National Poetry Month Celebration with Marin Poet Laureate Rebecca Foust & Poets đź—“

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Rebecca Foust

Poets and friends, it’s National Poetry Month, and we are inviting you to come, have a celebratory glass of vino and read or listen to some of your own or your favorite writers’ poetry at Book Passage in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza.

Marin County Poet Laureate, Rebecca Foust, is our emcee for the evening.

No car? It’s easy to get there by bike, MUNI, BART, or S.F. Ferry.

So come, read, listen, tell your friends. Let’s raise a toast to the time-honored art of poetry.

Poets reading include: Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli, Marianne Betterly, Elaine Bond,Todd Crawshaw, TC Currie, David Hathwell, Craig McLaughlin, Kunal Mukherjee, MJ Pramik, Carol Sheldon, Rebecca Foust and Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Emcee Rebecca Foust’s five books of poetry include Paradise Drive, reviewed in (more…)

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Book Party: Abandoned Places with Editor Chris Cornell đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Abandoned Places, with Editor Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell

Monday, March 12th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Join us on Monday night for an evening with editor Chris Cornell.

In Abandoned Places, twenty-one writers embark on a tour of the lonely, the rejected and the uninhabited. This anthology of short genre fiction co-edited by Chris Cornell features stories of science fiction, fantasy and horror by rising new authors and classic tales by Ray Bradbury, Dashiell Hammett, Edgar Allen Poe and M. R. James. (more…)

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Book Party: Shu Wei’s Revenge by Jackson Fahnestock đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Shu Wei’s Revenge: A Young Man’s Journey Into the Depths of the Underworld by Jackson Fahnestock

Jackson Fahnestock

Monday, February 12th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

It’s the perfect prelude to a fantastic Chinese New Year and the best Chinese New Year party for the whole family.

Join us as Jackson Fahnestock introduces us to a story about strength of family and friendships, heartbreak, perseverance, and personal tragedy.

The setting is 1898 in the sleepy village of Sanhou, China. Seventeen-year-old Shu Wei, in his role as Town Scribe, makes a disastrous mistake, raising the ire of some crooked town counselors. His father’s business is burned to the ground by one of the villainous counselors in retaliation. To make matters worse, a tribunal of these counselors is called that summarily banishes his family from the (more…)

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Book Party: Redemption: How Ronald Reagan Nearly Ruined My Life by Barbara McVeigh đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Redemption: How Ronald Reagan Nearly Ruined My Life by Barbara McVeigh

Barbara McVeigh

Monday, January 8th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

“My father is a federal criminal, my father is my hero,” Barbara McVeigh writes in her memoir Redemption, How Ronald Reagan Nearly Ruined My Life. Reagan fired her father for a union strike in 1981 leading him and 11,500 other families into years of strife. She lost her dream to be an oceanographer and her guitar lessons as her family struggled emotionally and financially. She blamed her father for not placing family first. Years later she takes up sailing, her late great uncle’s passion, who had been her best friend. Then bitter truths emerge about the ocean’s health and her fourteen year marriage. Against all odds, Barbara takes the helm of her life and makes a passionate project reclaiming her childhood dreams resulting in two first time films that go international with the most important oceanographer and Brazilian guitarist of our time. Then she confronts the dark shadows of Reagan’s energy and environmental policies revealing horrific truths about America’s “Hero of the Republican Party. Her father is not the federal criminal. Her father is her hero. Barbara has a new dream now and the spirits are guiding her, as they had been all along. (more…)

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Book Party: Salento by Five by Audrey Fielding đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Salento by Five: Friendship, Food, Music, and Travel Within the Heel of Italy’s Boot by Audrey Fielding

Audrey Fielding

Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Also, a little early in November, join us “in Italy” for an evening with Audrey Fielding, not on Monday, but on Wednesday eve at Book Passage in San Francisco.

Salento by 5 is a collection of richly woven Italian stories, written by three local Italians and two American travelers. A friendship begins in the Rome airport, migrates to Salento, the southernmost Italian region of Puglia, blossoms over food and wine, and culminates in a narrative filled with nostalgic and personal recollections of Salento’s unique history, culture, and people. Enjoy the book’s watercolor sketches, the local recipes, and off-the-beaten path travel hints that only the Salento by 5 authors can provide. Whether you are an armchair traveler or looking for a new Italian adventure in a not so well known region, Salento by 5 has a little something for everyone.

Audrey Fielding was born in Bristol, Connecticut. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cuzco, Peru from 1964 to 1966 and taught at Lincoln International School and Costa Rica Academy in San Jose, Costa Rica from 1971 to 1975. For more than twenty years, she was a San Francisco educator. She began studying Italian in Perugia, Italy in (more…)

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Book Party: Places in Time by Maxine Rose Schur đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Places in Time by Maxine Rose Schur

Maxine Rose Schur

Monday, October 9th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

If you love to travel or read well written tales of travel, you’re sure to enjoy and evening with Maxine Rose Schur and a look into her adventures. We hope you’ll drop by and celebrate the magic of a voyage bravely taken and the magic of a story well told. This event is open to the public, so please spread the word!

“Appealingly graceful …Schur is gentle and generous, opening herself to the mystery of others and amply rewarded for the effort.” San Francisco Chronicle“The author’s reflections on her life-changing journey more than thirty years later are the subject of this remarkable book. Schur’s determination “not merely to observe, but to accept, even integrate” with other cultures distinguishes this essay collection from most travel memoirs. More than just a collection of travel stories, Places in Time is a celebration of rural life and the healing power of community.”—Foreword Magazine

“Writing with so much humor, suspense and wisdom …This is what travel memoirs should be and so seldom are. “– San Francisco Chronicle.

Maxine Rose Schur is a children’s book author and travel journalist. Her essays have appeared in numerous (more…)

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Book Party: David Hathwell, Author of Between Dog and Wolf đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Between Dog and Wolf by David Hathwell

David Hathwell

Monday, September 11th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Please join us for this celebratory reading of David Hathwell’s new book, Between Dog and Wolf. The French phrase “entre chien et loup” describes those moments at twilight when the eye, no longer to be trusted, can’t distinguish between a dog and a wolf. The poems in David Hathwell’s new collection take place on the threshold—unsettling, often perilous—between light and darkness: between the familiar and the unknown, the expected and the unforeseen, safety and danger.

“Sharp and unsettling, the poems offer a sense of something just not right. An important book for times like these.”
—Erica Dawson
 
“An absolute delight to read. Commanding a beautiful lyricism, Hathwell ask us to consider the world in ways we likely haven’t before. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.”
—Rob Griffith

(more…)

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Library Reading: Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain đź—“

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Saturday, August 5th, 2017 || 11am
Novato Public Library || Novato
1720 Novato Blvd, Novato CA 94947

In many ways, Andalusia, situated as it is, at the southern boundary of the Iberian Peninsula, is a crossroads, a caravansary where settlers from northern Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East have left their mark. Our writers went from Córdoba to Málaga, from Granada and its Alhambra to Cadíz to bring back stories of cities, rivers, coasts, plains, food, spirit and passion. All embarked upon new roads of discovery, and all were well rewarded in their investigations. These, after all, are the landscapes that inspired Cervantes, Lorca, Machado, Navarro, Unamuno, Hemingway, Conrad and Menocal.

In the words of poet and rock idol, Jim Morrison, “Andalusia with fields ripe with grain, I want to see you again and again.”

“Wandering in Andalusia’s enchanting collection of travel tales illuminates the region’s history, traditions, and myriad attractions. It’s the perfect companion for your next visit to Spain.”
— Christi Phillips, Author of The Rosetti Letter and The Devlin Diary

“To change ourselves, we must give ourselves away. The glass we hold cannot be filled until it is first emptied. In Andalusia, we yield ourselves to an irresistible and cumulative beauty, just as we do in love. And the life we then can lead, with reborn and unbound hopes, follows a trajectory of dedication and understanding.
— Steven Nightingale, Author of Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God and The Hot Climate of Promises and Grace (more…)

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Book Party: Living Love, the Yoga of Yama & Niyama by Megan Nolan đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Living Love, the Yoga of Yama & Niyama: Timeless Teachings for Transformation and Awakening by Megan Nolan

Megan Nolan

Monday, August 14th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Living Love explores the ancient teachings of yoga that assist with living in the world and facing life’s difficulties. This book leads you through processes that can help you shift negative beliefs and thought patterns, transform your relationship with yourself and others and ultimately your life. A unique blend of the ancient teachings of yoga, the Yama and Niyama of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and modern psychology. It offers teachings for happiness, compassion, self-love, and self-realization.

It gives simple practices that can resolve, solve, clarify, heal, purify, fend off confusion, dispel error and light your way into developing a deeper connection with your true divine nature. Living Love is a practical guide to living a deep and fulfilling life that will move you towards awakening to the deepest love within you.

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Book Party: Mother Earth: Three Couples by Tommie Whitener đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Mother Earth: Three Couples by Tommie Whitener

Tommie Whitener

Monday, July 10th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

When Alex, Roberta and Marie signed up for a series of personal development retreats in the redwoods of Northern California they had no idea how much “development” they were going to experience. Neither they nor their unsuspecting spouses were fully prepared for the ensuing personal and marital reassessment, stock-taking and value adjustment. The three of them and their marriages were dramatically, sometimes with much stress and drama, transformed. Not every marriage survived.

Tommie W. Whitener has practiced Family Law in Marin County and the Bay Area for more than forty-five years and is now putting some of the knowledge of people and relationships gained during that time to work in his new career as a writer. In addition to his just published debut novel  he is at work on a collection of short stories and memoirs to be published later this year and a volume of historical fiction concerning two generations of his Arkansas farmer ancestors. He lives in Novato with his wife Svetlana, who is a life coach, although he is often found in Seattle with new grandchildren and in his beloved Los Angeles, where he grew up.

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