Starting Points - The Punchdown


Karla Brundage’s most recent collection Blood Lies/Race Traitor was published by Finishing Line Press in 2024. She facilitates cross-cultural exchanges between Oakland and West African poets and is the editor of three anthologies: Our Spirits Carry Our Voices, Sisters Across Oceans and Black Rootedness: 54 Poets from Africa to America.


Giovanna Lomanto is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and photographer who has published 2 poetry collections, 2 chapbooks, and a limited-edition art book. Her latest collection, driver’s seat echo, is available now. She currently serves as the co-publisher of the small press Game Over Books.


Ryan Nakano is an Okinawan/Japanese American poet, journalist and aspiring birder currently living in Huchiun, on the unceded lands of the Lisjan Ohlone (Oakland, CA.) His work has appeared in Riksha Magazine, Voicemail Poems and the Nichi Bei Weekly. His debut chapbook I Am Minor came out in February 2023 by Nomadic Press and will continue on through Black Lawrence Press.


Limited Open Mic to Follow!

5:30pm Leg 2 - The Punchdown Wine Bar

SF Writer’s Workshop - Binny’s


Since 1946, The San Francisco Writers Workshop has met on Tuesday nights, nurturing a wide range of local authors. Writers bring up to six double-spaced pages to read aloud and receive immediate feedback. This free, drop-in critique group currently meets at the Noisebridge makerspace in the Mission.
https://sanfranciscowritersworkshop.wordpress.com/


Oakland-based David Ira Cleary has published in Asimov's, Interzone, Persistent Visions, and elsewhere. His work is included in The Year's Top Robot and AI Stories, coming out in October 2024.


Tahirah Nailah Dean writes about the difficulties of finding love and marriage from the perspective of a Muslim woman. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera and Insider. 


Connor O’Mara is a writer from northern Colorado. He often writes about tragedy set in the Mountain-West, finding inspiration from the people and towns he loved.


Joel Streicker’s fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translations of Spanish-language literature have appeared hither and yon. He’s literally a prize-winning author—just ask him! Or check out his website: https://joelstreicker.com.


Madison Wilson is a fiction writer from the Bay Area. She is interested in telling stories about forgotten women and their inner lives. 


Cynthia Gómez writes horror and other types of speculative fiction, set primarily in Oakland. The Nightmare Box and Other Stories, her first collection, was released in July 2024.

5:30pm Leg 2 - Binny’s

5:30pm Leg 2 - Chapter 510 and the Dept of Make/ Believe

Red Light Lit - Theory Oakland

Red Light Lit is a small press and performance series that explores the depths of love, relationships, and sexuality through poetry, prose, and music. 


LINE-UP: 

Peter Bullen

Christine No

Rohan DaCosta 

Kim Pierce

Susan Ruykeyser 

5:30pm Leg 2 - Theory Oakland

Moondrop Productions - First Edition

I Am a Woman; I Am a Backbone: Creators, Curators, & Comrades

Join us for a powerful night of poetry, prose, and storytelling centering these passionate women, marvelous matriarchs, and legendary ladies. Featuring: Maw Shein Win, Katrina Croswell, Vielka Solano, Shizue Seigel, Lauren L. Wheeler,  and Joyce Lee.

Maw Shein Win's most recent poetry collection is Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn). Win’s full-length collection Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn) is forthcoming in October 2024. mawsheinwin.com.


Kat Croswell: Katrina “Kat” Antoinette Croswell, is a multifaceted artist and writer. Kat’s debut novella,Pieces of Eight: A Harper Family Mixtape is set to drop July 23, 2024.


Vielka Solano: Poet, Doctor, Activist: Vielka Solano came to California, from the Dominican Republic, in 1989. She is the founder of Noche de Poesia and host of Grito de Mujer in Modesto.


Shizue Seigel: Shizue Seigel is a Japanese American writer, visual artist, and organizer who founded Write Now! SF Bay to support writers/artists of color through workshops, events and publications.


Lauren L. Wheeler is the author of the poetry collection In Between Places (Black Lawrence Press). Her work has appeared online and in print in such publications as PANK, The Nervous Breakdown, The Rumpus, and Black Nerd Problems.


Joyce Lee is an international poet, storyteller, and creative non-fiction writer and writing coach from Oakland California. Lee is in the process of completing two books for Trio House Press.

5:30pm Leg 2 - First Edition

The Racket SF - Commune Oakland

The Racket SF Presents: Lonesome Crowded West.


Beth Winegarner is a journalist and author who has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many more. Her most recent book, “San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History” maps the city’s current and former graveyards and uncovers how many are still secretly buried there.


Rebecca Rubenstein is a writer and editor based in San Francisco, and a member of The Ruby, a Bay Area arts-and-letters space for femme and nonbinary creatives. Her writing has appeared in The Rumpus, X-R-A-Y, No Contact, and HAD, among others, and she is a Fiction Editor for The Offing.


T.S. Leonard is a poet and the author of Emergency Meditations.  Leonard’s work explores queerness, loss, and community at the intersection of disco music and time travel.  Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, he lives and teaches in San Francisco.


Kar Johnson is a writer, performer, and bookseller living in Oakland, CA. Their work has appeared in or is forthcoming from L’Éphémère Review, Foglifter,The Northridge Review, and the Red Light Lit anthology Love is the Drug and Other Dark Poems. They serve as the events coordinator for Green Apple Books.


Ariel Neidermeier is a writer and astrologer based in San Francisco, CA. Her work has appeared in Hella Pinay Magazine, Seismic Sisters, and the Write from the Gut reading series. A graduate of Emerson College's journalism program, Ariel is currently working on her first book of poetry.

5:30pm Leg 2 - Commune Oakland

The Erotic - Feelmore Social Club

Poetry Flash editor/director Joyce Jenkins’ collections are Portal and Joy Road. Poems in The Place That Inhabits Us, ZYZZYVA; honors include American Book Award, Berkeley Poetry Festival lifetime award, more.


Rusty Morrison’s newest is Risk. She has five previous books, After Urgency, Tupelo’s Dorset Prize; the true keeps calm biding its story, James Laughlin Award, more. She’s editor of Omnidawn.


Richard Silberg is Poetry Flash Associate Editor; his reviews appear in Poetryflash.org. Author of The Horses: New and Selected Poems and Deconstruction of the Blues, PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Award-winner.


Steven Rood’s books are Music from Behind a Stone Wall, Naming the Wind. Poems in Quarterly West, Southern Poetry Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, New Letters, Marlboro Review, Atlanta Review, elsewhere.

5:30pm Leg 2 - Feelmore Social Club

OAKLAND SLAM BIOS:

Shawn William is an Oakland / Bay Area icon. He's a Grammy-nominated spoken word artist, published author, storyteller & father hailing from Oakland, California. Over the past 20 years, his artistry has put him on tour with Jill Scott, performed at the Apollo Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, The Essence Festival, and featured on The Arsenio Hall Show and Verses and Flow, while also being one of 5 artists selected to have a residency at The Kennedy Center.

Afro-Creek queer activist Ramona “Mona” Webb is a scholar-practitioner, teaching performance artist, and the Assistant Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Queer Cultural Center. She's also the nicest lady in poetry. Nice with the pen, on the mic, and as a human.  Mona is a conservatory-trained artist who writes and performs in “docu-ritual-drama theater” and attended the dual Theater Performance Making MFA program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and Chichester University in Chichester, England.

Dre Johnson is a father / MC/actor/poet/producer born and raised in East Oakland. He's a graduate of Skyline High where he started competing with his poetry at 14. He's been on slam teams repping Berkeley, Oakland, SF, and Fairfield at regional and national competitions finishing as high as 4th in the nation. As his ais alter ego "Duke The Bossman" his band The High Decibels placed #3 on CMJ top 200 Hip-Hop Charts and had music placed in dozens of blockbuster films and television shows. 

Brianni “Bri” Blue is a UC Berkeley graduate and acclaimed author, poet, and speaker from Berkeley. She captivates audiences nationwide with her profound performances and literary works like “No Crystal Stair” and “Destination: Still Unknown... Pack Light.” With over 25,000 digital followers, she led the “Speak Easy” open mic series for 5 years and founded the ‘Unapologetically You’ Awareness Campaign while also earning recognitions along the way such as Best Female Spoken Word Artist and People’s Choice at the Bay Area Black Music Awards. As a Teaching Artist for Bay Area Creative, Bri continues to add to her list of accomplishments in the poetry community.

Also sharing the stage:
Jelal Huyler 
D'dra White
Papi Grande
Dahled Jeffries 
​

Oakland Slam -    Kinfolx

5:30 Leg 2 - Kinfolx

Milvia Street Journal - The Night Heron


Milvia Street produces a print and online journal showcasing the diverse voices and visions of Berkeley City College students. The journal is all student-made to help usher them into professional publishing. They are the next generation of literary movers and shakers in the East Bay and beyond!


Come hear the work of six up-and-coming and super talented writers and poets!!  This year's readers are Somiah Nettles, Hanna Mae Sturges, Lorena Giacoman, Loa Niumeitolu. Check out the recent issue of Milvia Street: www.milviastreet.com.


Somiah Nettles is a poet and classical pianist from Alameda, who’s writing her first chapbook, One Girl, Holy Trinity. Somiah produces Victorian Voices, her Substack newsletter on poetry and classical music. She loves listening to Rachmaninoff, reading Sylvia Plath, and spending time with her lover.


Hannah Mae Sturges is an actor who has performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Off-Broadway. Poetry has always provided a current of rhythmic processing. She enjoys hikes, tree-hugging, singing, and being a weird hippie tomboy Auntie. Recently published in viewlesswings.com // Spotify; Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.


Lorena Giacoman has lived in the Bay Area since migrated from El Salvador. She holds a professional degree in Architecture, Associate in Arts and a LEED AP Building Design + Construction Certification. She’s taking creative writing classes at BCC and working on her memoir.


Loa Niumeitolu is a Tongan poet, community organizer, educator and farmer. She is working on her first film: E Le Malemo Se I'a,  A Fish Does Not Drown: Pasifika Communities during Prop 8. Sharon Coleman's poetry classes at BCC propelled Loa to write after not writing poetry for five years. 

5:30 Leg 2 - Night Heron

Manic D Press - The Legionnaire Saloon


Alvin Orloff sells books by day (at Fabulosa, San Francisco’s queerest bookstore) and writes them by night. His novels include I Married an Earthling, Gutter Boys, Why Aren’t You Smiling? and Vulgarian Rhapsody, and his memoir Disasterama! was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Alvin's an East Bay native.


Thea Hillman is an award-winning writer and activist. Called a “radical” in a special report by the Traditional Values Coalition, her groundbreaking memoir, Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word), won a Lambda Award. She also won the Tag-Team Haiku Championship at the Albuquerque Poetry Festival. Thea lives in the East Bay and was once on the cover of the Oakland phone book.


Jon Longhi is the author of four books of fiction, including The Rise and Fall of Third Leg, Flashbacks and Premonitions, and Wake Up and Smell the Beer. His writing can be found in indie lit journals including The Fabulist and Maintenant as well as NBCbayarea.com.


Jennifer Joseph Is editor and publisher of Manic D Press books. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including the Los Angeles Times and the zine Lobster Tendencies, among other disparate entities. 

5:30 Leg 2 - Legionnaire Saloon