WEEK IN PREVIEW: 6/3 – 6/9

Our tops for the week starting Mon Jun 3 13. Really, make your case.

This week heats up in the middle with a super diverse WednesdayRADAR Superstar Reading Series @ SF Public Library features Jibz Cameron (below) with Maryam Farnaz Rostami, the Center for the Art of Translation presents A Celebration of 20th Century Italian Poetry, and Fireside Storytelling features Incredible Journeys with Chicken John, Joe Loya and others. Also, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is at Bookshop West Portal.

Jane SmileyThursday begins the first annual SFJAZZ Poetry Festival with Al Young, Ishmael Reed, Michael McClure, Alejandro Murguia, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Jack and Adelle Foley, et al. See the link for specific appearances, often in collab with instrumentalists. Quiet Lightning’s annual Neighborhood Heroes show features an all-star cast that includes Jane Smiley, Glen David Gold, Joseph Lease, Kevin Killian, Susan Steinberg, Lisa Brackmann, and Michael David Lukas. If you’re seeking far more variety than that and less lit, check out Tourettes Without Regrets (Oakland).

Studio One returns on Friday with readings by Sara Wintz, Megan Brieseth and Grace Marie Grafton. Farnoosh Fathi celebrates the release of Great Guns at the McRoskey Mattress Company with a reading and carnival. Instant City releases its 8th, the genre issue, with Sean Taylor, Alia Volz, Alvin Orloff and Trent Tano. Hug 27 by Michael Gerald BauerMichelle Tea and Ali Liebegott are this month’s guests for The Booksmith’s BookSwap in a special Pride rendition. Finally, Intersection for the Arts’s annual Changemakers Social.

Saturday. In San Francisco, Live at 851 features Joe Hall, Meri St. Mary, Alyss Dixson, and Nathan Keele Springer. Berkeley: East Baydar Literary Cabaret is a collab between RADAR and La Peña. Oakland: Naked Bulb is an outdoor, kid-friendly, cuss-friendly open mic that this month features William Taylor Jr.

On Sunday at 4pm NoViolet Bulawayo + Anthony Marra will hold court at Book Passage Corte Madera. Later, The Other Fabulous Reading Series returns with Lara Durbeck, Tessa Mcaela, and Joe Hall, and Arisa White celebrates A Penny Saved in Oakland and renowned Cuban poet Nancy Morejon makes her first in several Bay Area appearances @ Bird & Beckett.

Evan KarpEvan Karp is founder and president of Quiet Lightning, a literary nonprofit that curates a monthly submission-based reading series and publication. He also writes literary culture columns for the San Francisco Chronicle and SF Weekly and curates the monthly top 10 Bay Area lit events at SFArts.orgevan@litseen.com