Hear the brilliance of young Oakland writers! Started in 2012, the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate (OYPL) program is an unprecedented citywide effort to celebrate literacy through poetry and connect young writers to far-reaching opportunities. Each year OYPL accepts applications from talented Oakland writers (ages 13-18) to join a community of young poets. The program is run by the Oakland Public Library with support from the Friends of the Oakland Public Library. Nairobi Barnes, 2023 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Michelle Vong - 2023 Oakland Vice Youth Poet Laureate Ella Gordon, 2023 OYPL Finalist Maya Raveneu-Bey, 2023 OYPL Finalist Xander Timmons, 2022 OYPL Finalist Oakland Youth Poet Laureate information, videos, and bios. OYPL at BEAST CRAWL! Leg 1 (4pm -5pm) Venue: Dusk Coffee/ Latham Square  Dusk Coffee is a cafe in Oakland, CA. Our experienced staff provides friendly and prompt service for a remarkable cafe experience. We value our customers and strive to satisfy your coffee cravings by serving you our cafe's best and tastiest recipes. Our coffee shop is the perfect place to meet a high standard of flavor and sustainability. We are friendly and care about the customer experience here. We are confident that one visit will satisfy your cravings and give you an unforgettable day. Dusk Coffee also offers the following: Coffee, Matcha, Happy Hour Wine, Pastries, And More! At Dusk Coffee, we treat every customer like family. We are dedicated and committed to providing a comfortable environment. Our team ensures it continues to be the best destination for excellent and tasty beverages for any occasion. We are dedicated to ensuring that our customers are served exceptional quality drinks and food every time. For more information about our cafe and delicious food and drinks, do not hesitate to visit Dusk Coffee today!
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Liwanag 3: Readings From the Filipinx American Arts Anthology
SOMA Pilipinas in collaboration with Kearny Street Workshop is proud to release the newest entry into the Liwanag series. As the original Liwanag (1975) and Liwanag 2 (1993) amplified the voices of local, Bay Area Pilipinx American artists of those time periods, Liwanag 3 showcases and reflects upon the evolution of the Pilipinx identity of today. Liwanag 3 features a wide range of genres in poetry, fiction, playwriting, comics and graphic novels; Visual arts include paintings, illustrations and photography. AbOut Kearny Street Workshop (KSW)Founded in 1972, during the height of the Asian American cultural movement, Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) is the oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary arts organization in the country. Kearny Street Workshop offers classes and workshops, salons, and student presentations, as well as professionally curated and produced exhibitions, performances, readings, and screenings. KSW makes artists out of community members and community members out of artists. For the past 51 years, KSW has nurtured the creative spirit, offered an important platform for new voices to be heard, and connected artists with community. ABOUT SOMA PILIPINAS The cultural heritage district honors the over 120-year Filipino history and living legacy of making home, celebrating culture, building community and fighting for economic and racial justice. Embodying the spirit of bayanihan, SOMA Pilipinas supports a community-in-action in the highly gentrified South of Market neighborhood — the technology capital of the world for the last decade. SOMA Pilipinas was officially established as SF’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District in 2016 and was among the first selected for state designation by the California Arts Council in 2017. SOMA Pilipinas in collaboration with Kearny Street Workshop is proud to release the newest entry into the Liwanag series. As the original Liwanag (1975) and Liwanag 2 (1993) amplified the voices of local, Bay Area Pilipinx American artists of those time periods, Liwanag 3 showcases and reflects upon the evolution of the Pilipinx identity of today. Liwanag 3 features a wide range of genres in poetry, fiction, playwriting, comics and graphic novels; Visual arts include paintings, illustrations and photography. Leg 2 (5:30-6:30) Venue: First Edition 1915 (Balcony)  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. #We- queer perspectives #we presents four powerful writers from marginalized segments of the queer spectrum, including trans, intersex, and poets of color, will present their perspectives and very likely change yours.  Dena Rod is a non-binary poet and essayist whose work has been highlighted in My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora, Autostraddle, and The Rumpus. Their debut poetry collection Scattered Arils is now in its fourth print run from Milk and Cake Press. Dena writes to illuminate their experiences in the Iranian American diaspora and queer communities. They're currently at work on their first novel. Connect with Dena at their website, denarod.com.  LD Green (they/them) is a queer and non-binary writer, performer, and community college professor living in Richmond, California on Ohlone Land. They have been published on Salon, The Body is Not an Apology, Foglifter, and elsewhere. They co-edited We've Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health with Kelechi Ubozoh (North Atlantic Books, 2019) and authored Phoenix Song (Nomadic Press, 2022). Their queer and trans rom com fantasy screenplay Journey to the Enchanted Inkwell has been a finalist in the Script2Comic Contest and Screencraft Virtual Pitch Contest in 2023 and earned them a spot at a Stowe Screenwriting Retreat. They are working on adapting this script into a graphic novel with artist Ana 'Vee' Valdez.  Julian Mithra hovers between genders and genres, border-mongering and -mongreling. Winner of the 2023 Alcove Chapbook Prize, Promiscuous Ruin (WTAW, 2023) twists through labyrinthine deer stalks in the imperiled wilderness of inhibited desire. Unearthingly (KERNPUNKT, 2022) excavates forgotten spaces. Read recent work in Paperbark, Heavy Feather Review and newsinews.  Tom Odegard is a gender-fluid empath, a non-binary two-spirit, builder, sailor, retired firefighter, jack of many trades and in order to remain sane, a poet. He learned he was intersex (47 xxy/KS) when he was 65. It was a vindication for all the struggles he'd endured until then. Since that time he has been an outspoken advocate for all intersex folk. He lives variously in Oakland, CA and Friday Harbor, WA. #we was a bi-monthly talk and reading series of queer perspectives curated by Richard Loranger in Oakland, CA. Each installment featured two presenters from various segments of the queer spectrum, each of whom gave a prepared talk on their perspective on or experience of queerness, followed by a reading or performance of their creative work. The series had an emphasis on marginalization from without and/or within the queer community, though did not require that exclusively. The series ran from November 2018 through January 2020, then preferring an in-person experience, shut down due to the pandemic. We hope to start it up again sometime soon. Leg 2: 5:30-6:30p Venue: Awaken Cafe 1429 Broadway
ABOUT AWAKEN CAFE: Awaken Cafe Rocking it in downtown Oakland since 2008, Awaken Cafe & Roasting is a community coffee-house, espresso bar, best-in-class coffee gear retailer, restaurant, beer & wine bar, and event venue. But mainly we are here to help bring people together to launch what's next for Oakland and the world, and we might as well #drinkgoodcoffee while we're at it. We roast our coffee regularly at Pulley Collective in West Oakland.  Pochino Press offers a multi-media stage for change makers and culture creators. Our mission is to publish works that illuminate stories, which originate in the intersections where hybrid cultures not only meet, but form a new sensibility. Pochino Press' showcase for the 2023 Beast Crawl Festival is a celebration of the anthology "Después del Aguacero," a collection of works from the Pan Dulce Reading Series. This event took place between 2015 and 2017 at La Reyna Bakery in the Mission District of San Francisco. This will be an intergenerational event with veteran writers Paul Aponte, Ricardo Tavarez, Norma Smith, Lina Rincón reading alongside up-and-coming poets. Paul Aponte is a Chicano Poet from Sacramento. He is a member of the writers groups Círculo and Escritores Del Nuevo Sol. His work has been anthologized in El Tecolote Press’ Poetry in Flight, Sacramento Poetry Center's Poetry Now, and Soñadores - We Came To Dream. He can be found at poetry readings throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Lina Rincón is an immigrant, sociologist, teacher and poet. She is originally from Colombia. Her poetry has been published in Harvard’s journal “Palabritas”, Acentos Review, in Puerto del Sol's series "Voz," Rejoinder Magazine and iō Literary Journal. Norma Smith lives in Oakland, Cali. She has worked as a journalist, a translator-interpreter, community scholar-educator, event and conference organizer, and as an editor, writing coach, and workshop facilitator. Nomadic Press published Norma’s first book of poems, HOME REMEDY in 2017. Ricardo Tavarez is a Bay Area educator and arts organizer. He co-founded the Pan Dulce Poets with Louie Gutierrez from La Reyna Bakery for the 2015 International SF Flor y Canto Festival. You can find Ricardo jogging along Lake Merritt and hiking along the Oakland Hills. Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Oaklandish  Oaklandish started in 2000 as a public art project designed to illuminate Oakland’s local history and unique cultural legacy. After years of covert multi-media stunts around the Town, the Oaklandish brand of apparel was introduced to help support our ongoing calendar of free events and pro bono work. Our mission is to spread “local love” by way of our civic pride-evoking tees and accessories, while creating quality jobs for locals, and giving back to the people and places that maintain our city’s trailblazer spirit. So, wear it well. When you rock these roots, you're representing and supporting Oakland! El Martillo Press
OUR FOUNDERS: Matt Sedillo has been described as the "best political poet in America" as well as "the poet laureate of the struggle". His work has drawn comparisons in print to Bertolt Brecht, Roque Dalton, Amiri Baraka, Alan Ginsberg, Carl Sandburg and various other legends of the past. David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. About EL MARTILLO PRESS El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. El Martillo Press proactively publishes writers looking to pound the pavement to promote their work and the work of their fellow pressmates. There is strength in El Martillo. Founded in Los Angeles in 2023 by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, and launched with a diverse group of celebrated and hardworking writers who embody our working-class intellectual spirit, El Martillo Press maintains an editorial board that makes its selections for publishing. LEG 2: 5:30-6:30p VENUE: Make Westing 1741 Telegraph Av  ABOUT MAKE WESTING:
www.makewesting.com What's with the name? The name "Make Westing" comes from a short story by Oakland native Jack London. While a bit grim and violent, the tale centers on the overwhelming need to make the westing wind back home to Oakland - to a place of warmth and family (and bocce courts?). Who are we? Make Westing is located in the thriving Uptown district of Oakland. Wood, iron, and slate make up the décor that resonates with the industrial heritage of our city. We are equipped with a full bar, a variety of gourmet bites, an outdoor patio, and two indoor bocce courts. The Fox theater is less than one block away, and the 19th st. BART stop is across the street. Why Bocce? While we are not bocce aficionados per se, we did play at some of our favorite bars in Brooklyn and the lanes fit the space perfectly, while serving as an entertaining companion to a cocktail. The courts are first come, first serve and are free. When there are others waiting, each group may play one game to seven and then give up the court to the next group in line. If you would like to rent the bocce courts, we do so at $50 per hour, per court. What else? Make Westing is more a bar than restaurant and as such (according to the alcohol beverage control rules) no one under 21 is allowed, infants included. For credit cards, we request a $10 minimum. As relates to credit cards - some banks will place a temporary double charge on certain cards only as a hold and will release the charge within 7-10 business days. We have no idea why they do this, but it happens often enough that we thought we should mention it. We have an ATM on site. Superbloom: A CWC-Berkeley Reading
THE California Writers Club was started by a group of civic-minded writing professionals in the early 1900s. They met informally until 1909—often in "The Hights." which is now Joaquin Miller Park— when the Club was incorporated, with Austin Lewis as its first president. The Berkeley Branch is the founding branch of the statewide Club, which now has 19 branches and around 2000 members throughout California. We are the third oldest writers’ club in the country. LEG 1: 4-5pm VENUE: Make Westing 1741 Telegraph ABOUT MAKE WESTING:
www.makewesting.com What's with the name? The name "Make Westing" comes from a short story by Oakland native Jack London. While a bit grim and violent, the tale centers on the overwhelming need to make the westing wind back home to Oakland - to a place of warmth and family (and bocce courts?). Who are we? Make Westing is located in the thriving Uptown district of Oakland. Wood, iron, and slate make up the décor that resonates with the industrial heritage of our city. We are equipped with a full bar, a variety of gourmet bites, an outdoor patio, and two indoor bocce courts. The Fox theater is less than one block away, and the 19th st. BART stop is across the street. Why Bocce? While we are not bocce aficionados per se, we did play at some of our favorite bars in Brooklyn and the lanes fit the space perfectly, while serving as an entertaining companion to a cocktail. The courts are first come, first serve and are free. When there are others waiting, each group may play one game to seven and then give up the court to the next group in line. If you would like to rent the bocce courts, we do so at $50 per hour, per court. What else? Make Westing is more a bar than restaurant and as such (according to the alcohol beverage control rules) no one under 21 is allowed, infants included. For credit cards, we request a $10 minimum. As relates to credit cards - some banks will place a temporary double charge on certain cards only as a hold and will release the charge within 7-10 business days. We have no idea why they do this, but it happens often enough that we thought we should mention it. We have an ATM on site. BLACK FREIGHTER PRESS @ Beast Crawl Black Freighter Press publishes revolutionary books. We are committed to the exploration of liberation, using art to transform consciousness. A platform for Black and Brown writers to honor ancestry and propel radical imagination.  Black Freighter Press is excited to be curating a Beast Crawl reading featuring a few of our favorite creative minds. Meilani Clay, Zouhair Mussa, Ladi Rev, and Darius Simpson. Hosted by Alie Jones & Tongo Eisen-Martin
 Alie Jones is a self-care advocate, writer, artist, and Creole mermaid. She is Co-founder and Director of Black Freighter Press, a revolutionary press committed to the exploration of liberation, using art to transform consciousness. Alie graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Mills College. She is the host of the podcast called Chit Chat with Aliecat , a platform to explore self-care practices and journeys of self-love in community. Leg 3: 7-8p Venue: First Edition 1915 (patio)
CHAPTER 510 AND FRIENDS - MAGICAL PROFESSORS  Step into the offices of the department of Make Believe and come see a reading featuring the enchanted teachers and staff (past and present) of Chapter 510. This reading will feature poets and prose writers and promises to be a unique experience reflected by the amazing and various magical educators who have taught our youth. We will journey across the different departments at the organization. Everything from our department of far off ideas, to our offices of powerful beginnings all the way to the department of fantastic futures.  Duane Horton is a black queer fantasy writer who is from the Midwest but resides in the Bay Area. He believes in writing his intersection of identity into his fantasy pieces, to widen the cannon of literature and so that folks who share his intersection of identity can see themselves represented on the page more. He graduated with his MFA in creative writing from Mills college in 2019 and since then, has been published in numerous literary magazines including Green Mountains Review, Sapphire Hues Press and more. He uses his background in feminist studies to create stories that offer possible blue prints for the future, as he believes this is one of the many uses of the fantasy genre. Duane is a current teaching artist with Chapter 510 and his fantasy writing workshop just produced an anthology named 'Empowered Origins'.  Jahan Khalighi, a spoken word poet, youth educator and community arts organizer, leads creative writing workshops for personal and collective transformation in a wide range of settings, from juvenile detention centers to classrooms, from community centers to boardrooms. He is currently Director of Programs at Chapter 510, a youth creative writing and publishing program in Oakland, CA. Jahan has performed widely, including at: TEDxSonoma, YBCA, Mission Cultural Center, Bioneers and Esalen; and some of his work has been published in Tarot In Pandemic & Revolution, Stay Amazed, and Whoa Nelly Press.  Daniel B. Summerhill is a poet, essayist and scholar from Oakland, CA. His work has appeared in Columbia Journal, Obsidian, The Progressive, Academy of American Poets and elsewhere. he is the author of two collections of poems, Divine, Divine, Divine (Nomadic Press 2021) which was a semi-finalist for the Wheeler and Saturnalia Poetry Prizes respectively and Mausoleum of Flowers (Cavankerry Press 2022). Summerhill has earned fellowships from Baldwin for the Arts and The Watering Hole. He is Assistant Professor of Poetry at Santa Clara University and is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Monterey County.  Tavia Stewart is a writer, mom, activist, teacher, and magical thinker living in Oakland. She has nearly 20 years of experience running literary and community nonprofits. Prior to joining Chapter 510 as a co-founder, she co-ran National Novel Writing Month where she spent nine years building the organization’s Young Writers Program. Previously Tavia interned; volunteered; and worked for 826 Valencia, McSweeney's Publishing, ZYZZYVA, and Watchword Press. She is a co-author of Ready, Set, Novel (Chronicle Books). She is a proud 2020 YBCA Fellow, and the lucky mom of one highly energetic (and dramatic) nine-year-old humanoid.  Yodassa Williams is a Jamaican American author and performing storyteller who crafts from an Afro-Feminist Fantasy lense. Yodassa served as a mentor for Chapter 501's After Origins youth writing series in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. An alumna of the VONA/Voices Travel Writing program, and creator of the storytelling podcast ‘The Black Girl Magic Files', she has taught storytelling craft through Girls, Inc, and blogged for the 2020 Debutante Ball. Yodassa has performed her personal parables at events including: The Black Woman is God, The Moth (SF), StorySlam, the Berkeley Book Festival and The Monkey House. In October of 2019, Yodassa launched ‘Writers Emerging’ a four day wilderness writing retreat for women of color, held at Fly Ranch, NV. She is currently fundraising with aims to repeat the event and continue serving black femme creatives. Her debut novel, The Goddess Twins, was published by SparkPress in May 2020. This Young Adult fantasy details the adventure of seventeen year old Caribbean American twins discovering they are goddesses when their mother goes missing. It is the intended first book of a series. Leg: 2 (5:30 pm - 6:30 pm) Venue: Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe
MISSION Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center. Our teaching artists and volunteers work side by side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community so Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8-19 can bravely write. VISION We want every young person in Oakland to write with confidence and joy. WHAT WE STAND FOR We believe that writing is an act of liberation. Young people transform themselves and their communities when they write and get published, succeeding in work, school, and life. INSPIRED BY Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe is and 826 National-inspired organization.  Black Lawrence Press, located in New York, specializes in contemporary poetry and prose. Black Lawrence Press is welcoming nearly 100 Nomadic Press titles to their repertoire, and they look forward to participating in Beast Crawl for an official meeting and promoting of the many authors who are joining Black Lawrence. This will be the first BLP + Nomadic reading! Don't miss it!  Luiza Flynn-Goodlett is the author of Borrowed Time (forthcoming from Northwestern University Press) and Look Alive (winner of the 2019 Cowles Poetry Book Prize from Southeast Missouri State University Press), along with seven chapbooks, most recently The Undead, winner of Sixth Finch Books' 2020 Chapbook Contest, and Shadow Box, winner of the 2019 Madhouse Press Editor's Prize. Her poetry can be found in Fugue, Five Points, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. She serves as Managing Editor of the Whiting Award–winning LGBTQ+ literary journal and press Foglifter. Her critical work has appeared in Cleaver, Pleiades, The Adroit Journal, and other venues.  Kelliane Parker' s debut chapbook is, "Down the Foggy Streets of my Mind." A queer, Latinx, performance artist and poet living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, (DID), her work explores a lived experience of navigating the world through multiple lenses. She is a frequent feature at poetry readings and has been published in numerous anthologies such as, "Light on the Walls of Life", a tribute anthology to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Colossus series. When not reading poetry, she can be found speaking about de-pathologizing mental health.  MK Chavez is an Afro-Latinx writer, educator, multi-disciplinary artist, and curator. Chavez is co-director of the Berkeley Poetry Festival and co-founder and curator of Lyrics & Dirges and teaches and supports writers at Ouroboros Writing Lab. Chavez's writing explores identity, social injustice, environmental degradation, horror cinema, magic, and ritual and has been recognized with a Pen Oakland Josephine Miles award, the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Literary Award. Chavez is a 2018 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award recipient and a 2023 YBCA 100 fellow. Chavez’s literary offerings include Dear Animal, Mothermorphosis, the lyric essay chapbook A Brief History of the Selfie, and Virgin Eyes. Chavez’s work can be found among the trees in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park through the Voices of the Trees Project.  Cyrus Armajani teaches reading and creative writing to youth who are incarcerated. He is a Jefferson Award recipient for his literacy work in the juvenile justice system and a Pushcart nominee. His poems have appeared in Matter: A Journal of Political Poetry and Commentary, Poetry Magazine, RHINO 2018 and Sparkle and Blink, among other publications. Benefits of Doubt (Nomadic Press/Black Lawrence Press) is his first book. Cyrus is Iranian-American and lives in Oakland, California with his wife and two sons.  Lauren L. Wheeler writes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and what happens when they rub up against each other. A recovering slam poet, she twice competed at the National Poetry Slam and has featured at Cornell University, where she studied English Literature, as well as in Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Lauren is the author of the poetry collection In Between Places (Nomadic Press, 2022). Her work has appeared online and in print in such publications as PANK, The Nervous Breakdown, The Rumpus, and the pop-culture website Black Nerd Problems. Lauren also has spent most of the last two decades working in the tech industry as a producer, program manager, product manager — all the jobs that start with a P. She’s worked on video games (notably The Sims and Star Wars: The Old Republic), consumer robots (Cozmo and Anki Overdrive), and recently, self-driving cars at Cruise. Lauren also has experience in marketing, political organizing and communications, and is a proud Arena Summit alum. Lauren lives with her kid, spouse, and two brown dogs in West Oakland, California, also known as xučyun (Huichin), the unceded ancestral territory of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people. She believes in paying her taxes. You can find her doomscrolling on Twitter as @fightingwords and posting ocular proof on Instagram at @fightingw0rds. Leg: 3 (7pm - 8pm) Venue: Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe  MISSION Chapter 510 is a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center. Our teaching artists and volunteers work side by side with educators to provide a safe space and supportive community so Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8-19 can bravely write. VISION We want every young person in Oakland to write with confidence and joy. WHAT WE STAND FOR We believe that writing is an act of liberation. Young people transform themselves and their communities when they write and get published, succeeding in work, school, and life. INSPIRED BY Chapter 510 & the Dept. of Make / Believe is and 826 National-inspired organization. PAPER PRESS PRESENTS: PRINCIPLES OF LIGHT Paper Press Books & Associates Publishing Company. This year at Beast Crawl Literary Festival, we present writers with whom we have worked in the past, whose work we cherish and value, yet have not published. These voices need to be heard. Purchase a Paper Press book today and see why writers and readers enjoy the time and energy we invest in every step of production. paperpressbooks.org   Charisel Angelle Parla is a bilingual Cuban-American poet and educator. Her poetry explores the nuances and intersections of memory, grief, heritage, addiction, and identity. A native of Miami, FL, Charisel earned her MFA in Creative Writing from The University of San Francisco, and currently resides in Oakland, CA where she works with recently arrived immigrant youth at Oakland International High School.  Thomas Dunn is a multi-media artist, poet, and experimental filmmaker from Midland, Michigan. A proud graduate of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Thomas is currently completing his MFA in Writing at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.  Antony Fangary is a writer and visual artist living in San Francisco. He was awarded the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and is the author of HARAM (Etched Press 2019). His poetry has recently appeared in Gulf Coast, The Sycamore Review, West Branch, and elsewhere. His work has received support from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.  Colleen Shoshana McKee, aging Riot Grrl and singer, is the author of six collections of poetry, memoir, and fiction including The Kingdom of Roly-Polys (Pedestrian Press); and Routine Bloodwork (Headmistress Press). She teaches writing, and US Citizenship Test preparation. She’s also an editor. Oakland is her home. ColleenShoshanaMcKee.com  A product of the hip-hop generation, Bleu’s storytelling first manifested itself in the form of rhythm and poetry as a rapper. He and his crew were local heroes, but sixteen bars limited his vision, so he changed up and took it to the next level. From seeking that next level and stepping out of his comfort zone, Bleu learned that inspiration cannot be stifled and that evolution is imminent. If you are looking for raw, honest expression from the underground, you’ve found it in LaMont Anthony Wright. Although Bleu’s family tree is peppered with a long line of story tellers, smack talkers and intellectuals, some of his early influences also came from works by Edgar Allen Poe, Orson Welles and Rod Sterling. www.gbleu.com Leg 3: 7pm-8pm Venue: Make Westing, 1741 Telegraph  ABOUT MAKE WESTING: www.makewesting.com What's with the name? The name "Make Westing" comes from a short story by Oakland native Jack London. While a bit grim and violent, the tale centers on the overwhelming need to make the westing wind back home to Oakland - to a place of warmth and family (and bocce courts?). Who are we? Make Westing is located in the thriving Uptown district of Oakland. Wood, iron, and slate make up the décor that resonates with the industrial heritage of our city. We are equipped with a full bar, a variety of gourmet bites, an outdoor patio, and two indoor bocce courts. The Fox theater is less than one block away, and the 19th st. BART stop is across the street. Why Bocce? While we are not bocce aficionados per se, we did play at some of our favorite bars in Brooklyn and the lanes fit the space perfectly, while serving as an entertaining companion to a cocktail. The courts are first come, first serve and are free. When there are others waiting, each group may play one game to seven and then give up the court to the next group in line. If you would like to rent the bocce courts, we do so at $50 per hour, per court. What else? Make Westing is more a bar than restaurant and as such (according to the alcohol beverage control rules) no one under 21 is allowed, infants included. For credit cards, we request a $10 minimum. As relates to credit cards - some banks will place a temporary double charge on certain cards only as a hold and will release the charge within 7-10 business days. We have no idea why they do this, but it happens often enough that we thought we should mention it. We have an ATM on site. |
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