Daisy\, a spirited teenager and fellow unwed mother who is being kept apart from her American boyfriend. \nThen a new sonogram of Scarlett’s baby reveals the unexpected. Panicked\, she escapes by hijacking a van—only to discover that she has a stowaway: Daisy\, who intends to track down the father of her child. The two flee to San Francisco’s bustling Chinatown\, where Scarlett will join countless immigrants desperately trying to seize their piece of the American dream. What Scarlett doesn’t know is that her baby’s father is not far behind her. \nA River of Stars is an entertaining\, wildly unpredictable adventure\, told with empathy and wit by an author the San Francisco Chronicle says “has a deep understanding of the pressure of submerged emotions and polite\, face-saving deceptions.” It’s a vivid examination of home and belonging\, and a moving portrayal of a woman determined to build her own future. \nVanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of a short story collection\, Deceit and Other Possibilities. For two decades\, she has been writing\, in journalism and fiction\, about Asia and the Asian diaspora. She has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award\, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature\, the San Francisco Foundation’s James D. Phelan Award\, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing\, as well as honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times\, The Atlantic\, and The Washington Post. A River of Stars is Vanessa Hua’s first novel. \nPraise for A River of Stars \n“[A] powerful debut.”—Entertainment Weekly  \n“A vibrant\, fascinating look into womanhood and how so many women’s lives are shaped by their relationship to the powerful men within them . . . Hua infuses this story with spirit and humor\, exploring the ways in which pregnancy and motherhood can be both liberating and entrapping for the women who endure them. It’s a remarkable novel\, one which makes clear the many ways in which women must struggle to make their lives their own.”—Nylon \n“Stellar.”—Bustle \n“[A] skillful debut novel . . . that is heartbreaking and\, at turns\, hilarious. . . . Hua wonderfully evokes the exigencies of lives at the margins of American culture by revealing Scarlett’s enduring ingenuity as she navigates near-destitute single motherhood.”—Publishers Weekly \n“A River of Stars is a twenty-first-century immigrant story about the terror\, drama\, and desperation of being undocumented and yet unable to leave.”—The Village Voice \n“Fans of Celeste Ng . . . might find their next read right here.”—Elle \n“[This] gripping tale of Scarlett Chen\, a Chinese boss’s mistress sent to America to birth a child\, is as moving as it is entertaining.”—Electric Lit  \n“In A River of Stars\, Vanessa Hua illuminates the lives of her characters with energy\, verve\, and heart. Hua tracks the minutest emotional terrain of these characters while simultaneously interrogating the cultural and economic forces that shape their worlds. This book holds your attention until the very last page.”—Emma Cline\, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls \n“A River of Stars is a page-turner\, a riveting story of parenthood\, migration\, and the choices we make to survive. Fierce and determined\, resourceful and resilient\, Scarlett Chen is an unforgettable protagonist you can’t help but root for.”—Lisa Ko\, author of the National Book Award finalist The Leavers \n“How does Scarlett Chen—pregnant\, with her immigration status in peril—make her way in America without friends\, language\, and money? Vanessa Hua’s compelling A River of Stars is a story of resistance\, survival\, and self-determination in a world that is seemingly indifferent to the needs of the poor and disenfranchised.”—Min Jin Lee\, author of National Book Award finalist Pachinko
URL:https://litseen.com/event/vanessa-hua/
LOCATION:City Lights Bookstore\, 261 Columbus Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94133\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/hua.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180906T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180906T210000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180824T231705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180824T231705Z
UID:47463-1536260400-1536267600@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Forrest Gander\, reading and in conversation
DESCRIPTION:Join us for this rare reading at The Poetry Center by poet-translator — and SF State alum — Forrest Gander\, just in time for the debut of his new book of poetry\, Be With (New Directions\, 2018)\, his first book of poems since the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle nominee volume\, Core Samples from the World (New Directions\, 2011). Gander last read his work for The Poetry Center in 1996\, so this is an overdue return. This event\, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts\, is free and open to the public. \nForrest Gander\, a writer and translator with degrees in geology and literature\, was born in the Mojave Desert and lives in Petaluma\, California. Gander’s book Core Samples from the World\, a meditation on the ways we are revised and translated in encounters with the foreign\, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Among his recent titles are the novel The Trace (New Directions\, 2015)\, and two translations: Then Come Back: the Lost Neruda Poems (Copper Canyon\, 2016) and Alice\, Iris\, Red Horse: Selected Poems of Gozo Yoshimasu (editor\, with multiple translators; New Directions\, 2016). His first book of poems since 2011\, Be With\, is just out from New Directions. Gander is the recipient of grants from the Library of Congress\, the Guggenheim\, Howard\, Whiting and United States Artists Foundations\, he taught for many years as the AK Seaver Professor of Literary Arts & Comparative Literature at Brown University. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nMore at forrestgander.com\nVIDEO: Forrest Gander and Raúl Zurita reading at the Woodberry Poetry Room\, Harvard University \n\n\n\n\nEvent contact:\n\nThe Poetry Center\n\n\n\nEvent email:\n\npoetry@sfsu.edu\n\n\n\nEvent phone:\n\n415-338-2227\n\n\n\nEvent sponsor:\n\nThe Poetry Center
URL:https://litseen.com/event/forrest-gander-reading-and-in-conversation/
LOCATION:The Poetry Center\, San Francisco State University\, 1600 Holloway Ave\, San Francisco \, CA\, 94132\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/forrest-gander.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180906T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180906T213000
DTSTAMP:20260407T190331
CREATED:20180712T222457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180712T222457Z
UID:46717-1536262200-1536269400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction
DESCRIPTION:The Bindery hosts the San Francisco launch for the new W. W. Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction\, featuring readings by local contributors. More TBA soon. Save the date and join us! \n  \nA new collection of very short stories selected by Flash Fiction editor James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro. \n  \nAll of the stories in this book are exceptionally short\, revealing themselves in no more than 300 words. With a foreword by Robert Shapard and an afterword by Christopher Merrill\, this book brings you fresh approaches to an exacting form that demands precision\, a species of brevity that is surprisingly expansive. Writers say the pieces are hard to compose\, but readers say they are easy to appreciate\, a pleasure to envision\, a wonder to watch life spun out and painted in small places. Real and surreal\, lyrical and prosaic\, here are 135 stories by 89 authors\, certain to make you think. \n  \n\n  \n“Reading these wonderful tiny fictions is like stealing food from the refrigerator before\, or after\, dinner. A sublime luxury.” – Frederick Barthelme\, New World Writing \n  \n“These micro fictions violate the laws of geophysics by compressing whole lives / whole worlds / whole heartbreaks into something like diamonds: bright\, riven\, reflective\, edged\, wonderful\, and hard enough to cut through glass.” – Pam Houston\, author of Contents May Have Shifted \n  \n“New Micro’s quick\, bright stories are\, like our lives\, as brief as lightning in the blinding dark. They offer us essential truth without the inessential facts.” – John Dufresne\, author of Flash! Writing the Very Short Story \n  \n\n  \nPlease note: this event will be at The Bindery at 1727 Haight. \n  \nThis is an all ages event. Doors and the bar open at 7pm. The event starts at 7:30pm. \n  \nRSVP appreciated but not required.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/new-micro-exceptionally-short-fiction/
LOCATION:The Bindery\, 1727 Haight St\, San Francisco \, 94117\, United States
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/micro.jpeg
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