Wednesday 10/1: Fiveology Presents A.M.P., featuring National Poetry Slam finalist Imani Cezanne followed by an open mic. $5, 8 p.m., Vinyl Oakland. – Wonder Dave
City Arts & Lectures hosts Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad presenting Gut Churn, a multimedia lecture on the creative process. $35, 7:30 p.m., Nourse Theater.
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reads from and discusses her new book An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights.
Kevin Killian joins Brent Calderwood for the launch of The God of Longing. Free, 7:30 p.m., Books Inc. Castro.
Saint Mary’s College of California hosts poets Hoa Nguyen and Rachel Zucker as part of the Creative Writing Reading Series. Free, 7:30 p.m., St. Mary’s College, Soda Center, Claeys Lounge.
Thursday 10/2: UC Berkeley’s hallmark Lunch Poems series teams up with City Lights to celebrate the 50th anniversary and a new expanded edition of Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems with readings by Garrett Caples, C. S. Giscombe, Jane Gregory, Robert Hass, Owen Hill, Elaine Katzenberger, Evan Klavon, giovanni singleton, Julianna Spahr, and Matthew Zapruder. Free, 12:10 p.m., UC Berkeley, Morrison Library in Doe Library.
San Francisco State University hosts a reading by Stephen Ratcliffe, winner of this year’s Poetry Center Book Award for Selected Days. Free, 4:30 p.m., The Poetry Center.
Big Umbrella Studios hosts their first Open Mic Night—bring 2-4 minutes’ worth of fiction or up to 2 pages of poetry if you want to read. Free, 7:30 p.m., Big Umbrella Studios.
Dean Rader, editor of 99 Poems for the 99 Percent, will read from the book along with some of the other contributors: Heather Altfeld, Maxine Chernoff, Troy Jollimore, Tess Taylor, and Matthew Zapruder. Free, 7 p.m., Mrs. Dalloway’s.
Shipwreck hosts Cameron Dunkley, Alitzah Oros, Molly Jane Rosen, Shannon O’Malley and Keith Wilson of Gay Men Draw Vaginas, and 4-time champ Maggie Tokuda-Hall, as they destroy Stephen King’s Christine. Admission includes drinks. $10, 7 p.m., The Booksmith.
Poets Brenda Hillman and Robert Hass read as part of the Center for Independent Living’s 10th annual Authors Night. $20, 6 p.m., The Ed Roberts Campus.
Ben Lerner reads from and discusses, with Dominic Luxford, his new novel, 10:04. Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
Friday 10/3: Ben Lerner and Hoa Nguyen read as part of CCA’s Writers Series. Free, 4:30 p.m., Writers’ Studio.
Studio One Reading Series hosts readings by Cedar Sigo, Lourdes Figueroa, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, and Peter Burghardt. Free, 7:30 p.m., Studio One Arts Center.
Saturday 10/4: Alexandra Kostoulas and Nick Mamatas host Greek American Writers Night, with Katie Aliferis, Annamarie Buonocore, Lydia Athanasopoulou, Apollo Papafrangou, Martha Klironomos, Michael Kazepis, and Irene Pozoukidis. $5, 6 p.m., The Emerald Tablet.
A going away party for Jelal Huyler, who’s moving to Atlanta. Free, 5 p.m., Firehouse Art Collective.
Be About It hosts Guillaume Morissette, Jesse Prado, and Tomas Moniz. Free, 6:30 p.m., E.M. Wolfman General Interest Small Bookstore.
Sunday 10/5: Hazel Reading Series presents special guest Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, along with MK Chzvez, Claire Sherba, Virgie Tovar, Sara Campos and Jill Tomasetti. Free, 5 p.m., California Institute of Integral Studies.
Bazaar Writers Salon features Kim Addonizio, Alvin Lu, and Solmaz Sharif. Free, 6 p.m., Bazaar Cafe.
Give Me Fiction XII: Music includes readings by George Chen, DJ REAL, Irene Tu, Molly Sanchez, David Cairns, and Alitzah Oros, and music by Laura Weinbach of Foxtails Brigade. $10, 8 p.m., Cynic Cave.
Monday 10/6: S.F. Poet Laureate Emeritus Diane di Prima celebrates the publication of her first full-length collection of new poems in more than two decades, The Poetry Deal. Free, 6:30 p.m., Main Library.
Diane Cook, who worked for six years as a producer for This American Life, launches her debut story collection Man V. Nature. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith.
Tuesday 10/7: Kim Addonizio celebrates the publication of her second story collection, The Palace of Illusions. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith.
University of San Francisco hosts Paul Lisicky as part of their series, Lone Mountain Readings. Free, 7:45 p.m., USF Lower Campus, Fromm Hall, Maraschi Room.
Mylene Fernández-Pintado will be in town from Havana to celebrate the publication of A Corner of the World. She will read from and discuss the book with translator Dick Cluster. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights
Nicole Gluckstern and Burrito Justice discuss the genesis of their project Bikes to Books, and map-making, with historical geographer Dick Walker, who co-wrote The Atlas of California: Mapping the Challenge of a New Era. Free, 7:30 p.m., Shaping San Francisco.
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: Under the Influence (Joel Gregory, Michael Warr, Fia Maxwell, Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, July Westhale, Matt Gonzalez); Omnidawn (Cole Swensen).
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This week’s featured local author is Andrew O. Dugas (click to read an interview):
