Brandishing the PEN
PEN Oakland
at Bird & Beckett Books
Sunday, April 13th, 2pm
653 Chenery Street, in San Francisco
Free
A reading by six PEN Oakland writers– the “working class” PEN:
Floyd Salas, Claire Ortalda, Sharon Doubiago, Kirk Lumpkin, Judith Cody and John Curl.
About PEN Oakland: PEN Oakland was founded in 1989 to promote emerging multi-cultural literature and to educate about the nature of that work. They organize annual literary awards honoring books that reflect a multi-cultural or marginalized viewpoint while representing the highest standards of literature, and annually honor a writer of conscience with a literary censorship award. In addition, they have published a series of anthologies, organized symposia, and engaged the media in a dialogue toward a deeper understanding of non-traditional literature.
Readers:
Floyd Salas, recipient of NEA and California Arts Council fellowships among other awards and honors, is the critically-acclaimed author of a memoir, two volumes of poetry, and four novels, including Tattoo the Wicked Cross, which earned a place on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Western 100 List of Best 20th Century Fiction.
Claire Ortalda, winner of Georgia State University and national Hackney Fiction Prizes, among other awards, is a fiction writer and poet who has been published in numerous literary journals.
Sharon Doubiago is the author of many books of poetry, stories, essays and memoir. The two volumes of her memoir My Father’s Love are her most recently published books.
Kirk Lumpkin is a poet, performer, lyricist, environmentalist, cultural worker, and event creator. He is the author of two books of poetry, In Deep and Co-Hearing. He has released two poetry/music CDs, “The Word-Music Continuum” and “Sound Poems.”
Judith Cody is a national award winning poet and composer whose poetry has been published in over 80 literary journals and anthologies. One of her poems, in both Spanish and English translation, is in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. Her latest poetry book is Between Bytes.
John Curl is a poet whose latest collection is Revolutionary Alchemy, with a foreword by Jack Hirschman. Hirschman writes, “John Curl has earned a place—with this book of poems—among the foremost revolutionary American poets since the end of WW2.”
Read more on PEN Oakland at this link: http://www.penoakland.com/
Bird & Beckett Books is an independent neighborhood business offering an excellent selection of new and used books, and a cultural center for the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco, with a full schedule of live music, talks and book events. Visit their website at http://www.birdbeckett.com/ or contact them at birdbeckett@yahoo.com to be added to their email list. The store is 1-1/2 blocks from Glen Park BART station, and served by MUNI lines 23, 36, 44, 52 and J-Church. Easy access from