Events

     We have new panelists, new games, and new ARCs - but don't worry, we'll have the same old pizza.   So, who'll be sweating for arbitrarily-awarded points in made-up games of literary ridiculata this time around?   We'll have some regulars - you know them, you love them:    Faith Adiele, the original Obama, is the author of Meeting Faith, a memoir about becoming Thailand’s first black Buddhist nun, which received the PEN Beyond Margins Award for Best Memoir; writer/narrator/subject of My Journey Home (PBS), a documentary film about growing up with a Nordic-American mother and then traveling to Nigeria as an adult to find her father and siblings; and editor of the international anthology, Coming of Age Around the World.  Named as one of Marie Claire magazine’s “5 Women to Learn From,” Adiele, who was educated at Harvard University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, has been featured on NPR; in a pilot for a new reality show; in a national television ad; on the Tavis Smiley show; and in “A Day in the Life of Faith Adiele” (a 2-page center spread in Pink Magazine). A contributor to O: The Oprah Magazine, Essence, and Transition, Adiele is Associate Professor at California College of the Arts and currently serves as the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Mills College in Oakland, where she is completing Twins, a memoir that will complete the story begun in the PBS film.  Casey Childers: Co-Founder of the Bay's premiere competitive-reading series, WRITE CLUB SF, and co-hosts the semi-weekly podcast of the same name. He can be found on iTunes as well as live on stage of The Make-Out Room on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.   Ken Grobe has tackled his writing career with the verve and focus of a moth in a lamp store. He has edited graphic novel adaptations based on classic works from Ray Bradbury, Raymond Chandler, and Douglas Adams. As an author, he's published short stories and comic books. As a journalist, he's contributed to national publications and co-founded Want Magazine, an online publication dedicated to the art of User Experience design. He's also an award-winning advertising writer and creates sketches and videos for SF comedy stalwarts Killing My Lobster.   Dinah Sanders: is an Awesomeness Coach, Discardian, and Blogger living on the web and in San Francisco. In addition to writing about Discardia — the holiday she founded — and making your life better, she also provides planning, productivity and workflow coaching services.   Steven Westdahl: Steven was co-founder of the multimedia production company Collective Works in Atlanta and publisher of a half dozen variously titled 'zines and is co-founder and co-host of WRITE CLUB SF alongside fellow cornerman Casey Childers.   We'll also have a Word/Play virgin:   Kevin Smokler is the author of forthcoming essay collection Practical Classics: 50 Reasons the Reread 50 Books you Haven't Touched Since High School and the editor of Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2005. He lives in Cole Valley and loves the heck out of Booksmith.    $15 = Unlimited pizza, an open bar, and 2 hours of finally putting your BA in English to good use. Tickets in the store or online at Brown Paper Tickets (and advance ticket purchases really are a good idea; how else will we manage to have enough pizza to satiate everyone?)