November 9th Post-Election Poetic Reflections đź—“

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POST-ELECTION POETIC REFLECTIONS

Join Left Coast Writers® at Book Passage in Corte Madera 

2pm

November 9, 2024

Left Coast Writers® features poets Laurel Feigenbaum and Linda Watanabe McFerrin.
The latest books by both writers reflect, through different lenses, upon a world slammed by pandemic and political strife.
Please come and join in for refreshments, readings and a post presentation chat!
POST-APOCALYPTIC VALENTINE
by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
In a book that cheekily explores the body’s lusts and indiscretions, McFerrin moves through the dark and bright of the world, notating ethereal and passing loveliness
in lucid imagery. 
 
“In some ways, POST-Apocalyptic Valentine is a welcome, Feminist update of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” Prophecies such as “What Every Girl Should Know” urge us to recognize the damage we have done to the planet and acknowledge the regret we feel for what we have bequeathed to later generations. 
—James Cihlar, PhD and author of The Shadowgraph (University of New Mexico Press, 2020)
LIFE IN NO ORDINARY TIME
by Laurel Feigenbaum
While the ninety-seven-year-old poet’s personal life and that of her family remains stable, the world suffers increasing turmoil—be it war, displacement, or threats to our democracy. Laurel Feigenbaum’s poems of time and place reflect her observations, thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the crosscurrents of events over the recent decade. Politics, advancing technology, climate change, a lingering virus, family and aging are all topics tackled in Life in No Ordinary Time. 
“Wildfires and calving glaciers, war mongers, cryptocurrency, woke culture, unchecked technocracy, a demented demagogue, the surveillance state, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer—the dreary earmarks of our zeitgeist seem endless. Laurel Feigenbaum takes them on with the perspicacity of her 96 years on earth and her trademark wit, dry as a three-olive martini.”
—Thomas Centolella, author of Almost Human
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Left Coast Writers Book Launch: The Unexploded Ordnance Bin by Rebecca Foust đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH:  The Unexploded Ordnance Bin by Rebecca Foust  

Saturday, November 9, 2019 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

LEFT COAST WRITERS presents a book launch celebration for a new chapbook, THE UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE BIN by longtime LCW member Rebecca Foust, joined by cover artist Lorna Stevens.

“The ticking IS the bomb,” Nick Flynn says, and the idea of events from our genetic, cultural, historic, and experienced past–coiled and waiting to explode in our lives–lies at the core of this Rebecca Foust’s new collection, winner of the 2018 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Award. The Unexploded Ordinance Bin presents new poems that ignite a long, sparking fuse about contemporary culture, society, and political events now dividing families and creating a generation of lost children. The author will be joined by the book’s cover artist, Lorna Stevens, who has collaborated with Foust on a number of books and projects marrying image with text.

Rebecca Foust’s books include The Unexploded Ordnance Bin and Paradise Drive, winner of the Press 53 Poetry Award and reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement and widely elsewhere. Recognitions include the CP Cavafy and James Hearst poetry prizes, the Lascaux and American Literary Review fiction prizes, the Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize, and fellowships from The Frost Place, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, and Sewanee. Foust was Marin County Poet Laureate in 2017-19 and works now as Poetry Editor for Women’s Voices for Change, an assistant Editor for Narrative Magazine, and co-producer of a new series about poetry for Marin TV, Rising Voices. (more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Albert Flynn DeSilver đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry:  Albert Flynn DeSilver, Author of Writing as a Path to Awakening

Albert Flynn DeSilver

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, December 3rd from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in December is Albert Flynn DeSilver.

Albert Flynn DeSilver is an American poet, memoirist, novelist, speaker, and workshop leader. He received a BFA in photography from the University of Colorado in 1991 and an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1995. His work has appeared in more than 100 literary journals worldwide including ZYZZYVA, New American Writing, Hanging Loose, Jubilat, Exquisite Corpse, Jacket (Australia), Poetry Kanto (Japan), Van Gogh’s Ear (France), and many others. He is the author of several books of poems and the memoir Beamish Boy, which Kirkus Reviews called “a beautifully written memoir. . .poignant and inspirational.” Albert taught as a California Poet in the Schools for more than a decade working with thousands of children throughout Northern California and beyond. He also served as Marin County, California’s very first Poet Laureate and has shared the stage with U. S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, Bestselling authors’ Maxine Hong Kingston, Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert, Legendary Beat poet Michael McClure, and many others. (more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Donna Fado Ivery đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry:  Donna Fado Ivery, Author of Spirit Journey to Healing

Donna Fado Ivery

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, November 5th from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 4:30pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Up in November is Donna Fado Ivery.

Donna Fado Ivery is a minister, speaker, writer, and painter dedicated to the art of healing. No longer able to pastor after a disabling brain injury in 1994, for seventeen years she used a wheelchair, cane, and narcotics in order to get around. Now she walks freely without any of these supports. Her poetry—some of which is included in her memoir, Spirit Journey to Healing—traces her journey through brain injury and her reliance on Spirit’s ability to lead and heal. A graduate of the University of California at Davis (Bachelor of Science in the Applied Behavioral Sciences: Organizational and Community Development) and Boston University School of Theology (Masters of Divinity: Biblical and Historical Studies), she has pastored three United Methodist Churches and lectured across the U.S.

(more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Jeanne Powell đź—“

Left Coast Writers Poetry: Jeanne Powell, Author of My Own Silence and Carousel, among other books

Jeanne Powell
Jeanne Powell

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, July 2nd from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in October is Jeanne Powell, Author of My Own Silence.

Jeanne Powell has earned degrees from WSU in Detroit and USF in San Francisco.  She writes prose poems, flash fiction and short stage plays.  Her books in print are Word Dancing, My Own Silence, and Carousel (essays).  Her new chapbook is entitled Two Seasons.  For ten years Jeanne hosted an acclaimed spoken word series, “Celebration of the Word,” in the City.  She is the inspiration behind Meridien PressWorks™ which has published 20 authors since 1996.  Jeanne reviews films for an online site, and lately has taken up photography. (more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: David Hathwell đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry:  David Hathwell, Author of Muses

David Hathwell

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, June 4th from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet (this time it’s a musician) at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in June is David Hathwell.

David Hathwell‘s poems have appeared in more than a dozen literary magazines, national and international, including Tampa Review, The MacGuffin, Measure, and the online journals Cider Press Review, Driftwood Press, and Angle. A former English teacher, he has degrees in English from Stanford University and Columbia University, as well as an advanced degree in music theory from Queens College of the City University of New York. He is now a piano student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a bass in the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. (“My musical training, as much as any other influence, has shaped the character of my poetry.”) He lives in San Francisco with Stephen Goldston, his partner of forty years and husband of seven. Muses is his debut collection.

(more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Aleta George đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry:  Aleta George, Author of Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California’s First Poet Laureate

Aleta George

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, April 2nd from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in April is Aleta George. She’ll be sharing the work of Ina Coolbrith, California’s First Poet Laureate

Aleta George is the author of the award-winning biography, Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California’s First Poet Laureate. She has written for Smithsonian, High Country News, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is currently the open space reporter for the Bay Area Monitor, a publication of the League of Women Voters. She will be reading some of Ina Coolbrith’s poetry for this event.

(more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Mike Mirabella, Special Music Edition đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry:  Mike Mirabella, Musician and Author of On the Luck of an Irish Sailor

Mike Mirabella

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, March 5th from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet (this time it’s a musician) at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in March is Mike Mirabella.

“Papa Mike” Mirabella is an accomplished guitar player and singer-songwriter known for his children’s songs “Sister Butterfly”; “I Am So Like You”; and “I Used To Be Shy.” In his early career Mike performed with folk groups and arranged compositions and toured a choral group of young singers who performed nationally, with a special performance at the White House. In addition to his music career, Mike is a retired public school teacher, and resides with his wife in the San Francisco Bay Area.

(more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Wanderland Writers đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: Wanderland Writers, Contributors to the Wandering In series

wanderinginandalusiacover_sKawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, December 4th from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in November are The Wanderland Writers.

Lovers of travel, Spain and sunny southern climes: You are invited to join the editors and contributing writers for the fifth book in the award-winning Wanderland series, Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain for a book launch featuring wine, tapas and literary treats.

It’s interesting that the Wanderland Writers generally tend to head south in their explorations, and nowhere was (more…)

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: TC Currie đź—“

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Left Coast Writers Poetry: TC Currie, Author of Questions to a Butterfly: A Collection of Transformational Poetry

TC Currie
TC Currie

Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli
734 La Playa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Sunday, November 6th from 5pm-7:15pm

Join a featured LCW poet at the First Sunday of the Month Happy Hour Poetry series at Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli. Our featured poet’s reading is followed by an open mic for other poets to share original work, or even just to read favorite poems aloud. Happy Hour starts at 5pm, and after our featured poet reads for 30 minutes, open mic (three minutes per poet) goes until 7:15 pm. Celebrate creativity and poets while supporting a local, community-oriented, and family owned business! Enjoy $1 off your sandwich with the purchase of a glass of wine or bubbly! Up in November is TC Currie.

As a girl of five, TC Currie was delighted to discover that books allow her to escape into other worlds. She has (more…)

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