(Nicole McFeely)

Featured Event: Dean Young Benefit

One thing I’ve noticed again and again with the people I meet who are involved in these types of events is their eagerness to give—whether its time, resources, or inspiration. It should come as no surprise then that benefits held to support the members of whatever you’d like to call this—a lifestyle, a science, a scene—feature some ridiculously fantastic writers. Here’s a chance to see what I’m talking about. On Thursday, June 23rd, a ton of noteworthy folks will be reading to benefit Dean Young. (I don’t care if you already know who he is. Read this. We were not children together, but we are now) Admission is free. You are free. Yes? Then come show support in this national effort!

Also this week:

• If you’re not familiar with Daniel Orozco, read Oscar Villalon’s recent, beautiful introduction. Then meet us Monday, June 20 at Booksmith, 7:30pm. Not much on stories, eh? Try Conversations at the Wartime Cafe Poetry Reading, a fundariaser to promote the forthcoming anthology Conversations at the Wartime Cafe: A Decade of War, featuring Daphne Gottlieb, Stephanie Young, Gina Goldblatt, Meg Day, Estee Schwartz, and Aimee Suzara.
• Tuesday the 21st gives us two great reasons to get out of the city. Head out to Petaluma for a drink, a bite & a feast of words at Aqus Solstice Speakeasy Literary Saloon with hosts Susan Bono & Ransom Stephens, along with featured readers Cara Black, Kat Meads, James Warner, Stefanie Freele, and Avi Jacob Sweeny. Writers are welcome to bring a short piece (4 minutes or less) to enter into a raffle for two open mic slots. Or, take the time machine to Oakland and get Bawdy, with tales of Non-Monogamy. What?! You don’t know what Bawdy Storytelling is? Better learn. Tickets on sale here. Don’t want to leave the city? Have you ever seen Jane Smiley read? Here’s her rule: She reads for a certain amount of time and ‘when the shout comes,’ she stops, ‘no matter what.’ See her for a limited time at the main library.
• How about this? Check out either the N or E Bay Tuesday event and catch Jane Smiley on Wednesday, June 22 at Book Passage; abandon San Francisco altogether. As if there’s no scene beyond the confines! Although, there is a lot going on here. Sure to be a fascinating conversation, Matthew Stadler is in town to talk about his Publication Studio (for free!): “A public is strangers who have found common ground. It might be a public square or a community garden or a book—public space is any place where all are welcome and all who arrive have equal claim. For us, that’s the space of literature.” Litquake teams up with dublit for this month’s Epicenter and some rowdies fill The House of Shields with Poetry, Prose or Anything Goes, an anything goes open mic.
• Right. Thursdays. Follow me: On June 23 get intimate with a quartet of counterculture Manic D Queer Authors: Daphne Gottlieb, Larry-bob Roberts, Lynn Breedlove, and Alvin Orloff. Celebrate a year of ‘Lectrive Collective “inciting delicious friction between words and images, signs and forms, big hands and little hands” with the multimedia reading series Ekphrastic!, when the poetry of Gillian Conoley (from wiki: “Conoley’s poems are often meditations on culture which may contain multiple dictions and narrative directions”), Brian Ang, and Lisa Cattrone are presented with the original artworks they inspired. Linda King and Francisco Orrego are this week’s poets at Reader’s Cafe, and notorious beat poet David Meltzer will be @ City Lights to celebrate the release of his first book of poems there, When I Was a Poet-should be pretty epic. Speaking of! For the 12th straight year, Oakland holds a Battle of the Bay to prep local slam teams for Nationals. “Witness the poetic carnage these phenomenal wordsmiths inflict on each other,” catch Jon Sands from NY, and enter the open mic at the Oakland Poetry Slam Battle of the Bay. All of this and the featured Dean Young Benefit!
• Friday, June 24 might just be open. Don’t freak out. Wait, knew something was wrong. Catch ruth weiss with jazz trio and others in Berkeley.
• On Saturday, June 25 you’ve lucked out: Bitchez Brew Seven turns out the following readers: Gravity Goldberg, William Taylor Jr., Joanna Lioce, Sean Taylor, Suzanne Kleid, Sayre Mingen and Buford Buntin, with “electric-eclectic tunes” from Adam Kray. Check out some past footage of the Brew here and here; it’s a whole solid evening of wrrrds.
• By the time Sunday, June 26 rolls around you might be tempted to run for the hills! But wait until 7 or so, because you don’t want to Jason Flores Williams, William Bivins and James Warner at Portuguese Artists Colony: Mastermind. Host Caitlin Myer’s out of town and colonist Carey Tenis will be guest-hosting; we promised to give him a hard time. Plus, have you seen live-writing? So good.

OK. You can breathe now.