7pm Leg 3 - Commune Oakland - Info Table

When The Smoke Comes  - Kinfolx

7pm Leg 3 - Kinfolx

Tales From the Town - Binny’s


These diverse readers and community leaders from the Oakland, CA metro area challenge the problematic "doom loop" rhetoric and show how writers and cultural workers can play vital roles in chronicling and supporting equitable social transformation.


Nayomi Munaweera's debut novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, won the 2013 Commonwealth Prize for Asia. The New York Times called it "incandescent." Her second novel What Lies Between Us drew comparisons to the voices of Michael Ondaatje and Jhumpa Lahiri.


Norma Smith is a writer, community organizer, social researcher, editor, writing coach, and event and conference organizer who has called the East Bay home since 1969. She lived on Ivy Hill in East Oakland for a quarter century.


Aimee Suzara is a Filipino-American poet, playwright, performing artist and educator based in Oakland, CA. Her accomplishments include a Willa-Award Finalist book of poems, SOUVENIR, a YBCAway award and AROHO Spirited Woman Award. She teaches writing at colleges throughout the Bay Area.


Nazelah Jamison is a Bay Area-based performance poet, author, comedian, vocalist, and emcee. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was reprinted and re-released by Black Lawrence Press in Fall 2023. She hosts Thee Virtual Open Mic every 1st & 3rd Friday on Zoom.


Thaddeus Howze is an award-winning genre author, climate podcaster, and transmedia essayist out of Hayward, California. Thaddeus' speculative fiction and fantasy have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals. He has published two books: Hayward's Reach (2011) and Broken Glass (2013).

7pm Leg 3 - Binny’s

Punk Hostage Press - The Legionnaire


On Friday the 13th of January in 2012, Iris Berry & A. Razor launched their imprint PUNK HOSTAGE PRESS where they continue to champion and advocate for original voices.


Jack Grisham; lead singer for the punk bands T.S.O.L., Vicious Circle, the Joykiller, Tender Fury, Manic Low, and Cathedral of Tears; and the author of An American Demon, The Pulse of the World, A Principle of Recovery, Code Blue: a love story, Untamed, and the children's book I Wish There Were Monsters.


Iris Berry is a native Angeleno and one of the original progenitors of the L.A. punk scene. She has sung, performed, and written songs with the Dickies, the Flesh Eaters, and Pink Sabbath. She served four years on the Board of Directors for Beyond Baroque. In 2009, she received her 2nd Certificate of Recognition Award from the City of Los Angeles for her contribution as a Los Angeles writer. Along with A. Razor she is co-founder of PUNK HOSTAGE PRESS.


A. Razor was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1963. Raised in a constantly moving triumvirate from the sands of Venice Beach to the foggy shrouds of the San Francisco Bay to the squats of the Lower East Side. A humble poet whose been etching words onto the walls of this world with the hardened edges of a broken heart as a love poem to a tumultuous life in motion.


Patrick O'Neil is the author of the memoirs Anarchy At The Circle K, and Gun, Needle, Spoon. He is the co-author of Writing Your Way to Recovery: How Stories Can Save Our Lives (with James Brown), and The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison from PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program. 


O.R. was born with words overflowing from her lineage. She is a mother first to three adult daughters and a wife to second chance. California has been her birthplace and where she resides currently with one foot in the mountains and the other in the ocean. O.R. spends her days with children and her evenings on the track playing roller derby with her local league.


Annette Zilinskas is a bassist and vocalist who has performed with the Bangles and Blood on the Saddle. She is a noted spoken word stylist and a longtime member of the celebrated spoken word/music troupe the Ringling Sisters. She is currently compiling a short-story collection with the working title Walking after Midnight forthcoming on Punk Hostage Press.

7pm Leg 3 - The Legionnaire Saloon

7pm Leg 3 - Bookmark Books     933 Broadway, Oakland CA 94607

Paper Press Books - M.A.D.E.

Paper Press Books & Associates Publishing Company works hand-in-hand with the author to build and distribute beautiful one-of-a-kind designer books; a comfort to the eye, easy to read, professionally typeset.


MARHABA means “welcome.”
As a North African owned and operated press, Paper Press Books is proud to welcome you to a presentation of voices from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This marks the first such reading at Beast Crawl Literary Festival. Colonial legacies continue to cast long shadows, shaping narratives that neglect the richness and complexity of our culture and literary heritage. We are excited to showcase the talent and diversity of MENA writers. Join us for an evening of discovery and celebrate the power of these voices.


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.

Jess Semaan is a queer Lebanese poet, psychotherapist, group facilitator and speaker. She researches, writes and speaks on subjects of healing from complex trauma, immigration, war and belonging.  Her first poetry book Child of the Moon was published by Andrews McMeel and sold over 14,000 copies. Her second book Your Therapist is Depressed Too came out in December 2023. The book chronicles the life of a new psychotherapist during the pandemic, who is witnessing the collapse of her home country from afar. Jess currently facilitates student groups at both UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and her own. She has extensive experience and training in interpersonal group facilitation, healing circles as well as learning and support groups. She is also a trauma informed trained psychotherapist, and recently completed her trainings in psychedelic assisted therapy.

Mahnaz Badihian is an Iranian/American Poet, painter, and translator whose work has been published in several languages and in literary magazines worldwide. Mahnaz runs the Literary magazine MahMag.org to bring the poetry of the world together. She is a member of the San Francisco RPB (Revolutionary Poet Brigade). In 2018, Mahnaz had a three day art exhibition in San Francisco. Currently She is working on her novel A Girl from Pomegranate Garden. Ask The Wind is collection of charming, heartwarming, and sometimes even heartbreaking poems. In them, she paints pictures of war, death, poverty, identity, immigration, belonging, and love. Mahnaz is a nominee for San Francisco Poet Laureate 2024.

Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a writer, poet, and teacher currently focused on completing her chapbook, "New Vocabulary," and her novel, "The Poppy Flower." Her work has been featured in various journals and anthologies, including "Non-White" and "Women, Taboos and Transgressions." She’s is a member of the Writers Grotto and is currently the Director for Rooted and Written, the only tuition free writers conference for writers of color. She served as Communications Director at MuslimARC (Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative) for ten years and continues to be involved as a member. Sabina has taught Creative Writing at SFSU and is now teaching at the Grotto. She resides in Half Moon Bay, California, with her husband, two children, and two cats, Twyla and Aslan.

Justin Ebrahemi (he/they) is a Persian American arts writer, dance marketer, and poet based in San Francisco. His personal writing explores the queer Iranian American diaspora, political uprising, gender expression and mental health. He recently published his second collection of poetry entitled "Birdsong From Nowruz," while his journalistic work has been published in KQED, Content Magazine, and SFMOMA’s Open Space platform. Justin was previously the Director of Communications & Advancement at CounterPulse and the Digital Engagement Arts Manager at KQED Arts, where he engaged creative communities in digital and in-person arts experiences and authored dance reviews. Recently, Justin has committed his work to advocate for Palestinian liberation among the Bay Area arts community.

7pm Leg 3 - Museum of Digital Art and Entertainment

The Naked Bulb  -  The Good Hop


Naked Bulb was a backyard open mic in Fruitvale, Oakland for 10 years. NBPress was born from the events with Andrew J. Thomas, & Missy Church who support Bay Area poets. Naked Bulb Press has released 8 works, including the most recent, Neversent by G. Macias Gusman.


Gary Turchin uses humor, wisdom and sarcasm in equal measures to express his ideas in poetry and fiction. Recent publication credits include Pre-Medicated--Pills, Poems & Ponderings (2021 Naked Bulb.) 

Rhea Melina is a multi-ethnic poet and jack-of-many-trades who lives in Seattle.   She is a regular performer at Speak Out Seattle,Unpoetry (https://www.unpoetry.net), and A Space Inside.  Her chapbooks include "Fireant" (SSO Press, 2005), "These are not secrets" (XYZ Animal Stars, 2009), “a place to put things" (Bottlecap Press, 2023), and "Not My Wasteland" (Bone Machine, 2024). Recently she was a finalist for the 49th Parallel Award for poetry.  A full-length collection of her poetry will soon be available from Carbonation Press.
  
G. Macias Gusman is a Midwest / West Coast Poet.  His pedigree is the broken heart and the indifference of people.  His poetry reflects his favorite things in life: PBR, weed, cats, and staring out the window writing love poems at 4 in the morning drinking sweet coffee. His first full length collection of poetry, Neversent, out on naked bulb press. 
​
Andrew J. Thomas is the author of Strangeland, a Naked Bulb publisher, Beast Crawl alumni, doomsday poet and all around sad sack.

7pm Leg 3 - ​Feelmore Social Club

7pm Leg 3 - First Edition

7pm Leg3 - Block Community Hub