 Poetry Flash builds community through literature, providing literary writing, access to literary activities, information and inspiration to writers and the public through publishing on Poetryflash.org and events such as the Poetry Flash Reading Series, Northern California Book Awards, and Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival. Poetryflash.org is what Lawrence Ferlinghetti called a “living newspaper.” We are committed to literary publishing that is rich in editorial content and provides access to literary experiences in the East Bay and across California. In 1972, our founding editors “flashed” on the idea of combining a poetry calendar with a literary review, so that poets could dialogue on their work and find each other. Publishing for over fifty years, Poetry Flash serves our vibrant literary scene, an independent voice on behalf of poets, poetry, and other genres of creative writing. This year, Poetry Flash is celebrating our 50th Anniversary, and in the spirit of our events and publishing, we present four Bay Area poets to show the amazing power and range of our collective poetry place.  Joyce Jenkins will emcee this Beast Crawl reading! She is Director and Editor of Poetry Flash (poetryflash.org), and author of Portal and Joy Road, a chapbook Her poems have appeared in Ambush Review, Addison Street Anthology: Berkeley's Poetry Walk, ZYZZYVA, The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems of the San Francisco Watershed, and elsewhere. She received the American Book Award, PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Lifetime Achievement Award, National Poetry Association's Distinguished Service to Poets & Poetry Award, and the Berkeley Poetry Festival lifetime achievement award. Poetry Flash received the 2012 Barbary Coast Award from Litquake.  Cynthia Parker-Ohene’s new book is Daughters of Harriet, a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prizes. Tongo Eisen Martin says, “With a messianic gift for image and history, Cynthia Parker-Ohene is a once-in-three-generations mind on the page. Virtuosic images and living histories bearing down on your pulse, expanding the potentials of your consciousness.” Her poems have appeared in Black Warrior Review, Kweli, Green Mountains Review, West Branch, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her work is also included in the anthology Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature, among others. Ohene is a three-time Pushcart nominee and winner of the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Poetry Prize.  Richard Silberg is Associate Editor of Poetry Flash. He is author of six collections of poetry, most recently The Horses: New and Selected Poems and Deconstruction of the Blues, recipient of the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Award 2006. His books include Reading the Sphere: A Geography of Contemporary American Poetry, reviews that were originally published in Poetry Flash. He co-translated, with Clare You, The Three Way Tavern, by Ko Un, with a foreword by Gary Snyder, which received the 2007 Northern California Book Award in Translation. Also with Clare You, he co-translated Flowers Long For Stars, poems by Oh Sae-Young, This Side of Time, by Ko Un, and I Must Be the Wind, by Moon Chung-Hee. His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Denver Quarterly, Volt, Parthenon West Review, ZYZZYVA, Eleven Eleven, and New American Writing, among many other journals. “Dynamic, kaleidoscopic, shot through with a thousand faces and voices too real to be characters, Richard Silberg’s work is a Chaucerian pilgrimage to strange and uncannily familiar places. The Horses is a journey that dazzles wherever it goes as Silberg, ‘an ecstatic balding older man / in a striped tee shirt,’ slips into words and finds a way to make them accelerate, plummet, and soar. The goal is a new self, a way to ride out the old isms towards a possible future. The Horses is a deeply serious, wild, and powerful contribution to American letters.” —D. Nurkse  Jason Bayani’s most recent book is Locus, a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards 2020. Truong Tran says, “In the profundity of Locus, Jason Bayani weaves the personal and the historical into a perfect storm of words, breath, poetry, consciousness and a literature of this time.” Bayani’s previous book is Amulet. His poetry has appeared in World Literature Today, BOAAT Journal, Muzzle Magazine, Lantern Review, and elsewhere. He’s a Kundiman fellow and artistic director of the Kearny Street Workshop. Bayani performs regularly around the country and debuted his solo theater show “Locus of Control” in 2016 with theatrical runs in San Francisco, New York, and Austin.  Caroline Goodwin served from 2014-2016 the first Poet Laureate of San Mateo County. An Alaska native, her recent poetry book is Old Snow, White Sun. Aileen Cassinetto said “It traverses various terrains with grace and a commitment to astonishment.” Her other recent collections include Madrigals (Big Yes Press) and Matanuska (Aquifer Press, Wales, UK). Her previous books include Trapline, Peregrine, The Paper Tree, and Custody of the Eyes. Among many other Bay Area readings, she has twice been a featured reader at the Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival in Berkeley. Leg 1 (4pm -5pm) Venue: Annapurna Restaurant and Bar  Annapurna is known for its Nepalese comfort food, especially, their momos in three flavors (chicken, lamb, vegetarian). Ultimate mixture of spices in our cup. Come take a sip of some authentic chai, and enjoy the vibes.
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Synchronized chaos magazine presents - whose body "WHOSE BODY?" This provocative question from Dorothy Sayers' 1923 mystery novel introduces a reading from various Northern California and East Bay poets and prose writers. Many of us grapple with themes related to our physical bodies: disability, health and illness, and bodily autonomy. Others have crafted "bodies" of work dealing with topics that seem more cerebral but are still ultimately grounded in physical experience: identity, history, and language. This reading invites us to consider who we are, at our core, and the different ways we inhabit our world.  Leticia Escalera has worked with the Center for Independent Living and served two board terms on a California disability advocacy organization and the Oakland Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities. She’s written a memoir about life with cognitive/neurological disabilities.  Christopher Bernard has published novels (including A Spy in the Ruins and Voyage to a Phantom City), collections of poetry and short fiction, and much cultural journalism. He is also a playwright, photographer, and co-editor of the semiannual webzine Caveat Lector, and writes regularly for Synchronized Chaos Magazine. Recent books are the novel Meditations on Love and Catastrophe at The Liars' Cafe and The Socialist's Garden of Verses, which won a PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award in 2021 and was named one of the “Top 100 Indie Books of 2021” by Kirkus Reviews. His children’s books Otherwise . . .: If You Ride a Crooked Trolley and Otherwise . . . : The Judgment of Biestia will be published later in 2023.  Jan Steckel was a Harvard- and Yale-trained pediatrician who took care of Spanish-speaking children until chronic pain persuaded her to change professions to writer, poet and medical editor. She is an activist for bisexual and disability rights who lives in Oakland, California. Her poetry book The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) won a 2012 Lambda Literary Award. Her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks (Gertrude Press, 2009) and poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgeist Press, 2006) also won awards. Her creative writing has appeared in Scholastic Magazine, Yale Medicine, Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her work won the Goodreads Newsletter Poetry Contest, a Zeiser Grant for Women Artists, the Jewel by the Bay Poetry Competition, Triplopia’s Best of the Best competition, and three Pushcart nominations.  Brad Buchanan is the author of four published books of poetry, the most recent being THE SCARS, ALIGNED: A CANCER NARRATIVE (2019), and CHIMERA (2022). Emeritus Professor of English at Sacramento State University, he has also published three scholarly books, and a medical memoir entitled LIVING WITH GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE.  Fred Dodsworth has published works by Alan Ginsberg, June Jordon, Kim Addonizio, Amy Wallace, Garrison Keillor, Corby Kummer, Ginu Kamani, Karla Brundage, Allison Francis, Meliza Bañales, and many others. His work history includes lifestyle magazines, literary magazines, lesbian sports magazines, news-weeklies, and daily newspapers. Working with Dolan Eargle he researched, wrote, edited and produced three books on California’s Native Peoples: California Indian Country: The Land and the People; Native California Guide 2000, Weaving Past and Present; and Native California: An Introductory Guide to the Original Peoples from Earliest to Modern Times. Last year he launched Dodsworth Books with three books in print, Mulatta—Not So Tragic, A Life In Service, Root for the Underdog, and three more in process.  Terry Tierney is the author of a poetry collection, The Poet’s Garage, and the novel Lucky Ride. His new novel, The Bridge on Beer River, will be published in July 2023 by Unsolicited Press. Amember of the SF Writers Grotto, he lives in Oakland with his wife, a Librarian from the University of California, their two Persian cats, and their enthusiastic Golden Retriever. Website: https://terrytierney.com Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Feelmore Social Club, 1542 Broadway  Downtown Oakland has a new hangout that's a little bit wild and sexy: Feelmore Social. "Feelmore is a sex forward bar," Nenna Joiner, owner of the popular adult shop and gallery, Feelmore Adult Gallery said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. "We want to create a space where sexual weirdos can come." The lounge isn't only for sexually forward and sex-positive people, Joiner, 48, a Black queer nonbinary person, clarified. The bar is also for the less sexually adventurous to be in a relaxed and open atmosphere sipping good cocktails. If they feel like talking about sex they can do so openly. "They can feel open to ask any question and not feel shame," they said. The sexy cocktail lounge is the newest evolution of the Feelmore brand. Joiner opened Feelmore Adult in 2010. Right before COVID-19 hit they opened the Berkeley location in February 2020. They also launched Feelmore Home in 2018. The adult shop is around the corner from the new Oakland bar. It's in the heart of downtown Oakland on Broadway close to the 12th Street BART Station. All gender reading groupHear brand new and stunning classic work from the best Bay Area Trans and Gender Non-Conforming writers.
 Jasper Jay has been writing poetically since he was a little past knee high in Appalachia. As a Queer, Disabled, Trans, long-time Bay-Area transplant, he relishes work that lets him engage in intersectional social change. Thankfully, preparing to revisit Beastcrawl has encouraged him to dive back into his love for twisting words.  Cal Calamia (they/he) is a bilingual queer trans educator, activist, and poet. His performative work has been featured at many spoken word series across The Bay, and his first book, San Franshitshow, was published by Nomadic Press last year. They are a secondary Spanish and Health educator in the city and are currently pursuing their MFA at the University of San Francisco.  Saoirse Grace is a transsexual mechanic and groundskeeper who lives in Berkeley, California. She is a filmmaker, a writer, a calligrapher, an actor, a musician, an hedonist, a visual artist, a post-Hegelian nihilist, and a good lay. She loves pluots and the sound of broken bank windows and used to love cocaine too much. Driving motorcycles really really fast or getting punched in the face are the only ways she’s been able to meditate. As a baby she literally ran before she could walk, and thinks everything else you need to know about her can be found in her art.  Avren Keating is a poet and artist living in Oakland, CA. The've published in Queen Mob's Teahouse, Omnivores, and THEM: A Trans* Lit Journal. Avren also hosts Waves Breaking, a podcast for trans and gender-variant poetry.  LEG 3: 7pm-8pm VENUE: Feelmore Social Club 1524 Broadway ABOUT FEELMORE SOCIAL CLUB: Feelmore Social Club 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. We make it part of our business model to hire Oakland residents referred by friends or family, as we want patrons and visitors in downtown to feel at home. The sale of each item is a story in waiting, a teachable moment to all parties involved. Oakland is the City of Grit! Conceived and raised in the stomping grounds of Oakland, Feelmore is redefining the retail experience for the city, small business owners, and community residents. Feelmore is extremely excited to launch new products, workshops, and talent in 2018. 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!  The SF Creative Writing Institute is a small center that focuses on teaching the art and craft of creative writing to people from all walks of life. Some of our clients are professional writers. Others are absolute beginners and just want to try their hand at something new. We believe that we all face the blank page the same way. We are a hands-on learning environment where our clients workshop their pieces alongside each other, and give and provide feedback. We are a culturally diverse group of teaching artists who are award-winning published writers, have advanced teaching skills, Master’s Degrees in creative writing, fine art or a related field, and professional editing experience. Write from the Gut!SF Creative Writing Institute is back at it again with a great lineup of featured readers and guests. Join us and hear writers of all experience levels read from their very best works in progress. We help foster creative writing and community and turn fledgeling writers into bestselling authors! Anyone can be a writer. All they need is a little support, a community, and a clean and well lighted place. We teach writing to all levels of writer at our location at the Harvey Milk Center in Duboce Park, San Francisco, conveniently located off the n-line. https://sfwriting.institute/events  Nick Mamatas is the author of ten novels, over one hundred short stories, and dozens of essays and articles. His books include the novels I Am Providence and The Second Shooter, the short fiction collections The People's Republic of Everything, The Nickronomicon and The Spook School, and the how-to guide for writing short fiction and non-fiction, Starve Better. Nick’s short fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, New Haven Review, and many other anthologies and journals. He has written about writing for The Writer, Fine Books & Collections, and Wonderbook. His anthologies include the award-winning Haunted Legends (co-edited with Ellen Datlow) and The Future Is Japanese (co-edited with Masumi Washington), and the hybrid cocktail recipe/flash fiction title Mixed Up (co-edited with Molly Tanzer).  Cassandra Rockwood Ghanem holds a BA from California Institute of Integral Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts. Her award-winning poems and creative nonfiction have been published locally and internationally. In 2022, Nomadic Press published Cassandra’s first poetry collection, Hot Thicket, and she is currently in the final stages of editing a book-length lyrics essay. Also the illustrator of Basho’s Haiku Journeys, a haiku picture book, Cassandra derives her versatility through prolific creative experimentation and cross-pollination between artistic disciplines and literary forms. Cassandra upholds values of diversity and inclusion, and has taught workshops and classes at community centers, high schools, colleges, and universities in Alaska, Hawaii, and California. In 2019, Cassandra led a year-long literary reading series for women and non-binary writers at The Beat Museum in San Francisco. Leg 2 (5:30pm - 6:30pm) Venue: Annapurna Restaurant & Bar  Annapurna is known for its Nepalese comfort food, especially, their momos in three flavors (chicken, lamb, vegetarian). Ultimate mixture of spices in our cup. Come take a sip of some authentic chai, and enjoy the vibes. chapter 510 & beast crawl special event SPECIAL TIME: 2pm-5pm. Book Launch for "Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco" by Rob Liu-Trujillo @ Chapter 510. Robert Liu-Trujillo is father, husband, artist and an author based in Oakland California. He's the author and illustrator of Furqan's First Flat Top and has illustrated several other picture books. Reach out at www.robdontstop.com Get the book at https://www.leeandlow.com/books/fresh-juice Book launch pre-arranged from 2-5pm. A Chapter 510 event. "Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco" written and illustrated by Robert Liu-Trujillo, published by Lee & Low Books. The event will feature freshly made juice by "Super Juiced" and appearances by two local authors, as well as a book signing.  Hi, I'm an individual author illustrator who works in kids books. I'm doing a book launch with Chapter 510-an Oakland born literacy based organization located near Swan's market. My new book is called "Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco" and I'll be doing the book launch and a reading at Chapter 510 on July 22nd from 2-5pm. Chapter 510's bio: 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. My bio: Robert Liu-Trujillo is father, husband, artist and an author based in Oakland California. He's the author and illustrator of Furqan's First Flat Top and has illustrated several other picture books.  LEG 1: 2pm-5pm. VENUE: CHAPTER 510 & THE DEPT OF MAKE/ BELIEVE
Order large and chillax in this comfy Beast Hoodie. Excellent warmth and moral support for everyone. Don’t you just love sweatshirt weather? We do too. Warm days, cool nights, Oakland CA style. Layer up year round in this cozy, casual style. With a front pocket and snug hood, it doesn’t get much better than this.  FESTIVAL 2023 Matchups have been assigned CVL MATCHUPS FOR THE 2023 FESTIVAL
BCLF acknowledges that some Curators have agreed to read in other Events. We love that! However, we request that Curators not read in their own Event if they are booked in another Event. Similarly, we respectfully request that you read at one event only, to allow for more people to join in the Festival. If a Curator has a reading in an Event that occurs in the same Leg as their own, let us know who will facilitate yours while you read at the other. We can help with that. Curator/ Event blog posts are coming soon. That's where you'll find all the Curator/Event/Reader Bios/Venue information 2 -5 PM, Special Event: Book Launch for "Fresh Juice/ Jugo Fresco" by Robert Liu-Trujillo Chapter 510/ Dept. of Make Believe LEG 1 4pm-5pm 1428 Poets - Awaken Cafe Afro Surreal Writers - Cape and Cowl Comics California Writers Club - Make Westing Milvia Street - Bookmark Bookstore Oakland Youth Poet Laureate - Dusk Coffee Poetry Flash - Annapurna Restaurant and Bar Starting Points - Feelmore Adult The Throwback Special - Binny's To Live and Write - Punchdown Wine Bar Vinograd Open Mic - Oakland Photo Workshop LEG 2 5:30pm-6:30pm #we - Awaken Cafe California Poets in the Schools - Oakland Photo Workshop Chapter 510 and Friends - Magical Professors - Chapter 510/ Dept. of Make Believe Colossus Press - Bookmark Bookstore Kearny Street Workshop - First Edition Lyrics & Dirges - The Hatch El Martillo Press - Make Westing Lower Grand Radio - Tamarack Oakland Music - Dusk Coffee Naked Bulb - Graffiti Pizza Pochino Press - Oaklandish Reginald Lockett Open Mic - Night Heron SF Creative Writing Institute - Annapurna Restaurant and Bar Synchronized Chaos - Feelmore Social Club LEG 3 7pm-8pm All Gender Reading Group - Feelmore Social Club Black Freighter - First Edition (Patio) Black Lawrence Press - Chapter 510/ Dept. of Make Believe Collapse Press - Oaklandish Happy Endings - Night Heron J de Salvo Open Mic - Dusk Coffee Moondrop Productions - First Edition (Balcony) La Palabra Musical - Graffiti Pizza Paper Press Books & Co. - Make Westing Rich Oak - Tamarack Oakland Speaking Axolotl - The Hatch LEG 4 8:30-10:30 Afterparty @First Edition get all the snaps with the new beast snap back! All the cool kids on the block are showing off their Beastly pride with these flat-billed hats. Fits most heads. • 80% acrylic, 20% wool • Green Camo is 60% cotton, 40% polyester • Structured, 6-panel, high-profile • 6 embroidered eyelets • Plastic snap closure • Green undervisor
it all begins at latham square  Latham Square, (a triangle actually, not a square) in front of Dusk Coffee, has a statue of Breonna Taylor and a fountain built in 1913. This public plaza is situated where Telegraph and Broadway meet, at the junction of Uptown, Downtown, and the historic 14th Street Corridor, adjacent to Old Oakland. Start your visit to Beast Crawl Literary Festival here. Look for the Beast Crawl banner! Welcome to the Info Table! Begins at 3:00pm Open until 8:00pm Buy some merch, ask some questions, sign our email list, get involved with Oakland Community literature, literacy projects, and Oakland arts revitalization. Support Oakland literary communities. We'll be able to direct you to your first/ next stop, or come back and ask us for directions whenever you need it. We'll be set up starting at 3:00pm so get here early and get a FREE map before we run out. We will close by 8:00pm. Leg 1: Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Leg 2: Music by Brooke D. Leg 3: J. De Salvo Open Mic After that we expect to see you at the First Edition bar & lounge for the 4th Leg Afterparty at 8:30pm! Pick up your free map from our Info Table. One per group/ individual. Get to know some literary community partners. Black Lawrence Press, the publisher who took on a lot of Nomadic Press' titles and Chapter 510 & the Department of Make Believe, a youth literacy program!  Brooke D. is a multidimensional artist, musician, producer, and storyteller, born and raised in the Bay Area. Her greatest wish is not just to tell her own story, but the human story through her work. In a world rife with injustice and uncertainty, Brooke is here to tell the truth, follow the whims of her heart, and inspire others to do the same. While her creativity and travels have taken her worldwide, she always returns home with new tricks and gifts to share with the community. You can find her performing in the Bay Area in sparkly boots until the fall.  Dusk Coffee strives to be your number one coffee shop destination in Oakland, CA. With years of knowledge in brewing coffee, you can trust that our coffee is unique, delicious, and perfect. In addition, we are a black-owned coffee shop and are proud of the quality of our pastries and beverages you enjoy. We strive to provide you with the freshest and most delicious menu options with the outstanding customer service you deserve. To explore our fantastic selection of food and drinks, please don't hesitate to contact or visit Dusk Coffee today! For the more fitted, hug-your-body-like-a-warm-poem look, The Tiger Eye with gothic Beast Crawl in a crop sleeve tee will be sure to fit right on your curves. Your typical 100% cotton t-shirt, this tee is pre-shrunk to make sure your size is maintained throughout several washes, and a classic fit.  |
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