Poetry Flash > calendar > Bruce Isaacson, James Norman, Andrew Romanelli, Jan Steckel

Daily Listings

Jan Steckel

Bruce Isaacson, James Norman, Andrew Romanelli, Jan Steckel

2 MAY 2024 — thursday

Poetry Flash presents a Zeitgeist Press reading by Zeitgeist publisher, poet and novelist Bruce Isaacson, Anthems of the Damned; poet James Norman, A Monk with No Religion; poet Andrew Romanelli, Rotgut; and poet and fiction writer Jan Steckel, Ghosts and Oceans, stories, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event. The video of this event will be posted on the Poetry Flash YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/channel/UClwdR-uPFNz7XxbBbLcnoEA.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS

Bruce Isaacson's new book of poems is Anthems of the Damned, in which the poet shows how it feels "to be human in an age of the ghosted soul." His most recent previous collection was Leningrad to Las Vegas. His new novel is Vegas Dirt, as he says, "These are human stories of the Great Recession—the salesman with two families, the mogul in misery, the erotic dancer who took the stage name America." Isaacson was the first Poet Laureate of Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He's also publisher of Zeitgeist Press. Recipient of degrees from Claremont McKenna, Dartmouth, and Brooklyn College, where he submitted a thesis to Allen Ginsberg, he has long been associated with the Café Babar readings, a San Francisco poetry and spoken word series that formed part of the '80s spoken word resurgence. Also known as a finalist in the inaugural Nuyorican Poetry Slam, he is a founder of Poetry Promise, Inc., a non-profit curator of poetry programs in Clark County, Nevada.

James Norman's new book of poems is How to Set Yourself on Fire and Call It Art, focusing on his relation to activism. His recent collections include A Monk with No Religion. Among his other previous titles are One Night the Buddha Drank Himself to Death and At the Point Where Gravity Finally Fails Us. Zeitgeist Press says, "James Norman assumes the open road would call his name. Musician, part-time lover—a heterodoxical historian of the forgotten, a half-assed Buddhist in his concrete monastery, a traveling freak show feeding LSD to a higher consciousness—Contradictions are the meat on the bones that construct him."

Andrew Romanelli's first book of poems is Rotgut. An IWW member and an activist for the disenfranchised, he's worked many jobs from busboy, debt collector, traveling salesman, deliverer of hair products, and much else. A teaching artist for the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, he's "the boy who cannot be pulled away from the beauty inherent in the discarded." His chapbook Supermarket Poems was published in 2023. Among his honors is a John Oliver Simon Award for a student poet of exceptional promise.

Jan Steckel's newest book is her debut short story collection, Ghosts and Oceans. Thaisa Frank says, "In Ghosts and Oceans, Jan Steckel has created her own magic realism, exploring fluid realms between rumor and myth. A woman becomes the color of a mango. An angel makes a hurried appearance at the hour of death. The sea is alternatively seductive and dangerous. The language is so musical; you can hear the book. Or—as one character says—'The words are one thing and the music another, but there comes a time in the imagination of the singer when the words are the music and the music the words.' Both the lush musicality and startling imagination invite the reader to travel in tilted and surprising worlds." Her latest poetry book is Like Flesh Covers Bone; her previous books include The Horizontal Poet, winner of the Lambda Literary Best Bisexual Book Award, her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks, and her poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital. She is a Harvard-Yale trained pediatrician, who worked in the Peace Corps and serviced poor communities. Nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize, she lives in Oakland, California.

Daily Listings

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14 MAY 2024 — tuesday
Cobalt Poets presents a reading with featured poet Kerry Cox, Imagined Histories, followed by an open mic, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
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Green Apple Books presents a celebration for Paul Yamazaki's new memoir, Reading the Room: A Bookseller's Tale, he is the principal buyer at City Lights Books, he will be joined by the head buyer at Green Apple Books, Vanessa Martini, Green Apple Books, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-paul-yamazaki-vanessa-martini)
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15 MAY 2024 — wednesday
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16 MAY 2024 — thursday
City Arts and Lectures welcomes Carvell Wallace, podcaster, journalist, and co-author of The Sixth Man discussing his first book, Another Word for Love, a memoir touching on homelessness, queerness, and being Black in America, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $39, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/carvell-wallace)
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The Book of Light Poetry Series, a reading series that celebrates the spirit and soul of the poetry of Lucille Clifton, featuring Maw Shein Win, Storage Unit for the Spirit House, nominated for the Northern California Book Award and longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, Books Inc., 1344 Parks Street, Alameda, free, 6:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.booksinc.net/event/maw-shein-win-books-inc-alameda)
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Green Apple Books presents a discussion of sociologist Dr. Jaclyn S. Wong's nonfiction book, Equal Partners? How Dual-Professional Couples Make Career, Relationship, and Family Decisions, she will be joined by sociologist Eliza Brown, Green Apple Books, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-jaclyn-s-wong-eliza-brown)
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17 MAY 2024 — friday
Green Apple Books presents a release party for Kate Flannery's debut memoir, Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles, she will be joined by fiction writer Laura Albert (aka JT LeRoy), Sarahr, Green Apple Books, 1231 9th Avenue, San Francisco, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/9th-ave-kate-flannery-laura-albert)
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18 MAY 2024 — saturday
A house concert reading by Tongo Eisen-Martin, current San Francisco Poet Laureate, performing his poetry accompanied by David Boyce, and Steve Dickison, longtime director of The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, accompanied by Hafez Modirzadeh; the two great saxophone/improvisor musicians David Boyce and Hafez Modirzadeh will perform a short improv duo between the two readings; hosted by Harry Bernstein, the event takes place at a private home in Berkeley, $20 admission, payable in advance via PayPal or Venmo, all proceeds go to the artists, 4:00 pm PDT (Email: harry@fullplatemedia.com for the address)
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Cecilia Woloch & Friends present "Poetry on Zoom": a workshop and seminar with Kevin Prufer, The Fears, online, $100, 10:00 am-1:00 pm PDT (For more information, email: cecilia.woloch.assistant@gmail.com)
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19 MAY 2024 — sunday
Poetry Flash presents a Sixteen Rivers Press poetry reading with Christina Lloyd, Women Twice Removed, Murray Silverstein, Red Studio, and Alice Templeton, The Infinite Field, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
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Wet Cement Press celebrates the publication of poet Michelle Murphy's new release, Disheveled Histories, and Thoreau Lovell's new novel, Marco Polo Mother & Son, both writers will read, Fifth Street Farms, 1517 Fifth Street, Berkeley, free, 6:00-8:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.wetcementpress.com/events/book-release-reading-with-michelle-murphy-and-thoreau-lovell-in-berkeley-at-fifth-street-farms)
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20 MAY 2024 — monday
Litquake and Green Apple Books present a launch party celebrating R.O. Kwon's new novel, EXHIBIT!, she will be joined by Ingrid Rojas Contreras, THE MAN WHO COULD MOVE CLOUDS: A Memoir offsite at the Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, tiered tickets, price varies, 6:00 pm VIP, 7:00 pm general admission-time (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.greenapplebooks.com/event/offsite-ro-kwon-ingrid-rojas-contreras-exhibit-launch-party)
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21 MAY 2024 — tuesday
Cobalt Poets a poetry open mic reading, all poets welcome, bring a poem to share or come listen to others, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
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DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood, welcomes Graham Moore, The Holdout to discuss his new novel, The Wealth of Shadows, Diesel Brentwood, 225 26th Street, Suite 33, Santa Monica, free, 6:30 pm PDT (For more information and to reserve a seat, visit: www.dieselbookstore.com/event/Graham-Moore-May-21-Author-signing)
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City Arts and Lectures welcomes Kathleen Hanna, pioneer of the riot grrrl movement and lead singer of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and Brontez Purnell, Oakland-based punk musician and writer, discussing their new memoirs: Hanna's Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk and Purnell's Ten Bridges I've Burnt, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/kathleen-hanna-brontez-purnell)
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22 MAY 2024 — wednesday
City Arts and Lectures welcomes Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss his first book since retiring from the US Supreme Court, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism; he will be joined by legal analyst Sarah Isgur, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/justice-stephen-breyer-3)
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23 MAY 2024 — thursday
City Arts and Lectures welcomes author and creator Miranda July, discussing her new novel, All Fours, Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes Street, San Francisco, $49, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.cityarts.net/event/miranda-july-4)
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24 MAY 2024 — friday
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25 MAY 2024 — saturday
Fourth Saturdays presents a reading with featured poets Tim Steele, Toward the Winter Solstice, and Angela Narciso Torres, Blood Orange, winner of the 2013 Willow Books Literature Award for Poetry, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT (More information here: www.facebook.com/fourthsaturdayspoetry)
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26 MAY 2024 — sunday
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27 MAY 2024 — monday
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28 MAY 2024 — tuesday
Cobalt Poets presents a reading with featured poet Cozzy Coz, followed by an open mic, online via Zoom, free, 7:30 pm PDT (Register to attend: www.poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html)
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29 MAY 2024 — wednesday
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30 MAY 2024 — thursday
Writers Read Ukiah presents a reading featuring Diane Pendola, followed by an open mic, six-minutes per reader, emceed by Michael Riedell, Grace Hudson Museum, 431 South Main Street, Ukiah, $5 suggested donation, 7:00 pm PDT (Email: innisfreeriedell@gmail.com for more information)
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The Horror Writers Association presents Stokercon, the annual convention for horror genre authors; Guests of Honor include Jonathan Maberry, Rot & Ruin, Paul Tremblay, The Cabin at the End of the World, and Paula Guran, New Cthulhu, with panels, the Bram Stoker Awards, readings, a dealer's room, parties, signings, and more, San Diego Mission Marriott Valley, 8757 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, $300 in person or $75 virtual (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.stokercon2024.com)
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31 MAY 2024 — friday
The Horror Writers Association presents Stokercon, the annual convention for horror genre authors of the horror genre; Guests of Honor include Jonathan Maberry, Rot & Ruin, Paul Tremblay, The Cabin at the End of the World, and Paula Guran, New Cthulhu, with panels, the Bram Stoker Awards, readings, a dealer's room, parties, signings, and more, San Diego Mission Marriott Valley, 8757 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, $300 in person or $75 virtual (For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.stokercon2024.com)
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