Written on the Dock of the Bay is your weekly roundup of bookish events in the wonderfully literary and bookish Bay Area.
Bay Area Book World Breaking News!
From the San Francisco Chronicle, here's a listof the most popular books at the San Francisco Public Library in 2015...or, the most popular books that were purchased in 2015 and circulated. Popular titles included Thea Stilton and the Missing Myth, Lila and Myla the Twin Fairies, the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and To Kill a Watchman. Good to know that people in San Francisco operated on a policy of life-changing magic throughout the year.
MONDAY, 1/25 - SUNDAY 1/31
Monday, 1/25
Performing word magic
In The History of Mr. Polly, H.G Wells writes, “Figures are the most shocking things in the world. The prettiest little squiggles of black looked at in the right light and yet consider the blow they can give you upon the heart.” Pretty little squiggles of black, or calligraphy, can be pretty cool. A new exhibition at the Book Club California, featuring a calligrapher and a poet, takes word-art to a new level.
DETAILS: Book Club California // 312 Sutter Street, Suite 500, SF. // Exhibition runs January 25 - April 25
Tuesday, 1/26
Lullabies, stories, and coffee cocktails
New Year’s Day has come and gone, and it might feel like you carefully crafted your 2016 New Year Resolutions years ago. But, look at that: yes indeed, it’s still 2016. And that means you’ve still got a chance to meet your goals. That’s why the theme of Pegasus’ Happy Hour Stories literary series is “Wake up a New Year.” Lullabies will be played by Joe Christiano, and Brown Teeth Coffee will bring the coffee-based cocktails.
DETAILS: Pegasus Books // 1855 Solano Ave., Berkeley // 7:30pm
Wednesday, 1/27
Deep Sea Diver’s Syndrome
Weird fiction that’s also good fiction is pretty awesome, and Serge Brussolo's The Deep Sea Diver's Syndrome is pretty weird. Like, French crime novel meets French New Wave love letter meets trippy-lucid-dream weird.. It's about a lucid dreamer who dives into his dreams every night. In partnership with the Center for the Art of Translation, Edward Gauvin presents The Deep Sea Diver’s Syndrome in conversation with Michael Holtmann.
DETAILS: The Booksmith // 1644 Haight Street, SF., // 7:30pm
Thursday, 1/28
The mystery of the four beers of which were chugged
What wonders would lurk inside a zine called Just Chugged Four Beers? There’s a lot of mystery there. Why four beers? Why did they have to be jugged? Did the makers of this magazine really put it together immediately after the four beers were jugged? Were there four beers, and four individuals chugged one each? Come pick up the first issue of this new zine, meet its makers, and learn about chugging beers at Alley Cat Books this Thursday.
DETAILS: Alley Cat Books // 3036 24th St., San Francisco // 6:30pm
Friday, 1/29
Gertrude Stein gets a pixie cut
90 years ago, Gertrude Stein got a haircut - a pixie cut, to be specific - from Alice B. Toklas. In honor of this historic event, the poetry group Fresh Ink will be reading their own work, in conjunction with an exhibit called “Gertrude Stein Shorn.” The exhibition shows Stein with both long and short hair. When an exhibition sounds like it was pretty much made up, it’s probably pretty interesting. Or as Gertrude Stein would say, “Who comes too coming coming too, who goes there, as they go they share, who shares all, all is as all as as yet or as yet.” Exactly.
DETAILS: Fremont Art Association Gallery // 37697 Niles Blvd., Fremont // 7pm
Saturday, 1/30
Black Kripple delivers poetry and music
Leroy F. Moore, Jr. is an outspoken Black poet and community activist.He’s also known as the Black Kripple, and he’s the creator of Krip-Hop Nation, a group of hip hop artists and other disabled musicians from around the world. Poet Wanda Coleman summarizes his talent pretty well: “In the tradition of History’s word warriors, Leroy Moore pens full frontal confrontations that blast away the last nasty vestiges of faith-based America’s biases against the poor, the disarranged, and the different.” Moore will be at Modern Times this Saturday to deliver poetry and music.
DETAILS: Modern Times Bookstore // 2919 24th St., SF. // 5pm
Sunday, 1/31
In the memory of Justin Chin
The San Francisco Public Library will host an afternoon of readings dedicated to the memory of Justin Chin, a fiercely political poet, essayist, and performance artist who often wrote about the implications of an Asian American queer identity.
DETAILS: San Francisco Public Library // 100 Larkin St., SF // 1pm
Got a literary event or some news you think we should share with the world? Email us at thelitographyproject@gmail.com!