(Nicole McFeely)

On Monday, September, 26th bring five dollars and your best five minute traveling story to Porchlight Open Door for a chance to win fifty big ones!

Tuesday, September 27th extends you an invitation to two different release parties. The ecologically-interested or environmentally-conscious should check out POECOLOGY, a new online journal that meditates on ecological and place-based themes from various perspectives and aesthetics. Will Boast’s Power Ballads release party flips the switch on perspective as well by diving into the world of the working musician. No autographs, models, or private jets here; the stories in this collection celebrate those who spend their lives in practice rooms and basement clubs, toiling away in obscurity.

Get an insider look at the battle between media censorship and free speech on Wednesday, September 28th by joining media lawyer Kirk Boyd at The Booksmith for Let’s Talk Freedom.

On Thursday, September 29th, party with some lesbian werewolves and Allison Moon to celebrate the book release  of her debut novel, Lunatic Fringe. Micah Ballard will also be commemorating the release of his own novel over at City Lights—Waifs and Strays—”a breathtaking book of evocations, provocations, revelations.” But that’s just Norma Cole‘s opinion. You could also check out Litquake‘s Epicenter series; tonight, they’ll join forces with the California Institute of Integral Studies’ MFA programs in Writing and Consciousness and Creative Inquiry Interdisciplinary Arts for Art Through Story, a discussion of the value of and trends in inter-arts publishing. If you’re not up for a discussion but find yourself craving some powerful poetry, check out the Kaleidoscope Reading Series’ A Night of Power. As icing on the cake, so to speak, this week’s features at Readers Cafe are Al Young and Pauline Craig.

Chicken John wrote a book! Join him for the release party at 111 Minna on Friday, September 30th. Proceeds benefit Chez Poulet. What is Chez Poulet, you ask? Good question. Home of Radio Valencia, Chicken himself, other artist folk, and communal art of all sorts, Chez Poulet, like most genius, is pretty hard to define. Learn more for yourself here. In the mood for some controversy? Have a One Night Book-Stand with the ALA’s most challenged books at this book swap celebrating the deviant. If you’re a member of the SF Library, you can always party down at the Richmond Branch Library at IMBIBE, an after-hours cocktail party. Not a member? Join!

Welcome to October, the craziest month for literary events of all time. Ready to get going? Alright, tally ho. Early in the day on Saturday, October 1st, check out the 16th annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival featuring performances by Robert Hass, Camille T. Dungy, Jane Hirshfield, Judy Grahn and more. Later on, transform the ordinary into something extraordinary with MAPP, the Mission Arts and Performance Project. This local project aims to bring artists from across the board together in nontraditional spaces, such as garages, streetcorners, and small businesses, to prove that creation does not require a large budget or marketing strategy—only inspiration and solidarity within a community. Amen. If you’re still on fire from Wednesday’s talk about censorship, head to Amnesia for The Great SF Read-Out. Bring your favorite banned literature to read, or hell: write your own! You will anyways by the end of the evening with the help of comedian Will Franken and animator/director Doug Sweetland.

Interested in apps? Apparently, if you’re a modern writer, you should be. Join Ricky Wong, an ex-Google software engineer who has been working on a tool to turn books into social networking applications, as he discusses the process at the SFWC Monthly Meetup on Sunday, October 2nd. Application illiterate and couldn’t care less? I completely understand. Head over to the ATA to discuss the arrival of How(ever), “a magazine dedicated to the inquiry into modernist and contemporary innovative writing practices by women” with Kathleen Fraser, Susan Gevirtz and Beverly Dahlen.