Salons - Left Coast Writers

Literary Salon: Bill Petrocelli 🗓

LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Bill Petrocelli, Co-owner of Book Passage and Author of Through the Bookstore Window

Bill Petrocelli

Monday, April 2nd, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

A rare treat: Join in for an evening with our favorite bookseller and one of the key sponsor of our Left Coast Writers Literary Salons and Events. That’s right; Book Passage co-owner Bill Petrocelli has a new novel out.

“I don’t know if I sought out bookselling, or whether bookselling sought me out. But when you are hiding from a past that can blow up in your face at any minute, immersing yourself in the stories of others may be a good place to hide.”

Bill’s new book is about a bookseller, of course!

Gina Perini manages a bookstore in one of San Francisco’s most lively neighborhoods. Although she thrives in her world of books, her harrowing escape from the war in the Balkans years earlier remains fresh in her mind. There are still those who are searching for her and who are intent on vengeance. Gina suddenly gets news that someone from her past is still alive–someone she had given up hope of finding. This sets in motion a chain of events that will stretch across the country and push her love and resourcefulness to the limit. (more…)

Literary Salon: Jasmin Darznik 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Jasmin Darznik, Author of Song of a Captive Bird and The Good Daughter

Jasmin Darznik

Monday, March 5th, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

Do not miss this event. Jasmin Darznik is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life.

Her new novel Song of a Captive Bird is a fictional account of Iran’s trailblazing woman poet, Forugh Farrokhzad. Jasmin was born in Tehran, Iran and came to America when she was five years old. She holds an MFA in fiction from Bennington College and a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University. Now a professor of English and creative writing at California College of the Arts, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. (more…)

Literary Salon: Chinese New Year Celebration with Author Rosemary Gong 🗓 🗺

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Chinese NewYear’s Celebration with Rosemary Gong, Author of Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture

Rosemary Gong

Monday, February 5th, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Help us celebrate Chinese New Year 2018 and the incredible cornucopia of cultures that we enjoy as citizens of this country with bestselling author, Rosemary Gong. Let’s ring in the New Year with a nod to the diversity that makes the Left Coast magical.

Rosemary is an expert on the joy of researching, writing about and sharing your personal and cultural heritage with others. Her book, Good Luck Life, is packed with historical facts, legends, foods, old village recipes, and quick planning tools for celebrating Chinese festivals and life’s special milestones with wit, warmth and considerable flair. Whatever you are writing—fiction, memoir, history, travel, self-help or more—we know you will come away (more…)

Literary Salon: New Year’s Celebration with Matthew Felix 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: New Year’s Celebration with Matthew Felix, Author of A Voice Beyond Reason

Matthew Felix

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Join us on Tuesday January 2nd at 7:00pm at Book Passage Corte Madera for the annual LCW Literary Salon New Year’s Celebration featuring Writer/Performer Matthew Felix. Please Note: Book Passage will be closed on Monday January 1st, 2018. Our Salon will be on Tuesday night!

We’ll be in a party frame of mind, serving wine, great writing and writing information, and a peek at what’s up for 2018.

Looking forward to seeing you there, Tuesday Eve. (more…)

Book Launch: Oracle of the Song by Gail Strickland 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Oracle of the Song by Gail Strickland with Peter S. Beagle

Gail Strickland

Saturday, December 9th, 2017 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Join us on December 11th for an evening with Gail Strickland and Peter S. Beagle.

In Oracle of the Song, determined to save her best friend Sophia, Thaleia—the young Oracle of Delphi—descends into the Underworld, a forbidden land from which none escape.

But does Sophia want to be saved? If so, why does she trick Thaleia to drink from the River of Forgetfulness, so she no longer knows the reason she descended into Hades’ Realm?

Thaleia prays for the gods’ help. Instead of their guidance, she encounters Hades’ rage and Athena’s jealous fury.

Always, the gods defy her. (more…)

Literary Salon: Javier Zamora, Author of Unaccompanied, with intro by Rebecca Foust 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Javier Zamora, Author of Unaccompanied, with intro by Rebecca Foust

Javier Zamora

Monday, December 4th, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Javier Zamora’s debut poetry collection, Unaccompanied, chronicles his harrowing migration from El Salvador to the United States following the Salvadoran Civil War. And while his poems tell the particular story of the U.S.-backed violence that ravaged Central America during the 1980s, their meditations on familial loss at the hands of state violence and forced migration couldn’t be more timely or crucial.

A reading will be followed by a conversation led by Zamora’s former teacher and mentor, Marin County Poet Laureate Rebecca Foust. This event is free and open to the public and refreshments (beer and pupusas!) will be served. (more…)

Literary Salon: Albert Flynn DeSilver … in Sausalito! 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Albert Flynn DeSilver, Author of Writing as a Path to Awakening

Albert Flynn DeSilver

Monday, November 6th, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Sausalito|| 100 Bay St, Sausalito, CA ||
www.bookpassage.com

This is a very special event! We meet on the first Monday in November at Book Passage in Sausalito! Our speaker is Albert Flynn DeSilver, whose been a member and is a long-time Left Coast Writers favorite. There is Book Passage dedicated parking close to the store.

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

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Literary Salon: David Downie in Conversation with Laurie McAndish King 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: David Downie, Author of A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and the upcoming A Taste of Paris—The History of the Parisian Love Affair With Food

Monday, October 2nd, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

Once again we have a very special treat in store for you. David Downie, author of A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and his new book, A Taste of Paris—The History of the Parisian Love Affair With Food, joins us again—all the way from Paris—this time in Conversation with Laurie McAndish King, author of Lost Kidnapped and Eaten Alive and Your Crocodile Has Arrived. Whether or not you are mad about Paris and travel and food, we are certain that this is going to be a delightful and informative evening for all concerned, and we hope you will spread the word. We also invite you to bring a guest. Just let us know who’s coming.

“A Taste of Paris took me on the walk I have always dreamed of: a joyous romp through time with culinary historian and literary gastronome David Downie. The streets and tables of Paris will never be the same and I could not be more grateful.”
—Alice Waters

“A veritable encyclopedia of everything you ever wanted to know about the Parisians and their victuals. This literary tour de force turns received wisdom on its head, sprinkling the serious subject of what, when, where and how the French have eaten throughout history with many a great moment of humor and irreverence. I loved it!”
—Harriet Welty Rochefort, author of Joie de Vivre

David Downie is a native San Franciscan who moved to Paris in the mid-1980s and now divides his time between (more…)

Literary Salon: The Writing Road-Writers and Editors Discuss Travel and Travel Writing 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: The Writing Road-Writers and Editors Discuss Travel and Travel Writing

Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

Join us for the LCW September Salon on Sunday, September 3rd at 7pm,at Book Passage in Corte Madera, rather than Monday, the 4th (Labor Day). As we gear up for the fall season, a great time to hit the road, the focus will be travel and travel writing. We’ll have a panel of expert writers and editors on hand to talk about journeys and the many ways to document them.

It’ll be more of a Labor Day Weekend Celebratory Gathering, so wine will be served, and we are opening the salon up to our members’ and speakers’ guests. Just let us know who you are inviting, so that we can add them to the guest list.

Travel Panel:

Susan Alcorn

Susan Alcorn, travel writer and long-distance trekker, has walked more than 3,000 miles in Spain, France, Portugal, and Switzerland, on Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes. From her first walk across Spain, came her book,Camino Chronicle: Walking to Santiago, which was named finalist for the prestigious 2007 Ben Franklin award for Best Travel Essay. Susan Alcorn has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; journeyed to Torres del Paine, Chile, to hike its famous circuit route (from which came Patagonia Chronicle); and completed the Pacific Crest Trail. Although she is not averse to traveling by car, boat, train, plane, bus, and rail, she believes that on foot is often the best way to get acquainted intimately with the people, culture, and land through which she travels. Her upcoming book, Caminos Norte and Primitivo: Paths and Interludes, will be released this fall.

(more…)

Literary Salon: Michael Krasny, Host of KQED FORUM 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Michael Krasny, Author and Host of KQED FORUM

Michael Krasny

Monday, August 7th, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

Please join us for an evening with Michael Krasny.

Dr. Michael Krasny is host of the award winning KQED FORUM, a program discussing news and public affairs, current events, culture, health, business and technology. FORUM can be heard daily on Northern California’s public radio station, KQED, as well as on Sirius/XM Satellite with National Public Radio, Comcast digital cable, and on the Internet as a podcast on iTunes. He has interviewed a wide range of major political and cultural figures. He is also a veteran interviewer for the nationally broadcast City Arts and Lectures series. Focus Magazine named him Best Bay Area Talk Show Host, and he was selected Best Talk Host and Best Interviewer by the editorial staff of San Francisco Weekly, as well as in their annual reader’s poll.

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Travel Panel:

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