Same Page SF | A literary festival, a night of themed storytelling, and two great novels
Looking ahead, Same Page is hosting its first event!
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.
Before we get started, a quick favor: if you enjoy Same Page, please share it with a bookish friend or two (or more, but let’s be honest, we’re all introverts here!). It makes my day to see folks passing it on to readers in their lives - plus, we’re close to hitting a milestone, and I’d love your help getting there sooner than later.
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 appreciate a good hook - in a story or a song
In a Silent Way: Stories About Music and Tension at Herbst Theatre. Friday 6/21, 8pm, $29+.
Back Pocket Media - “like a podcast, but live on stage” - is back with another evening of themed storytelling. This time, they’ll be exploring the relationship between music and dramatic tension through stories from award-winning writers, actors, artists, musicians, and locals. Use code GoldenTicket for 25% off the ticket price!
2) You’re craving a “love letter to connection”
Tomas Moniz on All Friends Are Necessary at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Tuesday 6/18, 7pm, free.
Join Oakland-based author Tomas Moniz - a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Lambda Literary awards - to celebrate the launch of All Friends Are Necessary, a “tender and open-hearted” (Nina LaCour) anthem to queer and platonic love. He’ll be discussing themes like male friendship, grief, and the power of community with punk writer Michelle Cruz Gonzales.
3) You love a literary festival and cultural celebration
Flor y Canto Literary Festival in the Mission District. Friday 6/21 through Sunday 6/23, free.
Flor y Canto, La Mision’s beloved homegrown literary festival, will run all weekend, starting with a poetry crawl Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday highlights include Drag Story Hour, a conversation on Palestinian and Arab poetry in the Bay Area, an all-ages art hour, and the Community Appreciation Teyolía Award.
4) You’re intrigued by “Crazy Rich Asians meets Euphoria”
Porochista Khakpour on Tehrangeles at Booksmith. Monday 6/17, 7pm, $34 (includes book).
Join Porochista Khakpour, in conversation with Shanthi Sekaran, to celebrate the launch of her highly anticipated novel Tehrangeles. A tragicomic saga starring (and satirizing) the obscenely wealthy Iranian-American Milani family, Kevin Kwan called it “Little Women on an ayahuasca trip” in an admiring review.
5) You’re not *not* worried about mis- and dis-information
Renée DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory will visit Manny’s for a discussion of her new book Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, an illustration of how propagandists undermine belief in the legitimacy of institutions that make society work; Jonathan Haidt called it “essential and riveting.” Tuesday 6/18, 6pm, $15.
In partnership with Booksmith and Berkeley Arts & Letters, bestselling author Annalee Newitz will speak with Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong about Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, a sharp and timely exploration of the art of manipulation through weaponized storytelling. Tuesday 6/18, 7pm, $5-35.
Also
MONDAY The Living Room Reading Salon & Series is hosting a Juneteenth Poetry Reading at the Kimpton Alton | Bram Stoker award winner Paul Tremblay on Horror Movie: A Novel at Book Passage
TUESDAY Biographer Michael Nott on Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life at Fabulosa | Educator and researcher Sarah Towle on Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands at Medicine for Nightmares | National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo celebrates the paperback release of Family Lore at Book Passage | Virtual Pride Panel with Book Passage featuring KB Brookins, Karl Dunn, Laura Gao, and Ann Pellegrini
WEDNESDAY Entrepreneur and refugee Payam Zamani on Crossing the Desert: The Power of Embracing Life’s Difficult Journeys at Book Passage | Pastry chef Sarah Johnson on Fruitful: Sweet and Savoury Fruit Recipes Inspired by Farms, Orchards and Gardens at Omnivore | The Last Supper Party, a monthly spoken word and music series presented by the San Francisco International Arts Festival, at Medicine for Nightmares
THURSDAY Chef Edy Massih on Keep It Zesty: A Celebration of Lebanese Flavors and Culture from Edy’s Grocer at Omnivore | Quiet Lightning presents the 14th Better Ancestors, featuring readings and community Q&A | Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s longest-running monthly Latinx reading series, featuring soledad con carne and Maria Esquinca | Green Apple’s ticketed event with actor, director, and producer Griffin Dunne for The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir is sold out | City Arts & Lectures’ ticketed event with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, is sold out
FRIDAY Creative director Karl Dunn on his memoir How to Burn a Rainbow, blurbed as “the gay Eat, Pray, Love,” at Book Passage
SATURDAY Coloring Outside the Lines with Karen Quan of REALSOUL at SFPL Main | Warehouse sale at Books Inc Mountain View | Small Press Traffic presents My San Francisco by Black feminist performance artist Gabrielle Civil
SUNDAY Author and podcaster Bobby Finger on his latest novel Four Squares at Book Passage | Meeting of the Parenting Community Book Group at Black Bird | Meeting of the Bookbinding Club at SFPL Mission Bay | Poet and economist Zoë Hitzig on Not Us Now, a collection of poetry that “detangle[s] and interrogate[s] algorithmic structure and power,” at Manny’s | Litquake panel on biographical fiction featuring Jasmin Darznik, Karen Joy Fowler, Dawn Tripp, and Gail Tsukiyama | Meeting of the SF Silent Book Club at Obscenity Bar & Lounge
ONGOING Former Folio Books owner and staff are raising funds to bring a bookstore back to Noe Valley | SF Art Book Fair is looking for volunteers for its July festival | The SFPL’s Summer Stride reading challenge is off and running
Book-adjacent gatherings
Not *about* books, but around them
🍷 Manny’s is holding a panel on the future of California wine with Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley and three local vintners - and yes, they’ll bring wine for tasting! Thursday 6/20, 6pm, $40.
🖼️ Black Bird is hosting a closing party for local artist Anna Beurskens, whose solo show Park Culture: A Series of Wrapped Panels has graced their walls all month. Come for the fiber art, stay for the harp performance! Friday 6/21, 6-9pm, free.
🥘 The California Migration Museum is visiting Manny’s for a listening party to celebrate the launch of Melting Spots, an interactive map and “bite-sized” collection of stories featuring immigrant chefs, restaurants, and dishes throughout the city. Saturday 6/22, 2-3pm, $15.
Looking ahead
I’m thrilled to share that Same Page will be hosting its first event next month - a ticketed Wine & Short Story Pairing in a gorgeous backyard garden! I can’t wait to bring folks from this community together for the first official time. 🤗
While it may be obvious from the name, the idea is that four to five authors will read a short story (or an excerpt from longer work) and each will be paired with a glass of wine that’s relevant in some way - the setting, the narrative, or simply the vibes.
If you’re a published author interested in participating, please reply to this email!
Thanks for reading!
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.
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.
This week’s recommendation is a debut that brought me straight back to the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. I picked it up expecting a low-stakes beach read, and while it was just as entertaining as I hoped, I was pleasantly surprised by the substance.
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