Wednesday, 7/9: A rare chance to see author of Turn of Mind, Method and Madness, and Circle of Wives, Alice LaPlante. Free, 6 p.m., Glen Park Library.
Phenomenal lineup for the third installment of Story Showdown, hosted by Jamie DeWolf: storytellers, comedians, beatboxers, and poets compete for a $300 prize, decided by the audience. Featuring Doug Cordell, Jake Arky, Bucky Sinister, Morgan, Wonder Dave, Emcee Infinite, Kay DeMartini, Kyle Bowen, and Blythe Baldwin. $10, 7 p.m., Awaken Cafe.
The Berkeley Poetry Slam features Zai Sadler and Tova Charles, in town from Austin on their Hair and Talk and Teeth Tour. $7-10, 8:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. signup), The Starry Plough.
Join local cartoonist Rick Worley and his creations—a rabbit, a coke-addicted teddy bear, and a broken robot—for some naughty times at the release of the artist’s latest comic A Waste of Time #1. 5 p.m., Free, Mission Comics and Art. – Baruch Porras-Hernandez
Thursday, 7/10: For this month’s Shipwreck, six writers will take characters from George Orwell’s classic revolution tale Animal Farm and make them do lewd things to and/or with one another. $10 includes booze, 7 p.m., The Booksmith.
Owen Hill reads from his new collection of short satirical poems A Walk Among the Bogus, along with Patrick James Dunagan, who edited the collection and wrote the introduction. Free, 7 p.m., Bird & Beckett.
Why There Are Words hosts contribs to Chicago-based journal Rhino Poetry—Julia B. Levine, Karen Llagas, Cintia Santana, Kevin Simmonds, Daniel Suarez, and Angela Narciso Torres—along with special guest Marin county poet Roy Mash. $10, 7 p.m., Studio 333.
Celebrating The Pablo Neruda Centennial Festival’s 10th Anniversary with Adrián Arias, Jennifer Barone, Ingrid Keir, Michael Warr, and Mark Eisner, who will also screen parts of his documentary-in-progress, “Pablo Neruda: The Poet’s Calling”, along with Neruda’s publisher William O’Daly and translator Barbara Paschke and a musical performance by Quijeremá, who recorded the soundtrack. $10-20, 7:30 p.m., Red Poppy Arthouse.
Monthly bilingual open mic with features Voz Sin Tinta presents Kristina Ten, Turi Fesler, Baruch Porras-Hernandez, and Brielle Brilliant. Free, 6:30 p.m., Alley Cat Books.
Friday, 7/11: For the third year now, Punk Hostage Press hosts a pre-Beast Crawl BBQ and reading. The BBQ is at A. Razor’s house at noon (follow link for directions); the readings are without introductions and will include those who sign up in advance. Free, 3:30 p.m., The Baltic Restaurant.
Famed attorney Tony Serra reads from his new book, The Green Yellow and Purple Years in the Life of a Radical Lawyer, an autobiography of his defense of Black Panthers, the S.L.A., the New World Front, Nuestra Familia, Earth First, the Hells Angels, Mafiosi, and Native Americans—intertwined with his anti-establishment ideology. Free, 7 p.m., The Green Arcade
Saturday, 7/12: The third annual Beast Crawl features more than 150 authors reading at 30 events spread out over four hours and 30 separate venues, with an open mic in each leg and an afterparty. 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 8 p.m., Free. – Jeff Von Ward
Radar presents Juliana Delgado Lopera, Erin Peterson, K.M. Soehnlein, Ben McCoy, and Gem Top in the light of the full moon, part of the quarterly series The Wandering Moon. Free, 8 p.m., Tenderloin National Forest.
Writers With Drinks hosts “An Evening of Oversharing About Money!” with Brad DeLong, Carol Queen, Farhad Manjoo, Frances Lefkowitz, Tiny, and Charlie Jane Anders. $5-20, with all proceeds going to benefit the Center for Sex and Culture, 7:30 p.m., Make-Out Room.
With the idea that Beast Crawl will attract hundreds of literati to Uptown Oakland, and that many of them will probably still be in the area at midnight, Vernon Keeve III has organized The Ceremony at Midnight, an open mic meeting at 14th Street and Lakeshore Drive. 12 a.m, Free, Lake Merritt.
Sunday, 7/13: The first public concert of the contemporary opera-in-development based on Arisa White‘s book of poems Post Pardon, with acclaimed NY-based tenor saxophonist and composer Jessica Jones. $20-25, 3 p.m., Marion E. Greene Black Box Theater.
Fruitvale backyard open mic The Naked Bulb hosts for one night only a romantic ghost story called Poetry Church. Free, 6 p.m., 2518 Grande Vista Ave.
Libros Libres Oakland and Tilde host a housewarming for their new free library. Get some (free) books and some drinks. Free, 7:30 p.m., Libros Libres Oakland.
Monday, 7/14: Rolling Writers presents a Church of Baseball Revival Meeting during this year’s All-Star Break. All are welcome to share true life stories of personal experiences with the great and good game. Free, 6:30 p.m., Rolling-Out.
Tuesday, 7/15: Litquake hosts a launch for Noah Levine’s new book, Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction, as part of its series The Epicenter. $5-15, 7 p.m., Hotel Rex.
Write Club celebrates the great Nate Waggoner before he leaves the Bay Area. Nate will compete against Casey Childers; Ivan Hernandez vs. Ken Grobe; Sarah Griffin vs. Carolyn Ho; Steven Westdahl vs. Lauren Traetto. $10, 8 p.m., Make-Out Room.
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: Manifest (Jackie Wang, Coda Wei, Jennifer Tamayo, Trish Salah); Heart’s Desire (Allison Cobb, Aaron Kunin, K Silem Mohammad, Feliz Lucia Molina).
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This week’s featured local author is Brittany Billmeyer-Finn (click to read an interview):
