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September 1: In Person Event

The San Francisco Chronicle called Heather Young’s The Distant Dead, a gripping coming-of-age thriller newly out in paperback, “a breathtaking read, with flawed and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root for them.” Come see Heather in lively conversation with indie bookseller Cheryl Popp at Sausalito Books by the Bay.

2021 Speaker Highlight

See all 2021 Virtual Speakers here

Kazuo Ishiguro

Yaa Gyasi

Orville Schell

Charles Yu

Tracy K. Smith

Yiyun Li

Douglas Stuart

Vendela Vida

Carol Edgarian

Nnedi Okorafor

Jeff VanderMeer

Kwame Onwuachi

Ellen Oh

Dave ‘Davey D’ Cook

Why buy through our partner independent bookstores?
Ann Patchett tells you why!

Blog

April 1, 2021/by Dora

Celebrate Mother’s Day (and caretakers of all kinds) with Irvin Yalom & Joyce Carol Oates

December 28, 2020/by Dora

Shelter-in-Place Poem #4: If John Donne saw you maskless in public

December 21, 2020/by Dora

“What would Robert Frost do?”

December 16, 2020/by Dora

Shelter-in-Place Poem #2: If William Carlos Williams Took a Tax Deduction

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✨ TONIGHT at 7 pm PST ✨ #linkinbio Join us fo $✨ TONIGHT at 7 pm PST ✨ #linkinbio Join us for this exciting virtual event, live from Tasmania! Richard Flanagan is one of our greatest living writers. He’s also a joy to encounter in person: he’s warm, witty, accessible, and wise. We’re thrilled to bring Richard to you, live from his home in Tasmania, to celebrate the publication of his astonishing new novel, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams. Set in Tasmania, the central story unfolds as Anna, a hyper-competent professional and the main character, and her two siblings refuse to allow the death of their aged, suffering mother, who is ready to die. At the same time, as fires darken the skies and other horror stories fill the news feeds that Anna compulsively checks on her phone, she begins to have her body parts vanish. Only some people can see what is missing. The novel’s use of stunning, fractured language embodies both the pace of modern life and our stuttering fears, our inabilities to slow down and stop consuming, stop escaping, stop avoiding the beauty before our eyes — the beauty of the natural world and the genuine love and empathy that is available to us, if only we let ourselves see it. This book will stun you with the horror of losses we’ve caused and, as we finally allow ourselves to feel the depths of this grief, with real hope for the restoration of both natural and human worlds. Flanagan will be in conversation with internationally renowned poet Jane Hirshfield, whose most recent collection, Ledger, is a pivotal book of personal, ecological, and political reckoning. Ledger’s opening lines, invoking human responsibility and willing denial, intersect in uncanny ways with Flanagan’s novel: “Let them not say: we did not see it. / We saw.” The poetry collection, Hirshfield says, “was written in grief and into my bewilderment at our human inaction” at environmental devastation, which The Living Sea of Waking Dreams explores in prose. She writes, “Some breakage can barely be named, hardly be spoken,” but these two writers do speak it — wholly, beautifully, profoundly. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime conversation.$

✨ Thursday, June 3 at 7 pm PST ✨ #linkinbio J $✨ Thursday, June 3 at 7 pm PST ✨ #linkinbio Join us for this exciting upcoming virtual event, live from Tasmania! Richard Flanagan is one of our greatest living writers. He’s also a joy to encounter in person: he’s warm, witty, accessible, and wise. We’re thrilled to bring Richard to you, live from his home in Tasmania, to celebrate the publication of his astonishing new novel, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams. Set in Tasmania, the central story unfolds as Anna, a hyper-competent professional and the main character, and her two siblings refuse to allow the death of their aged, suffering mother, who is ready to die. At the same time, as fires darken the skies and other horror stories fill the news feeds that Anna compulsively checks on her phone, she begins to have her body parts vanish. Only some people can see what is missing. The novel’s use of stunning, fractured language embodies both the pace of modern life and our stuttering fears, our inabilities to slow down and stop consuming, stop escaping, stop avoiding the beauty before our eyes — the beauty of the natural world and the genuine love and empathy that is available to us, if only we let ourselves see it. This book will stun you with the horror of losses we’ve caused and, as we finally allow ourselves to feel the depths of this grief, with real hope for the restoration of both natural and human worlds. Flanagan will be in conversation with internationally renowned poet Jane Hirshfield, whose most recent collection, Ledger, is a pivotal book of personal, ecological, and political reckoning. Ledger’s opening lines, invoking human responsibility and willing denial, intersect in uncanny ways with Flanagan’s novel: “Let them not say: we did not see it. / We saw.” The poetry collection, Hirshfield says, “was written in grief and into my bewilderment at our human inaction” at environmental devastation, which The Living Sea of Waking Dreams explores in prose. She writes, “Some breakage can barely be named, hardly be spoken,” but these two writers do speak it — wholly, beautifully, profoundly. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime conversation.$

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“It was perfect. Couldn’t have been better. Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity.”

Robert Reich, Author

“My experience was unbelievable. Each of the panels I attended exceeded my expectations. This Festival was the high point of my year.”

Attendee

“My best festival experience ever.”

Pulitzer finalist Hernan Diaz

“I was incredibly inspired by how this Festival provides so many writers and artists with the opportunity to share their work with such a vibrant community in the Bay Area.”

Attendee

“I was truly impressed by the scope and diversity of the panels, participants, and overall programming.”

Maw Shein Win, Author

“The panelists were clearly selected with care, and in all cases I could have listened to them speak all day.”

Attendee

“All the writers I spoke to expressed their love and admiration for the Festival. I do mean all the writers – every single one.”

Marie Mockett, Author

“I’m pretty sure that everyone who attended will agree that they will be forever changed.”

Elizabeth Rosner, Author

2021 Festival Sponsors

Click here to see all of our sponsors

September 1: In Person Event

2021 Speaker Highlight

Why buy through our partner independent bookstores? Ann Patchett tells you why!

Blog

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2021 Festival Sponsors

Why buy through our partner independent bookstores?
Ann Patchett tells you why!