WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO
Since this is my first column for Museletter, I thought you might want some salient facts. Regardless of what you want, I'll tell you that I just read at Perverts Put Out, the fabulous smutty fiction showcase that Black Books puts on a few times a year. Highlights of my night included a shoe fetish story from Carol Queen, a childhood crime story by Thomas Roche, and a fabulous and sweet piece by Thea Hillman that incidentally involved fire fighters.

I spent my summer on the road with the Ignition Tour, with three gorgeous, fun, funny, and wonderful poets: hometown girl Daphne Gottlieb; Eitan Kadosh, formerly of SF and Mission District slam teams and current resident of Los Angeles; and Alexis O'Hara, of Montreal. We and our shoes fit into a rented mini-van, and if we had abstained from both drinking and shopping, we might have come away profitable. I mention this only because it seemed to be the most frequently asked question by both interviewers and groupies: “Are You Making Money?” (As if poetry were about money.) On the other hand, we met amazing poets and poetry lovers across the country (and upstate, in Canada), we sold lots of merch, and we collected enough memories to fill 40 or 50 of those little locking diaries. My highlights included Winston-Salem, Ottawa, and Denver, three cities I'd never read in before but would definitely return to.

The night of September 11, I was sitting in a kitchen full of writers. One of them asked how she could come up with ideas or words when things were so overwhelming. My friend Paul told her that she would feel less overwhelmed when it was no longer The Day It Happened, and that in the immediate future art and writing and poetry would be more important, more necessary than ever. When the White House spokesman goes on record for criticizing the opinion (or the candor) of late night talk show hosts (Bill Maher), it becomes even more evident that if we're going to claim the right to free speech as one of our nation's freedoms worth fighting for, we must fight for it by exercising it.

Anyway, here's what I've found to tell you about in the Bay Area and beyond. All addresses are in San Francisco unless another city is specified.

NEW READINGS

• The latest series in North Beach is at the San Francisco Brewing Co (155 Columbus Avenue between Jackson & Pacific) every Sunday, hosted by poet Mark Schwartz. Already dedicated, Mark has booked features through January of next year.
  
  
• Laszlo, the yuppie bar next door to Foreign Cinema (2532 Mission Street), offers a new Sunday night open mike called Gloss I have yet to check out. (It's every other week; call 415.648.7600 or look for flyers.)
  
  
• Dalva, the sometimes-yup, sometimes-hip bar on 16th & Albion with the smoke-easy in the back offers up its back room on Thursdays at 7 for features and an open mike.
  
  
• The new Free Friday Features series at New College, 777 Valencia, is currently scheduled for October 26, November 30 & December 14 at 7 pm. Open mike follows. Contact Katrina Jensen.
  
  
• Dancing Bear and Marc Hofsteadter host The Whole Note Poetry Series on Tuesdays at The Beanery (2925 College Ave in Berkeley).

POETS COME AND GO

• Rumor has it that Dave Eggers has returned to San Francisco from Brooklyn and is moving the McSweeney's empire to the old Howling Bull space on Valencia Street (next to that creepy Soho store that sells the freeze-dried bats). Eggers turned his indie-slack years in the Bay Area into the bestselling memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Eggers performed at the Cell Space this fall with David Byrne (the putative author of a very odd gift book, The New Sins, on McSweeney's Press) and Michael Chabon, to an SRO crowd.
  
  
• Novelist Michelle Tea has left SF for Los Angeles, as we all read in the Guardian.
  
  
• Poet Noel Black gave a great reading at Intersection in September and then left us for Colorado Springs.
  
  
• Poet Eric Gudas graduated UC Davis to leave us for LA, and coming back from LA is poet Lauren Wheeler.

NOW IN STORES
Borderlands Books, which specializes in science fiction and comfy reading chairs, has relocated from Hayes Valley to the Mission District, at 19th & Valencia. That makes seven new and used bookstores within spitting distance of my house, which in turn makes me happy.

One of my favorite living rooms, Adobe Books on 16th & Albion, opened a new gallery space in the back room called, what else? The Back Room. And their new reading series, the 13th at Adobe, has featured Michelle Tea, Paul LaFarge, and Chelsea Star, among others. (I'm reading there with Idaho transplant David Beisley-Guiotto on October 13.)

BOOK NEWS: MANIC A PLENTY, MOMOTOMBO & HAUSSMANN
Manic D Press has just released second books by two of its most-adored poets, Justin Chin and Beth Lisick. Local performer and writer Justin Chin's new book is Harmless Medicine. He'll be reading October 24 at UC Davis (check local listings for location, 7:30 pm); October 25 at City Lights (Columbus & Broadway, 7 pm) and at the Paradise Lounge on November 11 with Tara Rebele (Folsom & 11th, 8 pm).

Beth's new book is fiction this time: This Too Can Be Yours. She'll be reading at Modern Times (888 Valencia at 20th) on October 11 at 7:30 pm, among other venues. Beth and Justin will be going on a Northwest tour with fellow Manic D Poet Thea Hillman (Depending on the Light) the first week in November.

The poet and translator Francisco Aragón has founded a new press, Momotombo Press, to publish emerging poets who have not yet published a full-length collection. The first book on this press, Mark My Words, made its debut with a reading at Intersection for the Arts in September. The anthology features five poets who have studied creative writing at UC Davis: Angela Garcia, Eric Gudas, Sean McDonnell, Maria Melendez, and Lisa Sperber. The reading was excellent, and the voices were strong and intelligent. For more information about the press and the anthology, visit www.momotombopress.com.

Local novelist Paul LaFarge has been reading throughout the Bay Area to promote his new book, Hausmann, Or, the Distinction. Publisher's Weekly calls the book, about the reconstruction of Paris, “every bit as grand, gracious and sophisticated as Paris itself.” Upcoming readings include Clean Well-Lighted Place (October 11, 7:30 pm, 601 Van Ness Avenue between Turk & Golden Gate) and Book Passage (October 15, 7:30 pm, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera).

UPCOMING EVENTS
Stuff happens every night of the week in San Francisco, ranging from stage performances to bookstore readings to open mikes in coffee shops and bars. If you want to find readings to watch and to join, the best methods are: First, check the Guardian calendar, under both Stage/Spoken Word and Events/Around Town/Authors. Second, check your local high-traffic coffee shop, bookstore, or telephone pole for flyers. Not everything makes it into the newspaper. Third, go to readings and listen to announcements, pick up flyers, and ask around.

• Ferlinghetti To Read for Archives
  The godfather of the San Francisco literary scene, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, will appear in a rare solo reading on October 15 to benefit SF State's Poetry Center & American Poetry Archives. His new book, How to Paint Sunlight, was released in June by New Directions. Lawrence Ferlinghetti @ Club Fugazi, 678 Green Street between Columbus & Powell, Monday, October 15, 7:30 pm, $7-12 donation. Call 415.421.4222 for tickets.
  
  
• More from the Archives
  Upcoming speakers at the Poetry Center & Archives in October include Claudia Rankine & Linda Norton (October 11); Paul Auster (October 18); Bill Berkson & Vincent Katz (October 25); and Mark Nowak & Allison Hedge Coke (October 27). November offers three readings by acclaimed and brilliant poets at the Archives: Bernadette Mayer & Jack Collom (co-presented at the Art Institute with Small Press Traffic, November 2); Alice Notley (November 10) and Pierre Joris (November 29). See the Archives Web site for locations and times.
  
  
• Book Exhibit at Legion of Honor
  Collectors Reva and David Logan donated their enormous collection of art and illustrated books to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Legion of Honor is hosting an exhibition, Artists' Books in the Modern Era, that includes not only the books but computer stations with CD-ROMS of all the illustrations in the books -- a major endeavor indeed. The Center for the Book will conduct demonstrations and workshops in conjunction with the exhibit. October 6, 2001 - January 6, 2002, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Avenue near Clement Street.
  
  
• Lunch Poems at UC Berkeley
  UC Berkeley's Lunch Poems series brings you poets of note in the noon hour. The readings take place in Doe Library within Morrison Library on the UC Berkeley campus. Upcoming: Sandra Cisneros (November 1); Ko Un (November 2); and Gary Snyder (December 6, Zellerbach Playhouse).
  
  
• Commonwealth Club Features Chabon, Boyle
  Michael Chabon won a Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a funny and brilliant historical romp featuring comic books and Harry Houdini. He appears at the Commonwealth Club (595 Market, call 415.597.6700 for reservations) on October 9, reception 6:45 pm; program 7:30 pm. Upcoming authors include TC Boyle (October 23) and Ursula Hegi (November 7).
  
  
• Edith Jenkins at Booksmith
  A local poet, activist and philosopher, Edith Jenkins will be reading from her selected poems, fresh out and featuring writing from a career more than five decades long, October 9 at Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, 7 pm.
  
  
• Eavan Boland at SF Main
  Director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford, author of nine books, and one of Ireland's premiere poets, Eavan Boland is a voice to be reckoned with. Boland will appear on October 11 at 6 pm at the SF Public Library Main Library, Lower Level, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove).
  
  
• More Library Events
  October 9: Word Painters – Local San Francisco poets Edwin Drummond, Stephen Kopel, Jennifer Sweeney, Tony Vaughan, and Nancy Wakeman read poetry upon which to draw (Presidio Branch Library, 7:00 pm, 3150 Sacramento Street near Baker).
  October 31: Afro-San Francisco Society of Poets in Support of Local Poets open mike (Western Addition Branch Library, 7:00 pm,1550 Scott Street at Geary).
  
  
• Intersection for the Arts
  Intersection for the Arts is the oldest alternative performance space in San Francisco, and it's always got a full calendar of readings, plays, and jazz in its space at 446 Valencia (between 15th & 16th). Upcoming readings at Intersection include writer-in-residence Naomi Iizuka (October 16 and November 27); writer-in-residence Jimmy Santiago Baca with Karina Oliva & Amilca Mouton-Fuentes (October 23); and Santiago Baca with George Evans (October 24); Cecile Pineda & Ben Bedard (October 30).
  
  
• Small Press Traffic
  Small Press Traffic has named a new Executive Director, the wonderful poet Elizabeth Treadwell Jackson. As previously reported in Museletter, the literary arts center has moved its offices to CCAC, and its readings are now in Timkin Lecture Hall at 1111 Eighth Street, San Francisco (just off the intersection of 16th & Wisconsin). (Readings were held previously at New College.) The Friday night series for the fall includes Paula Gunn Allen & Stephanie Williams (October 19), fiction writers Lily James & Lynne Tillman (a personal favorite, October 26), and Alfred Arteaga & Juliana Spahr (November 9). SPT's annual auction and soiree, featuring the scraps and manuscripts of the literati, as well as performances and swell snacks, takes place Sunday, November 11, from 1-5 pm.
  
  
• Haiku Meeting
  If you could speak only in 17-syllable bursts at meetings, all meetings would be productive. Anyway, the Haiku Poets of Northern California are having a meeting on Sunday, October 21 from 1-5 pm. It's free, at Fort Mason Center, Building D.
  
  
• Slam Season
  For those of you into the competitive part of the art, Northern California now boasts no less than eleven regular slams. For dates, times, addresses, prices, and contact info, visit www.norcalslam.com. In no particular order, these include San Francisco's Second Sundays (Justice League, SF); San Francisco's Strictly Slam (last Sunday of the month, Cafe Royale, SF); Bezerkeley Open Slam (Wednesdays, Starry Plough, Berkeley); Birth of Verse (first Sunday of the month, Buzz 9, SF); Silicon Valley/San Jose Open Slam (second and fourth Tuesdays, WAVES, San Jose); Where Words Sustain US! (Thursdays, Black Box Theater, Oakland); Tourettes without Regrets (monthly, check Norcal Slam Calendar, moving to Oakland from Vallejo); Petaluma Open Slam (first Thursday, Copperfield's, Petaluma); Davis Open Slam (second and fourth Mondays, Cafe Roma, Davis); Chico Open Slam (every other Tuesday, Moxie's, Chico); and the Sacramento Open Slam (show every Wednesday; slam last Wednesday; email Harambe Artists Collective).

CONTESTS & CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

• Japanese Poetry Competition
  The 2001 San Francisco International Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka Competition closes October 31 and features a $100 first prize in each category.
  
  
• Short Poetry Competition
  The Bay Area Poets Coalition in Berkeley hosts their annual contest for writers of short poems. Categories are by line length (15, 25, 35 lines), and the deadline is November 15. Entry fee is $1.50/poem up to eight poems, and prizes of $40, $25 and $10 in each category plus anthology. Complete guidelines are available from the Contest Chair, Mark States, poetalk@aol.com, BAPC Contest 22, POB 11435, Berkeley CA 94712-2435.

Tarin Towers