Wednesday 7/16: Poetry in the Redwood Grove, featuring Keith Ekiss, Dean Rader, and Tess Taylor, followed by a bluegrass performance by The Whiskey Brothers. $12, 5:30 p.m., University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden.
Lyrics & Dirges hosts Joyce E. Young, Monica Zarazua, Joshua McKinney, Katayoon Zandvakili, and Rusty Morrison. Free, 7:30 p.m., Pegasus Books Downtown.
Thursday 7/17: The Poetry Readings @ Willow Glen series features Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Emeritus Nils Peterson. Free, 7 p.m., Willow Glen Branch Library.
This month’s MFA Mixer features up to six minutes each from Andrew Bonfils, Carmella Veronica, Nelson Rivera, Joseph Rakowski, Evan Adams, Alicia Franco, Andrea Babinec, Charles Smith, and Lucy Tiven, with $2 well drinks from 9-10 and an ’80s dance party to follow. Free, 7 p.m., Cat Club.
Friday 7/18: Sam Sax returns to the Bay from Austin to celebrate the publication of his chapbook, A Guide to Undressing Your Monsters. A special edition of The New Sh!t Show, which Sax co-founded here. $5-10, 8 p.m., Merchant of Reality.
The Porchlight storytelling series celebrates their 12th Anniversary with My Cinderella Moment: The Clock Struck Twelve and Sh*t Got Real. Tales by graphic novelist and zine queen Nicole J. Georges, Roxie Cinema programmer Mike Keegan, filmmaker, native Mission res Vero Majano, award-winning bookbinder Dominic Riley, filmmaker/Webby Awards creator Tiffany Shlain, and lawyer and former SF public defender Whitney Leigh. $15, 8 p.m., Verdi Club.
Writers Without Borders: Saving Lives in Nepal is a reading to benefit a Kathmandu hospital for people with disabilities. Featuring Tamim Ansary, Yanina Gotsulsky, Zahra Noorbakhsh, Ginger Murray, Zarina Zabrisky, Cybele Zufolo Siegel, and Steven Gray, with cabaret by Megs Meghan Rutigliano, flamenco guitar by Antonio Triana, and small press books for sale by Vouched. Free, 7 p.m., 472 Gallery.
Saturday 7/19: Holly Payne reads from Damascena, her new novel set in 13th-century Persia. Free, 7 p.m., Book Passage Corte Madera.
Sunday 7/20: Veteran spoken word artist and poet Janet Hamill visits from New York to read from her debut short story collection, Tales from the Eternal Cafe. Free, 2 p.m., Bird & Beckett.
The New Sh!t Show is sending a team of poets to the National Poetry Slam for the first time, and presents a special evening with their team: Danez Smith, Joshua Merchant, Tatyana Brown, Jason Bayani, Jelal Huyler, Sam Sax, Cam Awkward-Rich, and Nic Alea. There will also be a silent auction to help raise funds, and New Sh!t Show 2014 chaps for sale. $10-15 suggested, 7 p.m., Arc Studios & Gallery.
Meg Pokrass joins Bonnie ZoBell, up from San Diego on The Red Bird Tour. Free, 6 p.m., Alley Cat Books.
Monday 7/21: The Lit Slam features Barbara Jane Reyes this month, in addition to the audience-juried competition, the winner of which is included in their annual anthology. Free, 8 p.m., The Shelton Theatre.
Chelsea Hodson, in town from New York, will read from her new chapbook Pity the Animal at Live at 851, along with Maisha Z. Johnson, Robyn Carter, Lauren Traetto, and Julie Crossman. Free, 8 p.m., 849 Haight Street.
Tuesday 7/22: InsideStoryTime hosts Katie Crouch, Wendy C. Ortiz, Jason Bayani, Andrew Dugas, and Alan O’Gorman. $5, 7:30 p.m., La Movida Wine Bar & Community Kitchen.
Angela Pneuman will read from her debut novel, Lay It on My Heart, narrated by the thirteen-year-old daughter of a modern-day prophet whose devotion threatens his sanity. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith.
Simone Fattal will read from Etel Adnan’s new book-length prose poem, Premonition. Free, 7 p.m., The Green Arcade.
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: Be About It (Amy Berkowitz, Lauren Traetto, Garrett Murphy, Mark Cronin); Quiet Lightning (Siamak Vossoughi, Kelly Egan, Kate Folk, Kara Vernor, Ivan Hernandez, David Wesley Green, Jill Tydor, Ashley Warren).
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This week’s featured local author is Marcus Lund (click to read an interview):
