Wednesday 10/5: Anne Raeff (The Jungle Around Us) and Anthony Marra (A Constellation of Vital Phenomena). Free, 7:30 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
Oscar Villalon interviews Vanessa Hua to launch her debut collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities. (See video of Vanessa Hua reading at the bottom of this column.) Free, 7:30 p.m., The Booksmith.
Thursday 10/6: Poets, editors, and translators Aliki Barnstone, Tony Barnstone, and Willis Barnstone read in North Beach. An extraordinary family! Free, 7 p.m., City Lights.
Fans of the Best American Nonrequired Reading anthology can celebrate the release of its 12th edition. Anthony Marra, Kyle Boelte, and student contributors Isaac Schott-Rosenfield, Sian Ee, and Emma Hardison will participate. Free, 7:30 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
Friday 10/7: Korean writer Bae Suah (A Greater Music) is interviewed by translator Deborah Smith. Free, 7:30 p.m., Green Apple Books on the Park.
City Arts and Lectures presents Billy Collins, a former US Poet Laureate who has been called the most popular poet in America. $29.00, 7:30 p.m. Nourse Theater.
Saturday 10/8: Three presses (Couch Press, Big Lucks, and Atelos) celebrate three authors: Lindsey Boldt (<<0>>), Brandon Brown (The Good Life), and Sara Larsen (Merry Hell). Free, 7 p.m., Alley Cat Books.
Writers With Drinks presents Micah Perks (What Becomes Us), Elizabeth Treadwell (Holocene), and Lorelei Lee (Coming Out Like a Porn Star). $5–$20 (no one turned away; proceeds benefit the Center for Sex and Culture), 7:30 p.m., The Make-out Room.
Sunday 10/9: Quiet Lightning, on the occasion of its 100th show, celebrates Poetry in Parks 2016 with the help of the Golden State National Parks Conservatory. This is a day long festival at the Mountain Theater in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, featuring a dozen featured readers, Quiet Lightning’s usual “literary mixtape,” youth poetry readings, musical guests, and children’s activities. You can check out the details (such as the free shuttle bus from San Francisco Civic Center), and the entire (amazing) lineup here. Free, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Mountain Theater in Mt. Tamalpais State Park.
Monday 10/10: Perfectly Queer presents Fall Fiction, featuring Laura J. Merrell, Kate Jessica Raphael, and Hillary A. Zaid. Free, 7 p.m., Dog Eared Books in the Castro.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is Chess, a musical on an unlikely subject, finding dramatic interest in a Cold War chess match between American and Soviet champions. The original production, with book and lyrics by Tim Rice (of Superstar fame) and music by Benny Anderssen and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, ran three years in London but flopped on Broadway. Custom Made Theatre’s production has a retooled adaptation of the script by local playwright Stuart Bousel and remarkable staging by director Brian Katz who works wonders in a tiny space. Musical theatre geeks who have heard of this legendary but rarely seen musical will be excited for this one. Read a review 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, Vanessa Hua. Read an interview here.
And here’s some video of two of last week’s SF notables, Norma Smith and Kelechi Ubuzoh, reading at Bay Area Generations on September 26.
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