Wednesday 1/11: Passages on the Lake (hosted by Paul Corman-Roberts) presents Daphne Gottlieb, Sonya Renee Taylor, Tracey Knapp, Derrick Carr, and Haldane King. Free, 7 p.m., The Terrace Room.
Shanthi Sekaran (The Prayer Room) reads from her new novel, Lucky Boy. Free, 7:30 p.m., Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore.
Thursday 1/12: Why There Are Words celebrates its 7th Anniversary featuring authors who have appeared over the years: Rebecca Foust, Joan Frank, Evan and Miles Karp (Turk & Divis), Kate Milliken, Joshua Mohr, Naomi J. Williams, and Olga Zilberbourg. $10, Studio 33 (Caledonia Street in Sausalito).
LGBTQ Pride Readings presents Russian Tales: Arthur J. Levy (Coda: A Tale of Tchaikovsky’s Secret Love), Wayne Goodman (Vanya Says “Go!”), and Michael Aleynikov (Ivan and Misha). Free, 7 p.m., Dog Eared Books Castro.
Friday 1/13: Nomadic Press presents Kay Nilson and Thea Matthews, plus music by Cricket Crawshaw. Free (donations requested), 7 p.m., Nomadic Press, 2926 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland.
The Last Word Reading Series presents Julia Vinograd, Fred Dodsworth, and Tom Odegard. Free (café purchase suggested), 7 p.m., Nefeli Café.
Saturday 1/14: Rolling Writers presents a “Moth-style” evening of storytellers, using no notes, with a focus on memoir and personal revelation. Presenters include Sean Craven, Christine Ingenito, Tona Martin, Bradley Paterson, and Tony Press. Free, 6:30 p.m., Rolling Out Café.
Writers With Drinks presents Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop), Wendy C. Ortiz (Excavation: A Memoir, Hollywood Notebook), Aya de Leon (Uptown Thief), Rebecca Farivar (Correct Animal), and Antonio Garcia Martinez (Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley). Guest host: Baruch Porras-Hernandez. $5–$20, 7:30 p.m., The Makeout Room.
Sunday 1/15: Writers Resist presents a night of readings and “recommitment to Democracy” featuring a huge roster of Bay Area writers, including Jason Bayani, MK Chavez, Jane Hirshfield, Bich Minh Nguyen, D.A. Powell, Ishmael Reed, Arisa White, and many more. This reading is a benefit for the following organizations: International Institute of the Bay Area, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Transgender Law Center. Presented in partnership with: Foglifter Press, Fourteen Hills: the SFSU Review, Left Margin Lit, Liminal, Lone Glen, Omnidawn, Queer Rebels, Quiet Lightning, Starline Social Club, University of San Francisco MFA in Writing program, and Voz Sin Tinta. Free, 7 p.m., Starline Social Club.
Monday 1/16: Alley Cat Books presents From Mandalay to the Bay, an evening of Burmese and Burmese-American writers. Readers include Htet Yi Linn, Niyawdar, ko ko thett, Audrey T. Williams, Maw Shein Win, and Kenneth Wong. Free, 6 p.m., Alley Cat Bookstore.
Tuesday 1/17: Noveliest Josh Mohr presents his nonfiction debut, the memoir Sirens. Free, 7 p.m., City Lights.
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This week’s theatre recommendation is Belleville at CustomMade Theatre. Pulitzer prize nominee Amy Herzog is a much-admired playwright. Belleville, which had its debut at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 2011, is a puzzling play. Reputable reviewers have called it “whiny” and “self-indulgent” as well as “extraordinarily fine,” according to Charles Isherwood of the New York Times. Love it or hate it, its fascination is undeniable. It may be the best play about marriage since Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Read a review here.
For coverage of the Bay Area theatre scene, visit TheatreStorm.
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Evan Karp and Rebecca Samuelson of Litseen present video of this week’s featured local author, Katrin Gibb. Read an interview here.
And here’s video of one of last week’s SF Notables, the indefatigable Charlie Getter.
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If you have a Bay Area event listing you’d like us to consider for Notable SF, please contact [email protected] as far in advance as possible, and include the date of the event in the subject line.
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Logo art by Max Winter.
