Wednesday 6/3: Berkeley’s Pandemonium Press presents their regular first Wednesday reading at Spice Monkey. Poetry of Witness features MK Chavez, Rafael Jesús Gonzalez, Sharon Coleman, and Tony Press. Barry Ebner on guitar. Curated by Leila Rae. There will be an open mic before and after the readers. Free, 6:45 p.m., Spice Monkey.
The Flash Fiction Collective celebrates the launch of Fissures by Grant Faulkner, a Collective co-founder. Also reading will be two other co-founders, Jane Ciabattari and Meg Pokrass, along with Ianthe Brautigan (You Can’t Catch Death), plus Stegner fellow and associate New England Review editor, J. M. Tyree. Free, 7 p.m., Alleycat Books.
Thursday 6/4: Twice a year, the ever-changing Quiet Lightning (usually a submission-based series), presents an irregular show of invited readers, designated as Neighborhood Heroes, reading work of their own choosing. Tonight’s edition features Brenda Hillman, Daniel Alarcón, Gloria Frym, Benjamin Hollander, Kathryn Ma, Colin Winnette, Katie Wheeler-Dubin, and Tomas Moniz. $10 ($5 Museum Members), 6:30 p.m., Contemporary Jewish Museum.
Friday 6/5: The Studio One Reading Series ends their 2015-2016 season with readings by Shane Book (Ceiling of Sticks, winner of a Prairie Schooner Book Prize) and John Shoptaw (Times Beach, winner of 2015 Notre Dame Prize). Plus a performance by the band, Cloud Building . 7:30 p.m., Free, Studio One Art Center.
Saturday 6/6: Babylon Salon is a reading and performance series where one might find a Pulitzer Prize nominee alongside an up-and coming juggler, magician, or comedian. They aim to be “a celebration of expression, life, the arts, and each other.” Their spring reading features a winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction (and Pulitzer nominee), Molly Giles; novelist Natalie Baszile; Muslim-American feminist comedian Zahra Noorbaksh; Michael Larkin (The Grinning Boy); and Provincetown Arts Fellow and Bay Area Generations board member, poet Candy Shue. Free, 6:30, Cantina SF.
Nomadic Press presents the always surprising, eccentric, and exciting performance/writing team of Zarina Zabrisky and Simon Rogghe, along with partners Cybele Zufolo Siegel (writer and former ballet dancer) and Todd Siegel, producers of the Word Performance literary theatre series. Expect the unexpected. Free (donations kindly requested), 7 p.m., Nomadic Press.
Monday 6/8: The ever-popular Green Apple Books presents a night of poetry at their flagship Clement Street Location. Go early to browse one of San Francisco’s oldest (38 years) and most beloved independent bookstores. Featured poets are Diana Whitney, Allison Davis, and Shelley Wong. Free, 7 p.m. Green Apple Books.
Tuesday 6/9: On the second Tuesday of most months, Poetry Santa Cruz meets at Bookshop Santa Cruz to hear poets read and build community. If you’ve never visited, it is a sweet day trip from San Francisco. Check out the street musicians, maybe take a ride on the roller coaster, eat seafood at the pier, listen to and meet some good poets. Featuring tonight are Shirley Ancheta, Nils Michaels, and Erica Goss.
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This week’s theatre recommendation kicks off the summer Shakespeare season with a brilliantly delightful staging of Twelfth Night from California Shakespeare Theater, featuring an all-woman cast (with one exception, playing Festes the fool, and a couple of minor characters). One of Shakespeare’s richest and most evocative comedies is made more so by this stellar collection of actresses. Watch out, especially, for Margo Hall as an achingly funny Sir Andrew Aguecheek. For further information, click here. To read a review click here.
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This week’s featured local author (from the 2013 Litseen archives) is Zarina Zabrisky. Read an interview here.
