Same Page SF | Percival Everett, a carnival-themed fundraiser, and an abundance of short stories
Plus, a "literary and sensory" celebration of malls đď¸
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.
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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 youâre helping make Same Page sustainable.
Before we get into this weekâs events, a review of last weekâs highlight: the Bay Area Book Festival! It was a beautiful day for a literary bonanza. Some of my favorite conversations were with local small presses like Transit Books and Two Lines Press (whose Thursday multimedia event sounds amazing!), and I picked up two books in translation I canât wait to read.
I was so glad to have the opportunity to meet some Same Page readers in person; to everyone who volunteered through the Same Page cohort, especially those of you I didnât get to greet, THANK YOU!
In the future, keep an eye out for more opportunities to connect with other Same Page readers - whether through volunteering, coordinating, or maybe even our own eventsâŚ
On to the goings-on!
Itâs another great week to be a book-lover. Hereâs what youâll want to attend if:
1) You want to hear from the greats
Percival Everett & Cord Jefferson via City Arts & Lectures at Sydney Goldstein Theater. Monday 6/3, 7:30pm, $39+.Â
If you donât know literary icon Percival Everett from his recent bestseller James, a reimagining of Huckleberry Finn hailed as âa masterpiece,â âgenius,â and âa canon-shattering bookâ (nbd), you might know him from Erasure, which Cord Jefferson adapted into the hit film American Fiction last year. Together, Everett and Jefferson will be in conversation with Jelani Cobb, author and staff writer at The New Yorker.
2) Youâre feeling nostalgic and âsensorily curiousâ
Malls: An Experiential Reading Event at Clioâs Bookstore and Bar (Oakland), co-presented by Litquake. Wednesday 6/5, 7-9pm, free.
Secret Nook, an experiential reading series based in Oakland, is hosting a âliterary and sensory exploration of mallsâ - think deep-dives into adolescence, consumerism, and identity. Their last event included a polyphonic poem and communal rainmaking experience, and this one promises to be just as memorable!
3) You want to do good and have fun
The Novel Carnival: A 21+ FUNdraiser for 826 Valencia at El Rio. Tuesday 6/4, 6-9:30pm, $35+.Â
826 Valencia, a local nonprofit supporting under-resourced students with their creative and expository writing skills, is holding their third annual FUNdraiser. Theyâll have bookish carnival activities, carnival-themed cocktails, a live DJ, and a silent auction - not to mention a treasure trove of free books courtesy of the Friends of the SFPL! If you canât make it but still want to support, maybe youâd like to donate or volunteer.
4) Youâre intrigued by the idea of connection as medicine
Julia Hotz on The Connection Cure at Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe. Wednesday 6/5, 7pm, free.Â
Join journalist Julia Hotz for the San Francisco launch of The Connection Cure, which argues that âsocial prescriptionsâ - referrals to community activities and resources - can sometimes be more effective than pharmaceutical ones. A mix of science reporting, patient stories, and her own self-discovery, itâs both provocative and hopeful.
5) You want to celebrate short stories - and storytelling!
Youâve got options!
Join Emily Jon Tobias at Green Apple Books on the Park to celebrate the launch of her debut collection MONARCH, of which Morgan Talty raved, âEvery story is a diamond.â Thursday 5/6, 7pm, free.
In partnership with Telegraph Hill Arts & Literature, Telegraph Hill Books is holding Short Stories Night. Thereâll be readings by Nina Schuyler, Katie M. Flynn, Kate Folk, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, and Beth Piatote - quite a lineup! BYOB if youâre so inclined. Saturday 6/8, 7-9pm, donations welcome.
Mannyâs is hosting Coming-Out Storytime - expect âa few tears, some laughter and a healthy dose of awe.â Sunday 6/9, 5-6:30pm, free with RSVP.
Also
MONDAY Virtual open house with the Writers Grotto to learn about their summer classes | Launch celebration for Nina St. Pierreâs Love is a Burning Thing has been canceled
TUESDAY KB Brookins on their debut Pretty, a memoir about queerness, masculinity, and race, at Booksmith | Julian Carter on his âtranspoetic storiesâDances of Time and Tenderness at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom | Erin Gordon on her memoir Look What You Made Me Do: Heartbreak and Harassment in Big Law at SFPL Presidio
WEDNESDAY Urban design critic John King on Portal: San Franciscoâs Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom  | Italy-based content creator Kacie Rose on her memoir You Deserve Good Gelato at Books Inc. Chestnut | James Beard Book Award finalist Rebeka Peppler on Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-CĂ´te d'Azur at Omnivore Books
THURSDAY Two Lines Press and Cuentero Productions present SOROCHE Live at the Brava | Virtual talk with Barbara McQuade on Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America through the Authorsâ Alliance and Internet Archive | Robert Ryan on The Tarot Tantra Esoterica at Green Apple Books Clement | Celebration of Juan Ăngel Cottaâs Visual Legacy: Book-Cover Design from Buenos Aires with Francisco Roca at the Letterform Archive
FRIDAYÂ First Fridays: A City Lights Reading Series with readings by JosĂŠ Vadi, Alan Chazaro, and Rae Alexandra
SATURDAY  Pride Month Storytime with Out & About Mobile Bookshop at Black Bird | Meet-and-greet with Sophia Nguyen Eng for her latest cookbook The Nourishing Asian Kitchen at Book Passage | Poetry reading in celebration of World Oceans Day at SFPL North Beach | Hugo-nominated Lindsay Ellis on Apostles of Mercy, the third novel in her Noumena series, at Books Inc. Opera Plaza | Writer, photographer, and nutritional scientist Lori Rice on The California Farm to Table Cookbook at Omnivore Books
SUNDAY June book club for In the Distance by Hernan Diaz at Bookshop West Portal | Queer Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club for Pandoraâs Star by Peter F. Hamilton at Borderlands | Community activist Katerina Jeng on her poetry collection Gospel of a Whole Sun at Book Passage
Book-adjacent gatheringsÂ
Not *about* books, but around them
đŹ Trumpâs been convicted! ⌠but what does that actually mean? Mannyâs is hosting a panel of legal experts and reporters to answer questions about the verdict and sentencing. Tuesday 6/4, 7-8pm, $15 (complimentary tickets available).
đą The SFPL and Garden for the Environment are partnering on a series of free gardening workshops. Learn about container gardening - great for small spaces! - in the Marina back courtyard Wednesday 6/5, or visit the Presidio Saturday 6/8 for an intro to growing your own fruits and veggies year-round - theyâll discuss soil basics, planting calendars, pest issues, and more.
𧾠Our friends at Sequoia Fabrica, a new community makerspace at the base of Potrero Hill, are offering a plethora of creative classes this week: learn to use a knitting machine, sew a velveteen rabbit, and carve your own spoons. Their classes book up fast, so if the one you want is full, explore the rest of their June calendar!
Thanks for reading!
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As always, if you have questions, ideas, or events to share, Iâd love to hear! Just reply to this email.
Cheers,
Christina
Book recommendations are my love language.
A perk for paid subscribers: each week, I share a book I recently read and wholeheartedly loved.
This weekâs recommendation is a novel by a new-to-me author, and I canât wait to read more of her work. The first line, pasted below, made me snort-laugh, and it only got better from there:
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