If you've not heard, Tavia Stewart-Streit is organizing Invisible City Audio Tours, a new concept in walking tours. Invisible City selects locations and neighborhoods to explore through literature. The tour is a series of short audio stories recorded by the authors themselves in response to the locations.

I'm proud to pass on that Tavia was inspired to create Invisible City Audio Tours by my short story "A Concordance of One's Life".

Now ready for download: Invisible City Audio Tour #1: Heliography! You can experience the tour any time, but an opening night celebration is set for September 3^rd, with a closing tour happening on October 1^st.

Download Heliography to your iPod (or MP3 player of choice), download and print the map, and bring all of it (including headphones and money for some great souvenirs, if you're so inclined) to the MacArthur BART station in Oakland. Start listening and walking as soon as you exit the train. You'll hear the neighborhood unfold through twelve spoken stories by Bay Area authors (including myself) complemented by a superb soundtrack composed and performed by Jesse Clark. Get the tour now!

Hope to see you on Telegraph!

Friday, 3 September 2010
5:00PM to 11:00PM
Walking tour from MacArthur BART Station to Keys That Fit (2312 Telegraph Ave.)
Expect the tour to take about an hour. Bring comfortable shoes. More information at ICAT's events page.
Oakland

Friday, 1 October 2010
5:00PM to dark
Walking tour from MacArthur BART Station to Keys That Fit (2312 Telegraph Ave.)
Expect the tour to take about an hour. Bring comfortable shoes. More information at ICAT's events page.
Oakland

I will be reading a new short story at the Bang Out Reading series on August 14th. Bang Out is one of the best reading series in San Francisco—they always assemble a talented and eclectic group of writers, and the audience is consistently lively. Most of all, they pull this off four times a year like clockwork. Trust me, it's harder than it sounds.

The theme this reading is "Heat". On tap for this steamy occasion will be myself, Lizzy Acker, Joy Lanzendorfer, Maria Suarez, Paul Padilla, Diana Aehegma, and Christine Choi.

A few years ago Amick Boone (one of Bang Out's organizers) told me she had this idea of a reading series based on writing prompts. Rather than contact known writers and have them read some dusty, ancient manuscript that they can't get placed, Bang Out would announce a theme and take submissions of fresh work based on it. In other words, a generative reading series. My first reaction was, "Why the hell didn't I think of that?" My second was, "I want to be a part of this."

It's good to be a part of Bang Out, finally. Hopefully you can make it out and join us for what promises to be a great event.

Saturday, 14 August 2010
7:00PM
Amnesia
853 Valencia Street
San Francisco

Flat Earth Collective Presents: "Obviously You're Not a Golfer"

For longer than they would care to admit, as members of the Flat Earth Collective, Tom Andes, David William Hill, Jim Nelson, and Andrew Touhy have been fighting the losing battle that is literature. This summer, when one of their members relocates to Hong Kong, they will become an international entity. To commemorate the occasion, they invite you to Kokoro Studio in the Upper Tenderloin on the evening of June 19 and hope you bring many loved ones and bedmates.

Featured readers include Tom Andes, David Holler, erica lewis, and Sara Mumolo. Performance pieces by Sarah Ciston and Tavia Stewart-Streit.

More information at the Flat Earth Collective home page!

Saturday, 19 June 2010
7:00 PM
Kokoro Studio
682 Geary St. (at Leavenworth)
San Francisco

Tom Andes, David William Hill, Andrew Touhy, and I will be hosting a reading on November 20th, "The Flat Earth Collective Presents: So Many Fortresses". We're pleased to announce our guest readers will be Terri Cohn, Susanna Kittredge, and Brownen Tate. From our flyer:

For the last four years, as members of the Flat Earth Collective, Jim Nelson, Andrew Touhy, Tom Andes, and David William Hill have been subverting the notion of a writers' group by not meeting to talk about writing. Now we're taking it global by inviting a few friends to read with us at Kokoro Studio in the scenic Uptown Tenderloin District.

This is going to a great night of literature and observation. I hope you can make it!

Friday, 20 November 2009
7:00 PM
Kokoro Studio
682 Geary St. (at Leavenworth)
San Francisco

I'm reading this coming Saturday for Instant City at Litquake's Litcrawl. Other readers include Jamey Genna, Ana Maria Ventura, Gravity Goldberg, Sherilyn Connelly, and (my favorite) Suzanne Kleid. Even if you don't make it, I hope to run into you at some point during the night — Litcrawl's always a blast.

Saturday, 17 October 2009
6:00 PM
Dalva
3121 16th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero)
San Francisco

I'll be reading Thursday, July 30th at Dog Eared Books as part of their Babble-On reading series. Annie Wyman (regular contributor to the Chronicle) will be reading as well.

The Babble-On readings are always loose and lively and all-in-all a swell time. No promises, but I'm considering reading a story the North American Review picked up for their next issue. I hope you can make it!

Thursday, July 30th
8:00 PM
Dog Eared Books
900 Valencia Street (at 20th), San Francisco

This Friday I'm representing Instant City at the Literary Deathmatch. Since this is a deathmatch and all, there stands a strong possibility I won't be leaving the Elbo Room alive. Please attend this linguistic bloodbath so you may see me off to the afterlife. (Maybe I'll finally have time to finish my epic poem, "The Poets and the Novelists Play Baseball in Heaven".) The other heavyweights on the card include Karl Soehnlein, Eric Puchner, Michelle Richmond, and Katharine Noel. Two bruising bouts inside The Octagon culminate in a gruesome final round that may or may not involve a Nerf football. You've been warned.

Friday, June 12th
6:30 PM
The Elbo Room
647 Valencia Street, San Francisco

As part of Litquake's 2008 Lit Crawl, I'll be reading at City Art Gallery for the magazine Instant City with Gravity Goldberg, Alvin Orloff, and Eric Zassenhaus. That night I'll be sharing a portion of my rememberance of Robert Cook, the owner of The Owl Tree, which will be featured in the next issue.

Two friends of mine will be reading that night as well: David William Hill at McSweeney's (at the same time as mine, unfortunately) and Andrew Touhy earlier that evening at Dalva's for Watchword Press.

Lit Crawl is always a great evening -- think of it as literary barhopping. A full schedule for the evening's events can be found here. I hope to see you!

Saturday, October 11
7:15 PM
Free

City Art Gallery
828 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Lizzy Acker and Amira Pierce and others are organizing a cool little reading in the Mission District near Dolores Park. It's a "funny/sexy/sad" reading, which means ... I should let them explain:

because everything you hear will either be funny, sexy or sad. seriously. really funny, really sad or really dirty. i swear. you will be laughing or crying or covering your lap and trying not to make eye contact with anyone. it will be amazing.

Well! I for one will bring a dinner napkin.

The readers include Clare Marie Myers, Amira Pierce, Adam Moskowitz, Lizzy Acker, and myself. It happens at Maxfields House of Caffeine (on Dolores and 17th Street) at 7:30PM, Thursday, February 7th. A flier's included here.

(By the way ... I had nothing to do with the "genius" bit on the poster. I fully blame Lizzy for it.)

Ecstatic Monkey presents a reading with Christine Allen-Yazzie, author of The Arc and the Sediment, at Modern Times Bookstore on Thursday, July 12 at 7:30PM. Ana Maria Ventura and I will be reading as well. Light nourishment is usually provided. The entry price is, unlike freedom, free.

Thursday, July 12
7:30PM
Free

Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street, San Francisco

(A follow-up to this event can be found at my field trip report.)

Watchword Press' Whole Story, a multimedia event of visual and performance art in reaction to my short story "A Concordance of One's Life". Watchword published my story in fall of 2005 and selected it in February for their second Whole Story event. The show is open to the public and I warmly invite you to attend. Some information:

Whole Story: A Concordance of One's Life
Friday May 4th and Saturday May 5th
7PM - 11PM

The LAB
2948 16th Street (at Capp), San Francisco
(Near the 16th Street BART station)

Admission: $5 (cheap!) which includes a chapbook.

More information can be found at Watchword's web site. They've also posted an electronic copy of "Concordance" there as well. (Although I'm not privy to the artwork yet, I suspect it will make a lot more sense if you've read the story prior to attending.)

Melissa Endo and I read at the release party for Dustin Heron's fantastic new book Paradise Stories published by the up-and-coming Small Desk Press. I had the honor of leading a fiction workshop at San Francisco State University where Dustin first began crafting this collection. He's a great writer with a sharp eye for human fallibility and tenacity -- go get a copy.