Take note: The Bay Area Book Festival is this weekend, June 3 and 4, in downtown Berkley. It is an epic event.
Wednesday 5/31: Litquake presents a panel of women authors under the heading “Such a Nasty Woman: Female Authors Respond to Trump.” The discussion will be moderated by journalist Vanessa Hua and includes Christina Garcia, Jewelle Gomez, and Kate Schatz. Free, 6 p.m., San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium.
Thursday 6/1: The Flash Fiction Collective presents Jimin Han, Julia Halprin Jackson, and Gary Singh. Free, 7 p.m., Alley Cat Books.
Pulitzer Prize winner, National Book Award winner, and Poet Laureate of the United States Emeritus Robert Hass is joined by David Koehn, winner of the 2013 May Sarton Poetry Prize, to present readings and conversation at the Studio One Reading Series in Oakland. Free, 7:30 p.m., Studio One Arts Center.
Friday 6/2: Fifty students from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto will read (for 3 minutes each, time strictly enforced). Fun, mayhem, and some good short writing. Wine will be on hand to help you get through it. Free, 6:30 p.m., Book Passage in the Ferry Building.
Saturday 6/3: The Bay Area Book Festival arrives in Berkeley this weekend. There are too many individual events to list, but if you peruse the schedule you will certainly find something to get excited about. $8–$15, 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Berkley (various locations).
Meanwhile, back in good ol’ San Francisco, Babylon Salon presents a great lineup including Brenda Hillman, Meron Hadero, and Erin Byrne, among others. Free, 5:30 p.m., The Armory Club (downstairs performance space).
Sunday 6/4: The Bay Area Book Festival continues. There are too many individual events to list, but if you peruse the schedule you will certainly find something to get excited about. $8–$15, 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Berkley (various locations).
Courtney Maum (I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You) reads from her new novel, Touch. Free, 3 p.m., Diesel, A Bookstore.
Monday 6/4: Quiet Lightning generates literature in a mixtape format featuring thirteen writers whose work was selected through a blind submission process. On this occasion, 85% of the readers will be new to QL. If you haven’t experienced this premiere Bay Area reading series, perhaps tonight would be a good time to check it out. Free, 7:30 p.m., Clarion Music Performing Arts Center.
Tuesday 6/5: Moe’s Books (a wonderful place for a reading) presents Diana Aehegma, Claudia Cortese, and Steffi Drewes. Moe’s knows how to pick ‘em. Free, 7:30 p.m., Moe’s Books.
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This weeks’ theatre recommendation is the American premiere of a Russian play, One Day We Will All Be Happy, by Ekatarina Visalieva, presented in an English language adaptation by Stephen Ochsner. The play is an extended monologue (performed by two actresses playing the same role) by an alienated teenager in a provincial high school and deals with matters of class and discrimination in contemporary Russia. Produced by Moscow’s Meyerhold Theatre Center (here to participate in the San Francisco International Art Festival), this production was directed by Sava Cebotari, an instructor at the famed Moscow Art Theatre School.
For coverage of the Bay area theatre scene, visit TheatreStorm.
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Litseen remains on hiatus regarding videos of local authors. They will return soon. In the meantime, we once more look to the Litseen archives. Tuning the wayback machine to January, 2016, we bring you video of (formerly) local author, Sam Sax. Read an interview here.
And here’s video of one of last week’s SF Notables, Dan Bellm.
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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.
