Wednesday 7/27: In summer, we often like to explore a bit beyond the beaten path. Why not travel north to Petaluma for Get Lit, a stalwart reading series in the North Bay? Featuring Michelle Cruz Gonzales, Daniel Riddle Rodriguez, and Hilary Zaid plus an open mic. Free, 7 p.m., Corkscrew Wine Bar.
Inside Storytime: The Unwinding features Melissa Cistaro (Pieces of My Mother), Variny Yim (The Immigrant Princess), Genanne Walsh (Twister), Nick Johnson (Music for Mussolini), and Alex Moran. Free, 7:30 p.m., The Octopus Literary Salon.
Thursday 7/28: Jack Hirschman curates Thursdays at Readers, featuring Aliano Smiotanko and James Tracy. Free, 6:30 p.m., Readers Bookstore in Fort Mason.
Poet James J. Siegel hosts and curates a literary speakeasy in a piano bar. Featuring Tusiata Avia, Jason Bayani, Natasha Dennerstein, Bill Dupp, and Soma Mei Sheng Frazier. Free, 7 p.m., Martunis.
Friday 7/29: Did you know that Alley Cat Books has a “writer-in-residence?” Uh-huh. That would be Denise Sullivan, and tonight she reads along with Victor Krummenacher and Peter Case for Anything But Rock’n’Roll’s Fine: An Evening of Words and Music. You might want to Google these guys. Free, 7 p.m., Alley Cat Books.
Saturday 7/30: Flash! Check out Summer Sparks: flash fiction, poetry, and flash nonfiction. Featuring a rather exceptional lineup of readers: Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Jacqueline Doyle, Andrew Dugas, Jamey Genna, Jose Luis Gutierrez, Fernando Meisenhalter, Alia Volz, and Amos White. Free, 7 p.m., Bazaar Café.
Monday 8/1: Poetry Express, the reading in an Indian restaurant, yum yum, presents widely published Pushcart nominee Diane Moomey. Free, 7 p.m., Himalayan Flavors.
Tuesday 8/2: Dave Madden (If You Need Me I’ll Be Over There), Theodore Wheeler (Bad Faith), and Amina Gautier (The Loss of All Things Lost). Free, 7:30 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
Krys Lee with Adam Johnson, two extraordinary talents who have each written remarkable work on North Korea will be appearing in the Haight Ashbury. Free, 7:30 p.m., Booksmith.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is Katori Hall’s Hurt Village presented by Ubuntu Theater Project. The politically informed Ubuntu Theater Project specializes in productions in non-traditional spaces, such as a Persian carpet store or a classic car dealership, or, in this case, the abandoned Grace Temple Church in Oakland. Hurt Village is a play about the effects of gentrification on a small community in Memphis, Tennessee, but it might as well be about Oakland and the neighborhood where it is playing. After seeing this play, reviewer Barry David Horwitz was moved to ask, “How many times does displacement have to happen before we demand fair housing for all? How many wars do we need to fight? How many more generations must suffer before the overdue revolutions begin?” If you like your theatre to be politically engaged, Ubuntu Theater Project should be on your radar. To read a review, click here. For further information click here.
For extensive coverage of the Bay Area theatre scene, visit TheatreStorm.
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Evan Karp presents video of this week’s featured local author, C. E. Shue. Read an interview here.
And here’s some video of one of last week’s SF notables, Laurel Ann Bogen.
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