Where Should We Begin?We all need to start somewhere. The Starting Points open mic team is inviting writers of all stripes, whether you’re new to reading in public or you read out every week, to come and share your freshest work with us in 3-minutes-or-less at this open mic event. Meet, mingle, and trade chapbooks with other members of the community. We have a feeling this will be the start of a beautiful friendship. Ruth CrossmanRuth Crossman is a Pushcart-nominated writer from Berkeley, California. She is the author of the auto-fiction collection All the Wrong Places and is currently looking for a home for her debut novella, All My Friends Lie. Her work has appeared in publications including The Fabulist, Litro, Maximum Rock n Roll. You can find out more information about her at https://msruthcrossman.com/ Sara BielSara Biel is a poet, visual artist, and social worker. Her work combines original text with different art materials. She is passionate about collaborative art and performance processes and focuses on art as a community-building medium. Her debut poetry collection, Prescribed Burn, was published by Finishing Line in 2023. Elisa SalasinElisa Salasin is a writer/poet and educator living in Berkeley, California. Her writing and photography have appeared in a range of online publications including AMP/Always Electric, CounterPunch, sPARKLE & bLINK, and Digital Paper, the online magazine for the Bay Area Writing Project. Her debut poetry collection, She Watches Wild Horses, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2023. Keith Gaboury Keith Mark Gaboury earned a M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College, a M.A. in English from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in English from Baker University. His poems have appeared in such literary publications as Poetry Quarterly and New Millennium Writings along with chapbooks from Duck Lake Books, The Pedestrian Press, and Finishing Line Press. Keith lives in Oakland, California. Leg 1 (4pm -5pm) Venue: Feelmore Adult ![]() Feelmore is the keeper of secrets such as: insecurities, infidelities, and sexual expression. Our ground-floor location represents a twilight zone for unlikely encounters and friendships to crystallize and collisions to occur. Conceived and raised in the stomping grounds of Oakland, Feelmore is redefining the retail experience for the city, small business owners, and community residents. Keeping with our tradition, we aim to preserve and build upon the hometown feel Oakland is known for. At Feelmore, it’s about more than just sex — it’s personal!
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The Berkeley slam team showcaseJoin us for a magical evening of poetry featuring the 2023 Berkeley Poetry Slam Team. Earlier this year, the placed 3rd place at the Bigfoot Regional Slam in Portland, OR. Tune in for the poems that these poets brought with them to represent what the Bay Area poetry scene has to offer. ![]() RichOak Events is a spoken word and literary arts organization based in the SF Bay Area dedicated to providing equitable platforms for self expression to underserved and intentionally silenced communities both through virtual media and in person interactive engagements. Our top priority at RichOak Events is to facilitate a space to empower people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, abilities and ages to tell their own stories in ways that will produce positive change on a local, national, and global level. Learn more about us at richoakevents.org. Leg 3 (7pm - 8pm) Venue: Tamarack ![]() Tamarack is a collectively run bar and restaurant, serving simple and delicious comfort food with inspiration from all over the world. Our menu includes rotating craft cocktails focused on house made ingredients, in addition to a selection of local beer, wine, and premium liquor. We see the communal act of eating, drinking, and being together as a foundation for growing friendships and building the world of our dreams. ![]() Beast Crawl Literary Festival created the Reginald Lockett Memorial Open Mic to commemorate the life and contributions of poet Reginald Lockett. Reginald was a founding member of the Black Students Alliance at San Francisco State University. He would later return to teach creative writing there, as well as at City College of San Francisco, Laney College and College of Marin. He was a tenured instructor of Language Arts at San Jose City College for the last 20 years. A dedicated teacher, Mr. Lockett was best known as a poet. He was also the owner and publisher of Juke Box Press, which published many other poets and raised thousands of dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims with the publication of "Words upon the Water." Reginald was the author of "Where the Birds Sing Bass," which won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award in 1996, "Good Times & No Bread," "The Party Crashers of Paradise" and "Random History Lessons," published by Creative Arts Books in 2003. (Source) Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Night Heron ![]() Night Heron, a colorful cocktail bar that pays homage to Oakland’s history and diversity through the works of talented local artists. Night Heron is an art-studded destination for craft cocktails, bento boxes, and all the right vibes located across the street from The Fox Theater. Food is available from neighboring restaurant Itani Ramen, whose chef/owner Kyle Itani curated two Bento Boxes exclusively for Night Heron. Patrons can order via QR code and food will be delivered directly to them. MoonDrop Productions Presents Ode to Oakland![]() MoonDrop Productions is the creation of Kelechi Ubozoh & Cassandra Dallett. It is a quarterly submission based/themed reading. We encourage writers to share their personal evolutions, revolution, love and lust. We strive to hear from a diverse group of writers and are committed to creating new spaces where those who haven't been given a stage can shine. Contact us at moondropproductionswriters@gmail For the 2023 Best Crawl Literary Festival, MoonDrop Productions presents a diverse group of poets who all have a special connection with Oakland and we are going to rock the house. Asantewaa Boykin![]() Asantewaa Boykin is a Co-founder of APTP (Anti Police-Terror Project) an organization committed to the eradication of police terror in all of its forms. She uses her knowledge of nursing and activism to provide Street Medic training for direct actions and community training on Trauma Centered First -Aid. Along with being a RADICAL nurse, she is also a founding member of the Capital City Black Nurses Association. Asantewaa along with a brave group of organizers and medical professionals developed Mental Health First or MH FIRST a mobile mental health crisis response team aimed at minimizing police contact with those who are in the midst of a mental health crisis. Her poetry and art combine her love of words, storytelling, and resistance. Exploring topics like; space-travel, black-femme militancy, & motherhood. Which describes her first full-length poetry collection, “Love, Lyric and Liberation (Nomadic Press), and embodies the essence of her visual art. The intersection of Art and Resistance is where Asantewaa feels most at home. As a self-proclaimed “Serial Crafter” she has found a creative outlet in most mediums while stacking words into poems, short stories and essays remain her first love. https://www.asantewaaboykin.com/about James Cagney![]() James Cagney is poet and the author of Black Steel Magnolias In The Hour of Chaos Theory, (Nomadic Press, 2018), winner of the PEN Oakland 2019 Josephine Miles Award. His second collection, Martian: The Saint Of Loneliness, (Nomadic Press) was awarded the 2021 James Laughlin Award. James is a Cave Canem fellow who lives in Oakland. Adrienne Danyelle Oliver![]() Adrienne Danyelle Oliver is a poet-educator from Little Rock, Arkansas. Her chapbook "Collective Madness" was nominated for the 2023 Maya Angelou Book Award. When she is not writing, she leads well-being writing circles and curates Black Gold Storytellers, an award-winning collective that features Black elders who have migrated to California. Jeneé Darden![]() Jeneé Darden is an award-winning journalist, author, public speaker and mental health advocate. She grew up in a diverse, working-class neighborhood in Oakland, Calif. and learned so much about life, people and culture from her community. The greatest gift she ever received was a journal her mother gave her at seven years old. She hasn't stopped writing since. Jeneé has reported for NPR, The Los Angles Times, Shondaland, Ebony, Marketplace, Refinery 29 and many other outlets. In 2005, she contributed reporting on the London 7/7 transit bombings for Time magazine’s Europe edition. Listen to her on KALW 91.7 FM where she is the executive producer and host of the arts segment Sights & Sounds, as well as the show Sights + Sounds Magazine. She is also their East Oakland reporter. Her first short documentary Where is East Oakland was screened at the Oakland International Film Festival and has won awards. Christine No![]() Christine No is a Korean American writer, teaching artist and daughter of immigrants. She is a Sundance Alum, VONA Fellow, Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Nominee; and Kearny Street Workshop's APAture Festival's featured literary artist. You can find her work in the Columbia Journal, Story Magazine, The Rumpus amongst others. Her First full length poetry collection “Whatever Love Means” is available via Barrelhouse Books. Check her out on the internet at @iamchristineno. Heather Flesher![]() Heather Flesher is a disabled trans woman who lives in Monterey. She writes poems, stories, plays, comics and essays in the cause of radical social justice. She has loved to perform her entire life, and in the face of an increasingly treacherous society, she strives to become louder and more eloquent. Leg 3 (7pm - 8pm) Venue: First Edition (Balcony) ![]() About First Edition: First Edition 1915 Located in Uptown Oakland, we have over 3000 square feet of available space, including two mezzanines, an outdoor roof deck, and two full bars. All of our art is graphic novel/comic book inspired and created by local artist Michael Brennan. We aim to create a casual, neighborhood environment where exploration of new cocktails and introductions to new friends is the norm. Whether you're enjoying a happy hour cocktail on the patio or dancing the night away with our weekend local DJs events, we’re here to share our passion for making cocktails fun and approachable in a clean, safe, inclusive environment. The Throwback was a low-tech literary journal edited and distributed by Dan O’Connell. Several issues were put out in the early 2000s. It was re-born for Beast Crawl 2022, and still lives. This year we feature five stellar writers from Nick's Lounge.
Leg 1 (4pm -5pm) Venue: Binny's Cocktail Bar & Restaurant A celebration of the return to an intimate and community-based bar and dining experience. Binny’s presents a tailored menu of original and classic cocktails with shareable plates of uncomplicated, veritable bites. From the Art Deco-inspired interiors to the elegant U-shaped bar and cozy banquet seats, Binny’s invites you to have a laugh, enjoy the atmosphere and stay awhile. Colossus:Body |
Sharon Coleman's poetry and prose appear in Your Impossible Voice, Faultline, The Ana, Dream Pop Press, White Stag, and Rivet. She co-curates the reading series Lyrics & Dirges, and co-directs the Berkeley Poetry Festival. Her books include Paris Blinks (micro-fiction) and Half Circle (poetry chapbook). She received the Maverick Award from the ruth weiss Foundation, a Luso-American Fellowship for the Disquiet Literary Conference in Lisbon, and the Brereton scholarship for the Napa Valley Writers Conference. |

Elisa Salasin has had poetry, essays, op-eds, and photography, published in Colossus:Body, Colossus:Freedom, AMP:always electric, SF Public Library Poem of the Day, sPARKLE & bLINK, CounterPunch, and the Bay Area Writing Project’s Digital Paper. Her chapbook, She Watches Wild Horses, is available from Finishing Line Press.

Kim Shuck is a visual artist, poet and general troublemaker. Kim is solo author of ten books and editor of a further ten anthologies. Shuck served as the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco. She was named as an inaugural National Laureate Fellow by the Academy of American Poets, was awarded a Censorship Award by PEN Oakland, and volunteered for over 20 years in San Francisco public schools teaching math principles by folding origami which resulted in a stack of Volunteer awards. Shuck’s most recent publications are This Wandering State vol. 1 and Noodle Rant Tangent.
Our intention is to create a space where we can gather in the spirit of resistance to call out cruelty and support concrete change through fundraising. In 2017, we released the first installment of Colossus, raising money for Freedom for Immigrants through ticket and book sales. In 2020, we released Colossus:Home, our second anthology, to support Moms4Housing and help bring attention to the growing problem of homelessness in the Bay Area and around the world. This was followed by Colossus:Freedom, and in summer, 2023, Colossus:Body Voices in support of the sovereignty of the self The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of hope and freedom throughout the world. As the political weather of our country roils toward fascism, it stands as a reminder that a strong, countervailing spirit pushes back against that narrative of fear. At the foot of the Statue of Liberty lies Emma Lazarus’s sonnet, “The New Colossus.” The words of this poem provide the focal point for our writing.
LEG 2: 5:30-6:30p VENUE: Bookmark Bookstore 721 Washington St

ABOUT BOOKMARK BOOKSTORE:
Bookmark Bookstore
The Bookmark Bookstore is a nonprofit used bookstore that is owned and operated by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library and staffed by volunteers. All of the many thousands of books and media in store are donated, and all proceeds support the Oakland Public Library. A true local establishment, the Bookmark celebrated its 30th anniversary this past year. Located at 721 Washington Street in Old Oakland, the store is open Wednesday-Friday from 11:00am – 4:00pm and Saturday-Sunday from 10:30am – 5:30pm.
Bookmark Bookstore
The Bookmark Bookstore is a nonprofit used bookstore that is owned and operated by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library and staffed by volunteers. All of the many thousands of books and media in store are donated, and all proceeds support the Oakland Public Library. A true local establishment, the Bookmark celebrated its 30th anniversary this past year. Located at 721 Washington Street in Old Oakland, the store is open Wednesday-Friday from 11:00am – 4:00pm and Saturday-Sunday from 10:30am – 5:30pm.

A monthly reading series, Lyrics & Dirges creates space for the celebration of the voices that make up the vibrant Bay Area literary scene, with a carefully curated mix of seasoned writers, emerging talents, and beginners sharing their work. At Lyrics and Dirges, we believe that every voice deserves to be heard and amplified, no matter how big or small. We honor the stories and experiences that make us uniquely human and strive to create a welcoming and inclusive space where everyone can feel seen and heard. We create magical gatherings where community comes together to share words, share stories and build a literary ecosystem that uplifts and empowers us all.
Curators are Beasts!

Lyrics & Dirges celebrates the literary luminaries who make things happen! Curators are Beasts celebrates an array of curators from across the Bay Area, each of whom has spent countless hours, days, and weeks crafting immersive literary events that feed our minds, souls, and spirits. So join Lyrics & Dirges for an evening of gratitude, inspiration, and artistic revelry as we celebrate the powerful impact of event curators on the literary landscape.

Cassandra Dallett has been published in over a hundred online and print magazines, was named a writer to watch in 7x7 magazine 2016, look for links at cassandradallet.com. Cassandra hosts the monthly writing workshop OnTwoSix, and co-hosts the quarterly reading series Moon Drop Productions. Her first full-length book of poetry Wet Reckless (Manic D Press) was released in 2014. In 2015, she authored five chapbooks one of them, On Sunday, A Finch (Nomadic Press) was nominated for a California Book Award, 2018 brought the release of another full-length collection, Collapse, also on Nomadic Press, most recently A Pretty Little Wilderness on Be About it Press 2020.

Kelechi Ubozoh is a Nigerian-American writer and mental health advocate who blends the reality of trauma, race, and mental health into her writing. Kelechi co-hosts the Bay Area submission-based reading series MoonDrop Productions with Cassandra Dallett. She has performed at the Berkeley Poetry Festival (2019), Oakland’s Beast Crawl (2016-2017) and San Francisco’s Litquake (2018-2019). For the past three years she has performed at Litcrawl with Cocoa Fly, an all-Black women troupe. Her work is published in Endangered Species, Enduring Values edited by Shizue Seigel. In 2019, she published her anthology with L.D. Green, We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health. She is currently working on a collection of poetry through memoir.

Paul Corman-Roberts is the author Bone Moon Palace from Nomadic Press (2021) a CLMP Firecracker nominated full length poetry collection. Most recently he released the graphic chapbook The Sincere (with Ray Swaney) from Libran Apocaplyse Books (2022.) An original founder and organizer of the Beast Crawl Lit Festival (Summer Beast 2022 - Beast Crawl Literary Festival) he currently teaches workshops for the Older Writer’s Lab, the SF Creative Writing Institute and the Oakland Unified School District, as well as co-founder, co-director of Collapse Press. He sometimes fills in as a drummer for the U.S. Ghostal Service and the Poznansky Sisters, but mostly he is just exhausted.

Sam Sax is a queer jewish writer and educator. They're the author of Pig (Scribner, 2023), Bury it (winner of the James Laughlin Award), and Madness (Winner of the National Poetry Series). They're a lecturer in the ITALIC Program at stanford university and their first novel Yr Dead will be out with McSweeney's in 2024.

Maw Shein Win's most recent poetry collection is Storage Unit for the Spirit House(Omnidawn) which was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, and shortlisted for CALIBA's Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. Win's previous collections include Invisible Gifts (ManicD Press) and two chapbooks Ruins of a glittering palace (SPA) and Score and Bone (Nomadic Press). Win’s Process Note Series features poets and their process. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA and teaches poetry in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco. Win often collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers and was recently selected as a 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree. Along with Dawn Angelicca Barcelona and Mary Volmer, she is a co-founder of Maker, Mentor, Muse, a new literary community. mawsheinwin.com

Kevin Dublin is an educator, advocate, and writer. As founder of The Living Room SF and director of Litquake’s Elder Writing Project, he’s committed to helping nurture emerging writers of all ages. He is author of How to Fall in Love in San Diego (Finishing Line Press, 2017), Eulogy (Raven & Wren Press, 2023) and his words have recently appeared in The San Franciscan, Cincinnati Review, North Carolina Literary Review & more. He resides in San Francisco, holds an MFA from San Diego State, and for a little Black boy from Smithfield, NC, believes he has been brought a mighty long way.
Leg 2 (5:30-6:30pm) Venue: The Hatch

The Hatch We are back! Thank you for your support. Its been a year like no other but we are happy to still be here serving you your favorite food and drinks.
Small bites for every occasion featuring our world famous fresh cut fries and homemade sauces.
Enjoy our signature burgers and sandwiches or make your own custom creation. Sky's the limit.
Your favorire Hatch Cocktails, Slushes and beers are now available for takeout.
Your friends at The Hatch.
Small bites for every occasion featuring our world famous fresh cut fries and homemade sauces.
Enjoy our signature burgers and sandwiches or make your own custom creation. Sky's the limit.
Your favorire Hatch Cocktails, Slushes and beers are now available for takeout.
Your friends at The Hatch.
Preachers, Reachers, and Teachers
California Poets in the Schools Laney College presents "Preachers, Reachers and Teachers." Tobey Kaplan and friends: Long -time Oakland poet and educator presents the best of the BEAST-- literary luminaries--writers who teach and encourage critical and creative process in the classroom and in the streets; these EAST BAY instructors will share their own work that inspires others to craft their own memoirs, poetry, essays and fiction.

Tobey Kaplan, a poet originally from New York City, with degrees from Syracuse and San Francisco State Universities, has been teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirty years. An active member of California Poets in the Schools and Associated Writing Programs, Ms. Kaplan has given readings, workshops and presentations throughout the country regarding creative process, literacy and social change. She had previously worked for the Washoe Tribe to coordinate a range of educational services and identify career building programs for the Native American community in Alameda Country.
Ms. Kaplan has received grants from the California Arts Council, 1979-1982 to serve as poet in residence at community mental health centers, and has also taught creative writing as an adult education instructor at Pleasant Hill Adult School. She has also worked for Contra Costa County Schools as an instructor in the jails, and for Project Second Chance as the detention facilities tutor coordinator. Her honors include: being named Dorland Mountain Colony Fellow, honorable mention Crazyhorse poetry prize 2008 and Affiliate Artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts, as well as being the recipient of a Bay Area Award (New Langton Arts, 1996). Among her publications are: Across the Great Divide ( Androgyne, 1995). Her poems are contained in numerous literary anthologies. As an adjunct faculty member, Tobey Kaplan currently teaches creative writing, literature, humanities, reading and composition at several East Bay community colleges.
Ms. Kaplan has received grants from the California Arts Council, 1979-1982 to serve as poet in residence at community mental health centers, and has also taught creative writing as an adult education instructor at Pleasant Hill Adult School. She has also worked for Contra Costa County Schools as an instructor in the jails, and for Project Second Chance as the detention facilities tutor coordinator. Her honors include: being named Dorland Mountain Colony Fellow, honorable mention Crazyhorse poetry prize 2008 and Affiliate Artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts, as well as being the recipient of a Bay Area Award (New Langton Arts, 1996). Among her publications are: Across the Great Divide ( Androgyne, 1995). Her poems are contained in numerous literary anthologies. As an adjunct faculty member, Tobey Kaplan currently teaches creative writing, literature, humanities, reading and composition at several East Bay community colleges.

Novelist, poet and essayist Judy Juanita’s poetry collection, Manhattan my ass, you’re in Oakland, won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 2021. In her semi-autobiographical novel, Virgin Soul [Viking, 2013]; its protagonist joins the Black Panther Party in the sixties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her collection of short stories, The High Price of Freeways, won the 2021 Tartt Fiction Award, [Livingston Press, 2022 ]. Her work has Pushcart Prize nominations for (poem) “Bling” 2012; (essay) “The Gun as Performance Poem” 2014; and (short story) “The Black House” 2022.

Sarah Kobrinsky is the former Poet Laureate of Emeryville, CA. She is the author of Nighttime on the Other Side of Everything (New Rivers Press). Her poems and stories have appeared in Magma Poetry, Red Light Lit, Eleven Eleven, Monkeybicycle, *82 Review, 100 Word Story, Fjords Review, among many others. She was long-listed for the 2019 University of Canberra Vice Chancellor's Poetry Prize. She was born in Canada, raised in North Dakota, seasoned in England, and tempered in California. Sarah and her husband have a handmade ceramic dinnerware company in the Bay Area called Jered's Pottery. She is also a martial artist and an aspiring polyglot.

Carol Dorf is a Zoeglossia fellow, whose poetry has been published in several chapbooks and in journals that include "About Place," “Cutthroat, “Unlikely Stories," "Great Weather For Media,” "The Mom Egg," "Sin Fronteras," "Scientific American," and "Maintenant." She is founding poetry editor of Talking Writing. She’s taught in a variety of settings including BCC, Berkeley High School, Berkeley Arts Magnet, Lawrence Hall of Science, and as a California poet-in-the-schools.
Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Oakland Photo Workshop

Oakland Photo Workshop is a community gallery and workspace, offering exhibitions by local photographers and community groups, as well as photography classes, talks by local artists, photo walks, and meetups.
We’re in the historic Asian Resource Center building, in the heart of beautiful Oakland Chinatown.
We’re in the historic Asian Resource Center building, in the heart of beautiful Oakland Chinatown.

LA PALABRA MUSICAL/THE MUSIC OF THE WORD is the East Bay’s longest running Multi-Lingual Poetry Reading & still going strong promoting the beauty of all our cultures, languages & diversity. We’ve featured Writers in Spanish/English, Cantonese/English, Tagalog/English, Yoruba/English, Farsi/English, 2 different Native American languages/English, Arabic, German, Ladino, Quechua, Haitian Creole, , etc. from international Poets & Storytellers & more. Many times we have Musicians & we always have 2 to 4 Features & 10 Open Mic readers & our Features have ranged from 10 Years Old to 92 years Young. The only requirement is excellence!!! We meet the 4th Saturday of every Month from 3PM to 5PM hosted by AVOTCJA Since the Pandemic shut down we’ve been meeting on Zoom, but we’ll be returning to our Home base hopefully in July. @ CESAR E. CHAVEZ BRANCH OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

Writer, Musician, Storyteller, KPOO & KPFA Avotcja Na (pronounced Avacha) is a card carrying New York born Music fanatic/sound junkie & popular Bay Area Radio DeeJay. She’s a lifelong Musician/Writer/Educator/Storyteller & is on a shamelessly Spirit driven melodic mission to heal herself. Avotcja talks to the Trees & listens to the Wind against the concrete & when they answer it usually winds up in a Poem or Short Story. Checl out Avotcja on Facebook or Youtube.

TONY ALDARONDO has performed music and poetry in venues throughout the San Francisco Bay area, overseas and once while standing up on a Jetblue airplane. He is also an actor and a voice over artist. His first poetry book titled, BIG HEART POET from Humming Word Press is out now! Website: tonyaldarondo.com

SUSANA PRAVER-PÉREZ is a Pushcart-nominated poet and a winner of the San Francisco/Nomadic Press Literary Award (2021). Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies, and her first full-length collection of poetry, HURRICANES, LOVE AFFAIRS, & OTHER DISASTERS was released by Nomadic Press in June 2021. susanapraverperez.com

RAS MO MOSES is a poet, composer, singer, storyteller , educator & recording artist from the island of Dominica. He uses performing arts for violence prevention, gender & race equality, social justice and community building. He has published three books of poetry and two albums of music. Website: rasmomoses.com

Dizzy Jenkins, also known as Dimebag Dizzy, is the multi-talented singer/songwriter, bomba drummer and heavy metal vocalist hailing from New York City now calling the Bay Area their home. They have released two solo hip hop albums, City Baby and Algorithm & Blues, Skeleton Key, and her latest album, In Case I Don’t Make it, is a collaborative effort with Women’s Audio Mission, showcasing their incredible range as a bomba composer. Additionally, they are a talented spoken word artist who have recently featured at Litquake's Poetic Tuesdays.

Keith Mar is a spoken word artist and psychotherapist who specializes in the Asian-American experience. who works in images, colors and unflinchingly honest personal stories. His poetry asks questions about race, identity.
Leg 3 (7pm - 8pm) Venue: Graffiti Pizza

Lower Grand Radio (LGR) is a local online radio station that has operated out of Oakland for the last 9 years. It is a community spaces that broadcast underground music, talk radio, poetry, and experimental sound. Makes it's space, equipment, and resources free for community members, so they can broadcast their stories, music, and voices to a larger audience.
Down Bad & spit in the ocean
This is a collaborative event between two Lower Grand Radio Shows that center the voices of Bay Area writers! In this reading, poets will come face to face with their down bad.

Zoe Williams works and lives in San Francisco.
Twitter: yeeetgang
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Twitter: yeeetgang
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D'mani Thomas (he \ they) is a writer, nerd and aspiring game enthusiast from Oakland, California. He’s interested in the tiny moments that capture attention spans. He has received invitations to fellowship from The Watering Hole, Foglifter, Afro Urban Society, and UC Berkeley’s Art & Research Center via The Engaging the Senses Foundation. In 2023, they became a finalist for the 2022 Penrose Poetry Prize. They were also recently awarded an emerging voices fellowship through PEN America for the 2023 cycle. D’mani’s debut chapbook, “Grown-up Elementary”, was published earlier this year through Nomadic Press. Outside of poetry, catch them studying horror movies, dancing, and eating too many fries.

Lora Mathis is from San Diego. She has published two collections of poetry including The Women Widowed to Themselves and Here I Am In It. Her third book, The Snakes Came Back, is coming out with Metatron Press in September. They have been sharing her art and poetry online for the last twelve years, and have utilized digital tools as a part of their practice. Mathis primarily works in digital mediums, including video, photography, and graphic design, although she has also gotten into making sculptures and printmaking. Lately she has been performing poetry with her sound collaborator Matty Terrones.

Seraphina Perkins is a multidisciplinary artist, poet and folk musician. She weaves these themes together through traditional song, hymns and deep sound accompanied by string instruments. These expressions allow her to explore ancestry, connection to nature, steady growth, loss and longing in an ephemeral way.

Ocean Escalanti (she/her) is an indigenous visual artist and poet residing in Oakland, CA. Her written work is a testimony of urban living and navigating space while searching for communion with natural elements. Ocean has read poetry and/or facilitated natural dye workshops at BAMPFA, Berkeley and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. She self publishes both her written and visual work, vending zines and printed ephemera throughout the West Coast and beyond.

Sophie Appel is a poet, archivist, and curator based in Los Angeles.
Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Tamarack

Tamarack is a collectively run bar and restaurant, serving simple and delicious comfort food with inspiration from all over the world. Our menu includes rotating craft cocktails focused on house made ingredients, in addition to a selection of local beer, wine, and premium liquor. We see the communal act of eating, drinking, and being together as a foundation for growing friendships and building the world of our dreams.
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