First, an apology: Last week’s calendar included an egregious and misleading error introduced by a hallucinating calendar compiler who followed her own hallucination to her own author's litquake event, which was not in fact at Green Apple Books in the Sunset but was 25 minutes back the way she’d come at KALW and was sold out, standing room only. Just click the link next time, lady. Afterward, we got turned away at three restaurants (West Bay you close too early) before the perfection of Comstock Saloon soothed all strains and troubles. Now we’re tempted to include an error in every calendar just to see if you’re reading closely (we would never–but do send any and all irate corrections to hello@coyotemedia.org or info@screenslate.com).
OK, now to this week’s BUSINESS: Litquake is in the East Bay and West Bay, culminating in my/her/your/our favorite night of the entire year, Litcrawl, on Saturday. Poets in knife stores, editors in coffee shops, crowds milling prosaically and poetically in alleys, in bars (on bars), it’s a mob of writers and what could be better. Back on solid home turf, Local Economy’s October events are still all sold out (And where are the vibe reports from the first 2 weeks from all you hundreds attending them? SUBMIT) but snatch up November’s tickets. While you’re planning ahead: according to Reo of Coyote, there will be a community rock-breaking ceremony at Esther’s Orbit Room in early December so keep your ears peeled and eyes perked. Bather’s Library is hosting reading groups that need readers, and Writing is Rad for teens in Alameda with Kate Schatz -- get ‘em hooked on workshops early. Most of the movies playing this month are too spooky for me, so go scare yourself silly on your own. Don’t forget to read your local art critics and go on a tour of billionaire West Bay architecture with Ted Barrow this weekend. Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve doesn’t offer tours of said mines, but there’s an open house this weekend to learn about when coal was not just shipped through the East Bay but from it. Mondays don’t exist but if they did, I’d let John Freeman and Andrew Sean Greer talk me through the next one.-MS
Tuesday, October 21
Kiss & Tell Literary Salon: Addie Woolridge, 6:30pm, Books Inc. (Alameda). Events were on a break while bankruptcy and B&N’s new ownership of Books Inc were sorted out. They’re back on now! YA romance is a genre (is heavy petting allowed or first base only?), and Woolridge’s Reel Love is in it. [eventbrite]
Molar, 6:45pm, Grand Lake Theatre (Lake-ish). One night only! Molar is a picaresque tragicomedy following Malcolm, an ex-musician and vagabond living on the streets of Los Angeles as he takes an epic journey to fix his tooth, encountering all manner of eccentric characters on this night long odyssey, including nefarious pawnshop owners, middle-aged swingers, drug dealing dentists, world renowned artists and a few old friends. Discussion with filmmakers to follow. [GLT]
Death 2 Spotify Forum, 7pm, Bather’s Library (Telegraph). The final installment of the sold-out, featured-in-the-Guardian series, featuring music writer Marshall Gu, musician Kadhja Bonet, music critic and founding Coyote Emma Silvers (awoooo), Amaya Lim who believes that technology is not evil, and some names that seem like organizations rather than people. [instagram]
New Book Celebration: The Future Is Collective, 7pm, Clio’s Books (The Lake). Celebrate the release from local publisher North Atlantic of a new practice-based guide by Niloufar Khonsari for movement-workers with real stories, tools, and frameworks shaped by the lived experiences of BIPOC leaders, nonprofit staff, and organizers. Decide together and then everyone gets a sabbatical. [Partiful]
Immigrant Voices Film Series: Terrenos Fuera y Dentro & Sui Generis, 7pm, La Peña (Berkeley). Benefit for Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP). Directors Javier Roberto Carlos and Yvan Iturriaga will each present their film and join a representative of ACILEP for Q&A following the screening. [La Peña]
Coming Up Short: A Conversation with Robert Reich and Michael Lewis, 7pm, Freight and Salvage (Berkeley). Drawing from Reich’s new memoir, Coming Up Short—a deeply personal reflection on his life and career—and Lewis’s latest edited volume Who Is Government?, the $35 discussion will explore the cultural, political, and economic forces that have brought our democratic institutions to a critical crossroads, and also what it’s like to be one of the rather too many Berkeley Michaels. [Pegasus]
~~Litquake~~ [West Bay Bonus Event] Celebrate the Launch of Susan Straight’s Sacrament, 7pm, Books Inc (Van Ness). Those bitches at Kirkus gave Sacrament a starred review, so it must be good: “Straight reminds us of where we have been and where we are going without once looking away.” In this special pre-publication launch event, hear Susan Straight (who is wonderful and so are her books) read from and discuss her not even quite out yet novel, in conversation with novelist and book critic Vanessa Hua. [eventbrite]
Also: The Black Authors Book Club at West Oakland Branch OPL, When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (West Oakland) / Lakeview Branch Book Club at Lakeview Branch OPL, The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson (The Lake) / An Evening with La Pocha Nostra & Friends at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society (West Bay)
Wednesday, October 22
Organizing for a Local Arms Embargo, 4:00 PM, Zoom (everywhere). Click through to hear organizers from different fronts of the struggle share lessons and strategies for organizing for an arms embargo in locales including Oakland and Virginia. 2 Israeli soldiers died this week, and 26 Palestinians were killed as retribution. This isn’t over yet. [indybay]
[Bonus West Bay Event] The Web We've Built, 5 pm, The Internet Archive (The Richmond). Celebrating the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which is projected to hit a once-in-a-generation milestone this month: 1 trillion web pages archived. The schedule says at 8pm: dancing in the streets. Elder millennials, this one’s for you. [eventbrite]
Premieres of The Other Side & Pimpin Ain't Eazy, 5:30pm, Grand Lake Theatre (Lake-ish). Local youtuber/tiktoker named Zakius made some longer movies, and the event is SOLD OUT. The youth want to check out big screens, see what all the fuss is about. Dress to impress and maybe the Grand Lake bouncers will let you in. [eventbrite]
Profs & Pints Alameda: The Rise of Vampires, 6pm, Faction Brewing (Alameda). The first vampires in English literature were birthed from the imaginations of Irish writers Sheridan Le Fanu and Bram Stoker, so postcolonial subversion came first, before the sparkle. Learn even more with Sara Hackenberg, professor of English at West Bay State University and scholar of Victorian literature and literature’s vampire tradition. [ticketleap]
Mako Idemitsu Videos, 7pm, BAMPFA (Downtown Berkeley). Why are these videos, not films? When do we call some stories on screens videos not cinema? If you watch Shadow Part 1, Hideo, It’s Me, Mama, and Kiyoko’s Situation, you will definitely find out. [BAMPFA]
~~Litquake~~ [Bonus West Bay Event 2] Alta Journal and Litquake Celebrate John Freeman’s California Rewritten, 7:30pm, Verdi Club [The Mission]. Writer Rebecca Solnit will lead a conversation with Freeman about his new book, followed by a rapid-fire West Coast book quiz hosted by City Light’s Paul Yamazaki. The prize is: Paul thinks you’re cool if you win. [litquake]
Also: Book Chat with author Fiona McFarlane on Highway Thirteen at Cal (Berkeley) / Aya de Leon’s new YA novel Undisclosed at Books INC (Alameda) / ~~Litquake~~ APAture 2025 Literary Arts Showcase: (UN)BECOMING at Arc Gallery and Studios (West Bay)/ Bay Area Bats at the UC Botanical Gardens (Berkeley Hills)
Thursday, October 23
A Conversation with Andre Dao, 5pm, 300 Wheeler Hall (Cal). An author and researcher from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, Dao's debut novel, Anam, won all kinds of awards, and he is co-founder of Behind the Wire, the award-winning oral history project documenting the stories of the adults and children who have been detained by the Australian government after seeking asylum. Convo moderated by Sydney Van To. [UCB]
~~Litquake~~ Racebook: A Personal History of the Internet with Tochi Onyebuchi, 6pm, Community Hub (Downtown). Does the internet expand our conception of what’s possible? Or confine it? Or enshittify it? In conversation with oral storyteller, activist, writer, and poet Audrey T. Williams. [litquake]
Urban & Wild: A Conversation on California’s Landscape, 6pm, Book Society (College Ave). West Bay urban design critic John King and East Bay naturalist-artist Obi Kaufmann in an unforgettable conversation on how California’s cities and wildlands shape each other, exploring the intersections of ecology, design, and our evolving relationship to place. You can waitlist yourself but it is SOLD OUT. [Book Society]
Worker Organizing Happy Hour, 6PM, Tamarack (Downtown). Bring your people and come meet other workers to talk shop, work through organizing strategies, and get drunk on discount (discounts on drinks will be available to all who indicate interest in workplace organizing to the bartender—ACCESS CODE: NOBOSS). In the spirit of 8 hours for what you will, the happy hour lasts all night long. [insta]
Novelists Alvin Lu and Shawna Yang Ryan in conversation, 6:30pm, Books Inc. Alameda (the Island). On West Bay author Lu’s new book Daydreamers: “Most striking are its observations and textures of San Francisco: beautiful.” [eventbrite]
The Last Sweet Bite with Michael Shaikh and Bryant Terry, 6:30pm, Clio’s (The Lake). Listen to a conversation about how the history of violence is recorded in kitchens. Food gathers us and binds us and reminds us who we are. Go get something delicious from a taco truck afterward. [eventbrite]
How AI messes with our minds, 6:30pm, Main Library (Downtown part of The Lake) The great Nitasha Tiku chatting with our friend Ian Hetzner about all the most uncanny valley friendly AI brainrot stuff. [OPL]
Explosivity and Whatever, 7 pm, Bather’s Library (Telegraph). Javier Arbona-Homar (geographer, ORB affiliate) and Elisabeth Nicula (artist and editor of the SF Review of Whatever), about particulates, waiting, and geology. Dyn-o-mite. [insta]
Law and Order, 7pm, BAMPFA (Berkeley). Frederick Wiseman's 1969 discovery that “The cops did some horrible things but they also did some nice things.” [BAMPFA]
Also: Publishing Etel Adnan in America: Guerrilla Strategies of Literary Production at the Post-Apollo Press with The Bancroft Library on Zoom (Cal) / American Agitators Screening at Berkeley Law School (Cal)
Friday, October 24
Glove Money, 6pm, Tamarack (Downtown). East Bay Book Launch for Sophia Dahlin’s “hymn to perversity, lyric pledge to desire and risk” (aka, book of poetry), with Claire Grossman & Camille Roy. Technically she launched it on Monday at City Lights, but, technically, Monday doesn’t exist (MDE). [instagram]
Tommy Orange! Julian Brave Noisecat! 6:30pm Local Economy, with an assist from EBB (College Ave). We’re listing it even though you can’t go to it, because it’s sold out, but let me tell you a secret: where there is a will, there is a way, and fire codes are more a comment than a question, imo. [Lumen]
The Point Zine Issue #1 Release Party, 6:30pm, Lagunitas St (Adams Point). Seen on a pole on my way back to the car from the Lake Merritt Gardens Lights Festival (vibes: lightly Burning Man, slightly high). Best pole find yet? Very ORBy. [Photo of the Flyer on the Pole]
A Very Fine Fête, 7pm, Cellermaker Brewing Co (Berkeley) A fundraiser to celebrate ten years of Transit Books killing it, and also, their publication of The Very Fine Clock, written by Muriel Spark and illustrated by Edward Gorey. Gorey-themed dress wear, and pizza (with Transit, there is always pizza). Buy a ticket, and use money to do it, because the money lets them publish books like this one or this one, and Elon Musk cries when they do. [Transit]
Bay Area Nineties in Cartoons, 7pm, Mrs. Dalloways (College Ave Berkeley) Briana Loewinsohn (Raised by Ghosts), Julia Wertz (Impossible People), Thien Pham (Family Style), and Janelle Hessig (Tales of Blarg) are all cartoonists whose recent works recall being ‘90s teens in the Bay Area, in conversation with Justin Hall [litquake]
Scary Stories, 7pm, Tally Ho! (Piedmont the avenue not the ethnic enclave). Campfire horror with horror authors Kristina Ten, Cynthia Gomez, M.M. Olivas, and Tamika Thompson. [TallyHo!]
[Bonus West Bay Event] Ruby Book Discussion: GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL, MACHINE. 7pm, contact for details. Kai (loyal SF Review of Whatever reader, joiner in the alley in the last of the sunshine, ORB discord poster) and Robin (we don’t know them -- yet!) will be facilitating a group conversation exploring concepts of sentience the book by Meghan O’Gieblyn for female and nonbinary identifying folks. With snacks representing gods, humans, animals, and machines, because what could be spookier than not knowing the difference between these things?! Ezra Klein says “[A] truly fantastic book” -- is this the same Ezra Klein currently becoming polyabundant? [Luma]
JJJJJerome Ellis with Lo-Fi Oyster Co., 7 pm, The Crown (Uptown). There’s too much good shit happening this weekend. So many folks here from out of town, plus all the homegrown goodness. It’s too much! This one’s really, really special though, so pay attention. Aster of Ceremonies is one of the most internally challenging experiences of listening to poetry I’ve ever had. It called on me to sit in silences. To not fill them in with gabble. To wait. I listened to it over many days. It’s a book that honors plants and ancestry, and disability and beauty. It’s an incantation, and I am really into poetry as incantation this year. [Royal Coffee]
Hella Comix Reading, 7pm, 2727 California St (Berkeley). Read spooky comix with talented local indie comic book creators and the East Bay BIPOC Cartoonists. [eventbrite]
Daughters of Darkness, 7pm BAMPFA (Berkeley). Harry Kümel’s “fairy tale for adults” is elegant, erotic, and dripping in queer vampire iconography. [BAMPFA]
FULL CIRCLE, 7pm, Eastside Arts Alliance (Eastside). Lifelong anarchist and member of Up Against the Wall Motherfucker Ben Morea discusses his new book, his life in anarchy, and the deep connections between art, politics, and spirituality. [BAFS]
Also: Dutch Graphic Novelist Maria van Lieshout on her book Blackbird at Philosophy Hall (Cal) / Berkeley Institute reading group at Berkeley Institute, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson / Pumpkin Carving AT FLHF (Berkeley) / October Book Club at Rock, Paper, Scissors Collective, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis / “AI Fiction in the Wild” at Cal
Saturday, October 25
The Fruitvale History Project: Panel Discussion, 1PM, César E. Chávez Branch OPL (Fruitvale). The politics of the Civil Rights and the Chicano Movements helped fuel the creation of a community that created Centro Legal de La Raza, and the Spanish Speaking Citizen’s Foundation for their own people. Panelists will discuss their own contributions and process within this movement in Fruitvale, including the political protests and the camaraderie that developed among the activists. [OPL]
Seen & Heard, 3 p.m., BAM House (Downtown). Join Oakland Voices for an afternoon celebrating artistic storytelling by three Oakland creatives — Dera R. Williams, Kristal Raheem, and Tanna Hall — as they share original feature stories rooted in their lives. [partiful]
Rad Tender Opening, 4 PM, Dream Farm Commons (Uptown). It is poetry and poetics, immersive virtual reality, birds in flight, sacred corn, gold leaf and textile, tapestries of beacons of ecofeminism and defiance, strange earthen balls, wildflowers and more. Site specific performance "Yelkaram" by Diana Lara in collaboration with Kriss Rulifson. Performance artist raiinnee falling ritual reading of selected poems and spells of divine Black femininity. [insta]
The Joy of Snacking: A Graphic Memoir about Food, Love & Family, 5pm, Pegasus Books (Downtown Berkeley). Author/artist/ New Yorker cartoonist Hilary Campbell and local graphic memoirist Briana Loewinsohn (Ephemera; Raised by Ghosts) talk about food and family and probably their favorite pens. [Pegasus]
~~Litquake~~ [West Bay Bonus Event] Litcrawl, 5 pm, The MIssion (ALL of the Mission). How are you going to pick between a literary relay race, a translation workshop and spontaneous performance with JiaJing Liu, trans love stories, hot flash book bingo, nature journalism as literature, and so much more simultaneous literary treasure? Get your friends to each taste a little something different and then meet at the afterparty and vibe report it out. Best night of the year. [litquake]
Some films, look, I can’t always come up with catchy descriptions, but these are films, 6:00 PM, The Chabot Theatre (Castro Valley). Two local films. Vibeland Chronicles presents… Mr. and Ms. Bip (words in the description include deadly, supernatural, and interview), and Deville, a coming-of-age comedy-drama set in early 2000s San Francisco, which was 20 years ago, fuckkkk. [insta]
Wood Street Documentary Preview Screening + Fundraiser , 7pm, Bather’s Library (Telegraph). Missed the earlier screenings? shut out? get in there now! Support the Wood Street documentary in-progress, a powerful film following Oakland's largest homeless encampment as they fight eviction. [eventbrite]
Also: Oakland Grown: Student Art & Music Festival at OMCA (Lake) / Halloween Howl Dog Parade and Costume Contest at James Kenney Community Center (West Berkeley) / California Writers Club at Rockridge OPL (Formerly Known as Shafter) / Views of Democracy: Gratitude and Hope for the Future Art Show Closing Reception at Rhythmix Cultural Works (Alameda) / Lake Merritt Weed Warriors near the water (The Lake) / Noname Book Club at 81st Ave Branch OPL (Deep East)
Sunday, October 26
Missile, 1:30, BAMPFA (Berkeley). Frederick Wiseman on the day-to-day routines of the people trained to arm, target, and launch nuclear warheads. With the Wiseman podcast guy. [BAMPFA]
October Open House: χαχα هاها, material other than light or a fairy between two haha(s), 3pm, Winslow House Project (Vallejo). Open house at the most creative place I’ve ever spent time (come for the Nov 16th writing day), to showcase October Residents’ work. Artists featured: Felix Dina (like an extra gory Gorey), Katherine Agard (makes textual objects, we might call them books), Mayhew Drewry (in love with the color green), Negin Sarrami (lives nowhere, everywhere) & Regina Tsasis (hella Vallejo local). [insta]
Jon Klassen: Kids Reading and Party, 3 pm, Womb House Books (Temescal Alley). Celebrate The Skull, with a chance to meet the illustrator-author who blew our minds with hats and shapes and now is getting spooky. Everyone should wear Halloween costumes or come dressed as Otilla or the Skull. Treats because there might be a long line. [eventbrite]
October 2025 Picture Book Club for Grown Ups, 3:30pm, Mr. Mopps’ Children’s Books (North Berkeley). Pregame for your Adult Time with Klassen by revving up your picture book appreciating engine with other epicures of the genre. [Mopps’ Books]
Silents Synced presents Nosferatu with Radiohead, 4:20pm, The New Parkway (Uptown). This will be weird: Radiohead’s “KID A (2000) / Amnesiac (2001),” paired with Nosferatu (1923). Probably in a good way. [ticketing]
Jon Klassen: Adult Book Club Discussion, 6pm, Womb House Books (Temescal Alley). All the cool grown ups talk about picture books now. This discussion with the author of THE SKULL focuses on the feminism of the book, craft queries, and questions on "scary" children's literature. No Kids Allowed! Sell this the hell out. [eventbrite]
Tripwire Journal Presents Civil Disobedience, 6:30pm, Jerusalem Coffee House (Temescal). A reading and open mic dedicated to disrupting and ending the politics of empire. Readers include Fadl Fakhouri, Finn Finneran, Joni Prince, stevie redwood, Ice City Maroon, and Tripwire editor David Buuck. Because all the cool shit starts in Oakland, in following months, on the last sunday, you’ll find this show at other locations throughout the Bay Area and the United States. [insta]
Walter Benjamin’s “Theses on the Concept of History” with Benjaminian Death Cult, 6:30pm, Hasta Muerte (Fruitvale). Read through Walter Benjamin’s “Theses on the Concept of History” together during the class and “then” says Benjamin, “it will become clear that the task before us is the introduction of a real state of emergency; and our position in the struggle against Fascism will thereby improve.” Personally, I prefer his notes on shopping.
Also: Dia de los Muertos community celebration at OMCA (The Lake)
