Wednesday 2/4: Peter Kline hosts Brendan Isaac Jones, Dean Rader, and Melissa Stein at the Bazaar Writers Saloon. Brendan Isaac Jones is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University; Dean Rader is a Professor of English at the University of San Francisco; and Melissa Stein is a winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Prize for the poetry collection, Rough Honey. Free, 7 p.m., Bazaar Cafe.
Berkeley’s Pandemonium Press presents 1st Wednesdays in the Loft at Spice Monkey featuring popular locals Sharon Coleman, Rafael Jesús González, Robert Pesich, and Sarah Fran Wisby, plus a musical performance by flutist Gerardo Omar Martín. Readings preceded and followed by a half hour of open mic. Free, 6:45 p.m., Spice Monkey.
Fulbright scholar, poet, and jazz musician Kevin Simmonds curates Not A Luxury: Poets & Activists Remember Queer Black Poets with Scot Nakagawa, Arisa White, Adrienne Torf, and Joshua Merchant. Free, 6 p.m., San Francisco Public Library Koret Auditorium.
Thursday 2/5: City Arts and Lectures presents investigative journalist Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation, Reefer Madness) in conversation with Phil Bronstein as part of a series, On Art & Politics. $27.00, 7:30 p.m., Nourse Theater.
As part of their long running series at Moe’s books in Berkeley, Poetry Flash presents married creative partners Jack and Adele Foley, with Clara Hsu, offering their newest work. The Foleys and Hsu have developed a distinctive and memorable style of choral poetry performance. Free, 7:30 p.m., Moe’s Books.
Friday 2/6: Native American and Oakland resident Tim Jollimore reads from his newly-published first novel, Listener in the Snow. Free, 7 p.m., Books, Inc.
The Studio One Reading Series presents Southern California poets Aaron Kunin and Andrew Maxwell as part of the Oakland First Friday festivities. Free, 7 p.m., Studio One.
Saturday 2/7: The Bay Area Poetry Coalition has been doing its thing for 40 years (since 1974!), building a community of poets and publishing the journal POETALK. They meet to read poems, their own or somebody else’s (everybody present gets three to five minutes), and, for those who wish, follow up with dinner at a nearby restaurant. This is something special, indeed, but not for the shallow scenester or the chronically hip. Free, 3 p.m., Strawberry Creek Lodge.
The poet Hugh Behm-Steinberg is known for working closely with both visual artists and musicians. Tonight, The Emerald Tablet hosts a release party for the debut album of Oa, a collaboration with experimental musician Matt Davignon. $5-10, 7:30 p.m., The Emerald Tablet.
Sunday 2/8: Richard Michael Levine and Marilyn Stablein read at Diesel, A Bookstore under the auspices of Poetry Flash. Free, 3 p.m., Diesel, A Bookstore.
The OmniVerse Reading series is a collaboration between University Press Books and Omnidawn Publishing and this week features poets Rebecca Foust and John Gallaher. Free, 3 p.m., University Press Books.
Monday 2/9: Comic fans will not want to miss the chance to hear Scott McCloud (author of Understanding Comics) discuss his latest work, The Sculptor, in conversation with Robin Sloan. Free, 7 p.m., Books, Inc.
If you missed an encounter with Joyce Carol Oates last week at City Lights, she will surface again in Berkeley to read from her new novel, The Sacrifice. Free, 7:30 p.m., Mrs. Dalloway’s.
Tuesday 2/10: Hearty laughs and interesting content are a certainty when Michael Chabon converses with Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snickett) as part of the series “On Art and Politics” presented by City Arts & Lectures and benefitting the 826 Valencia Scholarship Program. Some are hoping that Mr. Handler will bring his accordion. Others, not so much. $27, 7:30 p.m., Nourse Theater.
Jill Leovy will discuss her new book, Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America with ZYZZYVA Managing Editor Oscar Villalon at City Lights. Ghettoside is listed as a New York Times editors’ choice in the Sunday Book Review of February 1. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights Booksellers.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is Jon Fosse’s “I Am The Wind”, presented by Do It Live Productions at the Adeline Studios Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley.
Norwegian poet and playwright Fosse is widely produced in Europe and considered a genius in his homeland, but is rarely appreciated in the English-speaking theatre. Read a review of this highly recommended production here. “I Am The Wind” closes this week. For further information, including ticket prices, times and venue location, click here.
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Videos from some of last week’s notables: A Hundy Reading {Tessa Micaela, Paul Ebankamp, Michael Nicoloff, DeWayne Dickerson, and Brenda Hillman).
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This week’s featured local author is Maw Shein Win (click here to read an interview):
