Wednesday 5/13: Did you know that Reed Magazine was founded in San Jose in 1867 and is the oldest literary journal published west of the Mississippi River? It was and is and deserves our attention. They are having a launch party on the peninsula for Issue 68, featuring the production team and contributors. Free, 6 p.m., Books, Inc., Mountain View.
Emily Schultz reads from and celebrates the release of her novel, The Blondes, at City Lights, hosted by Kara Levy, San Francisco editor of Joyland Magazine. Featuring Ruth Galm and Rachel Khong. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights Booksellers & Publishers.
Thursday 5/14: Joyland Magazine surfaces a second time this week when authors Kara Levy, Zoë Ferraris, Ruth Galm, Rachel Khong, Marian Palaia, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall share the stage with special guest Daniel Handler at Why There Are Words. $10, 7 p.m., Studio 333 in Sausalito.
San Francisco honors Gary Snyder for the occasion of his 85th birthday. The Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award winner whom ecological philosopher Max Oelschlager dubbed “the poet laureate of deep ecology” will be appearing at City Arts and Lectures. $27, 7:30 p.m., Nourse Theater.
Friday 5/15: Nomadic Press presents San Francisco’s own “literary gadfly” and much beloved founder of Quiet Lightning and Litseen, Evan Karp, along with music by Bourgeois Speedball. Free, 7 p.m., Nomadic Press.
Saturday 5/16: The 13th Annual Berkeley Poetry Festival co-directed by Mk Chavez and Sharon Coleman and hosted by Baruch Porras Herandez will present a lifetime achievement award to Rafael Jesús González. The day-long event features a book fair with local small book publishers, well over a dozen readers, and an open mic. One of the year’s highlights! Free, 11 a.m., Berkeley City College Auditorium.
Sunday 5/17: Poet and UC Santa Cruz associate professor Ronaldo V. Wilson presents the Leslie Scalapino Memorial Lecture in 21st Century Poetics in the Grad Writing Studio at California College of the Arts, hosted by Small Press Traffic. Free, 5 p.m., CCA San Francisco Campus.
Tuesday 5/19: A North Bay gem, Tuesday Night Writers’ Pints & Prose, celebrates five years of literary goodness at Peri’s Bar in Fairfax, with members Cyn Cady, Chris Cole, Amanda Conran, Josh Gibson, Tanya Egan Gibson, Tom Joyce, and John Philipp plus guest performers Sam Barry and William Petrocelli. Free, 6 p.m., Peri’s Bar.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is H2O presented by Aluminous at Flight Deck in Oakland. Beautifully staged and acted with a compelling simplicity, this unusual play by mystery playwright Jane Martin is exceptional for its moving and respectful treatment of a disturbing love affair between a committed evangelical Christian and a Hollywood heathen.
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This week’s featured local author is Jayinee Basu. Click here to read an interview.
