• Slam Jam! live at The Marsh Berkeley

    The Marsh Cabaret Bar 2120 Allston Way , Berkeley , CA, United States

    Slam Jam is a monthly series featuring a rotating lineup of some of the SF Bay Area's most radical poets accompanied by the Noise All-Stars,...

    $5 – $10
  • Aaron Cohen / Move On Up

    City Lights Bookstore 261 Columbus Ave, San Francisco , CA, United States

    Aaron Cohen discusses the subject of his new book Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power published by the University of Chicago...

    Free
  • Tara Sim with Kat Cho

    Kepler's Books 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park , CA, United States

    We're thrilled to invite you to celebrate the launch of Scavenge the Stars, Tara Sim’s gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo that is...

    Free
  • NewYearPoetBash! Freedman/AD/Heinemann/Samuels/Robinson/Townsend

    E.M. Wolfman General Interest Small Bookstore 410 13th Street, Oakland , CA, United States

    It’s 2020! So let’s combine two poetry readings into one! And have a new year poetry extravaganza! Poets include Lewis Freedman, Clay A.D., Caspar Heinemann,...

    Free
  • EJ Koh: The Magical Language of Others

    Green Apple Books on the Park 1231 9th Ave, San Francisco , CA, United States

    E.J. Koh discusses her new memoir The Magical Language of Others. Praise for The Magical Language of Others "The Magical Language of Others is an exquisite, challenging,...

    Free
  • The Berkeley Slam Ft Jarvis Subia!

    The Starry Plough 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA, United States

    THE LONGEST RUNNING POETRY SLAM ON THE WEST COAST! Bringing you some of the best poetry from across the world every week since 1999, and...

    $7
  • Funeral Game

    Potrero Stage 1695 18th Street, San Francisco, CA

    Bread & Butter Theatre presents the world premiere of Funeral Game, by Lana Palmer. Two sisters return to the family cabin to decide its fate....

    $14 – $40
  • Joan Didion: The 1960s & 70s

    Mechanics Institute 57 Post St 4th Floor Boardroom, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Editor David L. Ulin in conversation with Oscar Villalon, Managing Editor, ZYZZYVA Cosponsored by Alta Magazine Cool, dispassionate, and incisive, Joan Didion’s voice is electric...

    $15
  • Open Mic Night!

    Simple Pleasures Cafe 3434 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA, United States

    It's open mic night at Simple Pleasures! Join us for an evening of music and story-telling at our favorite neighborhood cafe. Sign up is at...

    Free
  • Andrew Rader

    Kepler's Books 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park , CA, United States

    Join Kepler’s Literary Foundation and a person at the forefront of space exploration as we spotlight our insatiable desire— throughout history and now— to push...

    $7 – $33
  • Swerve Book Launch and Reading

    Moe's Books 2476 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley

    Local award-winning author, Ellery Akers, will be launching her new book, Swerve: Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance on Thursday, January 9th, 2020 at Moe's Books. She will...

    Free
  • You’re Going to Die: Poetry, Prose & Everything Goes…

    The Lost Church 65 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Thursday, January 9, 2020 7:30 PM  10:30 PM The Lost Church (map) You're Going to Die: Poetry, Prose & Everything Goes... Open Mic at The Lost Church...

    $10
  • 2020 Hindsight

    Book Passage San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Join us for a fast-paced evening of readings by a dozen talented writers from the Lit Camp community. Free beer & wine. $5-10 sliding scale...

    $5 – $20
  • Kiersten White, Chosen

    Bookshop Santa Cruz 1520 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz , CA, United States

    Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes bestselling author Kiersten White who will share her new book, Chosen. Nina continues to learn how to use her slayer powers against enemies old...

    Free
  • CB Follett and Joseph Zaccardi

    The Fireside Room 240 Channing Way, San Rafael

    Poetry Connection reading series presents CB Follett and Joseph Zaccardi, hosted by Terry Lucas, Marin County Poet Laureate, open mic to follow, light refreshments, The...

    Free
  • 3rd Year Celebration Featuring Tony Aldarondo

    Cafe Leila 1724 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA, United States

    It's going down! Jan 10th @ Cafe Leila 7-9:30 pm My Word turns 3 Kicking off the season is no other than Tony Aldarondo &...

    Free
  • SF Sketchfest 2020: Porchlight Storytelling

    Swedish American Hall 2174 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, United States

    For the past seventeen years, Porchlight has been San Francisco's premier storytelling series. Each month, co-founders Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte invite six people to tell ten-minute true...

    $28
  • Rescheduled: Sally Rooney in conversation with Heidi Julavits

    Sydney Goldstein Theater 275 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Sally Rooney “writes about tricky commonplace things (text messages, sex) with a familiarity no one else has” (The Paris Review). Her novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People, are nuanced portraits...

    $29
  • Soul Food for Thought Open Mic Night

    Manny's 3092 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103, San Francisco, United States

    2020 is here! Join us at Manny's for the decade's first poetry night! Come to Manny's for our monthly open mic nights. Poets, readers, performers...

    Free
  • Kiersten White with Katy Rose Pool

    Kepler's Books 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park , CA, United States

    Into every generation a slayer is born… and being the Chosen one isn’t always easy Do you miss having Buffy the Vampire Slayer in your...

    Free
  • Book Release: 10 Books, 1 Night, 10 New Nomadic Press Authors

    Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make Believe 2301 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA, United States

    Help us bring in 2020 right. 10 books, 10 new Nomadic Press authors, 1 night. Join us as we celebrate (and release) new books by:...

    Free
  • Bay Area Queer Zine Fest Zine Reading

    410 13th St, Oakland, CA 94612

    This is a night of zine readings from Bay Area Queer Zine Fest peeps on the eve of the fest. Come hear us vocalize pieces...

    Free
  • Odd Mondays “What Are You Working on?”

    Folio Books 3957 24th St, San Francisco , CA, United States

    One question an author is always asked at events or in chance encounters is what are you working on, and one thing an author always...

    Free
  • Evie Shockley

    Edgehill Mansion in Dominican University 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael, CA, United States

    Evie Shockley is the author of semiautomatic and the new black, both winners of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Poetry; semiautomatic was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the LA...

    Free
  • Ottessa Moshfegh with Isabel Duffy

    Sydney Goldstein Theater 275 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA, United States

    Ottessa Moshfegh’s characters are wracked with depression, neurosis, and utter ennui, but the care with which she tends to them imbues her books with a...

    $29
  • Zyzzyva celebrates their Bay Area Issue

    City Lights Bookstore 261 Columbus Ave, San Francisco , CA, United States

    Moderated by Oscar Villalon with Meg Hurtado Bloom, Rita Bullwinkel, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Chia-Chia Lin, Kevin Simmonds, and Paul Wilner ZYZZYVA's latest volume—the Bay Area Issue—features new writing and poetry...

    Free
  • Steve Inskeep with Angie Coiro

    Kepler's Books 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park , CA, United States

    Michelle and Barack Obama. Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. John and Jackie Kennedy. Every era has its power couples— teams of two wielding boundless social,...

    $15 – $45
  • Happy Endings: January

    Make-Out Room 3225 22nd St, San Francisco, CA, United States

    HAPPY ENDINGS is a monthly reading series that showcases new writing and wants to shine a little sun on your soul. What's gonna happen? Five...

    $10
  • T.J. Mitchell & Judy Melinek: First Cut

    Green Apple Books on the Park 1231 9th Ave, San Francisco , CA, United States

    Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell discuss their new novel, First Cut. Praise for First Cut “Scalpel sharp. First Cut allows a peek into the autopsy room through the...

    Free