Wednesday 4/29: Paul Corman-Roberts, curator for the monthly reading series Passages On The Lake, presents a typically outstanding group of writers: Neeli Cherkovski (PEN Oakland award winner), A. Razor (founder of Punk Hostage Press), July Westhale (Pushcart nominee and Fullbright scholar), Arisa White (Cave Canem Fellow), and Alexandra Naughton (editor and publisher of Be About It Zine and Press). Free, 7:30 p.m., The Terrace Room.
Thursday 4/30: The Red Poppy Art House, a hotbed of artistic community activism, presents disruptions as part of the year-long Black + Brown Lives Matter Performance + Dialogue Series. Curated by Michael Warr and Mark Sabb, the event features spoken word and performance by Adrian Arias, Mohammed Bilal, MK Chavez, Harold Tzn, Amos Gregory, Sebastien Alvarez, Dorothy Santos, and Kwan Booth, as well as an open mic. The performances will be preceded at 6 p.m. by a panel discussion with community activists. Free, 7:30 p.m., Red Poppy Art House.
Itinerant writer Caitlin Myer founded the Portuguese Artists Colony in 2010 in San Francisco. It is neither in Portugal nor presented in Portuguese, and thereby hangs a tale, one of many promulgated by this interesting group of artists. Tonight, the colony presents Nomads and Homebodies, curated by colonists Caitlin Myer and Maw Shein Win and featuring guest writers Poupeh Missaghi, Chiwan Choi, and Siamak Vissoughi, along with musical guest Tim DeCillis. A live writing competition will feature Lael Gold, Colleen McKee, Tomas Muniz, and Jaz Sufi. Always excellent fun with food for thought. $7-10 sliding scale, 7 p.m, Second Act.
Friday 5/1: Word.World. is the culminating event for MFA students in writing at California College of the Arts. CCA offers one of several high quality MFA programs in the Bay Area, and the work is always interesting. The event will feature readings from the theses of graduating students Patrick Newson, Michael Burge, Stephen Leeper, Charlie Radka, and Phil Lumsden. Free, 7 p.m., CCA.
Saturday 5/2: To celebrate the second annual California Bookstore Day (now gone national!), The Booksmith is hosting a Mad Tea Party at their store in the Haight Ashbury. This will be a party of parties! Check out this mind boggling, almost impossible-to-believe guest list: Faith Adiele, Charlie Jane Anders, Eric Berkowitz, Lisa Brown, Lewis Buzbee, Alexis Coe, Laura Fraser, Joshua Mohr, Courtney Moreno, Peter Orner, Stuart Rojstaczer, Rachel Saunders, Kevin Smokler, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Virgie Tovar, Colin Winnette, and more TBA. Plus music from Stella Peach. Free (RSVP appreciated), 12 p.m., The Booksmith.
César Love is the author of the poetry book While Bees Sleep, and an editor of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. Reviewing While Bees Sleep, SF Poet Laureate Emeritus Jack Hirschman called it “an excellent book of poetry.” It is indeed, and Love is an excellent reader. Free, 7 p.m., La Promenade Cafe.
Sunday 5/3: The 34th Annual Northern California Book Awards will take place at the San Francisco Public Library, where the 2015 winners will be announced and the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Willis Barnstone. Click here for a complete list of nominees. Free, 1 p.m., San Francisco Public Library.
Litquake and Green Apple Books present The Epicenter: Joyce Carol Oates in Conversation with Cornelia Nixon. Oates will be reading from her newest novel, The Sacrifice. $15-$20 suggested donation, 7 p.m., Viracocha.
Monday 5/4: Quiet Lightning offers its one-of-a-kind literary mix tape for free at Chez Poulet, home base for the one-and-only Chicken John Rinaldi, where they will be offering guests complimentary Lagunitas Beer. It sounds like literary hipster heaven. Featured readers will be Matt Leibel, Suzannah Weiss, Maggie Takuda-Hall, Jarvis Subia, A. G. Moore, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Peter Bullen, Alicia Franco, Alexander Peterson, Sean Taylor, Tim Donnelly, Christopher Dizon, Daniel Riddle Rodriguez, and Patricia Caspers. And that’s what is meant by, “an embarrassement of riches.” Free, 7 p.m., Chez Poulet.
Tuesday 5/5: ZYZZYVA celebrates Cinco De Mayo at City Lights Bookstore with the release of its newest issue (No. 103) featuring work by Jim Gavin, Luiza Flynn-Goodlett, Kyle Boelte, and James Warner. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights Bookstore.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is Ondine presented by We, Players at Sutro Baths by Lands End. We, Players is known for presenting site-specific performances of participatory theatre. Past productions have included The Odyssey staged on Angel Island and Macbeth staged at Fort Point. These productions are extraordinary and typically sell out. Ondine by Jean Giradoux is described as “a tragic love affair between a mystical creature of the depths and a mortal man of hubris.” The company reports that audiences “will move with the action of the play, exploring the park and taking in the expansive and breathtaking views of the great Pacific, while immersed in the enchanted realm of Ondine.” If past productions are any indication, Ondine will be an experience to be remembered for a lifetime. It opens on May 1st and plays through June 7th, and it will certainly sell out early. For further information, click here. For a review of last year’s production of Macbeth staged at Fort Point, click here.
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This week’s featured local author is Jill Tomasetti. (Click here to read an interview.)
