25 Years of The Berkeley Poetry Slam
The Berkeley Poetry Slam is 25 years old! Join us in celebrating this revered Bay Area staple and see some of the very best and brightest poets to have represented Berkeley on stages across California and the US over the past two and a half…
Love on the Run
Falling in love is always a rush—even more so when if you and your sexy sidekick are being chased by mobsters . . . or chasing them down yourselves. Marie Lu, author of megahit YA novels like the Legend series, launches a new series that will…
Alta Live: Author Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley fans, get excited! The Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s forthcoming book, The Questions that Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom, explores a number of provocations around class, race, and gender in the Western…
Celebrate National Poetry Month!
Two nationally known award-winning poets read from their new works and talk about their influences and passions. Henri Coles explores the formality and density of the sonnet with its glorious layers of emotion with a contemporary twist in his…
German Writer Thomas Brussig with Jonathan Franzen
Thomas Brussig’s classic German novel, The Short End of the Sonnenallee, now appearing for the first time in English, is a moving and miraculously comic story of life in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall. Translator and author Jonathan…
Bagels with Writers
We’ll kick things off with complimentary bagels, spreads, coffee and tea, then gather to listen to our four authors, who will each share their best fifteen minutes of writing (and publishing ) advice. Then we'll open the floor for a half-hour…
Black Fire This Time
Inspired by Black Fire This Time, an anthology featuring over 100 poets and writers celebrating the roots and legacy of the Black Arts Movement, this writing workshop will feature Heather Buchanan. Buchanan presents writing workshops and readings…
Survive & Thrive: A Literary Reading & Conversation with Devi S. Laskar & Lucy Jane Bledsoe
What is redemption? How do you get it? How is it different from revenge? Multi-award winning authors Lucy Jane Bledsoe and Devi S. Laskar will read from their new novels and discuss how they write with an eye toward redemption that is true and…
Spies & Journalists: Daughters Breaking Silence
Leslie Absher, daughter of a CIA father, and Eric Newton, husband of the late author and Bay Area journalist Mary Ann Hogan, discuss how memoir led each writer to better understand themselves and their secretive fathers. This is a free e…
Berkeley Poetry Slam
A 25-year landmark and staple of Berkeley culture, Berkeley Slam at the Starry Plough Pub on Shattuck is the longest-running Slam on the West Coast: a medley of great art, good food/beer and great vibes! Tickets are $10.