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.
The Afrosurreal Writers of Oakland read live and in Oakland
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
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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 Bulletin: venue change.
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ayodele nzinga M.F.A, Ph.D., is a writer, director, actress, lyricist, and producer living in Oakland, California. She is the author of SorrowLand Oracle and The Horse Eaters, available atwww.nomadicpress.org, as well as Incandescent available on Amazon Books. nzinga is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Oakland, CA.
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Kevin Dublin is a writer of poetry, prose, scripts, and code. Currently Director of Litquake’s Elder Writing Project, Kevin serves on the board of Quiet Lightning and curates The Living Room Reading Series & Salon. He’s author of the chapbook How to Fall in Love in San Diego (Finishing Line Press) and holds an MFA from San Diego State.. Follow him on Twitter @PartEverything
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Lisa D. Gray believes that it is necessary for black women and women of color to write and share our stories so that others do not erase or control our narratives. She is completing her first novel, Stolen Summer and you can find her poetry in the recently released Black Fire This Time and the Salmon Creek Journal. Follow her @randomlisasf
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Nana Boateng (she/her) is a first generation Ghanaian-American poet, educator, and digital storyteller currently residing in Oakland, CA. She utilizes writing and audio to examine memory, otherness, and myths we tell ourselves. Her writing has been published in Connotation Press, WVXU, NPR, Sierra Magazine, Toe Good Poetry, and Cliterature Journal.
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adrienne danyelle oliver is a poet-educator, hip-hop scholar. She has two chapbooks, collective madness (Finishing Line Press) and the body has memories (Nomadic Press). When she is not writing, adrienne is reading historical fiction or watching documentaries. She's also an intuitive creativity guide for other Black scholars.
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DaJuan “DonJuan” Carter-Woodard is an Oakland native. He is a Youth Coordinator at Eastside Arts Alliance and has been an activist for 10+ years. His first published book was 2019’s Bleeding Between the Bars. He has been featured in a variety of publications and anthologies including Patrice Lumumba—An Anthology of Writers on Black Liberation.
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Venue: The Damel Leg: Two 5:30PM
Bi The Way
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Free-form association of 3 bi folx who will all entertain you under one bill
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Daphne Gottlieb is the hostage note of 11 books, most recently Saint 1001. Charlie Jane Anders says, "Daphne Gottlieb is a feral genius who breaks into your lockbox of insecurities and traumas, and crafts them into a self-portrait of America. Beautiful, deadly, but never less than honest. You're in the best pair of wrong hands."https://www.daphnegottlieb.com/
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LD Green (they/them) is a writer and community college professor. They co-edited the anthology We’ve Been Too Patient with Kelechi Ubozoh. They are the author of Phoenix Song, and have been published on Salon, The Body is Not an Apology and elsewhere. They have received multiple fellowships for their writing, including Stowe Story Lab for screenwriters in 2022. https://www.ldgreen.org/
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Ruth Crossman is a Pushcart-nominated writer whose work has appeared in publications including Litro, Flash Fiction, Brokeass Stuart, and Maximum Rock n Roll. Her auto-fiction collection All the Wrong Places was published by Naked Bulb Press in 2022. https://msruthcrossman.com/
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Venue: Summer Lounge Leg: Two 5:30PM
colossus press - home:free

Colossus Press is focused on gathering artists and writers in the spirit of resistance, mobilizing and giving voice to our passion for social justice. We create virtual and concrete spaces where we combine activism and art. We take the direct actions of publicizing pressing issues and making monetary donations to local organizations working on the ground.
-Colossus: Published in 2017 and focused on the immigration crisis, included the work of 13 writers on the theme of immigration, proceeds from readings and book sales were donated to Freedom for Immigrants.
-Colossus:Home, published in 2019, included the voices of 68 writers on the theme of Home and donated all funds collected from sales of this book and from readings are donated to Moms 4 Housing.
-Colossus:Freedom will be published in the summer of 2022. This anthology includes the writing and visual art of 48 individuals responding to the theme "freedom". This anthology includes the voices of currently incarcerated people, their family members, and victims of crime. We have also included writers who haven’t experienced a direct impact from crime or incarceration. All funds collected from sales of this book will be donated to support California Coalition of Women Prisoners.
-Colossus: Published in 2017 and focused on the immigration crisis, included the work of 13 writers on the theme of immigration, proceeds from readings and book sales were donated to Freedom for Immigrants.
-Colossus:Home, published in 2019, included the voices of 68 writers on the theme of Home and donated all funds collected from sales of this book and from readings are donated to Moms 4 Housing.
-Colossus:Freedom will be published in the summer of 2022. This anthology includes the writing and visual art of 48 individuals responding to the theme "freedom". This anthology includes the voices of currently incarcerated people, their family members, and victims of crime. We have also included writers who haven’t experienced a direct impact from crime or incarceration. All funds collected from sales of this book will be donated to support California Coalition of Women Prisoners.
Home:Free is a reading featuring Tony Aldarondo, Elisa Salasin, Poet E. Spoken, Georgina Marie and Fred Dodsworth. These fantastic spoken work artists will read their powerful work and poems from Colossus:Home and our latest anthology Colossus:Freedom. Join us and celebrate the unstoppable combination of poetry and social justice.
Elisa Salasin is a poet and educator based in Berkeley, CA. She has poetry, essays, and photography published in 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 first chapbook will be published in 2023.
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Georgina Marie is the Lake County Poet Laureate for 2020-2024, & a Poets Laureate Fellow with The Academy of American Poets. She has received support from the Mendocino Coast & Napa Valley Writers’ Conferences. Her work has appeared in The Bloom, Noyo Review, & Poets.org, and is forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Colossus:Freedom, and Yellow Medicine Review.
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Zakiyyah G.E. Capehart is a writer, published poet, storyteller, performance artist, visual artist, radio producer and host, and author. Her poetry is published in many anthologies and has been shared internationally. Zakiyyah's recent book, Ghana On My Mind: Poetic Reflections on Journeying to the Motherland" was the #1 Best Seller in African Poetry on Amazon on March 13, 2021.
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Fred Dodsworth's stories and poems have been published in Red Light Lit, Rag Mag, Troop, Oakland Review #3, riverbabble, Transfer, Milvia Street, Bay Area Generations, Writing Without Walls,Anti-Heroin Chic, Saturday Night Special, Something Worth Revising, US Represented, 11-9 the Fall of Democracy, RISE!, Colossus:Home, Poetry Apocalypse, and numerous others. Now he's created Dodsworth Books to publish interesting literary and visual works that might not find a publisher otherwise but definitely deserve to be published.
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Venue: Chapter 510 Leg: Two 5:30PM
the beastly blog
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