- 2015
- Current Affairs
Roots of Violence
Åsne Seierstad, Mac McClelland, Lars Fredrik Svendsen, moderated by Adam Hochschild
Saturday, June 6
Few other species turn on their own members with the ferocity that human beings demonstrate. Our historical path is strewn with warfare, torture, mass murder and the abuse of women and children. Is it inherent our genes? Our souls? In the shapes of our societies? And is there any promise of improvement?
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Culture
- Current Affairs
Uncharted at the Bay Area Book Festival
Rob Forbes, Wallace Nichols, Ben Parr, moderated by Lance Knobel
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Get a taste of Berkeleyside’s stimulating, annual Uncharted Festival of Ideas (every October). See your surroundings afresh, understand the neurobiological benefits of being around water, and learn how to captivate your own audiences—all in twenty-minute, TED-style bites.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Technology/Media
The Internet Is Not the Answer
Kristen V. Brown, Andrew Keen
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
“The Internet Is Not the Answer claims that the only real best friend today’s tech titans have is money, and until policymakers intervene, or until the ‘digital elite’ adopt a more altruistic posture, the Internet will remain a winner-take-all marketplace that’s widening a yawning gulf between society’s haves and have-nots.” (San Francisco Chronicle). Kristen V. Brown, tech reporter, seeks what is the answer.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Children & Families
- Middle Grade
Making Marvelous Middle-Grade Fiction
Marissa Moss, Gennifer Choldenko, Mitali Perkins, Jordan Jacobs, Sarah Klise
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Berkeley Public Library
Award-winning authors share their experiences on writing middle-grade fiction, describing what makes a book successful for this hyper-critical audience. From characters to plot to that all-important voice, what are the ingredients readers are hungry for?
- 2015
- Current Affairs
The Pill, the Joint, the Story
Peter Hecht, Sam Quinones
Saturday, June 6th, 2015
The Brower Center
Two leading journalists explore one of the most controversial topics of our time: drugs. Use of both marijuana and opiates is rising, the former gaining legitimacy, the latter greater regulation. Come peek behind the scenes of the dispensary, down the halls of government, and into Americans’ medicine cabinets as these journalists masterfully unpack these urgent issues.
- 2015
- Technology/Media
- Writing & Publishing
New Views of Narrative: How Technology Interfaces with Story
Lise Quintana, Eli Horowitz, Russell Quinn, moderated by Robin Sloan
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Narrative Technologies founder and CEO Lise Quintana, digital author Eli Horowitz, digital polymath Russell Quinn and media inventor and novelist Robin Sloan share a free-flowing discussion illuminating the platforms, purposes, joys and pitfalls as tech innovations breathe new life into storytelling forms and formats.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
World-Wandering Fiction
Molly Antopol, Skip Horack, Maria Hummel, Lysley Tenorio
Saturday, June 6th, 2015
East Bay Media Center
How do journeys across continents, countries and time impact writing and storytelling? Four recent Stanford University Stegner Fellows discuss their work as well as the inspiration, research and travel that shapes it.
- 2015
- Comics & Graphics
- Middle Grade
- Teen
Rad American Women A – Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries Who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future!
Kate Schatz, Miriam Klein Stahl
Saturday, June 6
Berkeley Public Library
“This is not a book. This is a guest list for a party of my heroes,” raved Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket. Like all A-Z books, this one illustrates the alphabet — but instead of “A is for Apple”, A is for Angela — as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers. Author Kate Schatz and illustrator Miriam Stahl celebrate all these heroes with a dazzling visual presentation — and silkscreenings! Bring your own t-shirt, onesie, or tea towel with you to have a vibrant rad woman silkscreened on it!
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Race, Class, Movements, Justice 1960s to Now
Scott Saul, Miriam Pawel, Teri Kanefield, Waldo Martin Jr
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Four writers look back at key social and political movements in 1960s America, and discuss their relevance in light of today’s headlines of racial, social, and cultural intolerance.
- 2015
- Travel
Falling In Love With the World
David Downie, Don George, Thierry Maugenest, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Steven Nightingale
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
A panel of today’s top travel writers and editors discuss the discoveries, inspiration and practical preparations and planning that goes into their work, as well as their individual tales of how they first fell in love with the world.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Environment/Nature
Kim Stanley Robinson on John Muir
Kim Stanley Robinson
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Kim Stanley Robinson writes award-winning science fiction that deals with ecology, politics, and sustainability on earth and on earth colonies. Here the science fiction icon turns to an examination of John Muir in an oral biography, with visuals, of Muir as writer and as key player in the environmental movement. Robinson also explores how Muir and his network accomplished so much.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
- Writing & Publishing
Who Tells the Story?: Hedgebrook Authors in Conversation
Karen Joy Fowler, Shobha Rao, Natalie Baszile, Elaine Elinson
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Based on Whidbey Island, Hedgebrook is a writer’s colony and literary nonprofit with a mission to support visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture. Join the conversation among these alumnae about the ripple effect of radical hospitality, the collective power of a female network and the movement for equal voice.
- 2015
- Culture
On Acting
David Thomson in conversation with Steve Wasserman
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Does acting matter? David Thomson, one of our most respected and insightful writers on movies and theater, answers this question with intelligence and wit. Thomson tackles this most elusive of subjects, examining the allure of the performing arts for both the artist and the audience member while addressing the paradoxes inherent in acting itself. He reflects on the casting process, on stage versus film acting, and on the cult of celebrity.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Transforming Terror
Mark Danner, Claudia Bernardi, Rebecca Solnit, moderated by Susan Griffin
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Terrorism hurts us all, if not with direct violence, injury or death then by eroding peace, community life and civil liberties. But public discourse around it is often shallow and manipulative. It’s time for a deeper look at this issue: what is terrorism and what should we do about it?
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
How We Die: Making Sense of Modern Death
Louise Aronson, Katy Butler, Monica Wesolowska, Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, moderated by Zoe FitzGerald Carter
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Many of us are living longer than ever but are we living any better? Are we dying any better? In this panel, doctors, writers and caregivers will challenge our society’s current approach to death and dying and discuss how telling our stories can be a catalyst for change.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Culture
So Many Roads: 50 Years of the Grateful Dead
Blair Jackson, Dennis McNally, Peter Richardson, moderated by Nicholas Meriwether
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
It wouldn’t be a Bay Area Book Festival without a panel on the quintessential Bay Area band. Four of the leading experts and insiders on all things Dead gather today to share their experiences, their knowledge and their appreciation for the band once known as the Warlocks.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
The Fiction of Vendela Vida
Anne Germanacos, Vendela Vida
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
“Vendela Vida’s work is utterly compelling, surprising, economical, lush, beautifully written. Reading her inspires me, and reminds me of how powerful the novel can be — how addictive and vital — and of how rarely a writer as precise, artful, and passionate as her comes along” (George Saunders, author of Tenth of December). Discover Vida’s work, especially her new novel, as Anne Germanacos engages her in conversation.
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
Murakami & Me: Translator and Writer
Jay Rubin
Saturday, June 6
Magnes Museum
Haruki Murakami fans, rejoice! Jay Rubin has been a longtime translator of the famed Japanese author. Here he gives us an inside view of the translation process, the experience of working with Murakami, and the world of Murakami’s novels, stories and essays.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Perspectives on the Short Essay
Jon Funabiki, Mark Trautwein
Saturday, June 6
East Bay Media Center
What are the ingredients of good storytelling? Join Mark Trautwein, editor of the KQED’s daily listener commentary series “Perspectives,” and Jon Funabiki, professor of journalism of San Francisco State University, for an interactive discussion about what makes a short essay strong and memorable. Attendees are encouraged to bring a draft of a short essay for discussion, time permitting…
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Behind the Headlines in Palestine
Sandy Tolan, Mateo Hoke, moderated by Khalil Barhoum
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Buried far within headline news and political controversies are human stories. A veteran journalist and a younger journalist help tell the unforgettable, real stories of the people caught inside the conflict over Palestine.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Environment/Nature
Ocean Planet
Wallace J. Nichols, David Helvarg, Steve Palumbi, John Weller, moderated by Michael McGinniss
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
We, inhabitants of the islands of Earth, are surrounded by oceans. This panel of scientists, environmental activists, explorers and photographers examines the centrality of the oceans to our ecosystem, our psyche and our economy and considers the rising threats — and global response — to the environmental challenges facing our marine-waters.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
- Health, Psychology & Spirituality
- Memoir
What Can Hardly Be Spoken: Tales of PTSD
Melania G. Mazzucco, Mac McClelland, Bill Roller
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Literature can take us into the minds and hearts of people in dire situations, safely expanding our own experience. In this panel, a human rights journalist and a novelist bring us directly into the experience of PTSD — McClelland via memoir, and Mazzucco through a story of a female veteran wounded in Afghanistan. How can literature capture PTSD? What are the limitations? What’s it like to write this kind of story?
- 2015
- Fiction
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
John Scalzi: The Whatever
John Scalzi
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
One of the most popular and acclaimed science fiction authors to emerge in the last decade, John Scalzi is becoming known far beyond the genre for his accessible and thoroughly entertaining books. Hilarious and creative both on and off the page, Scalzi has his finger on the pulse of pop-culture and publishing. His books include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Lock In (currently in development as a television series by Legendary TV), and Redshirts (winner of the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and currently being turned into a television series for FX), and the forthcoming The End of All Things.
- 2015
- Poetry
Poetry from There and Here
John W. Evans, Tess Taylor, Fabiano Alborghetti, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
Saturday, June 6
Magnes Museum
Transcending nationalities and borders, poetry is indeed global. Get a solid taste of what drives these poets — one from Switzerland, one from India, two from the US — to write and inspire readers and listeners alike.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Lit Camp’s Writers-Conference-in-a-Panel
Janis Cooke Newman, Tom Barbash, Jordan Bass, Robin Rinaldi, Danielle Svetcov
Saturday, June 6
East Bay Media Center
Get the benefits of attending a writers’ conference in one lively hour! Literary agent Danielle Svetcov and McSweeney’s editor Jordan Bass join three authors — masters of the short story, the novel and the memoir — for a topical discussion in which they will share their trade secrets.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
How to Get Away with Murder (on the Page)
Kelli Stanley, Laurie R. King, Diana Chambers, Catriona McPherson
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Cozy, quirky and noir — what more could a mystery-loving dame or fella want? Divas of crime fiction spill how they do “whodunits” and why this form is so much fun, and challenging, to write.
- 2015
- Children & Families
- Writing & Publishing
A Journey To Literacy: Adult Learners in Conversation
Saturday, June 6
Berkeley Public Library - Community Meeting Room
One of the most heart-catching sessions at the Bay Area Book Festival is this one. The moment of learning to read is truly magical. Here, new adult readers will tell their stories and share the book from which they learned to read and the impact it has had on their life. BALIT will offer attendees a printout compilation of the book testimonials.
Presented by Bay Area Literacy (BALIT)
- 2015
- Memoir
Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem
Paula Williams Madison in conversation with Belva Davis
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Spanning four generations and moving between New York, Jamaica, and China, Paula Madison’s powerful memoir is a universal story of one woman’s search for her maternal grandfather and the key to her self-identity. It is a story about love and devotion that transcends time and race, and a beautiful reflection of the power of family and the interconnectedness of our world.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Environment/Nature
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
Futurism, Fatalism and Climate Change
Paolo Bacigalupi, Edan Lepucki, John Scalzi, Antti Tuomainen, moderated by Mike Berry
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
Call it “cli-fi,” “eco-fiction” or even “eco-fabulism,” there’s a movement afoot to address climate change through storytelling. What can literature reveal about how we will cope with dramatic alterations to the environment? A dynamic discussion moderated by San Francisco Chronicle science fiction and fantasy columnist Michael Berry.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Technology/Media
Google’s Laszlo Bock: Work Rules!
Laszlo Bock
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
The head of People Operations at Google — which handles over 2 million resumes a year — Laszlo Bock pioneered a new way of analysing, attracting, developing and retaining talent. He offers a counterintuitive look behind the metrics of 21st-century hiring, showing how to strike a balance between creativity and structure to build a better company from within.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
No Boundaries: Fiction from Around the Globe (#1)
Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, Carmen Boullosa, Thomas Enger, Thierry Maugenest
Saturday, June 6
Magnes Museum
Writers from Mexico, France, Norway and Iceland discuss how fiction can convey unique cultural and social experiences but also transcend differences.
- 2015
- Memoir
- Poetry
- Writing & Publishing
Six Plus One: CCA Writers Speak
Shanthi Sekaran, Faith Adiele, Dodie Bellamy, Gloria Frym, Elaine Kahn, Kevin Killian, Joseph Lease
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh - Cabaret
Of politics, poetry, memoirs and art: A dynamic set of readings by six brilliant writers who teach at California College of the Arts, as well as one CCA alumna! Come and relish this wealth of home-grown literary riches, delivered by the artists themselves.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
New Urbanism: An Assessment of Sustainable Smart Growth
Dan Solomon, John King, James Howard Kunstler
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
What do we want our cities and residential neighborhoods to look and feel like in the future? San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King leads a riveting conversation with two of our leading social critics and commentators on the benefits of — and challenges to — the New Urbanism movement.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
The Self-Made Author: New Frontiers in Publishing
Robin Cutler, Sam Barry, Martha Conway, Sarah Drew, Azin Sametipour
Saturday, June 6
East Bay Media Center
Walt Whitman did it. So did Irma Rombauer (The Joy of Cooking). Marcel Proust, whose novel everyone said was be to long (imagine that!), published on his own. Join this panel of experts to learn how you too can take advantage of self-publishing, which has never been easier.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
World in Flux: Where We Stand in the Coming Climate Battles
Mark Hertsgaard, Mark Schapiro
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
Two veteran environmental journalists, Mark Schapiro and Mark Hertsgaard, discuss the state of play as the world maneuvers toward climate negotiations later this year. They explore how the stakes are rising as climate change transforms our economy, politics and culture.
- 2015
- Culture
Welcome to the Jungle: A Brief History of the Music Business
Dennis McNally, Joel Selvin, moderated by Peter Richardson
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Working with and writing about some of the key and most influential artists in American music history, these writers will be sharing the story of American rock from the inside out, including how it intersects with the vagaries of politics, publicity and power.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
The Business of Publishing, 2015 Edition
Ethan Nosowsky, David Streitfeld, Mark Tauber, Steve Wasserman, moderated by Mark Ouimet
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
The publishing industry has brought us every book at this festival, but this industry has undergone massive change in response to the digital revolution and faces pressure from companies such as Amazon. How does the publishing industry work today? What are the challenges for new authors? Smaller independent publishers are thriving; how is this happening despite the consolidation of the “Big 5” publishing houses? The experts offer facts, observations, and opinions.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Culture
Wendy Lesser: Why I Read
Wendy Lesser in conversation with Erik Tarloff
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
The New York Times writes, “Wendy Lesser is a serious reader — a quality reader — and this book is a serious pleasure,” referring to her recent Why I Read. Don’t miss this conversation in which Lesser, editor of the arts journal The Threepenny Review discusses what it means to read great books, why books and reading matter, and how to enhance your own reading pleasure.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
- Memoir
How to be a Citizen of the Pacific Rim: From 1870s San Francisco to Fukushima
Marie Mockett, Yang Huang, Janice P. Nimura
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
These authors cover vastly different genres and eras yet hit strikingly similar themes: the disorientation of travel, the ability to see one’s land through foreign eyes, and the definition of home. Nimura writes a biography of three 19th-century Japanese girls who grew up as Americans, and Mockett delivers a memoir of grief and consolation in the wake of 2011’s Fukushima earthquake.
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
Jaipur Comes to Berkeley: Indian Writers and Their Work
Chandrahas Choudhury, Tania Malik, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Prajwal Parajuly, Indu Sundaresan
Saturday, June 6
Magnes Museum
We salute the brilliance of the venerable Jaipur Literature Festival in welcoming a marvelous group of Indian writers who will talk about their work, the literary atmosphere in which they work, and their delights and concerns with Indian literature today.
- 2015
- Children & Families
Bilingual Storytime
Saturday, June 6
Berkeley Public Library - Children's Room
Bring the little ones to enjoy a story time in eight languages! Children will explore their senses through story and play, learning the names for each sense in a multi-lingual environment. Interested in learning more about raising a bilingual child? Readers from Bilingual Books will be on hand to provide free bilingual resources after the event.
Presented by Bilingual Books; with Mathilde Hollander and seven translators
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
Ourselves, Our Families: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Arlie Hochschild, Ann Packer, Kevin Sessums, Sarah Tomlinson
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh - Cabaret
Whether it’s via fiction, memoir, essays or journalism, writers and readers alike are drawn to stories about ourselves and our families, whatever form they take. A heralded fiction writer and two memoirists discuss their choice of genre and the compelling pull of family stories as well as the individual’s tale.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Fiction
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
Utopian Futures: Science Fiction and Social Justice
Karen Joy Fowler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Terry Bisson, John Shirley
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
What do the literary arenas of science fiction and speculative fiction reveal about contemporary society’s hopes, fears, inequalities, missteps and desires? A lively discussion with a vibrant group of PM Press’s Outspoken Authors promises to be perceptive, entertaining and thought-provoking.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Resistance, Visibility, and Continuity: California Indians Speak Out
Ras K'dee, Kanyon Sayers-Roods, Vincent Medina
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Three California Native Americans will share their experience of documenting, interpreting and sharing the stories of their communities. They will explore social justice, cultural resistance, the maintenance of traditional values and languages through education, and means for increasing their visibility through self-expression and social media.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Move Up: Why Some Cultures Advance While Others Don’t
Andres Isaac Roemer Slomianski
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Get bio-logical, argues Andres Roemer, San Francisco’s provocative new Mexican consul general and creator of Mexico City’s provocative “Ciudad de Ideas” festival. Why do some societies and individuals move up? He contrasts Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with 4 S’s: Survival, Sex, Security, and Success.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
- Race/Identity
Being Chinese in America
Orville Schell, Maxine Hong Kingston, Yiyun Li, Anchee Min
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center
In fiction, memoir, essays and poetry, three spectacular writers, two born in China (Li and Min) and one in California of Chinese immigrants (Kingston), explore life in China and the experiences of immigration and assimilation in the United States. The discussion is led by human rights activist, journalist, author and renowned China scholar Orville Schell.
- 2015
- Spirituality
Pico Iyer on The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere
Pico Iyer, Gopi Kallayi
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Goldman Theater
One of the world’s most renowned travel writers, Pico Iyer discusses what may be the most important, challenging and satisfying journey of all: the journey within. It is arrived at by stillness, that rarest of experiences in our era of speed and distraction. Iyer converses with Gopi Kallayil, Chief Evangelist, Google Social for Brands, and writer on spirituality and technology.
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
- Memoir
Sjón’s Mythical Journeys
Linda Rugg, Sjón
Saturday, June 6
Magnes Museum
Perhaps Iceland’s best known contemporary writer, Sjón has written spellbinding, mind-bending sagas and fables for our age. His novels have been championed by a veritable pantheon of literary luminaries, including Junot Díaz, David Mitchell, A. S. Byatt, Hari Kunzru, and Alberto Manguel. It is a pleasure to introduce this writer, lyricist, poet, and playwright to Bay Area readers.
- 2015
- Children & Families
- Teen
East Bay Young Writers Competition Winners Reading
Saturday, June 6
Berkeley Public Library - Community Meeting Room
Come hear work from up-and-coming authors! Middle and high school students from WriterCoach Connection’s East Bay programs participated in a writing competition this past spring. Winners will read selections from their work and answer questions about their writing process. For many of these authors, this will be their first public reading. Make sure to catch them now so you can say you saw them way back when!
Presented by WriterCoach Connection
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Exquisite Insanity: Moms Who Write
Katrina Alcorn, Aya de Leon, Carolina De Robertis, Kate Schatz, moderated by Michelle Tea
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh - Cabaret
We live in an era where women are pitted against each other based on parenting decisions. We hear narratives of “childless by choice” vs. mothers, and those who do parent are conscripted into mommy wars: working mothers vs. stay-at-home moms. This panel will include reports from one particular front of working motherhood: the writer mom. Why and how do they do it? Reports may take the form of coded messages, sleep-deprived scribblings, cries for help and/or reports of victory.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Culture
- Current Affairs
Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Solnit, Christian Frock
Saturday, June 6
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
She writes on topics from art to eviction, geography to feminism, environment to politics — all with impeccable, gorgeous prose. Rebecca Solnit is a Bay Area treasure, and here she is joined by Christian Frock, independent curator and author of Unexpected Art, for a free-wheeling hour of inspired conversation.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Memoir
Insight Out with Tina Seelig
Tina Seelig
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
So you have an idea. How to manifest it? Seelig, a Stanford University professor and a leading expert on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, helps you bring your brainchild into the light with Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
The American Oz: Berkeley and the Bay Area
Frances Dinkelspiel, Erik Tarloff, Robert Roper, Gabrielle Selz
Saturday, June 6
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
Bohemia meets academia, and artistic and political idealism leaves victims in its wake. Can you imagine anywhere better for coming-of-age stories, a murder, or tales of families and friends during the turbulent second half of the twentieth century? Turn on, tune in….
- 2015
- Culture
- YA (Young Adult)
Stay Awake: The Rise of Conscious Hip Hop
Presented by Hip Hop for Change with emcee Davy D. and Kaila Love, Maddy Glifford, Khafre James, and Charity Clay
Saturday, June 6
The Marsh
Bay Area Hip Hop artists and (rap)tivists discuss the role of hip hop and rap in the lives of urban youth. Panelists will discuss their relationship to writing, how performance differs from writing, and how hip hop creates a narrative, aesthetic, and identity that is uniquely Bay Area.
- 2015
The Deadliners
The band: Gary Kamiya (Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco), Mark Hertsgaard (Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth), Zoe FitzGerald Carter (Imperfect Endings: A Daughter’s Story of Love, Loss and Letting Go). Mark Schapiro (Carbon Shock: A Tale of Risk and Calculus on the Front Lines of the Disrupted Global Economy) and Jonathan Alford, keyboards extraordinaire, plus special guests
Saturday, June 6
Children's Stage (now become Adult Music Stage)
In the long dark hours between missing deadlines, what to do? Hum? Bang pens on a desk? Talk to yourself — again? We did plenty of all that when we were actually making our deadlines. So we started a band, and started playing some of our favorite rock n’roll songs. Thus was born the Deadliners. We all have day jobs. We love words, in whatever the form, we use them all the time to write ourselves out of jams — and into them. We read a lot of books and sometimes actually write them. We’re pleased to be part of the first ever Bay Area Book Festival. Come. Sing along. Dance. See what happens.
- 2015
- Fiction
A Very Special Evening with the Remarkable Judy Blume
Judy Blume interviewed by Walter Mayes
Saturday, June 6
Berkeley Community Theater
Judy Blume is one of America’s most beloved authors. Her twenty-eight titles include Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Forever; and Summer Sisters. It’s a huge pleasure to welcome her to Berkeley, for a wide-ranging and spirited conversation, touching on her life, her books, her continuing championship of intellectual freedom for children and adults alike, and especially her brand-new book, In the Unlikely Event.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
The NFL and Its Discontents
Steve Fainaru, David Meggyesy, Dave Zirin, moderated by Peter Richardson
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center
As more critics weigh in on the dehumanizing aspects of professional football, tough questions about this most American of sports are entering mainstream conversation. These thorough and thoughtful journalists and writers offer their insiders’ views, observations and predictions.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
The Creative Dynamics of Writing Communities
Frances Dinkelspiel, Scott James, Meghan Ward, Constance Hale, Janine Kovac, Ethan Watters
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
From the Castro’s Co-op to Brooklyn’s Writers Room, writing communities are thriving. Join our tribe of participants in scribe communities to learn about how they balance solitude with society, critiquing with camaraderie, and procrastination with professional output.
- 2015
- Science
- Technology/Media
Biomimicry: How Nature Inspires Innovation
Mikhail Davis, Jay Harman, Tamsin Woolley-Barker
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
Dolphins teaching us about flight, clams revealing the best joinery: Identified as a scientific discipline less than 20 years ago, biomimicry uses nature’s lessons to address and solve human problems. Join biomimic CEO Jay Harman, Tamsin Woolley-Barker, and Mikhail Davis, Director of Restorative Enterprise at Interface, as they discuss biomimicry breakthroughs that will impact our environment and economy.
- 2015
- Fiction
The Struggle for Freedom
Lars Fredrik Händler Svendsen, Christian Kiefer, Lalita Tademy
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Goldman Theater
Join two stunning novelists and a philosopher as they explore freedom as a requirement for human fulfillment. Tademy tells the story of a once-enslaved man who buys his freedom after the American Indian wars; Kiefer depicts a man struggling to preserve his freedom and the protection of animals. Svendsen asks: What are the possibilities and limits of freedom within society?
- 2015
- Fiction
- Writing & Publishing
Up Close with Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman
Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in conversation with Kelly Corrigan
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Marriage, writing. Writing and marriage! With kids! How in the world do they make it work? Get an insiders’ view as this well-known and much-loved literary couple talk with author and host of Medium’s digital series “Foreword.”
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Poetry
How Poems Change the World
Jane Hirshfield, John Shoptaw, giovanni singleton
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center
Is world-changing inherent in poetry? Are there poems that change the world for the worse? These working poets share a concern for the environmental crisis and for issues around societal agreement. They’ll discuss the premise behind Hirshfield’s title: not only how great poems transform the world, but whether poems should do that and if, in fact, these poets think that they do.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
Stump the Experts
Cara Black, David Corbett, Spencer Gregory, Jennifer Hagan, Karen Lynch, Judy Melinek
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
Like mysteries? Try your hand solving a crime from the headlines and pit your wits against the pros in this interactive session. They set the scene: It’s up to you to figure out who dunnit.
- 2015
- Travel
Roadtripping and Hidden Gems Along U.S. Highways
Stuart Thornton, Jamie Jensen, Jason Ferguson, Allison Williams
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to On the Road, the road trip is as much a part of the American Dream as apple pie and baseball. Join Moon Guides’ authors and seasoned travelers for a conversation about roadtripping, hidden gems along U.S. highways and off-the-beaten-path adventures.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Birth of a Book: Authors & Their Publisher
Jack Shoemaker, Elizabeth Rosner, Bucky Sinister, Joshua Fouts
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
Counterpoint is a publishing house that calls itself “author-driven.” What does that mean — to editors, to marketing and publicity people, and most importantly to writers? What are the components of a perfect fit of writer to publisher, of publisher to writer? Join Counterpoint’s co-founder and editorial director and three of its stellar writers as they discuss their relationships.
- 2015
- Environment/Nature
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
Paolo Bacigalupi in the Spotlight | The Water Knife
Paolo Bacigalupi
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Water is power. In the near future, a severe drought in the southwest has demolished Texas, and Phoenix is ravaged and desolate, on the verge of total breakdown. While the wealthy stay wet, the poor get the dust, buying water by the ($6-plus) gallon and struggle to find ways north through militarized borders at state lines. Welcome to The Water Knife by National Book Award winner Paolo Bacigalupi — and to a world that seems terrifyingly possible given the ongoing drought plaguing the west and southwest.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
Coming of Age Around the World: The Whole World Comes to California
NoViolet Bulawayo, Faith Adiele, Nayomi Munaweera, Carolina De Robertis, Andrew Lam
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
Listen in to this conversation among acclaimed young authors who came of age overseas. This new generation of first-generation Americans is transforming the American literary landscape. They will look back at global events that shaped their home regions and led to their arrival to California, and tell us how and why they transformed the experiences into fiction.
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
- Poetry
Longing to be Understood: Language and Story
Stephen Sparks, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Fabiano Alborghetti, Sjón
Sunday, June 7
Magnes Museum
These three writers use language creatively, sometimes bending it wildly, to express human truths across people and cultures. They also play with myth and metaphor. What happens when their language and stories are translated? How do the different forms in which they write — fiction, poetry, playwriting, essays, lyrics — convey meaning differently?
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Environment/Nature
- Spirituality
Sustainability & the Soul
Susan Griffin, Jeanine M. Canty, Fritjof Capra, Camille Seaman
Sunday, June 7
Dharma College
In order to address climate change, we need to understand ourselves as part of nature, deeply connected to one another. How do the events in Ferguson relate to the Western-states drought? What does the experience of extreme weather events reveal about ourselves? This panel of experts will discuss how a scientific understanding of systems might help.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Book Publishing’s Emerging Middle Ground
Brooke Warner, Phil Cousineau, April Eberhardt, Jan Johnson
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
Join two publishers, a literary agent, and an author whose hybrid point of view of technology’s impact on the book industry is both eye-opening and enlightening. They’ll discuss how authors are thriving outside of traditional publishing models and what it means to publish independently without necessarily being self-published.
- 2015
- Culture
- Poetry
Michael McClure and George Brooks: Words and Music
George Brooks, Michael McClure
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Goldman Theater
In an historic meeting of poetry and music, the acclaimed poet Michael McClure and saxophonist extraordinaire George Brooks take the stage to create a tapestry of words and music from the influences and experiences of two long and remarkable careers.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
The Future of Sportswriting
John Branch, Mark Fainaru-Wada, Dave Zirin, moderated by Gary Pomerantz
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
With issues ranging from physical safety to performance enhancing drug use, the world of sports has been undergoing major upheavals and self-reflection. This panel — moderated by Gary Pomerantz (Their Life’s Work: the Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, Then and Now) — addresses the changing challenges of covering a money-spinning industry in some of its darkest hours.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Current Affairs
The Secret State: The Rise of National Surveillance and the Conflict Between Freedom and Security
Mark Danner, Karen Paget, Robert Scheer, moderated by Edward Wasserman
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Goldman Theater
Moderated by the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, our experts will assess the extent of threats to American liberty presented by today’s alarmingly shrouded surveillance state, and the precarious yet critical role of journalists in this context.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Poetry
Jane Hirshfield | The Beauty
Jane Hirshfield
Sunday, June 7
Dharma College
Celebrate the stunning new book of poems from one of American poetry’s most distinctive and essential voices. With a pen faithful to the actual yet dipped at times in the ink of the surreal, Hirshfield considers the inner and outer worlds we live in yet are not confined by. For this poet, “Zero Plus Anything Is a World.” Hirshfield’s riddling recipes for that world (“add salt to hunger”; “add time to trees”) offer a profoundly altered understanding of our lives’ losses and additions, and of the small and larger beauties we so often miss.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
- Poetry
- Race/Identity
The Future of Vietnamese American Literature
Bich Minh Nguyen, Aimee Phan, Viet Thanh Nguyen, GB Tran
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
Forty years after the Fall of Saigon, Vietnamese American writers produce diverse literature that moves beyond classic immigrant/refugee narrative into genres of memoir, experimental poetry, graphic novel and espionage thriller. This panel engages some of our most prominent writers — novelists, memoirists and cartoonists — as they discuss the flourishing and the future of Vietnamese American literature.
- 2015
- Fiction
Jim Shepard & Daniel Handler | Writer to Writer
Jim Shepard, Daniel Handler
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
“One of the United States’ finest writers,” according to Joshua Ferris, “full of wit, humanity, and fearless curiosity,” gives us a novel that will join the short list of classics about children caught up in the Holocaust. Jim Shepard has made this child’s-eye view of the darkest history mesmerizing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and sometimes comic despite all odds.
- 2015
- Writing & Publishing
Opening the Doors to Your Creativity: How to Banish Your Inner Editor and Write with Abandon
Rachael Herron, Grant Faulkner, Chris Baty
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to writing. Valuing enthusiasm, determination and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever considered novel-writing. Join NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty, executive director Grant Faulkner and writer Rachael Herron to explore NaNoWriMo’s high-velocity approach, helping writers overcome fears, inhibitions and excuses.
- 2015
- Fiction
Flaunt That Romance — Don’t Hide It!
Beth Barany, T. J. Kline, Julie Anne Long, Jennifer Ryan
Sunday, June 7
Berkeley Public Library
If you think Bay Area readers are immune to the lure of the romance novel, think again. Bring your own love of this hugely popular genre out in the open — or get a taste of it for the first time — as three very popular practitioners share their work and observations on the books that really shouldn’t hide in plain brown covers!
- 2015
- Spirituality
Matthieu Ricard on Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World
Matthieu Ricard in conversation with Pico Iyer
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Presenting a global vision based on decades of personal experience and insight, cellular geneticist-turned Buddhist monk Ricard’s masterwork, Altruism, reveals that altruism is not an abstract ideal, but an essential dimension of our nature which can resolve the main challenges of our time: economic inequality, environmental sustainability, and life satisfaction.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Food
The Science of Booze
Amy Stewart, Adam Rogers
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center
There are no better guides to the magic, mystery, lore, and, yes, science of alcohol and the drinks that are made with it. Expect a very spirited discussion, one from which you’ll learn a treasure trove of very useful information!
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Fiction
- International
No Boundaries: Fiction from Around the Globe (#2)
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Melania G. Mazzucco, Philip McLaren, Riikka Pulkkinen, Linda Rugg
Sunday, June 7
Magnes Museum
Join writers from Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Australia discussing how setting and nationality influence their work. Is one a nationality first and a writer second?
- 2015
- Current Affairs
Shocking Stories, Profound Truths: Two Master Journalists Unpack Mass Murder
Mark Danner, Åsne Seierstad
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Goldman Auditorium
On an idyllic island in Norway, 69 young people were shot by a fellow Norwegian. In the U.S., gunshots rang out at Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook. The atrocities that occurred in Srebrenica and Rwanda are almost unimaginable. What makes a human being capable of perpetrating them? What social factors increase it? What impacts do these acts have? In “One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre of Norway,” journalist Åsne Seierstad brilliantly paints a psychological and social portrait of homegrown terrorism and its victims. Mark Danner has covered conflict zones for 25 years, producing award-winning reporting from Srebrenica, Haiti, and most recently the complex front of the U.S.’s own “war on terror.”
- 2015
- Fiction
New Voices, New Stories: Stellar Debuts Not to be Missed
Aline Ohanesian, Bill Petrocelli, Jan Ellison, Marian Palaia, Angela Pneuman, Andrew Roe
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
There’s nothing more exciting than the best new voices in fiction, and the presence of the debut novel has never been stronger. Hear from these marvelous writers, moderated by Book Passage’s Bill Petrocelli, and make some terrific reading discoveries. You’ll be able to say “you knew them when.”
- 2015
- Memoir
Moving Beyond Sad: Transforming Tough Topics into Great Reads
Melissa Cistaro, Esther Ehrlich, Sukey Forbes, Kathryn Ma, Monica Wesolowska
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
To tell a sad story is an age-old impulse, but to do so in a way that makes others want to read that story is something else again. In this panel, four prose masters discuss the emotional and intellectual processes of penning and publishing their moving books.
- 2015
- Children & Families
Raising a Reader Presents Family Strategies
Sunday, June 7
Berkeley Public Library - Community Meeting Room
The Raising a Reader staff offers read-aloud demonstrations and strategies specifically designed to build early literacy and support learning standards, including Common Core and The Preschool Learning Foundations. Bring the kids and learn new strategies for reading together as a family.
- 2015
- Spirituality
Beyond Mindfulness
Gary Gach, David McMahan, Lisa Dale Miller, Jack Petranker
Sunday, June 7
Dharma College
The mindfulness boom is having an impact in many areas of life, from therapy to child-rearing, from the military to prisons, from the boardroom to the health clinic. But there is growing concern that a focus on “non-judgmental present awareness” can be used to support the status quo — a way to make things better instead of making things different. Join experts in the field to discuss the current wave of interest and ask what might come next.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Literary
Talking About Writing & All the What-Not: Daniel Handler and Rabih Alameddine Carry On
Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) and Rabih Alameddine
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
They both live in San Francisco. One is a native San Franciscan, the other a Lebanese American born in Jordan. What could they possibly have in common? Come and see! From The Basic Eight to Lemony Snicket and the new We Are Pirates, Daniel Handler’s books entertain young, old, and in-between. Rabih Alameddine’s most recent book, An Unnecessary Woman, is a nuanced rendering of one woman’s life in the Middle East; it is a love letter to literature and its power to define who we are.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Culture
- Spirituality
An Hour With Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote in conversation with Gary Kamiya
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center
The guiding metaphor in Peter Coyote’s new spiritual biography is drawn from a line in a famous Bob Dylan song. For Coyote, the twin forces Dylan identifies as Texas Medicine and Railroad Gin represent the competing forces of the transcendental, inclusive, and ecstatic world of love and the competitive, status-seeking world of wealth and power. The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education is the tale of a young man caught between these options and the journey that leads him through Greenwich Village jazz bars, government service, and success on stage and screen, and ultimately deep into Zen.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- International
- Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
Nordic Noir: Crime in Cold Climes
Thomas Enger, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, Antti Tuomainen, moderated by Cara Black
Sunday, June 7
Magnes Museum
Led by Bay Area-based Cara Black, author of the popular Aimee Leduc mystery series set in Paris, three Scandinavian masters of murder and mayhem discuss their work — from popular series to standalone stories — and our ongoing fascination with chilling thrillers set in Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Technology/Media
- Writing & Publishing
Not Just Content: The Future of Writing and Reading
John McMurtrie, Mallory Farrugia, Brian Hurley, Matt Simon
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
Join this eclectic group of writers, editors and publishers — including the editorial director of digital library Scribd — as they discuss how technology impacts storytelling, and vice versa.
- 2015
- Environment/Nature
- Food
Into the Wild: Foraging Sustainably in Today’s World
Lindsie Bear, Mia Andler, Ava Chin, Kirk Lombard, Kathleen Smith
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
Hear from foragers of all kinds — urban, sea, Bay Area and Native — about how to forage sustainably, harvesting wild plants in ways that enhance rather than degrade our environment. These four experts will reveal ways in which gathering wild edibles promotes seed dispersion and soil repair, keeping plants, animals, and wild environments happy.
- 2015
- Culture
- Current Affairs
Trans Voices In Literature
Julia Serano, Zander Keig, Willy Wilkinson
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
Trans authors illuminate the profoundly liberating experience of living an authentic life, challenging readers to question traditional notions of gender and vocalizing the impact of all-too-pervasive discrimination. Join this diverse panel of trans authors as they discuss how their work addresses the interplay between trans experience and race, culture, family, politics and community membership.
- 2015
- Children & Families
- Teen
UC Berkeley Story Time: An Adventure through Cal’s First Children’s Book!
Sunday, June 7
Berkeley Public Library - Children's Room
In partnership with the Bay Area Book Festival, students and staff from UC Berkeley’s BUILD literacy program have written and illustrated a children’s book all about the exciting life of a Cal student as told by… a Cal campus squirrel! Follow that squirrel to see the most interesting sights on campus and learn about what kinds of things students study. Each family attending the reading will receive a free copy of the book, donated generously by Snapfish.
Presented by UC Berkeley's BUILD Public Service Center
- 2015
- Children & Families
- Teen
- Writing & Publishing
For Kids, By a Kid: How to Write Your Own Book
Michelle Longega Wilson
Sunday, June 7
Berkeley Public Library - Community Meeting Room
Do you have a budding author in your family? Or, because you’re a kid, you don’t think you could write your own book? Come find out how an ordinary eight-year-old girl wrote and published her first bilingual book and became an Amazon bestselling author. Michelle Longega Wilson, author of the bilingual book series “The Adventures of Giulia” will present her own book writing experiences and explain to kids how they can write their own book. Open to children and adults of all ages, Michelle will walk us through her simple step-by-step plan.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
- Race/Identity
Writing the New Neighborhood: Narratives of the Shifting Cities
Lorna Dee Cervantes, Karen Tei Yamashita, Odilia Galván Rodríguez, moderated by Elmaz Abinader
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
A lively roster of multi-genre writers discuss how to document the changing face of the Bay Area and embody our new multicultural, multilingual story. Arab American writer/performer/activist/teacher Elmaz Abinader will announce a new series of regional workshops led by VONA/Voices of Our Nations Arts, for writers of color. One of the major voices in Chicana literature, poet Lorna Dee Cervantes explores the cultural differences between natives and waves of immigrants in her native Bay Area. Karen Tei Yamashita’s polyphonic epic novel, I Hotel, documents Bay Area historical politics through ordinary and immigrant voices. Odilia Galván Rodríguez, eco-poet, writer, editor, and activist, is the author of four volumes of poetry, including Red Earth Calling.
Watch the full episode
- 2015
- Literary
Radio Ambulante: A Showcase of Latin American Stories with Daniel Alarcón
Daniel Alarcón
Sunday, June 7
Berkeley Public Library - Community Meeting Room
Novelist and journalist Daniel Alarcón will share some of the work that has made his Spanish-language podcast, Radio Ambulante, such a success. Alarcón’s At Night We Walk in Circles was a finalist for the 2014 PEN-Hemingway Award. A graphic novel, City of Clowns, illustrated by Sheila Alvarado, is due this fall.
- 2015
- Current Affairs
- Memoir
Madam Ambassador: Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties, and Democracy in Budapest
David Streitfeld, Eleni Kounalakis
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room
California businesswoman and mother Eleni Kounalakis’s memoir of her posting as Ambassador to Hungary is a serious yet often humorous insider’s view of diplomacy and the challenges of helming an embassy in a former Soviet satellite nation. It also is an illuminating, timely look at the experience of a woman in political leadership.
- 2015
- Fiction
- Memoir
Round the World Taste of Fiction
Carmen Boullosa, Philip McLaren, Prajwal Parajuly, Indu Sundaresan
Sunday, June 7
Magnes Museum
Travel the world without leaving your seat; leap throughout time. These fiction writers take us from the mid-1950s Texas-Mexico border to the Himalayan foothills, from Indian palaces to aboriginal Australia to contemporary family homes in Finland.
- 2015
- Culture
- Food
Writing Food, Making Books: The Perils, Joys & Practicalities of Great Food and Cookbook Writing
Dan Jurafsky, Cal Peternell, Jenny Wapner, Sandra Gilbert
Sunday, June 7
The Brower Center - Kinzie Conference Room
There’s nothing more delightful than a tempting, well-put-together cookbook, whether to browse or actually use to prepare meals. Whet your appetite for all things foodie and literary with this panel of Chez Panisse’s head chef (Peternell), two stellar writers on food, and an editor of one of the leading cookbook publishers.
- 2015
- Culture
- Current Affairs
Who We Be: An Un-Panel About Our Colorized Futures
Adam Mansbach, Jeff Chang, W. Kamau Bell, Favianna Rodriguez
Sunday, June 7
The San Francisco Chronicle Stage at Freight & Salvage
Who’s afraid of 2043? No, really? At this un-panel, author Jeff Chang, award-winning visual artist Favianna Rodriguez, and comedian/philosopher W. Kamau Bell riff and rant on art, culture, race, and demographobia. Sure to be provocative and fun, if not completely terrifying.
- 2015
- Fiction
Word For Word: Alice Munro’s “The Office”
Word for Word actors Jeri Lynn Cohen, Paul Finocchiaro, directed by Joel Mullennix
Sunday, June 7
East Bay Media Center
Munro, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a master of the short story. Here is an excerpt from Word For Word’s production of “The Office” from Munro’s first collection. A young housewife is convinced that an office of one’s own is what she needs to be a writer. But when she finds the perfect place, her landlord present an unexpected and surprising obstacle. A Q&A session will follow the performance.
- 2015
- Fiction
First Person Singular: Barry Gifford’s Writers
Barry Gifford
Sunday, June 7
Pegasus Books
A world premiere staged reading of Writers, the new play by Barry Gifford, author of numerous books and screenwriter of David Lynch’s Lost Highway and Wild at Heart. Ten legendary (if rumored) meetings between writers (Beckett, Borges, Bowles, Camus, Dickinson, Kerouac, Proust, and more) and their sometimes unlikely companions (Humphrey Bogart, Crazy Joey Gallo, a prostitute named Pixie, The Angel of Death, and others). Directed by Joe Christiano in a bookstore after hours (which is everything you’ve dreamed). Post-performance discussion with Barry Gifford.