Wednesday 10/22: Tom Frank and John Summers celebrate the release of No Future For You: Salvos from The Baffler (Free, 7 p.m., City Lights).
Eimear McBride reads from and discusses her novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, with Anisse Gross (Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
Alexis Coe celebrates the launch of her novel, Alice + Freda Forever, with Mallory Ortberg (Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith).
Derrick Brown is in town from Austin, on tour for his new book of poems Our Poison Horse, is the feature for this week’s Berkeley Poetry Slam ($7-10, 8 p.m., The Starry Plough).
Thursday 10/23: UC Berkeley’s The Mixed Blood Project presents C.D. Wright, reading and in conversation with Christopher Miller (Free, 6:30 p.m., UC Berkeley, Maude Fife Room).
Jeff Chang reads from and discusses his anticipated second book, Who We Be: The Colorization of America (Free, 7 p.m., MACLA).
SFSU Poetry Center hosts three Cincinnati-based poets: Catherine Wagner, Dana Ward, and Tyrone Williams ($10, 7 p.m., Ruth’s Table).
Nell Zink reads from her debut novel, the new Dorothy project, Wallcreepers (Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
Poetry Flash presents poets Ellen Bass and Robin Becker (Free, 7:30 p.m., Moe’s Books).
Elizabeth Rosner celebrates the publication of a collection of poems, Gravity, and a new novel, Electric City (Alley Cat Books).
McSweeney’s Poetry Series presents Dan Chelotti, Arif Gamal, and Emily Carr (Free, 7 p.m., Adobe Books).
Friday 10/24: The Bay Area Public School presents Alette in Oakland: A Symposium on the Work of Alice Notley, a weekend of panels and presentations by the likes of Bernadette Mayer (virtually), Maggie Nelson, Norman Fischer, Brenda Iijima, and Dana Ward, with a keynote talk by Eileen Myles, an original adaptation of Notley’s play, “Anne’s White Glove”, and a special Friday night performance by Notley (Free, 7:30 p.m., The Omni).
Uncharted, the second annual Berkeley Festival of Ideas kicks off two days of discussion and presentations ($215-345, 9 a.m., Freight & Salvage).
Re@ds presents poets Brian Teare and Rocket Caleshu ($7, 5:30 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum).
Under the Influence hosts Jaime Cortez, The Third Thing, Koon Woon, Christine No, and Michael Disend channeling some of their major influences, followed by original work that in some way reflects those influences ($5-10, 7:30 p.m., The Emerald Tablet).
David Lida reads from and discusses his book First Stop in the New World (Free, 4:30 p.m., CCA Writers’ Studio).
San Francisco Queer Open Mic features Allison Moon (Free, 7:30 p.m., Modern Times). – Wonder Dave
Saturday 10/25: A Poetry Flash benefit, Alicia Ostriker reads from her new book of poems, The Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog, with wine and cheese ($50 suggested donation, 3 p.m., 6028 Aspinwall Rd., Oakland).
Saturday Night Special features Nancy Au and Gabriel Cortez for their annual Halloween party, along with an open mic, on the optional theme Masks (Free, 7 p.m., Nick’s Lounge).
SF in SF returns with Garth Nix and Ysabeau Wilce ($20, 7 p.m., The Women’s Building).
From Gaza to Ferguson is gathering of poets and musicians that includes Devorah Major, Avotcja, Nina Serrano, Q.R. Hand, Brian Auerbach, Genny Lim, Lewis Jordan, Akinyele Sadiq, and Lubna Morrar (Free, 7 p.m., Modern Times).
Sunday 10/26: Joe Clifford celebrates his new novel, Lamentation (Free, 4 p.m., Book Passage Corte Madera).
Star 82 Review presents contributors Jeff Burt, Peter Clarke, Bryan Kring, Alastair Johnston, Sarah Kobrinsky, Terry Lucas, Nikki Thompson, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, and Alisa Golden (Free, 4 p.m., Sunday, Jered’s Pottery).
Marabelle Phoenix reads and performs songs from Ghost in the Music, with ghost stories by Donnelle Malnik, Ted Savarese, SB Stokes, and Serena Valentino, with music by The Barneys (Free, 8 p.m., The Make-Out Room).
James Tracy reads from Dispatches Against Displacement (Free, 4 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
Monday 10/27: Christina Nichol reads from her debut novel, Waiting for Electricity (Free, 7 p.m., Book Passage Corte Madera).
Porchlight hosts their monthly Open Door, a signup storytelling show on the theme “Creepy, Scary, Not OK” ($5, 7 p.m., Hemlock Tavern).
SFSU Creative Writing Professor and Chair Maxine Chernoff reading from and discussing the creative process behind her writing, part of the school’s Writing on Writing course (Free, 7 p.m., Humanities Building).
Writers on Writing: Maxine Chernoff
Bay Area Generations returns to the East Bay this month, with Jon Sindell and Townsend Walker, Nina Serrano and Garrett Murphy, Bonnie McManis and Anna Dabney, Paul Corman-Roberts and Chansonette Buck, Jeff Kingman and Jessica Moll, and musical guest Dawn Oberg ($5, 7 p.m., Berkeley City Club).
Tuesday 10/28: Jim Nisbet reads from his new collection of poems, Sonnets (Free, 7 p.m., The Green Arcade).
Gerald Nicosia reads from his new collection of poems, Night Train to Shangai (Free, 7:00 p.m., City Lights).
The first edition of Books on the Park Book Club features Joe Brainard‘s I Remember and Georges Perec‘s I Remember, with refreshments, snacks, and writing prompts (Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: Quiet Lightning (Peter Bullen, Avren Keating, Sara Marinelli, Sally Ashton, Kate Folk, Linette Escobar, Jill Tomasetti, Kai Carlson-Wee, Chloé Veylit, Kei X. Griot, Pablo Baeza, Karen Penley, Rose Linke, Shideh Etaat).
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This week’s featured local author is Anisse Gross (click here to read an interview):
