Same Page SF | A lit-mag party, a life-mapping workshop, and platonic love stories ♥️
Plus: Three fireside-style chats through City Arts & Lectures
Welcome back to Same Page SF, your home for all things local and literary!
I'm Christina, your friendly, well-informed, and unabashedly nerdy bookseller. Each week, I share and signal-boost author events, book clubs, new releases, and community gatherings happening across our city.
Same Page is a labor of love, but it’s still very much a labor - one that’s made possible by paid subscribers. By opting to pay just $5 per month, you’re saying that each issue gives you at least $1 worth of value. (For both our sakes, I hope that’s true!)
Paid subscribers get perks like curated sneak peeks, thoughtful book recommendations, and early access to book giveaways to support local and visiting authors - not to mention the warm fuzzies of knowing you’re helping make Same Page sustainable.
On to the goings-on!
It’s another great week to be a book-lover in San Francisco. Here’s what you’ll want to attend if:
1) You’ve ever wished you could talk to plants
Zoë Schlanger on The Light Eaters at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Monday 5/13, 7pm, free.
We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for - if at all? Join award-winning environment and science reporter Zoë Schlanger, in conversation with fellow journalist Rose Eveleth, to celebrate the launch of her highly anticipated book The Light Eaters. This “wondrous, lovely book,” per a starred Kirkus review, probes the hidden world of plants and immerses readers in the drama and intelligence of green life.
2) You’d like to celebrate a local literary institution
ZYZZYVA Issue 127 Launch Celebration in Kerouac Alley, hosted by City Lights. Tuesday 5/14, 7pm, free.
Founded 29 years ago to provide a platform for West Coast writers, ZYZZYVA - named for the last word in the American Heritage Dictionary - now showcases authors from around the world while reflecting the values that make San Francisco a cultural beacon. Come celebrate their 127th issue with managing editor Oscar Villalon and readings by contributors James Cagney, Rose Himber Howse, and Hannah Kingsley-Ma.
3) You’re craving platonic love stories
Lilly Dancyger on First Love: Essays on Friendship at Booksmith. Thursday 5/16, 7pm, free (RSVP recommended).
Each essay in Lilly Dancyger’s new collection First Love - which C.J. Hauser rapturously praised as “a goddamn marvel of a mixtape - a fervent, generous compilation of love songs brought together so that the whole is even more meaningful than its parts” - is centered on close female friendships. She’ll be discussing it with local author and bestselling essayist Esmé Weijun Wang, with a 30-minute book-signing to follow.
4) You’ve got a story to tell
Heather Box on How Your Story Sets You Free at Black Bird Bookstore & Cafe. Monday 5/13, 7pm, free.
Life-mapping workshop, anyone? Join Heather Box, storytelling coach and co-author of How Your Story Sets You Free - a small-but-mighty guide to embracing the power of personal storytelling - for a series of exercises to help you explore and articulate your most significant moments. Connect, get inspired, and celebrate the stories that shape lives.
5) You haven’t experienced the magic of City Arts & Lectures (and IYKYK)
City Arts & Lectures is a long-running nonprofit hosting fireside-style chats with leading figures in arts and ideas. Sydney Goldstein Hall seats over a thousand people, but every time I go I’m blown away by how intimate and cozy the conversations feel. They’ve got three great options this week:
Actress and author Tiffany Haddish will talk with Alexis Madrigal, co-host of KQED’s Forum, about struggle, perseverance, and empowerment - themes in her life and her new essay collection, I Curse You With Joy. Wednesday 5/15, 7:30pm, $49 (includes book).
Podcaster and journalist Carvell Wallace will speak with local artist and author George McCalman about his memoir Another Word for Love, which explores homelessness, queerness, and being Black in America. Thursday 5/16, 7:30pm, $39.
Prolific author Amy Tan is best known for her novels, but her latest book - The Backyard Bird Chronicles, which she wrote *and* illustrated! - is an account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight. She’ll be in conversation with environmentalist, teacher, and artist John Muir Laws. Saturday 5/18, 7:30pm, $49 (includes book).
A few tips:
🚆 In my anecdotal experience, parking in the Performance Arts Garage is safe and convenient, but not cheap. Take public transit if you can!
🍽️ If you’re looking to grab a bite beforehand, I recommend Gambit - I ate there with a friend before seeing Ada Limón and we’re still dreaming about the pierogis.
🎟️ Last but certainly not least: if you’re a student or educator, you’re eligible for free tickets, though they don’t include the book.
Early in Same Page’s existence, I partnered with the folks at City Arts & Lectures for a $5 discount code - and it was used a whopping zero times. Oof! I’m open to reaching out again, but only if I have confidence it won’t go to waste.
As a former UX researcher, I know the pitfalls of trying to predict the future, so rather than asking how likely you’d be to use a discount code in some hypothetical scenario, I’ll ground the question in this week’s offerings.
As always, if you have feedback not captured by the poll, I’d love to hear it - just reply to this email.
Also
🙏 Thanks to the 50+ readers who voted in last week’s poll! A whopping 96% of you preferred this format, which clearly organizes events by day of the week, so I’ll stick with it.
MONDAY Monthly meeting of the Silent Book Club at Adobe Books
TUESDAY Local bookseller and 2023 Literarian Award winner Paul Yamazaki on Reading the Room at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom | Ecuadorian writer Mauro Javier Cárdenas on American Abductions at Medicine for Nightmares | Monthly poetry and music open mic at SFPL Park Branch
WEDNESDAY British novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru on Blue Ruin at City Lights and via Zoom | Bestselling author Mona Awad on the paperback release of her deliciously dark novel Rouge at Booksmith
THURSDAY Sociology professor Jaclyn S. Wong on Equal Partners? How Dual-Professional Couples Make Career, Relationship, and Family Decisions at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom | SF-based writer, producer, and activist Robert Mailer Anderson on My Fairy Godfather at City Lights and via Zoom | Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl featuring Joseph Rios, poet laureate of Fresno | Launch party for Catamaran’s spring issue
FRIDAY Authors Alliance on authorship in an age of monopoly and moral panics via The Internet Archive | Ex-American Apparel employee Kate Flannery on the paperback release of Strip Tees at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom | Bay Area book launch for How to Abolish Prisons
SATURDAY First virtual meeting of the Contemporary American Short Story Book Group, kicking off with a study of James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues | Ticketed afternoon with Lauren Graham for the paperback launch of Have I Told You This Already? at Curran Theater | 3rd Saturday Poetry in Chinatown featuring John Del Bagno and devorah major
SUNDAY Veteran WSJ reporters Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson on American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 | Children’s Book Writers Critique Group at Books Inc. Laurel Village | James Beard-nominated chef William Dissen on Thoughtful Cooking at Omnivore Books | Librarian’s Panel: Secrets to Getting Your Book in the Stacks through California Writers’ Club - Berkeley Branch
A gentle reminder that collecting, reviewing, and organizing this content takes time and energy! If you value the work that goes into it, please consider compensating with $5 per month - again, that’s just over $1 per issue.
Book-adjacent gatherings
Not *about* books, but around them
🏠 Manny’s is hosting a workshop for prospective homebuyers, which in this economy seems ~aspirational~ but hey, a renter can dream! It’s open to all, and questions are welcome. Tuesday 5/14, 6-7pm, $15 (complimentary tickets available).
🧵In partnership with San Francisco Environment and SCRAP, the SFPL’s Excelsior Branch is holding a fix-it clothing clinic. Bring a piece of clothing in need of mending and you’ll be paired with a “repair coach” who’ll help give it new life. Thursday 5/16, 2-4pm, free.
🧶 If crafting while surrounded by books is your idea of a good time, come by Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe for their monthly knitting and crochet circle. You’ll need to bring your own supplies - but if you’re craving a snack, their olive-oil spelt cake with Earl Grey drizzle is exquisite. Sunday 5/19, 5-6pm.
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this issue of Same Page, please pass it along to a bookish friend or two (or more, but let’s be honest, we’re all introverts here!).
As always, if you have questions, ideas, or events to share, I’d love to hear! Just reply to this email.
Cheers,
Christina
Book recommendations are my love language.
A bonus for paid subscribers: each week I feature a book I’ve recently read and wholeheartedly loved.
Today, I’m trying something different: rather than raving about one specific book, I’m responding to request for a reader, who’s asked for something engaging and cheerful to balance some challenging nonfiction.
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