Wednesday 11/12: Peter Turchi reads from and discusses his new book A Muse and A Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic (Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
Roman Krznaric discusses The Art of Living via his latest book, Empathy: Why It Matters and How to Get It, with Laura Maguire, philosophy teacher at Stanford and director of research for Philosophy Talk ($15, 7 p.m., Hattery).
In one of their double headers, The Booksmith hosts two debut novelists: Peyton Marshall (Goodhouse) and Julia Fierro (Cutting Teeth), in conversation with Malena Watrous (Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith).
Thursday 11/13: SFSU hosts a late afternoon reading by poets Donna de la Perrière and Barbara Tomash (Free, 4:30 p.m., The Poetry Center).
Mallory Ortberg celebrates the release of Texts from Jane Eyre (Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith).
Indira Allegra, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Richard T. D’Elia, Jennifer Hasegawa, Vanessa Hua, Sylvia Linsteadt, and Juliana Delgado Lopera—winners of this year’s literary awards from The San Francisco Foundation, read from their selected manuscripts-in-progress (Free, 6:30 p.m., The San Francisco Foundation).
Thursdays at Readers features poets giovanni singleton and Jorge Molina (Free, 6:30 p.m., Readers Bookstore).
Subterranean SF: Hardboiled Writing with an Edge journeys into San Francisco’s 1950s queer underground with Katie Gilmartin’s Blackmail, My Love – A Murder Mystery (Free, 7:30 p.m., undisclosed location).
Friday 11/14: Amina Cain and Sean Labrador y Manzano present their work as part of the Re@ds series ($7, 5:30 p.m., Berkeley Art Museum).
William Taylor Jr. celebrates the publication of his new collection of poems, The Blood of a Tourist, with readings by Ezekiel Tyrus, Joel Landmine, Cassandra Dallett, Hollie Hardy, A.D. Winans, and Neeli Cherkovski, and music by Kitty Chow (Free, 7 p.m., The Beat Museum).
Voice of Witness launches the latest book in their series, Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation, with editors Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke in discussion (Free, 6:30 p.m., 826 Valencia).
Maren Preston celebrates a new zine, Los Dos, on six months trekking through Argentina and Bolivia, with live music by Meat Market, Golden Drugs, Beekeepers, The Peels, and DJ Mike Morales, and a pop-up print shop by Tiny Splendor ($7, 7 p.m., LoBot Gallery).
Gerald Stern makes a rare appearance on this side of the U.S. to read from his new collection Divine Nothingness and his previous book, In Beauty Bright. Stern was the first Poet Laureate of the state of New Jersey and has won both the National Book Award and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (Free, 7:30 p.m., St. Alban’s Episcopal Church).
Saturday 11/15: The first annual Howard Zinn Bookfair, a celebration of subversive books and people’s history, features over 100 authors and presses in a daylong festival of panel discussions and readings of original work (Free, 11 a.m., Mission High School).
Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe celebrate the release of Green Lions in a collaboration with Word Performances that blends literature, dance, music, and theater and features more than a dozen different performers, including Chiwan Choi, Jonathan Siegel, and Brynn Saito ($15, 7:30 p.m., The Great Star Theatre).
In a special reading at Adobe, five Bay Area Burmese/Burmese-American/Anglo-Burmese writers—Audrey Esquivel, Su Su Maung, Khin Thiri Nandar Soe, Maw Shein Win, and Kenneth Wong—read memoir, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction (Free, 7 p.m., Adobe Books).
Timeless, Infinite Light returns from a brief tour to their home base in Oakland, with readings by Ivy Johnson, Joel Gregory, and emji spero (Free, 7:30 p.m., E.M. Wolfman General Interest Small Bookstore).
Sunday 11/16: The bookstore portion of La Commune Cafe and Bookstore is open for business, and to kick things off Michael McClure reads with music by Ouroboros (a musical improv group consisting of Sheldon Brown, Clark Coolidge, Andrew Joron, and Joseph Noble). Espresso by donation (Free, 2 p.m., Omni Commons).
Poetry Flash presents readings by Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet and Robert Thomas (Free, 3 p.m., Diesel, A Bookstore).
Small Press Traffic presents readings by Jocelyn Seidenberg and Amina Cain, hosted by Robert Glück ($6-10, 5:30 p.m., Artist Television Access).
Hazel, the all-female chain series, hosts Syda Day, Shimul Rahim, Selena Larson, Susan Calvillo, and Arisa White, with a feature by Minal Hajratwala (Free, 5 p.m., California Institute of Integral Studies).
Monday 11/17: The Writers on Writing series features Amina Cain discussing and reading from Creature, her new collection of short fictions from Dorothy publishing project (Free, 7 p.m., SFSU).
The Lit Slam has a double feature this month: Jacques J Rancourt and Corey Van Landingham (Free, 7 p.m., The Shelton Theatre).
Tuesday 11/18: Freedom Voices Press celebrates 25 years with a sneak peak at their 2015 titles—readings by Margot Pepper, Paul Boden, and J. Douglas Allen-Taylor (Free, 7 p.m., City Lights).
Yang Huang reads from her new novel, Living Treasures (Free, 7 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park).
InsideStoryTime features readings by Elizabeth Rosner, Emily Jiang, Patrick Guderski, Karen Penley, and Charlie Getter (Free, 7 p.m., La Movida Wine Bar & Community Kitchen).
Write Club gets (and curious) with a Thanksgiving-themed show: Maggie Tokuda Hall vs. Jasmine Sufi, Diana Salier vs. Na’amen Tilahun, and Casey Childers vs. Alitzah Oros ($5, 8 p.m., The Make-Out Room).
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Videos and reviews from some of last week’s notables: Sarah Carpenter reviews the release party for Macaroni Necklace 2.1.
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This week’s featured local author is Jason Bayani (click to read an interview):
