Wednesday 7/22: Get Lit! in Petaluma at the Corkscrew Wine Bar and enjoy readings by Jensen Beach, Jon Sindell, and Cassandra Dallett. This series is hosted on the 4th Wednesday of every month by Dani Burlison and Kara Vernor and always features three readers plus a short open mic. Free, 7 p.m., Corkscrew Wine Bar Petaluma.
If you prefer not to drive up the coast, you can stop by Pegasus Books in downtown Berkeley to hear Edan Lepucki read from her novel, California, which debuted a year ago at #3 on the New York Times Bestsellers List and has been the #1 bestseller on the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle bestsellers lists. It is now out in paperback. Free, 7:30 p.m., Pegasus Books Downtown.
Thursday 7/23: A poetry reading featuring live Klezmer music and folk dancing? What’s not to like? Poetry Flash presents readings from the collection of tribute poems Stay Amazed, written for Berkeley Art Ambassador Susan Duhan Felix, and featuring work by California Poet Laureate Emeritus Al Young, among other distinguished writers. Free (donation requested), 7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, Berkeley Branch.
Friday 7/24: Karolina Waclowiak (Invaders), and Michelle Tea (How To Grow Up: A Memoir) at Green Apple Books on the Park. Free, 7:30 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
Saturday 7/25: Saturday Night Special, an East Bay open mic, may well be the best of all possible venues to hear Joshua Mohr read from his newest novel, All This Life. Other readers TBD, plus 20 open mic slots (which fill up super fast—show up early). Free, 7 p.m., Nick’s Lounge.
Sunday 7/26: Headlands Center for the Arts Summer Open House is an unqualified delight, not to be missed. Located in a spectacular location in the Marin Headlands above the Golden Gate Bridge, Headlands describes itself as “a multidisciplinary, international arts center dedicated to supporting artists; the creative process; and the development of new, innovative ideas and artwork.” The Open House features a huge roster of artists, poets, and musicians. Free, 12 noon to 5 p.m., Headlands Center for the Arts.
After visiting Headlands, but before leaving Marin County, you can stop by Book Passage in Corte Madera to hear Peter Coyote read from his memoir, The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Unsentimental Education. Free, 5 p.m., Book Passage Corte Madera.
Monday 7/27: Bay Area Generations 23rd edition features five intergenerational pairs of readers: Bonnie McManis + Raluca Ioanid, Gina Goldblatt + Daphne Gottlieb, Clyde Always + Stephen Kopel, Hao Tran + Katie Gallagher, and Jennifer Barone + Diego Deleo. $7 ($10 with souvenir chapbook), 7 p.m., Hotel Rex.
Tuesday 7/28: Get slammin’. Nomadic Press, anticipating next month’s National Poetry Slam in Oakland, presents performers from multiple Bay area slam teams. Guaranteed excitement! Free, 7:30 p.m., Jingletown Jazz Room at Ale Industries.
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This week’s theatrical recommendation is Central Works’s quite wonderful and amazing world premiere of Gary Graves’s Project Ahab or The Eye of the Whale. With this 48th world premiere by Central Works, company founder Gary Graves and a team of collaborators revision the story of Moby Dick in the tale of the “Rainbow Warrior,” an anti-whaling vessel and its fictional Captain Franklin (clearly modeled after the very real Paul Franklin Watson). Graves summarizes the piece as “Ahab goes after the whalers.” The summary is accurate enough, but fails to do justice to this brilliant and moving work of theatre. Central Works offers “pay what you can” pricing on Thursday nights, and a sliding scale for other performances. Take advantage! To read a review, click here. For further information, click here.
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This week’s featured local author is Daphne Gottleib. Click here to read an interview.
