Due to the continued threat of Covid-19, The Beast Crawl Lit Festival respectfully requests that all participants wear masks at all indoor events and to otherwise comply with individual venues and businesses’ posted policies regarding health and safety protocols including, but not limited to proof of vaccination and social distancing. Thank you for observing safety first and keeping Beast Crawl safe for everyone!

Beast Crawl Literary Festival is proudly partnering with Chapter 510 and the Department of Make Believe. We will hold an Event there for each Leg and the Information Table will be located out front on the sidewalk on the corner of 9th and Clay. We will be setting up at around 3:00PM. Stop by at 3:30 to say hi and pick up a paper map. Leg 1 begins at 4:00!

​A community of Black writers and scholars who write in and about the speculative fiction of the African Diaspora. Our membership includes poets, novelists, essayists and memoirists; published authors, students and award winners; and writers from around California and beyond. Since 2015, we have met regularly to support each other's growth and to share through public readings with the larger community.

A reading by members of the Workshop of original works in the Afrosurreal tradition

Ellen McBarnette is a life-long storyteller whose earliest tales were transcribed by her mother on scrap paper. Ellen’s career has taken her from the halls of the US Congress to boozey poetry slams. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, a second generation Caribbean, she has traveled widely in the US, with a long career in public policy in Washington DC. She lives in Hayward, Ca with her partner and fellow writer, Ben and their cat Java. Ellen is celebrating the publication of her novella "Negrita" this February in Vol 2 of the Midnight and Indigo Speculative Fiction edition, 2022. Available in bookstores, at Barnes and Noble and, if you must, Amazon

Thaddeus Howze is an award winning writer, essayist, author and professional storyteller. Originally from New York, he hails from Hayward. His published works include "Hayward's Reach" and Broken Glass," both are available on Amazon.

​LaMar Mitchel is a cyberpunk/absurdist/slipstream author. Born and raised in Oakland. Currently exploring ways to become a Kardashian-level poet celebrity.”

A.J. Harper, the Oakland based author, educator and artist. A.j. Harper has crafted more than ten YA novels. He specializes in themes addressing the Black experience in novel circumstances. https://urbanhorror.wordpress.com/about/

Born in Brooklyn in '89, a lifelong lover of books, in the written word Gabriel found a window into the often baffling actions and motivations of others, as well as a way to make himself understood. He began writing stories and journal entries early. A Forum-Based Role Playing Games built on the childhood series, Animorphs was pivotal in his development as an author. Empowered by academics, he writes speculative fiction but also nonfiction in the areas of History, Social Theory, Politics, and Race.

Venue: Graffiti Pizza Leg: Two 5:30PM

We at Beast Crawl Literary Festival dearly miss our friend J. de Salvo. He was the founder and editor of The Bicycle Review & Pedestrian Press which published many great works. J was a prolific writer and exemplary performer. He had a profound understanding of literature and knew how to read it. For that, he saw the highest good in the writers in his midst and did his best to promote them. In his memory, we created the J. de Salvo Open Mic.

This year, we have a special guest writer, performer, and all-around excellent gentleman Charlie Getter hosting the group reading. Charlie is the author of four poetry collections, and his work has appeared in numerous anthologies, journals, zines, and other publications. He’s a founding member of the Collaborative Arts Insurgency (CAI), the group of artists, poets, emcees, and musicians responsible for the genesis of the ongoing 16th & Mission street arts workshop that takes place every Thursday on the street corner at 16th & Mission in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Show up for this open mic on time at the spot on the map and Charlie will manage sign-ups! The location is a basketball court with sculptures on 12th street, behind 1111 Broadway and WeWork. Questions? Check with us at the Information Table.

Leg: 1 4:00PM Venue: "Sculpture Basketball Court"

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)

Where the Birds Sing Bass
SF Gate

This year's host is Nazelah Jamison, a world-class poet and performer based in Oakland. She is a talented and energetic performance poet, actress and vocalist based in Oakland CA. Born in Bamberg, SC, Nazelah had a love of performance from a very early age, taking her first dance lessons at the age of 4.

Nazelah discovered Poetry Slam in 1999 and began to compete, subsequently going to the National Poetry Slam Competition 5 times on various Bay Area teams. She produced the Oakland Poetry Slam & has coached Team Oakland to Nationals. Since 2000, she has been hosting many Bay Area spoken word events as well. (Source.)

Poem: "Last Resort"
Book: Evolutionary Heart

Venue: District Oakland Leg: 2 5:30PM

West Oakland to West Africa connects members of the African diaspora and Africa through the exchange of renshi poetry. Through sharing narratives of the diaspora, we create a safe place for transparent healing and growth. Our readings and books facilitate the Sankofa journey, a return to retrieve what has been forgotten or lost. This year's exchanges included Oakland, Hawaii, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. https://westoaklandtowestafrica.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/westoakland_westafrica/. Twitter: @WOakland2Africa. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WO2W

WO2WA (West Oakland to West Africa) is happy to represent both the East and West sides at the 2022 Beast Crawl. Reading selections from our upcoming book Black Rootedness: 54 Poets from Africa to America. This year WO2WA partnered with Patrice Lumumba Writing Collective, located at Eastside Arts Alliance, Cultural Intellectual Association in Lagos, Nigeria and Kistrech Poetry Festival in Kisii, Kenya. Poets exchanged writing on themes of identity, connections to the ancestors and experimented with forms such as narrative and renshi poetry.

Venue: The Damel Leg: Two 5:30PM

Venue: Summer Lounge Leg: Two 5:30PM

A tribute to iconic, bubble-blowing Berkeley poet Julia Vinograd featuring an excerpt from an in-progress documentary on her life and work, followed by readings of her most cherished poems.

CURATOR: Ken Paul Rosenthal makes visually innovative documentaries that explore the intersection of art, madness and the spectrum of difference. His films have screened widely at national and international film festivals. He is the recipient of numerous festival awards, a Kodak Cinematography Award, and a University Film & Video Association Award. His website is  www.kenpaulrosenthal.com/

Jan Steckel’s book Like Flesh Covers Bone (Zeitgeist Press, 2018) won Rainbow Awards for LGBT Poetry and Best Bisexual Book. Her poetry book The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) won a Lambda Literary Award. Her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks (Gertrude Press, 2009) and poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgeist Press, 2006) also won awards. www.jansteckel.com

Richard Loranger is a multi-genre writer and all-around squeaky wheel currently residing in Oakland, CA. He is the author of Unit of Agency, Be A Bough Tit, Sudden Windows, Poems for Teeth, The Orange Book, and ten chapbooks, and has work in over 100 magazines and journals. You can find more about his work and scandals at www.richardloranger.com

Paul Corman-Robert’s 2nd full length collection of poems, Bone Moon Palace (Nomadic Press 2021) has been nominated for a CLMP Firecracker Award. He currently teaches workshops for the Older Writer’s Lab in conjunction with the San Francisco Public Library as well as the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute.

Venue: Chapter 510 Leg: One, 4:00PM

Curated by Natasha Dennerstein, out trans poet, assembles a group of the best Bay Area trans/gender non-conforming writers to sear your ears.

Natasha was born in Melbourne, Australia and has an MFA from San Francisco State University. She has had 5 books of poetry published and her work has appeared in many journals in the USA and internationally. She is an editor at Nomadic Press in Oakland and works for St James Infirmary, a clinic for sex workers in SF.

lynn breedlove is an award winning under achiever, writer, performer, activist, and transportation entrepreneur. he’s fronted Tribe8, The Homobiles and COMMANDO, founded the queer nonprofit ride service, Homobiles, and authored Godspeed, a novel, on st Martin’s press, and Lynnee Breedlove’s One Freak Show, and 45 Thought Crimes, on Manic D press. he looks forward to fucking shit up globally and locally.

Mason J. (he/they) is a Black-Indigenous historiographer, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural worker born and residing in San Francisco. They are co-editor of Still Here San Francisco and author of the 2022 Lambda Literary Nominated [trans poetry] book, Crossbones on My Life. Mason's creations can be found anywhere they need to be.

Avren Keating is a poet, artist and host of the trans poetry podcast Waves Breaking. They live in Oakland, CA.

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.

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.

Venue: Summer Lounge Leg: Three 7:00PM

THE THROWBACK presents THE THROWBACK SPECIAL: A reading featuring five stellar poets. 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 will be reborn for this reading.

Dan O’Connell (aka Dan O.) is a four-time award winning poet, and multiple finalist and honorable mention. His poems have appeared over eighty times. He is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, Different Coasts, and Theory of Salvation, and the chapbook State of the Union. www.danoconnellpoetry.com

Barbara Saunders writes poetry with mythological, historical, and biographical themes. Her poetry has been published by Highland Park Poetry and won prizes and honorable mentions from the Bay Area Poets' Coalition and the Ina Coolbrith Circle. Barbara has featured at Saturday Night Special, a Virtual (formerly East Bay) Open Mic.

Cassandra Rockwood Ghanem is an award-winning writer and illustrator, recently selected for fellowships and awards from the Center for Book Arts in New York City and Disquiet International Literary Program. Cassandra founded a reading series at the Beat Museum in San Francisco. Her collection, Hot Thicket, was released by Nomadic Press in 2022; IG: cassandrarockwoodghanem; FB: facebook.com/cassandrarr

Mae Yway is a Burmese poet, scriptwriter, and publisher. She has published her writing in periodicals and collections since 2010. The first volume of her poetry, Courier, appeared in 2013; You & I appeared in 2016; Fish and Shrimp was published in 2021.  In 2017, Mae founded the poetry publishing house 90/91

Keith Mark Gaboury earned a M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College. His chapbooks were released through Duck Lake Books and The Pedestrian Press. He has a forthcoming chapbook from Finishing Line Press. Keith is also the Vice President of the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club.  www.keithmgaboury.com

Venue: Radio Bar Leg: Three 7:00PM