2025 festival announcementsDEAR OAKTOWN BEASTIES! Mark your calendars for an unforgettable weekend of creativity and support! Join us at Chapter 510 & The Dept. of Make/Believe on Saturday, July 26, 2025, starting at 12 Noon. We’re thrilled to announce our fundraising event and the Trans Writers Workshop Anthology Launch at Chapter 510 on Saturday, July 26. This event promises a powerful accompanying lineup. 2025 BEAST CRAWL LITERARY FUNDRAISER: ALL EVENTS ARE TAKING PLACE AT CHAPTER 510: THE DEPARTMENT OF MAKE BELIEVE 546 HUEY NEWTON WAY @ 9th AND CLAY STREETS IN OLD OAKLAND DAY 1: Friday, July 25th 6 PM - 8 PM Kick-Off Fundraising Reading! with Tureeda Mikell, Cassandra Dallett, Vanessa Torres, Laura Zink, Paul Corman-Roberts & more TBA! ONLINE ONLY ON ZOOM! THE FRIDAY COLLAPSE BEAST AID EDITION 6:30 - 8:30 PM, PACIFIC STANDARD TIME ZOOM ID# 896 - 9952- 5358 zoom ID 896-9952-5358 zoom ID 896-9952-5358 DAY 2: Sunday, July 27, 2025, with book fair. Beast Aid Open Mic (courtyard) 12:30 - 1:45 PM Showcase: (Interior) 1:45 - 2:30 SOCIAL SATURDAYS Beast Aid Open (courtyard) 2:30 - 3 Showcase (Interior) 3:00-3:45 COLOSSUS PRESS Beast Aid Open (courtyard) 3:45-4:15 Showcase: (Interior) 4:15-5 BEAST MOON Beast Aid Open (interior) 5 - 5:30 Showcase: Doors at 5:30 Show at 6:30 Chapter 510 TransWriters Workshop Anthology Launch ------------------------------- DAY 3 - (with book fair!) Beast Aid Open (Parklet) 1 - 1:30 Showcase (Interior) 1:30 - 2:15 BLACK FREIGHTER PRESS Showcase (Interior) 2:15 - 3:00 PM MARTILLO PRESS Showcase (Interior) 3:00 - 3:45 I NEED A NEW PLEDGE Beast Aid Open(Parklet) 3:40 - 4:00 Showcase (Interior) 4:00 - 4:45 CHERRY PIE PRESS Beast Aid Open (Parklet) 4:45 - 5:15 Showcase: (Interior) 5:15 - 6:00 WHEN THE SMOKE COMES ------------------------------------- We heartily encourage you to show up and support Beast Crawl and the Trans Writer’s Workshop on Saturday. Open mic signup will take place on Swan's courtyard with the list opening five minutes before the mic starts! Check in at 12:00 PM on Saturday at Chapter 510 - 9th & Clay, Old Oakland.
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Bay Area's War on the Unhoused: A Panel DiscussionWhen: October 29th at 1:30 PM
Where: Berkeley City College Auditorium The Bay Area is facing a growing crisis of homelessness. In recent years, cities like San Francisco and Oakland have seen a surge in the number of unhoused people living on the streets. This has led to increased tensions between the unhoused population and local residents, as well as between the unhoused and law enforcement. In response to this crisis, a panel discussion will be held at Berkeley City College on October 29th at 1:30 PM to explore the issue of the Bay Area's war on the unhoused. The panel will feature:
Additional Resources:
Sistah SciFi Presents: A Conversation with Michele Tracy Berger Beast Crawl Literary Festival is thrilled to announce another exciting event with our partner Sistah SciFi.
Join us on Friday, October 11th for a captivating conversation with Dr. Michele Tracy Berger, author of "Doll Seed: Stories". This incredible event will delve into intersectional feminism, Afrofuturism, and Dr. Berger's thought-provoking work. Date and Time: Friday, October 11th, 6:30-8 PM PDT Location: Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe, 546 9th Street Oakland, CA 94607 Get your free tickets now Don't miss this opportunity to hear from a groundbreaking author and be part of a vibrant literary community. Michele Tracy Berger is the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of English. Her short fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction has appeared in 100 Word Story, Apex Magazine, Glint Literary Journal, The Wild Word, Blood and Bourbon, FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Midnight and Indigo, Oracle: Fine Arts Review, Carolina Woman, Ms., and various anthologies. She is the 2019 winner of the Carl Brandon Kindred Award from the Carl Brandon Society for her story "Doll Seed" published in FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. In 2020, her science fiction novella, "Reenu-You" about a mysterious virus transmitted through a hair care product billed as a natural hair relaxer was published by Falstaff Books. The experiences of five unlikely heroines weave a speculative tale that explores race, gender, female friendship, the politics of beauty and corporate conspiracy. Much of her work explores psychological horror, especially through issues of race and gender. Dr. Berger’s books include Workable Sisterhood: The Political Journey of Stigmatized Women with HIV/AIDS (Princeton University Press, 2004), the co-edited collections Gaining Access: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Qualitative Researchers (Altamira Press, 2003) and The Intersectional Approach: Transforming the Academy Through Race, Class and Gender(University of North Carolina Press, 2010) and the co-authored Transforming Scholarship: Why Women’s and Gender Studies Students Are Changing Themselves and the World (Routledge 2011, 2014, 2021). She is the author, most recently, of Black Women’s Health: Paths to Wellness for Mothers and Daughters (New York University Press, 2022), the first monograph to focus on the role of southern African American mothers and their adolescent daughters in shaping health practices. She is a sought-after public speaker and commentator. Her public scholarship has appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Ed, Ms. Magazine, The Feminist Wire and other media outlets. She is currently co-chair of the Ms. Scholars Board. For this event, Michele will be in conversation with Isis Asare. rewind, anyone? We get it. Beast Crawl Literary Festival is a total BEAST! Lots of fun and literary wildness in the streets. But did you miss a show and wish you could watch it? Did you catch a show and wish you could replay it for yourself or a friend? That's where documentation comes in handy.
Do you have video of the festival that you can share? Please share it! Send all video and photos to our handy dandy email address right here. Or just tag us. That works too. But we'd like to include it in our youtube channel. Anything you got, send it to us. We just posted the three events held at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in the former Swans center in Old Oakland. They sent us the raw video and we included it in our latest offerings with sweet intro music, Beasty graphics, you know tha drill. Events are: Alameda County Youth Poet Laureates - video 16th & Mission Chalk Circle - video Paper Press Books presents MARHABA - video Find them in our 2024 festival playlist at the top of the page. Hope you enjoy! space rental available at chapter 510 If you've attended a Beast Crawl event, in Old Oakland, chances are you've experienced the vibrant energy and creative spirit of Chapter 510 & the Department of Make Believe. This colorful, modular space is more than just a venue; it's a hub for imagination, collaboration, and community. From bustling book launches to inspiring workshops, Chapter 510 has hosted countless events that have left a lasting impression on our Beast Crawl attendees. What makes this space so special?
Want to learn more or book your event? Visit their website right here. oh, and before you go... Don't miss out on their Pneumatic Poetry Prescription party!
WHAT: Dept. of Make / Believe PNEUMATIC POETRY PRESCRIPTION Party WHEN: Friday, September 6, 2024, 5:00 PM 9:00 PM WHERE: Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe 546 9th Street Oakland, CA, 94607 United States (map) The BAM House, in conjunction with the Beast Crawl Literary Festival present;
THE POET LAUREATES SHOWCASE FRIDAY, JULY 26th AT 7 PM BAM HOUSE 1540 Broadway, Oakland CA 94612 7:00 doors open - music-open mic sign up 7:15- open mic. 5, 3 minute slots Feature Intros/Laureates' Address WITH Zouhair Mussa Ayodele Nzinga Nazelah Jameson James Cagney la palabra musicalLA PALABRA MUSICAL (The Music of the Word), is Oakland's longest running multi-lingual poetry reading. La Palabra Musical has had many homes, most recently at the César Chávez branch of the Oakland Public Library in the heart of the Fruitvale District. Since the onset of COVID, La Palabra Musical has moved to Zoom. We gather on the 4th Saturday of the month from 3-5 pm. Look for more info and links on Avotcja's Facebook page.
tales from the townTales From the Town - Binny’s These diverse readers and community leaders from the Oakland, CA metro area challenge the problematic "doom loop" rhetoric and show how writers and cultural workers can play vital roles in chronicling and supporting equitable social transformation. Nayomi Munaweera's debut novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, won the 2013 Commonwealth Prize for Asia. The New York Times called it "incandescent." Her second novel What Lies Between Us drew comparisons to the voices of Michael Ondaatje and Jhumpa Lahiri. Norma Smith is a writer, community organizer, social researcher, editor, writing coach, and event and conference organizer who has called the East Bay home since 1969. She lived on Ivy Hill in East Oakland for a quarter century. Aimee Suzara is a Filipino-American poet, playwright, performing artist and educator based in Oakland, CA. Her accomplishments include a Willa-Award Finalist book of poems, SOUVENIR, a YBCAway award and AROHO Spirited Woman Award. She teaches writing at colleges throughout the Bay Area. Nazelah Jamison is a Bay Area-based performance poet, author, comedian, vocalist, and emcee. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was reprinted and re-released by Black Lawrence Press in Fall 2023. She hosts Thee Virtual Open Mic every 1st & 3rd Friday on Zoom. Thaddeus Howze is an award-winning genre author, climate podcaster, and transmedia essayist out of Hayward, California. Thaddeus' speculative fiction and fantasy have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals. He has published two books: Hayward's Reach (2011) and Broken Glass (2013). 7pm Leg 3 - Binny’s
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