Wednesday, 6/11: Emma Straub reads from her new story collection The Vacationers. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith. – Evan Karp
Rusty Morrison, David Koehn, and Marianne Morris will read from new poetry collections. Complimentary refreshments. Free, 6 p.m., University Press Books.
Thursday 6/12: Voz sin Tinta, a monthly literary series and open mic sponsored by poet laureate Alejandro Murguía and curated by Marguerite Muñoz and Jose Hector Cadena, features Denise Benavides, Marvin K. White, Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, Tara Rose, and Lito Sandoval. Free, 6:30 p.m., Alley Cat BooksBaruch Porras-Hernandez
Lunada Literary Lounge and Open Mic features Michelle Serros and Gamal Chasten, along with a bilingual open mic, for their spring season closer. 7:30 p.m. (sign-up at 7:15 p.m.), $5. Galería de la Raza.
Why There Are Words teams up with The Fabulist to present readings by Jen Burke Anderson, Tantra Bensko, Jenny Bitner, James Hritz, Maw Shein Win, John Zic, and Josh Wilson. $10, 7:15 p.m., Studio 333.
The National Poetry slam will bring poets from across North America to Oakland for the annual national competition on Aug 5th-9th, and on June 12th The Oakland Poetry Slam will hold the Oakland Poetry Slam Finals to select their team. All ages. $10-100, 8 p.m., Awaken Cafe. – Wonder Dave
Friday, 6/13: Joshua Clover, Juliana Spahr, Uyen Hua, and Erika Staiti will read at curds+whey, an anti-eviction reading series, with free beer and music after the readings. Free, 7:30 p.m., behind (not in) Kingfish Pub & Cafe.
Singer-songwriters Lila Nelson and Maya Dorn join storytellers Pete Lee and Michael Whitson for Luck & Superstition: an evening of songs and stories. $10, 7 p.m., Subterranean Arthouse.
A sneak peak of the third annual Beast Crawl festival, which takes place on July 12th this year, Beast in the Grove features readings by Hollie Hardy, Tim Toaster Henderson, Maisha Johnson, Paul Corman-Roberts, and SB Stokes. Free, 7 p.m., California Shakespeare Theater.
Saturday 6/14: Writers With Drinks is the most entertaining event in the history of literature—Charlie Jane Anders’s intros to the readers are often as riveting as the readers themselves. This month, readings by Daniel H. Wilson, Mimi Lipson, Adam Rogers, Jordan Ellenberg, and Kendra De Colo. Proceeds benefit the Center for Sex and Culture. $5-$10 (no one turned away), 7:30 p.m., The Make Out Room. – Lauren Traetto
Guillermo Gómez-Peña performs a new monologue entitled “Imaginary Activism: The Role of the Artist Beyond the Art World“. Free, 8 p.m., Modern Times Bookstore Collective.
Paul Corman-Roberts celebrates a soft release of his new book Notes from An Orgy with a special Naked Bulb, the “kid-friendly, F-bomb friendly” backyard series in Fruitvale. It gets cold, so bring a blanket. Free, 6 p.m., 2518 Grande Vista Ave., Oakland.
Sunday 6/15: Come celebrate the life and work of San Francisco author and educator Anne Marino, who recently succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Castle Marino Reading, A Memorial Reading in Honor of Anne Marino will feature readings by Tom Barbash, Kristen Kadner, Rachel Howard, and Alan Black. Free, 5 p.m., Edinburgh Castle. – Jeff Von Ward
Hilarious new series Scene Missing features six writers/comedians performing new work inspired by movie trailers. This month, Maisha Z. Johnson, Tomas Moniz, Carolyn Ho, Baruch Porras-Hernande
The Manifest Reading and Workshop Series has organized a panel on The Intersections of Work and Identity, with Anja Weiser Flower, Brel Froebe, Lostboy, Moonroot Collective, and Adrienne Skye Roberts. Moderated by Tessa Micaela Landreau-Grasmuck. Free, 7 p.m., 531 22nd St., Oakland.
Monday, 6/16: The Mechanics Institute Library hosts their 13th Annual Bloomsday Celebration, with music, dramatic readings, and more. $25, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Mechanics Institute Library.
Porchlight teams up with Tim Redmond, founder and editor of 48hills.org, for a special show: Secrets of the City: Strange But True Tales of Investigative Reporting. Stories by Redmond, Bruce Anderson, A.C. Thompson, Laura Fraser, Annalee Newitz, Jerry Lee Abram. $15-250, 8 p.m., The Verdi Club.
Tuesday, 6/17: Katie Crouch reads from her new novel, Abroad. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith.
Originally conceived and serially published as an award-winning iPhone/iPad app, The Silent History is released in paperback this month by FSG. All three authors, Matthew Derby, Kevin Moffett, and Eli Horowitz, will give readings from and discuss the book. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights.
InsideStoryTime returns to what SF Weekly recently called “Best New Space for Literary Readings” with Natalie Baszile, Kate Milliken, Brynn Saito, Jon Sindell, and Kurt Wallace Martin. $5, 7:30 p.m., La Movida Wine Bar & Community Kitchen.
Robert Hass and Paul Ebenkamp have put together a new anthology entitled Modernist Women Poets. Speaking about the book will be Hass, Carol Snow, giovanni singleton, Gillian Conoley, Denise Lawson, and Brenda Hillman. Free, 7 p.m., Book Passage Corte Madera.
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: Wet Reckless release party (Cassandra Dallett, Joel Landmine, Mk Chavez, Alexandra Naughton); Quiet Lightning at El Rio (Peter Bullen, Moneta Goldsmith, Xan Roberti, Sharon Coleman, Andrena Zawinski, Emma Winsor Wood, John-Vincent Greco, Marcus Lund, Tomas Moniz, Siamak Vossoughi, Jen Sullivan Brych, Mr(s) Tisatula); Quiet Lightning + ArtSpan (Colin Winnette, Lucy Tiven, Denise Benavides, Kwan Booth, Carolyn Ho w/Nate Waggoner); The Heart’s Progress (Sarah Fran Wisby, Lucy Tiven, Tomas Moniz, Maw Shein Win, K. Anne Rickertsen); Live at 851 (Kate Durbin, Mark Cronin, Kate Robinson, Tim Toaster Henderson). Mick Harris covers Babylon Salon; Charles Kruger covers Poetry Unbound; Christopher Patrick Steffen covers Shipwreck; Lindsay Merbaum covers McSweeney’s.
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This week’s featured local author is Rumpus contributor Siamak Vossoughi (click here to read an interview):
