Brown, Lisa

San Franciscan Lisa Brown is the bestselling author/illustrator of Vampire Boy’s Good Night, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, and Baby Mix Me a Drink. She sporadically draws the SF Chronicle’s Three Panel Book Review.

Bañales, Meliza

Meliza Banales wrote Say It With Your Whole Mouth and 51 Poems About Nothing at All. Involved in spoken word, she recently toured with Sister Spit.

Nolan, Monica

Monica Nolan is the author of The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories (co-written with Alisa Surkis) and Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary. Her next book, Bobby Blanchard, Lesbian Gym Teacher, will be out in 2010.

Hall, Justin

Justin Hall is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his series True Travel Tales, Hard To Swallow, and Glamazonia the Uncanny Super Tranny. His work has appeared in the Best American Comics and the S.F. Guardian, among others.

Shurin, Aaron

Aaron Shurin’s newest book is King of Shadows, a collection of personal essays from City Lights Books. He began publishing in the gay press in 1971, and is currently a professor in the MFA in Writing Program at USF.

Ewert, Marcus

Marcus Ewert wrote the groundbreaking children’s book 10,000 Dresses, gorgeously illustrated by Rex Ray. He is currently working on still more kids’ books, plus a memoir about his real-life affair with William Burroughs.

Unterberger, Richie

Richie Unterberger is the author of numerous rock history books, the most recent of which is White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day. His book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film won a 2007 Association for Record Sound Collections Award for Excellence in the “Best Research in Recorded Rock Music” category.

Sullivan, Denise

Denise Sullivan writes on rock, folk, and other things for print and web sources. She is the author of The White Stripes: Sweethearts of the Blues, R.E.M.: Talk About the Passion, Rip It Up! Rock ‘n’ Roll Rulebreakers, and her newest, Fight the Power: The Soundtrack to Revolution.

Sirius, RU

Counterculture/Technoculture writer and editor RU Sirius is currently editor-in-chief of h+, a science faction magazine that has much in common with his earlier effort, Mondo 2000. When not shilling for technotopians, he writes corrosive and sometimes enjoyably trashy books, like his latest: Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars on Drugs.

Robertson, Linda

Linda Robertson was born in Scotland but spent 23 years honing her English accent before moving to San Francisco. She was named “Ms. Accordion San Francisco” in 2004 and performs throughout the city with the Mini-Trifles. Her latest book is What Rhymes with Bastard?

Ginoli, Jon

Jon Ginoli. Born in Peoria, Illinois. Goes to college, comes out. Moves to San Francisco, forms unapologetic openly gay rock band Pansy Division early ‘90s. Big break: opening for Green Day on their breakthrough tour. Writes Deflowered, memoir of queer punk band experiences, released 2009. Band just put out new CD and still tours.

Comfort, David

David Comfort is the author of three popular titles from Simon & Schuster. His newest is The Rock and Roll Book of the Dead: The Fatal Journeys of Rock’s Seven Immortals (Citadel/Kensington). The exposé explores the tragic ends of Elvis, Lennon, Hendrix, Janis, Morrison, Garcia, and Cobain.

Vandenburgh, Jane

Jane Vandenburgh is author of A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century, Failure to Zigzag, and The Physics of Sunset.

Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore wrote So Many Ways to Sleep Badly and edited Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity. Mattilda is currently at work on a devastating memoir, The End of San Francisco.

Nunberg, Geoffrey

Geoffrey Nunberg is a linguist at U.C. Berkeley. He does features on language for Fresh Air, the New York Times and many others. His books include The Years of Talking Dangerously, Talking Right, and Going Nucular.

Humes, Edward

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Edward Humes has written ten nonfiction books, including Eco Barons, Monkey Girl and No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court.

Walter, Jess

Jess Walter is the author of The Zero, a National Book Award finalist, and Citizen Vince, which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Walter lives in Spokane, Washington, with his family.

Au, Wagner James

Wagner James Au is the author of The Making of Second Life (HarperCollins), a contributing editor for the GigaOM.com network, and writes about Second Life on his own blog, New World Notes. He lives in San Francisco’s Mission/Noe area.

Stanford Graphic Novel Project

The Stanford Graphic Novel Project works every year to bring to life an important, real-world story through the collaborative creation of a graphic novel. Adam Johnson and Tom Kealey, who founded the project, also serve as the books’ editors.

Hountalas, Mary Germain

Mary Germain Hountalas and her husband have been operating the Cliff House since 1973. Hountalas has become a serious historian of the Cliff House and a dedicated collector of associated artifacts. She resides in Sausalito.

Jacoby, Annice

Annice Jacoby has directed innovative public art projects incorporating visual arts, literature, theater, and media. Her work includes City of Poets, for the San Francisco Library, and the Fort Point Project for the Hague Appeal for Peace.

Madison, Ivory

Ivory Madison is CEO of redroom.com, the premier social network for authors. She’s been a New Orleans restaurateur, feminist politico, torch singer, and lawyer. Her graphic novel Huntress: Year One was published by DC Comics.

Shirley, John

John Shirley's newest novel is Bleak History from Simon and Schuster. He won the Bram Stoker Award for best story collection for Black Butterflies. He also authored Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas.

Murphy, David P.

David P. Murphy, author of Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead, is also a songwriter/producer of two CDs, Shining in a Temporary Sun and Effortless. He currently shambles in Omaha, Nebraska.

Beagle, Peter S.

Peter S. Beagle was born in New York in 1939. He is the author of such modern classics as The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place, and I See By My Outfit.

Browne, S.G.

S.G. Browne is the author of Breathers: A Zombie's Lament (Broadway, March 2009), a dark, romantic comedy about undeath through the eyes of an ordinary zombie. Scott lives and writes in San Francisco.

Teare, Brian

Brian Teare has authored three poetry books: The Room Where I Was Born, Sight Map, and the forthcoming Pleasure. He teaches at USF and runs a micropress, Albion Books, specializing in letterpressed and handmade books.

di Prima, Diane

Diane di Prima lives and works in San Francisco. She has written 43 books of poetry and prose. She received the 2008 Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN West and recently became San Francisco’s Poet Laureate.

Raday, Sophia

Sophia Raday wrote Love in Condition Yellow: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage (Beacon Press, 2009). She lives near Berkeley with her police officer/Army Reserve husband, their two children, a bipartisan dog, and assorted firearms.

Winn, Steven

Steven Winn, former arts and culture critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, writes fiction (Colorado Review) and poetry (Prairie Schooner) as well as nonfiction. His memoir, Come Back, Como, was published by Harper on October 1.

Sam, Canyon

Canyon Sam’s Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History, searches the Himalayas for women from 20 years past. Blending memoir and oral history, it offers a 50-year Tibetan narrative from an unexplored perspective: its women’s lives.

Lentine, Genine

Genine Lentine’s chapbook Mr. Worthington’s Beautiful Experiments on Splashes will be published in 2010 by New Michigan Press. The Wild Braid, her collaboration with Stanley Kunitz and Marnie Crawford-Samuelson, was published by W.W.Norton in 2005.

Pomerantz, Gary M.

Gary M. Pomerantz is a nonfiction author, journalist, and visiting lecturer at Stanford. His latest book, The Devil’s Tickets (Crown) is a sensational narrative set in the Roaring ’20s. He lives in the Bay Area with his family.

Helvarg, David

David Helvarg is a long-time journalist and founder and president of Blue Frontier Campaign. His books include The War Against the Greens, Blue Frontier, 50 Ways to Save the Ocean and Rescue Warriors--The U.S. Coast Guard.

Saxton, Kirsten T.

Kirsten T. Saxton is an award-winning teacher and scholar whose research and publication interests include 18th-century fiction, literature and law, and gender/sexuality studies. She has published on 18th-century porn, scandalous writer Eliza Haywood, and women and homicide.

Dion, Dan

Dan Dion is a San Francisco portrait photographer who works for the Fillmore, Warfield, Punch Line, and Cobb’s Comedy Club. ¡Satiristas!, a collaboration with Aristocrats director Paul Provenza, will be published by HarperCollins this spring.

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley

Three-time Newbery Honor-winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder published her first book for children in 1964. Her 44th book for young people, William S. and the Great Escape, will be published in September 2009.

Partridge, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Partridge is an award-winning author of nonfiction books for teens. Her latest, Marching For Freedom, focuses on the courageous children who marched alongside King in the 1965 march to Montgomery for the vote.

Lichtman, Wendy

Wendy Lichtman (Secrets, Lies, & Algebra; Writing on the Wall) holds a degree in mathematics. When she decided to write about a teen who realizes that some questions have many right answers, algebra seemed a perfect metaphor.

Homzie, Hillary

Hillary Homzie is the author of the tween novel Things Are Gonna Get Ugly, as well as the chapter book series Alien Clones From Outer Space which is being made into an animated television show.

Petrocelli, Elaine

Elaine Petrocelli is the extremely well-read president of Book Passage, the fiercely independent bookstore and literary event center located in Corte Madera and at the Ferry Building.

Cohn, Diana

Diana Cohn is an award-winning children’s book author. Her books include Dream Carver, Si Se Puede! Yes We Can! Janitor Strike in LA, Mr. Goethe’s Garden, The Bee Tree, and the most recently published Namaste!

Argueta, Jorge Tetl

Jorge Tetl Argueta is a celebrated Salvadoran poet and writer whose bilingual children’s books have received numerous awards. His latest book is Sopa de Frijoles/Bean Soup, A Cooking Poem.

Zassenhaus, Eric

Eric Zassenhaus is co-editor of Instant City and is a contributing editor to Zeek Magazine. Once upon a time he was also Consignment Buyer for City Lights Books, and a contributing editor to Zine World.

Scalph, Tena

Tena Scalph is the creator of Bitter Pie Comix and Not Your Bitch productions since 1998. Her non-impartial self-published comix and musical collaborations have been featured in hundreds of underground venues and festivals worldwide.

Marr, John

John Marr published the zine Murder Can Be Fun from 1986 through 2007. After his final issue, he became the first zine publisher in history to refund his subscribers' money.

Lyle, Erick

Erick Lyle has been the editor of the punk rock/criminal magazine SCAM since 1991. His first book, On The Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City was released in 2008 on Soft Skull Press.

Gibbon, Layla

Layla Gibbon is the creator of Chimps, a zine focused on punk and skateboarding from a feminist perspective. She is also a reviewer, columnist, and content coordinator for Maximum RocknRoll.

Smiley, Jane

Jane Smiley is the author of 20 books. She is extra tall and has been married many times. She reads, breeds, rides, and writes, and also frequently refrains from telling her children what to do.

Sinclair, April

April Sinclair authored three novels, Ain't Gonna Be The Same Fool Twice, I Left My Back Door Open and Coffee Will Make You Black, which received the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library.

McMillan, Terry

Terry McMillan is the bestselling author of seven novels, including the recently released Getting to Happy, which revisits the characters in her seminal novel, Waiting to Exhale. She is the recipient of an NAACP Image Award.

Merrill, Wendy

Wendy Merrill, author of Falling into Manholes: The Memoir of a Bad/Good Girl, is described by Anne Lamott as “…a wonderful new voice—smart, funny and wildly real.”

Keltner, Kim Wong

Kim Wong Keltner has written about life in San Francisco in The Dim Sum of All Things, Buddha Baby, and I Want Candy. Kim refuses to join Facebook and would rather talk to you face to face.

Ganahl, Jane

Jane Ganahl is co-founder and co-director of Litquake, a journalist for 25 years, editor of Single Woman of a Certain Age and author of Naked on the Page: the Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife.

Comaford, Christine

Christine Comaford is the New York Times bestselling author of the edgy business book Rules for Renegades. She helps entrepreneurs make millions while having fun and enjoying life.

Addonizio, Kim

Kim Addonizio’s Tell Me was a National Book Award Finalist in Poetry. Her latest are Lucifer at the Starlite and Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within. She teaches online at kimaddonizio.com and in Oakland.

Tamblyn, Amber

Actress and author Amber Tamblyn is co-founder of The Drums Inside Your Chest poetry series, and just released the new poetry/prose collection Bang Ditto (Manic D Press).

Madonna, Paul

Paul Madonna produces two weekly strips, All Over Coffee in the San Francisco Chronicle, and Small Potatoes on TheRumpus.net, where he is also comics editor. Paul exhibits in galleries and museums, and is published by City Lights Press.

Adams, Lynka

Lynka Adams is a rare book dealer who lives on Potrero Hill. She writes both long and short fiction.

Wiegand, David

David Wiegand is executive features editor at San Francisco Chronicle. He holds English and journalism degrees from the American University and is a 1996 winner of the O Henry Award for the story “Buffalo Safety.”

Dinkelspiel, Frances

Frances Dinkelspiel is the author of Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, co-founder of the news site berkeleyside.com, and contributor to The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and People.

Goldberg, Tod

Tod Goldberg has written seven books, including the novels Living Dead Girl and Fake Liar Cheat, and the story collection Simplify. His latest, Other Resort Cities, is his second collection of short fiction.

Plate, Peter

Peter Plate's latest novel is Elegy Written on a Crowded Street (2010).

Maravelis, Peter

Editor of San Francisco Noir Volumes 1 & 2, Peter Maravelis is the events programmer at City Lights Bookstore and has had a lifelong involvement with literature and the arts.

Herron, Don

Don Herron is a writer, storyteller, founder of the Dashiell Hammett Tour, co-founder of the Suicide Club, and author of The Literary World of San Francisco and The Dashiell Hammett Tour: Thirtieth Anniversary Guidebook, as well as a biography of crime writer Charles Willeford. He appears frequently on PBS and BBC television.

Corbett, David

David Corbett has published four novels: The Devil’s Redhead, Done for a Dime, Blood of Paradise, and Do They Know I’m Running? His story “Pretty Little Parasite” was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2009.

Clevenger, Craig

Craig Clevenger is the acclaimed neo-noir author of The Contortionist's Handbook and Dermaphoria, both released by MacAdam/Cage, Clevenger is currently at work on a third novel titled Saint Heretic. His story “The Numbers Game” was included in the hardboiled anthology San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics.

Black, Cara

Bestselling author of the Paris-based Aimée Léduc mystery novels, Cara Black is included in the Great Women Mystery Writers by Elizabeth Lindsay. Two of her novels have been nominated for Anthony Awards.

Anderson, Robert Mailer

Robert Mailer Anderson is the author of Boonville, writer and producer of the film Pig Hunt, and writer of short stories, screenplays, and plays. He is also part-time fiction editor for the Anderson Valley Advertiser.

Breathed, Berkeley

Berkeley Breathed is a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, children's book author/illustrator, director, and screenwriter, best known for Bloom County, the 1980s cartoon-comic strip featuring Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin.

Ostlund, Lori

Lori Ostlund’s short story collection entitled The Bigness of the World won the 2008 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and will be published by the University of Georgia Press in October 2009.

Nixon, Cornelia

Cornelia Nixon is author of Now You See It, Jarrettsville, and Angels Go Naked. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards.

Martin, Chelsea

Chelsea Martin is the author of Everything Was Fine Until Whatever, published by Future Tense Books. She is 23 and lives in Oakland. Her website is jerkethics.com.

Ma, Kathryn

Kathryn Ma is the winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award for her book All That Work and Still No Boys, published in September 2009. She won the 2008 Meyerson Prize for Fiction.

Hill, Russell

Russell Hill, author of The Lord God Bird, a suspense novel set in the deep South, has been a writer and teacher for more than 50 years. His novel Robbie’s Wife was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Brownrigg, Sylvia

Sylvia Brownrigg is the author of five novels. Her latest, The Delivery Room, was winner of the 2009 Northern California Book Award in fiction. Her work has been on the New York Times list of notable fiction.

Kleven, Elisa

Elisa Kleven is the award-winning creator of almost 30 picture books. Her vibrant collage illustrations and stories celebrate creativity, nature and friendship. Her newest books are The Apple Doll and A Carousel Tale.

Hurd, Thacher

Thacher Hurd is the author and illustrator of Art Dog, Mama Don't Allow, Mystery on the Docks, and Bad Frogs. His first novel for children, Bongo Fish, will be published next year. He lives in Berkeley.

Handler, Daniel

Daniel Handler is the author of the novels The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs, and far too many books as Lemony Snicket, including the forthcoming 13 Words. He lives in San Francisco.

Queen, Carol

Carol Queen is the author of Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture and has also written or edited ten other books. She is the Founding Director of the Center for Sex & Culture and works as Staff Sexologist at Good Vibrations.

Knight, Geoff

Geoff Knight, author of the erotic novel The Riddle of the Sands, is a film writer who hails from Paddington, Australia, where he also works in cinema.

Bussel, Rachel Kramer

Rachel Kramer Bussel has edited over 25 anthologies, including Best Sex Writing 2009, Peep Show, Spanked and Bottoms Up. She hosts New York's In The Flesh Reading Series and is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations.

Blue, Violet

Violet Blue is a trained sex educator, podcaster, SFGate columnist, author of the bestselling The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, and editor of the Best Women's Erotica series. Named Forbes.com “Web Celeb,” she blogs at tinynibbles.com

Los Train Wreck

Los Train Wreck is San Francisco's best show-up-and-jam band, playing the second Tuesday of every month at El Rio in San Francisco. Members include David Phillips (pedal steel guitar; musical director), Todd Swenson (lead guitar), Paul Olguin (bass), Peter Tucker (drums), Sam Barry (harmonica and keyboard), and Kathi Kamen Goldmark (rhythm guitar; head cheerleader).

Tan, Amy

Amy Tan is the author of six bestselling books and creator of the libretto for San Francisco Opera's production of The Bonesetter's Daughter. As dominatrix singer for the Rock Bottom Remainders, she has helped raise millions for literacy.

McGuinn, Roger

Roger McGuinn, a giant of the folk-rock scene since the ’60s, is founder of The Byrds. His solo career has featured collaborations with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello... and the Rock Bottom Remainders.

Maupin, Armistead

Armistead Maupin, last year’s Barbary Coast Award recipient, is the author of nine novels, including the six-volume “Tales of the City” series. He lives in SF with his husband, Christopher Turner.

Krasny, Michael

Michael Krasny, author of Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest, is the award-winning host of NPR/KQED’s Forum, an English professor at San Francisco State University, and a widely published scholar and critic. He lives in Marin County.

Goldmark, Kathi Kamen

Kathi Kamen Goldmark is the author of And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You; co-author/contributor to seven other books; founder of the Rock Bottom Remainders; producer of West Coast Live; and winner of the 2008 National Women’s Book Association award.

Fong-Torres, Ben

Ben Fong-Torres is a former Rolling Stone editor, author of eight books, including the Grateful Dead Scrapbook, the Chronicle's radio columnist, and Chinese New Year parade co-anchor on KTVU. He was portrayed in Almost Famous.

Cao, Zheng

Mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao is a regular guest of leading opera companies here and abroad. Last year she thrilled San Francisco Opera audiences by singing the lead role in their adaptation of Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

Barry, Sam

Sam Barry is the author of How to Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons. He is a member of two bands: Los Train Wreck and the Rock Bottom Remainders. Visit Sam online at redroom.com.

Joyce, James

James Joyce was to modern literature what Picasso was to modern art: he scrambled up the old formulas and set the table for the 20th century. His books include Ulysses, Finnegan's Wake, Dubliners, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Kessler, Merle

Merle Kessler contributes to Philosophy Talk (KALW 91.7 FM Sundays 10 a.m.), and writes for Great Libraries of the World, a documentary series. His new cabaret piece will explore the “real America.” He recently resigned as governor of Alaska.

Fialka, Gerry

Gerry Fialka is a Los Angeles-based media ecologist, film curator, writer and lecturer. The Los Angeles Times calls Fialka "the multi-media Renaissance man,” and the Independent Film & Video Monthly proclaimed Fialka an "exemplary devotee of cinema.”

Villalon, Oscar

Oscar Villalon is a San Francisco writer and critic. His work has appeared in VQR, Black Clock, The Believer, Los Angeles Times, and NPR.org. He is former book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Silver, Katherine

Katherine Silver is an award-winning translator of Spanish and Latin American literature. Her translations of Horacio Castellanos Moya’s She-Devil in the Mirror, and César Aira’s The Literature Conference, will both appear in the fall of 2009.

Reese, Jennifer

Jennifer Reese is the former book critic for Entertainment Weekly and now writes literary reviews for npr.org, among others. She also writes The Tipsy Baker blog.

Lukas, Michael

Michael Lukas has lived in Cairo, Tunis, Ankara, Tel Aviv, Providence, College Park, and now Oakland. His writing has been published in VQR, Slate, National Geographic Traveler, and Georgia Review. He recently finished a novel about the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Esposito, Scott

Scott Esposito is the editor of The Quarterly Conversation, a web magazine of book reviews and essays, and his writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and elsewhere.

Johnson, Adam

Adam Johnson is a Senior Jones Lecturer in creative writing at Stanford University. His fiction has appeared in Esquire, Harper's, Tin House and Best American Short Stories. He is the author of Emporium and the novel Parasites Like Us.

Dorst, Doug

Doug Dorst's  story collection The Surf Guru was published in July by Riverhead. His first book, the novel Alive in Necropolis, was San Francisco’s 2009 One City/One Book pick. He currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Quirk, Joe

Joe Quirk is a bestselling novelist, science writer, and a popular public speaker. He’s the author of It’s Not You, It’s Biology: The Science of Love, Sex and Relationships, and the novel Exult.

Schlitz, Marilyn Mandala

Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D., is president/CEO of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a clinical research scientist, medical anthropologist, prolific writer, transformational speaker and integral thought leader, whose books include Consciousness and Healing, and Living Deeply.

Noe, Alva

Alva Noe is a philosopher at U.C. Berkeley. He is the author of Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness.

Ekman, Paul

Paul Ekman, UCSF Professor Emeritus of Psychology, is the author of Emotional Awareness (co-authored with the Dalai Lama), Emotions Revealed, Telling Lies and scientific advisor to the FoxTV program Lie to Me, based on his research.

Burton, Robert

Robert Burton, former Chief of Neurology at Mt. Zion-UCSF Hospital, is the author of Doc-in-a-Box, Cellmates, and On Being Certain. His next book, The Involuntary Self, explores how our brain generates our sense of self.

Nachtrieb, Peter Sinn

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a San Francisco-based playwright whose works include boom, Hunter Gatherers, Colorado, T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common), and Multiplex. His work has been seen off-Broadway and across the country. He likes to promote himself online at peternachtrieb.com.

Reddy, Geetha

Geetha Reddy’s plays have been selected for The Best of PlayGround festival, the “In the Rough” reading series, and the 2008 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her latest play Blastosphere, a collaboration with Aaron Loeb, above, opens October 24th .

Loeb, Aaron

Aaron Loeb is a two-time winner of the Bay Area Critics Circle award "Best Original Script" for First Person Shooter and Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party. His play Blastosphere, written in collaboration with Geetha Reddy, opens October 24th at CentralWorks.

Kaminsky, Ilya

Ilya Kaminsky is the author of Dancing In Odessa, which won the Whiting Writers Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters' Metcalf Award, Lannan Fellowship, and other honors. He is also the co-editor of the Ecco Anthology of International Poetry.

Young, C. Dale

C. Dale Young practices medicine full-time, serves as Poetry Editor of the New England Review, and teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. He is the author of three books, most recently The Second Person (Four Way Books, 2007) and TORN (Four Way Books, forthcoming in 2012).

Calvocoressi, Gabrielle

Gabrielle Calvocoressi is the author of Apocalyptic Swing (Persea Books, 2009) and The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart (Persea Books, 2005), which was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award.

Brown, Jericho

Jericho Brown is the recipient of a Bunting Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. New Issues published his first book PLEASE in 2008.

Constantine, Brendan

Brendan Constantine is the author of Letters to Guns (Red Hen Press, 2009). His work has appeared in Ploughshares, Ninth Letter, RUNES, and the anthology Bright Wings, edited by Billy Collins (forthcoming in November). He lives in Hollywood at Bela Lugosi’s last address.

Story, Ebba

Ebba Story is co-editor of Mariposa, the literary journal for HPNC. Ebba's prose and poetry appear in numerous haiku journals, the Christian Science Monitor, and on the BBC.

Hall, Carolyn

Carolyn Hall is editor of Acorn: a journal of contemporary haiku. Water Lines, her award-winning book of haiku, was published in 2006.

Grayson, David

David Grayson's haiku have appeared widely in journals and have won several awards. He is featured in New Resonance 6: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku.

Gay, Garry

Garry Gay is president of HPNC and has also served as President of the Haiku Society of America. He is the author of several books, and has won numerous awards.

Aoyagi, Fay

Fay Aoyagi is the author of two widely-acclaimed haiku books in English, Chrysanthemum Love and In Borrowed Shoes. She also writes haiku in Japanese.

Antolin, Susan

Susan Antolin’s poetry appears regularly in journals and has won several awards. Her first individual collection, Artichoke Season, was published in July.

Shur, Mike

Mike Shur was born in Leningrad, Russia and was almost killed in Rome. He is living large with his new wife Denise.

Lou, Jennifer

Jennifer Lou, a cofounder of Lit Up Writers, is currently working on a collection of humorous short stories about growing up ABC (American Born Chinese).

Kelly, Kelly

Kelly Kelly's first love was the airline industry. After 9/11, she retired her wings and opened Jet Girl Worldwide, a gallery of airline art and memorabilia.

Frater, Laurie

Laurie Frater’s well-meaning parents thought that naming their son “Laurie” was a good idea. He may have been the inspiration for a well-known Johnny Cash song.

Bottorff, Brittny

Brittny Bottorff has written funny essays, problematic short stories, and the first draft of a funny, but problematic, novel.

Hass, James

James Hass' fiction has been published in a variety of journals. He lives in San Francisco, and in general his work involves things that go bump in the night.

Doyle, Laurie

Laurie Doyle's fiction has appeared in Farallon Review, Stone’s Throw, and Dogwood Journal. Her story, “Voices,” was a finalist for the 2008 edition of Best New American Voices. She teaches at U.C. Berkeley.

Buzbee, Lewis

Lewis Buzbee is the author of the story collection After the Gold Rush, the memoir The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, and the novel Steinbeck’s Ghost. He teaches in the MFA Program at USF.

Shein Win, Maw

Maw Shein Win's poetry and prose has appeared in Watchword, Shampoo, 2River, No Tell Motel, Big Bridge, Babel Fruit, Moria and other print and online journals. She was an Artist In Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts and at Can Serrat in Spain.

Straffolino, Chris

Chris Straffolino is the author of three poetry books (Speculative Primitive, Stealer's Wheel, and Oops), five chapbooks (most recently Anti-Emeryvillification Manifesto), and is starting a radio station with an exclusively local playlist.

Austin, Britta

Britta Austin’s work has appeared in Transfer Magazine and Watchword. She’s been a member of the More Cowgirl Writers’ Collective, editor for Small Desk Press, and a children’s docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

Miller, Mike

Mike Miller is the author of A Community Organizer's Tale: People and Power in San Francisco and the founder of ORGANIZE! Training Center.

Gendar, Jeannine

Jeannine Gendar has been the editorial director at Heyday Books since 2000 and before that was the managing editor of News from Native California.

Rovina, Nesta

Nesta Rovina is the author of Tree Barking, a memoir about the struggles and joys of being a home health therapist in the Bay Area.

Yogi, Stan

Stan Yogi has managed development programs for the ACLU of Northern California since 1997. His book, Wherever There’s a Fight, tells the history of civil liberties in California.

Elinson, Elaine

Elaine Elinson is coauthor of Wherever There’s a Fight, which won a Gold Medal in the California Book Awards.  Still dreams of returning to Willow Cottage.

Wakida, Patricia

Patricia Wakida is a bibliophile and publisher. She co-edited Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience and is currently working on a biography of Shigeyoshi Murao.

Willdorf, Barry

Barry Willdorf has authored the novels Bring The War Home! and Dawn of Darkness. His short works have appeared The Jewish Magazine and Greenhaven Press.

Stephens, Ransom

Ransom Stephens raised his atheist daughter in the Bible belt. In his novel, The God Patent, a laid-off engineer and a death-obsessed, teenage math prodigy are caught in a battle between science and religion.

Mahaffey, Shana

Shana Mahaffey is the author of the debut novel, Sounds Like Crazy (NAL/Penguin). Her work has appeared in SoMa Literary Review and Sunset Magazine.

Morris, Paul W.

Paul W. Morris is an editor of KillingTheBuddha.com and currently the Managing Director of Digital Media for BOMB Magazine.

Howard, Laura

Laura Howard is the Associate Publisher of The Believer, and the Director of Circulation for BOMB and Tin House.

McMullen, Brian

Brian McMullen is a writer and artist who works for McSweeney's as an editor and designer.

Ferrary, Jeannette

Jeannette Ferrary, author of Out of the Kitchen: Adventures of a Food Writer, is a regular contributor to the New York Times, SFChron, Gastronomica, Gourmet and many publications. She teaches food writing at Stanford and UCB.

Griffin, Andy

Andy Griffin of Mariquita Farms cultivates 32 acres of vegetables near Hollister and provides produce for many of Northern California's best restaurants. He writes the Ladybug Letter at ladybugletter.com.

Carpenter, Novella

Novella Carpenter is the author of Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Her writing has also appeared on Salon.com, Saveur.com, sfgate.com, and in Mother Jones.

Watson, Molly

Molly Watson is a writer and recipe developer. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

Cole, Bruce

Bruce Cole publishes Edible San Francisco, the Bay Area's smartest food magazine.

Coss, Susan

Curator Susan Coss is a sustainable food marketing consultant and co-organizer of the Eat Real Festival. She is an avid reader and eater and loves being able to combine her two passions.

Cook, Christopher

Christopher Cook is a journalist and author of Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis. His writing has appeared in the LA Times, Harper's, The Economist, Mother Jones, and many others.

Lura, Christopher

Christopher Lura’s writing has appeared in numerous small magazines and journals. He is the editor of Paul Revere’s Horse, a San Francisco based literary journal.

Olson, Eric E.

Eric E. Olson is the author of The Procession of Mollusks (2009, Astrophil Press). He teaches creative writing and literature at California College of the Arts.

Mellis, Miranda

Miranda Mellis is author of The Revisionist, Materialisms, and None of This Is Real.

Hoke, Mateo

Mateo Hoke is a wild animal living in San Francisco. He writes text tattoos and is often caught looking in stranger’s eyes. He is not a natural truth-teller.

Ying, Chris

Chris Ying is an editor at McSweeney’s and Meatpaper. He cooked in Bay Area restaurants for some time, and currently moonlights at Mission Street Food. He also maintains a surrealist food blog.

Smith, Heather

Heather Smith lives in San Francisco. Occasionally, she wonders about what being a vegetarian who eats hot dogs for journalism says about her character. Rarely, though.

Guggiana, Marissa

Marissa Guggiana is President of Sonoma Direct Sustainable Meats. She is also a Co-Founder of Secret Eating Society and a leader in Slow Food. She is currently working on a book about American butchers.

Watters, Ethan

Ethan Watters is the author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche (out in December), and a founder of The Grotto.

Scheeres, Julia

Julia Scheeres is the author of the best-selling memoir Jesus Land and is presently at work on a book about the Jonestown mass murder-suicides.

Newman, Janis Cooke

Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, about her son’s adoption from a Moscow orphanage, and the historical novel, Mary.  She’s a member of the SF Writers Grotto, where she teaches classes and is working on a novel.

Colin, Chris

Chris Colin is author of What Really Happened to the Class of ‘93 and a frequent New York Times contributor.

Bronson, Po

Po Bronson is the author NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children and five other books. He is a founder of The Grotto.

Bartlett, Allison Hoover

Allison Hoover Bartlett is the author of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession.

Cassidy, Stellar

Stellar Cassidy is a new performer to the street corner in her first year at 16th & Mission.

Peck, Chris

Peck The Town Crier (aka Chris Peck) studied Jazz and Composition at NYU. He fronts the band The Crymuscles.

Q, Guinevere

Guinevere Q writes her bios as if she copies encyclopedia entries of Sylvia Plath. She leads tours around San Francisco atop a double-decker bus.

Bouman, Amber

Amber Bouman spent four years writing the consumer advocacy column for PC World. Her poems have appeared in 16th & Mission Review.

Siegel, Jonathan

Jonathan Siegel is behind the Poetry Mission Reading Series at Dalva, and is also a contributing member of 16th & Mission’s Collaborative Arts Insurgency.

Martin, M. G.

M.G. Martin is author of One for None (Ink Press) and co-producer of the Literary Death Match SF.

Løburg, J. Brandon

J. Brandon Løburg is a design student at San Francisco State University and writes street elegies soaked with the tragedy of location.

Getter, Charlie

Charlie Getter is a performance poet and playwright and holds an MFA in Poetics from the New College of California.

Ortiz, Mitla

Milta Ortiz is a poet, playwright, performer and revolutionary arts educator. She performs a one-woman hybrid theater piece: Scatter My Red Underwear.

Love, Carrie Leilam

Carrie Leilam Love is a writer and proud Oakland native. She rides a magenta bike most places and has an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University.

Je, Cindy

Cindy Je was born in Korea and raised in the U.S. She has an MFA in writing from the University of Oregon and is the recipient of the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize.

Hardy, Myron Michael

Myron Michael Hardy is a poet and recording artist. A Cave Canem fellow, he was a finalist for the Blue Light Poetry Prize Chapbook Competition.

Gonzalez, Aracely

Aracely Gonzalez is co-founder of Fish Soup, an all-women cross genre writing workshop. Her writing has appeared in Suspect Thoughts: A Journal of Subversive Writing.

D'Elia, Richard

Richard D’Elia is a poet and educator completing his MFA in creative writing at San Francisco State University.

Young, Dean

Dean Young, a frequent Threepenny Review poet, holds the Livingston Chair in Poetry at UT Austin and is the author of numerous books of poems.

Wagner, Anne

Anne Wagner teaches art history at UC Berkeley and has written for Threepenny on a variety of subjects, including pianos, plot, photography, and public sculpture.

Tulathimutte, Tony

Tony Tulathimutte's first published story, “Scenes from the Life of the Only Girl in Water Shield, Alaska," appeared in Threepenny and won an O. Henry prize.

Tallent, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Tallent, who has been writing for The Threepenny Review since its third issue, teaches creative writing at Stanford University.

Jones, Louis B.

Louis B. Jones is the author of Ordinary Money, Particles and Luck, and California's Over. His Threepenny story "The Epicurean" won a Pushcart Prize.

Clark, T.J.

T. J. Clark's recent books are Farewell to an Idea and The Sight of Death. His Threepenny poem, "Landscape with a Calm," appeared in Best American Poetry 2004.

Ryles, Ann K.

Ann K. Ryles has an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco. In ?2009, she was a finalist for the Crazyhorse Fiction Prize.

Leahy, Anna

Anna Leahy’s Constituents of Matter (Kent State UP) won the Wick Poetry Prize. She teaches at Chapman University. More info can be found at amleahy.com.

Krieger, Nick

Nick Krieger is a neurotic New Yorker, dotcom poser, accidental activist, gender satyr, and queer dude. His memoir Nina Here Nor There is forthcoming from Beacon.

Donoghue, Kerry

Kerry Donoghue's fiction has appeared in Southern Gothic Shorts, Furnace Review and Fiction Circus, where her story, "The Hungry," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Barmann, Jay C.

Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and blogger who writes for SFist.com and New York Magazine. His first novel, Disaster Readiness, is due out soon(ish).

Pullen, Stephanie

Stephanie Pullen is Co-founder of SF Weekly's Best New Reading Series. She is working on her first epistolary novel about a teenage pornographer and a Rebel Reading Series anthology.

Strachota, Dan

Dan Strachota writes for SF Weekly, San Francisco Magazine, Nerve.com, and Afar. He's finishing a YA novel about a nerdy girl who accidentally becomes famous as a raunchy Romanian rapper.

Finlay, Karen

Karen Finlay is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church of Modesto, CA. Karen Finlay writes about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Myers, Jason

Jason Myers' first novel, exit here, was released in 2007, by Simon & Schuster. His new novel, The Mission, comes out on January 5th, 2010.

Dahlia, Blag

Blag Dahlia is the author of two novels: Nina and Armed to the Teeth with Lipstick. The founder of seminal punk band the Dwarves lives in San Francisco. thedwarves.com

Joseph, Jennifer

Jennifer Joseph is your charming hostess and beleaguered independent publisher.

Spitznagel, Eric

Eric Spitznagel is a glossy magazine writer and author of Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter.

Tracy, James

James Tracy is a social justice organizer/poet and author of The Civil Disobedience Handbook and Molotov Mouths: Explosive New Writing.

Blowdryer, Jennifer

Jennifer Blowdryer is a raconteur extraordinaire and editor of Good Advice for Young Trendy People of All Ages.

Towers, Tarin

Tarin Towers is the Pushcart Prize-winning poet and author of Sorry, We're Close.

Longhi, Jon

Jon Longhi is a staff absurdist and author of Wake Up and Smell the Beer and The Rise and Fall of Third Leg.

Hillman, Thea

Thea Hillman is a queer activist and author of the Lamba Award-winning memoir Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word) and Depending on the Light.

Kidder, Tracy

Tracy Kidder the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and many other literary prizes. He lives in Massachusetts and Maine.

Ellroy, James

James Ellroy's novels The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz, were international bestsellers. His novel American Tabloid was Time magazine's Best Book (fiction) of 1995; his memoir, My Dark Places, was a Time Best Book of the Year.

Vowell, Sarah

Sarah Vowell is the author of several bestselling books, and is a regular contributor to NPR’s “This American Life.” She provided the voice of Violet in the Pixar movie The Incredibles.

Gordon, Linda

Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University. She is the author of numerous books and won the Bancroft Prize for The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction.

Kent, Kathleen

Kathleen Kent is a tenth-generation descendant of Martha Carrier, one of the victims of the Salem witch trials. She's the winner of the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction.

Besh, John

John Besh is an award-winning chef from New Orleans. He was most recently featured on Bravo TV's Top Chef Masters.

Carhart, Thad

Thad Carhart is the author of the international bestseller The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. He lives in Paris with his wife, the photographer Simo Neri.

Siriano, Christian

Christian Siriano is best known as a fashion designer, and the winner of Bravo TV’s Project Runway Season 4.

Savage, Roz

Roz Savage is a British ocean rower, amateur runner, environmental advocate, writer and motivational speaker.

Tudor, Silke

San Francisco native Silke Tudor was a columnist and nightlife editor at SF Weekly for ten years. She currently lives in an anarchist service community on New York's Lower East Side, where she slings soup for the poor.

Boulware, Jack

Jack Boulware is co-author of the recent Bay Area punk oral history Gimme Something Better, and tromped the city throughout the ‘90s scribbling for SF Weekly and The Nose magazine. He is co-founder of Litquake.

Houston, Penelope

Penelope Houston balances her dark folk rock solo career with fronting the reformed Avengers and glorious library day job.

Sinister, Bucky

Bucky Sinister has released one CD and written four books, the latest of which is Get Up, a recovery book for the punk crowd.

Rezabeck, Rozz

Rozz Rezabek was front man of Negative Trend and Theater of Sheep. Continues to write LoverLegendLiar, his yet unpublished memoir of scandalous seminal obscurity and 15 minutes that lasted way too long.

John, Chicken

Chicken John is a contrarian, game show host, politician, ringmaster, chaos maker, riverboat mechanic, and all-purpose hatcher of unrealistic balderdash.

McKnight, Kareim

Onetime Cloyne Court denizen Kareim McKnight was clinic defender for the Women's Choice movement, and co-founder of Direct Action Against Racism, Roots Against War, and Not in Our Name. She lives in Oakland.

Luscious, Jesse

Jesse Luscious aka Jesse Townley is a 924 Gilman and KALX volunteer. Alternative Tentacles employee. Band member of Blatz, Gr'ups, Criminals, and Frisk. Green Party politician and elected Berkeley official. All-around rabble-rouser.

Breedlove, Lynn

Lynn Breedlove is known for his work as front-thang for homocore band Tribe 8, his bike messenger-stripper romance novel and short film Godspeed, and his traveling trans-up comedy one-freak shows. His new book is Lynnee Breedlove's One Freak Show. lynnbreedlove.com

Rosenbaum, Fred

Fred Rosenbaum is a local historian who has written six books on modern Jewish history, including Visions of Reform, a full-length study of San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El.

Springer, Anna Joy

Anna Joy Springer was a member of the bands Blatz, Cypher in the Snow, and the Gr'ups. She is now an ex-punk Buddhist dyke writer of cross-genre works about the complicated intersections of love and grief, and teaches writing at UC San Diego.

Geek, John

A former pseudo-revolutionary suburban East Bay acid-punk dirtbag kid, John Geek founded Geekfest. He fronts the Fleshies, Triclops! and the Street Eaters, and is an overeducated Berkeley wingnut doing archaeology and cultural heritage preservation.

Canfield, Oran

By the time Oran Canfield was ten, he had lived in nearly 15 different situations, including two years as a circus juggler and a stint at San Francisco's legendary outlaw commune The Farm. He is the author of the memoir Long Past Stopping.

Rank, Hank

Hank Rank aka Henry Rosenthal is drummer for Crime, and his son and daughter are in the band Lou Lou & the Guitarfish.

Strike, Johnny

Johnny Strike is a founding member of the protopunk band Crime, and the author of Ports of Hell and A Loud Humming Sound Came From Above.

Pursell, Peg Alford

Peg Alford Pursell earned an MFA from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. Her fiction and poetry both have been honored. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Fiction Award.

Moore, Shana McLean

Shana McLean Moore, a print columnist and speaker who specializes in community building, writes her “Confessions from the Carpool” essays and shares her come-together message with live audiences to entertain, validate and inspire.

McLaughlin, Robert

Robert McLaughlin received his MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. His fiction has appeared in Facets, Velvet Mafia, and The Cimarron Review. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Burke, Katie

Katie Burke is an attorney and writer. She has been published with HarperCollins and various literary journals, including SoMa Literary Review and Culture-Voice. She is writing her first memoir, about transformation through community.

Boone, Amick

Amick Boone formerly ran a local non-profit supporting emerging writers and now co-curates BANG OUT.  She holds an MFA in poetry.

Hobson, Kevin

Kevin Hobson writes fiction, essays, songs, and industrial copy about chocolate. He lives in San Francisco where he co-curates BANG OUT Reading Series.

Nelson, Jim

Jim Nelson's work has been published in Switchback, SmokeLong Quarterly, Watchword, and other fine literary venues. He fell off a cable car and lived to tell about it.

Portman, Frank

Frank Portman, a.k.a Dr. Frank, is the singer/songwriter/guitarist of the punk band Mr. T Experience and author of the best-selling King Dork. His newest is Andromeda Klein, a portrait of a teenage occultist.

Franco, Tom

Tom Franco is a founder of the Firehouse Collective arts community, a dancer, a meditation teacher, a founder of 23 Monkey Tree green smoothie initiative, and illustrated Metamorphosis (in collaboration with mom Betsy).

Franco, Betsy

Betsy Franco has written over eighty books, including the novel Metamorphosis, illustrated by her son Tom and read as an audiobook by her actor sons, James and Dave. She also compiled Falling Hard, 100 love poems by teenagers.

Dolby, Tom

Tom Dolby has written The Sixth Form, The Trouble Boy, and The Secret Society, his first for young adults. Born in London, raised in San Francisco, Tom now divides his time between Manhattan and Wainscott, New York.

Compestine, Ying Chang

Ying Chang Compestine is the author of 18 books including Revolution is Not a Dinner Party. Ying enjoys sharing with students how life in China inspires her writing and the challenges of writing in her second language.

Beaudoin, Sean

Sean Beaudoin is the author of Going Nowhere Faster, Fade To Blue, and the forthcoming You Killed Wesley Payne. He’s written for numerous publications including The Onion, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Narrative Magazine.

Morse, Scott

California native Scott Morse has worked as a character designer, storyboard artist, and art director for studios including Disney, Universal, and Cartoon Network. He also creates the Magic Pickle chapter book and graphic novel series.

Klise, M. Sarah

Illustrator M. Sarah Klise collaborates with writer sister Kate (43 Old Cemetery Road series, Little Rabbit picturebooks). She also teaches kids in Chinatown to draw and paint every Saturday (or really, they teach her!).

Keane, Dave

Dave Keane is the author and illustrator of the Joe Sherlock: Kid Detective chapter books. He also writes picturebooks: Bobby Bramble Loses His Brain and Sloppy Joe. He lives in northern California.

Chin-Lee, Cynthia

Cynthia Chin-Lee asks, “Does inclusion matter?” She thinks it does. She writes multicultural children's books and speaks from the heart. She's written several books, including Amelia to Zora: 26 Women Who Changed the World.

Rodriguez, Rachel

Rachel Rodríguez’ family tree sprouted in Castilla, Spain and she is honored to have written Building on Nature: the Life of Antoni Gaudí. Her first kids’ book, about artist Georgia O’Keeffe, is Through Georgia’s Eyes.

Rennert, Laura Joy

Laura Joy Rennert is the author of a picturebook, Buying, Training, and Caring For Your Dinosaur, illustrated by Marc Brown, and has two highly illustrated books for young readers, Emma, The Extra-Ordinary Princess, forthcoming in 2011.

Hurd, Thacher

Thacher Hurd is the author/illustrator of Art Dog, Mama Don't Allow, Mystery on the Docks, and Bad Frogs. His first novel for children, Bongo Fish, will be published next year. He lives in Berkeley.

Cohn, Diana

Diana Cohn is an award-winning children’s book author. Her books include Dream Carver, Si Se Puede! Yes We Can! Janitor Strike in LA, Mr. Goethe’s Garden, The Bee Tree, and the most recently published Namaste!

Kleid, Suzanne

Suzanne Kleid lives in San Francisco.

Connelly, Sherilyn

Sherilyn Connelly writes. Her work can be found in books by Manic D and Seal Press, and periodicals including Morbid Curiosity and Instant City.

Goldberg, Gravity

Gravity Goldberg enjoys kneading bread dough with her boyfriend and feline companion in their Mission District flat.

Ventura, Ana Maria

Ana Maria Ventura’s work has appeared in Instant City and Boston Literary Magazine. She is currently finishing a novel called Extranjera and teaches English literature to support her writing habit.

Gottlieb, Daphne

Daphne Gottlieb is the award-winning author of four books of poetry (most recently Kissing Dead Girls) and a graphic novel, and the editor of two anthologies.

Taylor Jr., William

William Taylor Jr. is often seen drifting about the edges of the Tenderloin like a sad ghost. His latest book is The Hunger Season.

De Long, Aimee

Aimee De Long lives in Brooklyn. She is the winner of 2008 Famas Poetry Prize. For more info visit her website at aimeedelong.com.

Chavez, MK

MK Chavez is the author of several chapbooks, including Virgin Eyes (Zeitgeist Press, 2008) and Pinnacle (Kendra Steiner Press) due out in September 2009.

Church-Barrow, Missy

Missy Church-Barrow is a mid-west transplant. She is the author of nine self-published chapbooks and a gestating memoir. She enjoys cheese and fucking regrets.

Hansen, Melissa

Melissa Hansen is the author of little beasts, a collection of poetry, and her machine, a fiction collection. You can contact Melissa at melissahansen.net.

Genna, Jamey

Jamey Genna teaches writing in the bay area. Her short fiction has been published in many literary magazines, including Georgetown Review, Iowa Review, and Storyglossia.

Kapur, Kamala

Kamla K. Kapur is Indo-American poet and writer who lives in a remote village in the Himalayas and in California. Her latest works include  Ganesha Goes to Lunch and Rumi’s Tales from the Silk Road.

Lesowitz, Nina

Nina Lesowitz, founder of Spinergy Group, is author of The Courage Companion: Living Life with True Power, and the bestseller Living Life as a Thank You.

Fox, Matthew

Matthew Fox is a scholar in residence with the Academy for the Love of Learning and the author of 28 books including The Hidden Spirituality of Men.

Belitsos, Byron

Byron Belitsos most recently coauthored A Return to Healing and is author of the forthcoming work, Radical Wisdom. He is also the publisher and founder of Origin Press.

Savage, Tag

Tag Savage hosts a little blog called "The Sex Pigeon." In addition to captioning photos, he designs books and letterforms and things.

Emerson, Ramona

Ramona Emerson lives and writes and also does not write, but always lives in San Francisco.

Bronstein, Phil

Phil Bronstein is a former television reporter, war correspondent, investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize–finalist, former executive editor of the SF Examiner, former vice president and editor of the SF Chronicle, author, and weekly syndicated columnist.

Border, Christine

Christine Borden is the events editor for SF Appeal. You can add that label to columnist, blogger, poet, critic, and short-story writer.

Baume, Matt

Matt Baume writes about justifiably marginalized weirdos, incomprehensible culture, and his mortification for websites. He is only interested in things that are funny.

Ann, Katie

Katie Ann specializes in not having anything that defines her except she is pretty certain that she is "the one."

Miller, Noah and Logan

Armed with 17 credit cards, Logan and Noah Miller wrote, produced, and directed the feature film Touching Home, starring Ed Harris. Their incredible story is detailed in the bestselling memoir Either You’re In Or You’re In the Way.

Batey, Eve

Eve Batey is the editor of the SF Appeal. She likes to drink, eat candy, and fuck around on the Internet.

Keeling, Brock

Brock Keeling writes and edits SFist. He watches a lot of TV and wishes he lived on the other side of Market Street.

Ormerod, Jane

Jane Ormerod's books include 11 Films and Recreational Vehicles on Fire, plus the spoken-word CD, Nashville Invades Manhattan (Uphook Press).

Lowell, Dominique

Dominique Lowell's recent publications include Sit Yr Ass Down Or You Ain't Gettin' No Burger King by Three Rooms Press and the upcoming Blistering BGirls Anthology.

Hildebrand, Karen

Karen Hildebrand left SF for NYC in 2003. Her poetry now appears in literary journals and she has a big job in publishing. She misses SF.

Georges, Kat

Kat Georges is the founder/editor of Three Rooms Press. Her poems have appeared in Punk Rock Journal and Slow Dance at 120 Beats a Minute.

Cook, Joie

Joie Cook is a San Francisco poet, painter and musician associated with Zeitgeist & Three Rooms Press and the now-defunct Café Babar.

Carlaftes, Peter

Peter Carlaftes authored a bar poems series: Progressive Shots, Sheer Bardom, The Bar Essentials, and Nightclub Confidential. Most recent books include Drunkyard Dog and My Year on Facebook.

Zimmerman, Keith and Kent

Bestselling authors Keith and Kent Zimmerman have co-written 16 books, collaborating with pop culture icons like Alice Cooper and country singer Trace Adkins. Their new book about the Chicago Outfit is due next year. Their works have been adapted for both television and film.

Wu, Alice

Alice Wu is a screenwriter and director, best known for her film Saving Face, which premiered at Sundance in 2004 and won the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) screenwriting award.

Sharma, Nina

Nina Sharma is the Programs Coordinator at The Asian American Writers' Workshop. Her work has been published in Big Apple Parent, Ginosko Literary Journal and Riffin.com.

Villalon, Oscar

Oscar Villalon is the publisher at McSweeney’s. The former book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, Oscar has written for the Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, and NPR.org, and was the book critic on KQED.

Saito, Brynn

Brynn Saito's poetry has appeared in From Totems to Hip-Hop and Helen Vendler's Poems, Poets, Poetry. She was a 2008 Kundiman Asian-American Poetry Fellow.

Nguyen, Khoi

Khoi Nguyen is the editor and founder of Gender on Our Minds and co-editor of Woman in Mind, a predecessor graduate journal dedicated to women’s and feminist’s voices.

Chanse, Samantha

Samantha Chanse is a writer, performer, arts organizer, and teacher. Her work has been presented with the NY International Fringe, KSW, The Marsh, and others. samanthachanse.com

Jenkins, Nicholas

Nicholas Jenkins is an Associate Professor of English at Stanford, where he teaches modern poetry and culture. His essays and reviews have appeared in the New Yorker, TLS, New Republic, and London Review of Books.

DuShane, Tony

Tony DuShane is the author of Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (Soft Skull, February 2010) and hosts the radio show Drinks with Tony.

Siraganian, Jen

Jen Siraganian has been nominated for a Ruth Lilly Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. Currently, she teaches high school British literature and creative writing.

Lunsford, Andrea

English professor Andrea Lunsford is Director of the Stanford Program in Writing and Rhetoric. Her research interests include literacy and its relation to culture and literature, and the politics of language.

Perry, Andre

Andre Perry is writing a memoir about his misadventures in the San Francisco indie rock scene in the early 2000s, called Thinking of a Dream I Had. He lives in Iowa City.

Karagienakos, Diane

Diane Karagienakos is a blogger, copywriter, playwright (It Is What It Is), and creator of “The Adventures of Vulva Fervor.” Word.

Edelstein, Dan

Dan Edelstein is an assistant professor of French at Stanford, whose research focuses on the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. His essay, “Iphigenia and the iPhone: On the Humanities and the American University” recently appeared in Inside Higher Ed.

Haney, D. R.

D. R. Haney is the author of Banned for Life, a novel about punk rock published in May 2009 by And/Or Press (Vancouver). He has contributed to numerous journals, both in the U.S. and Europe, and blogs at thenervousbreakdown.com.

Gentry, Cynthia

Cynthia Gentry is the author of Secret Seductions, Mind-Blowing Orgasms Every Day, What Men Really Want in Bed, and What Women Really Want in Bed.

Harrison, Robert

Stanford Italian literature professor Robert Harrison has written four books on topics ranging from mythology and poetry to man’s relationship with the environment. Harrison also hosts the KZSU FM 90.1 weekly radio talk show, “Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature).”

De La Garza, Stefan

Stefan De La Garza's poetry and fiction have recently appeared in the Connecticut Review and Columbia. He'll definitely finish his novel by 2015. Maybe. Probably.

Coggin, Amanda

Amanda Coggin's agent awaits her second manuscript about the surprises and gifts that emerge from grief.  Monday through Friday she meditates and contemplates so that on Saturday she can write the book.

Abrams, Douglas Carlton

Bestselling author Douglas Carlton Abrams’ new novel is the fact-based eco-thriller Eye of the Whale, in which a marine biologist must risk everything to decode the mysterious song of a trapped whale and discover its implications for human survival.

Freinkel, Susan

Science writer Susan Freinkel’s first book, American Chestnut: The Life, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, told the story of the near-extinction of one of America’s most beloved forest trees. She is now writing a book about plastic.

Laufer, Peter

When he’s not chasing butterflies, the beats of journalist Peter Laufer, Ph.D., include migration, identity, and diaspora. He’s the author of several books, including Wetback Nation, Mission Rejected, and Exodus to Berlin.

Duncan, David Ewing

Bestselling author of seven books, including the recently released Experimental Man, David Ewing Duncan is Chief Correspondent of public radio’s BioTech Nation, and Director of the Center of Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley.

Phillips, Christi

Christi Phillips is the author of the historical novels The Devlin Diary and The Rossetti Letter. Her research combines a few of her favorite things: old books, libraries, and travel. She lives with her husband in the Bay Area.

King, Laurie R.

Laurie R. King is a third-generation Californian with a background in theology, house building, and child rearing. Her novels range from police procedurals and stand-alones to a historical series with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice).

Inclan, Jessica Barksdale

Bay Area fiction writer and poet Jessica Barksdale Inclan has published several romance novels and trilogies, the latest of which, The Beautiful Being (Kensington Books), appears this October. She also teaches at Diablo Valley College and UCLA extension.

Feinsilber, Pamela

Pamela Feinsilber has interviewed and written about people from Tom Waits and Delroy Lindo to Bonnie Raitt and Tobias Wolff. Longtime arts and literary editor of San Francisco magazine, she is a writing consultant and book editor.

Linde, M.D., Paul R.

Paul R. Linde, M.D., a UCSF Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, is author of Danger to Self: On the Front Line with an ER Psychiatrist.

Gotsulsky, Yanina

Yanina Gotsulsky, author of the forthcoming novels Ergo Sum and The Speed of Life, is now weaving a frolicsome tale about Ivan the Terrible.

Keneally, Scott

Scott Keneally is a humorist who doesn’t mind if people are laughing with him or at him… so long as they’re laughing.

Hinckle, Warren

Warren Hinckle, former editor of Ramparts and Scanlan's magazines, longtime columnist for the Chronicle and Examiner, is editor of Who Killed Hunter S. Thompson? (November, Last Gasp)

Lok, Mimi

Mimi Lok's work has appeared in Hyphen, Time Out, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Based in San Francisco, she directs the McSweeney's Voice of Witness book series, which chronicles human rights issues through oral history.

Mohr, Joshua

Joshua Mohr is the author of the novels Some Things that Meant the World to Me and the forthcoming, Termite Parade, in stores June 2010.

Mitchell, Emily

Emily Mitchell's first novel, The Last Summer of the World, was a finalist for the 2008 NYPL Young Lion's Award. She teaches at West Virginia University.

Riley, Tomás

Tomás Riley is a veteran of the Chicano spoken word collective The Taco Shop Poets. His first book Mahcic is available from Calaca Press.

Gibbs, Jules

Jules Gibbs is a poet and teacher of poetry in Syracuse, NY. She is the recipient of a UCross Residency and is working on a first manuscript.

Hernández, Leticia

Educator and writer, Leticia Hernández, has been performing and publishing her work for over ten years. She is working on a book entitled, Mucha Muchacha, Too Much Girl.

Foust, Rebecca

Rebecca Foust’s book, all that gorgeous, pitiless song won the 2008 Many Mountains Moving Book Award, and two chapbooks won the 2007 and 2008 Robert Phillips Prizes.

Carissimo, Karen

Karen Carissimo has published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in North American Review, Western Humanities Review, Green Mountains Review, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Smith, Bruce

Bruce Smith is the author of five books of poems, including The Other Lover, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

King, Laurie McAndish

Laurie McAndish King’s travel essays have appeared in many anthologies, and aired on KUSF radio. She publishes Travel Writers News, and co-edited the Left Coast Writers Hot Flashes anthologies.

Habegger, Larry

Larry Habegger is a founding editor of Travelers’ Tales. He has been writing about travel since the late 1970s for major magazines and newspapers, and teaches workshops and writers conferences.

Greenwald, Jeff

Jeff Greenwald’s most recent travels included an encounter with Devils in Tasmania, and a trip to Kiribati with a group of obsessed eclipse chasers. His one-man show, Strange Travel Suggestions, features tales taken from his five travel books.

George, Don

Don George’s books include The Kindness of Strangers, By the Seat of My Pants and Tales from Nowhere. Formerly travel editor for The Chronicle, Salon.com, and Lonely Planet, he now creates Don’s Place and Recce.

Galli, Natalie

Natalie Galli's contributions have appeared in The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as in Italy: A Love Story and Travelers’ Tales Italy.

De Stefano, Francesca

Francesca De Stefano has been published in several books including 30 Days in Italy and the Best Women’s Travel Writing anthologies.

Carl and Karl

Carl and Karl (aka Geoff Bolt and Michael O’Brien) appear frequently on the syndicated radio program West Coast Live, as co-hosts of “Tips on Travel.” They have compiled over 4,387 tips on travel, and over 50 useful ones.

Bass, Pamela Alma

Pamela Alma Bass has been published in the anthologies Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009, Hot Flashes: Sexy Little Stories & Poems, and I Should Have Gone Home.

Powell, D.A.

D. A. Powell is the author of four collections of poems, most recently Chronic (Graywolf, 2009). He is recipient of awards from the Poetry Society of America and the Academy of American poets.

Evans, CJ

CJ Evans' The Category of Outcast was selected by Terrance Hayes for the Poetry Society of America’s Chapbook Fellowship, and he is the co-editor of Satellite Convulsions: Poems from Tin House.

Crouch, Katie

Katie Crouch is the author of The New York Times bestseller Girls in Trucks, and her latest, Men and Dogs, was called “breathtaking” by People magazine. Her next book, The Magnolia League, will be published next April.

Corin, Lucy

Lucy Corin is the author of two books of fiction: the short story collection The Entire Predicament (Tin House Books, 2007) and the novel Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls (FC2, 2004).

Vergara, Jr., Benito M.

Benito M. Vergara, Jr. is the writer of Displaying Filipinos: Photography and Colonialism in Early 20th-Century Philippines (UP Press, 1995) and Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City (Temple University Press, 2009).

Tabios, Eileen

Eileen Tabios just released her 16th poetry book, Footnotes to Algebra. In 2010, Marsh Hawk will publish her The Thorn Rosary: Selected Prose Poems.

de Rivera, Jenesha "Jinky"

Jenesha “Jinky” de Rivera is co-editor of the anthology Homelands: Women’s Journeys Across Race Place and Time, published by Seal Press in 2007.

Fernandez, Rona

Rona Fernandez is a Bay Area writer, activist and fundraiser. Her work has been published in Greater Good Magazine, the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, and in the anthology Father Poems (Anvil Press, Philippines).

Suzara, Aimee

Poet/performer Aimee Suzara’s collection the space between was published in 2008. A Mills College M.F.A. graduate, she teaches writing in the Bay Area and is collaborating with Deep Waters Dance Theater.

Francia, Luis H.

Among Luis H. Francia's books are Eye of the Fish (nonfiction) and Museum of Absences (poetry). He has just written a history of the Philippines.

Llagas, Karen

Karen Llagas’ poems appear in Crab Orchard Review, Broadsided Press, and in the anthologies Field of Mirrors (PAWA, 2008) and Poems of the San Francisco Bay Area Watershed (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2010).

Clover, Joshua

Joshua Clover will destroy you and everything you hold dear.

Jollimore, Troy

Troy Jollimore won a National Book Critics Circle Award for Tom Thomson in Purgatory. Recent poems have appeared in McSweeney’s and The New Yorker.

Armantrout, Rae

Rae Armantrout’s recent book of poems, Versed, has been named a finalist for this year’s National Book Award. Armantrout received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry in 2008. She teaches at UC San Diego.

Orner, Peter

Peter Orner is the author of The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, a Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award and Winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, and editor of Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, just released in Spanish from McSweeney's/Voice of Witness.

Kirn, Heather

Heather Kirn's essays and poems have appeared or are forthcoming in more than two dozen publications, among them the Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly Review, and Barrelhouse Magazine.

Greer, Andrew Sean

Andrew Sean Greer is the author of a collection of short stories and three novels, including the bestsellers The Confessions of Max Tivoli and The Story of a Marriage.

Ekiss, Keith

Keith Ekiss is a former Wallace Stegner fellow and a lecturer at Stanford University. His first book of poems, Pima Road Notebook, is forthcoming from New Issues Poetry & Prose in 2010.

Echlin, Helena

Helena Echlin is the author of the novel Gone. She is CHOW's etiquette expert and the author of the Table Manners column, which appears on CHOW.com every Wednesday.

Elliott, Stephen

Author and activist Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books including The Adderall Diaries which has been described as "genius" by both the San Francisco Chronicle and Vanity Fair. He is the editor of The Rumpus.

Richmond, Michelle

Michelle Richmond is the author of The Year of Fog, No One You Know, Dream of the Blue Room, and The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress. Visit her at michellerichmond.com.

Sinister, Bucky

Bucky Sinister has published three books of poetry and recorded the comedy CD What Happens In Narnia Stays In Narnia. In 2007 he wrote the sobriety guide for punks, Get Up.

Vida, Vendela

Vendela Vida is the author of three books, including the novels And Now You Can Go and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, both of which were New York Times Notable Books of the Year. She is a founding co-editor of The Believer magazine.

Harding, John Wesley

John Wesley Harding's most recent album is Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead. He is the author of the novels Misfortune and By George.

Asmussen, Don

Award-losing cartoonist Don Asmussen is creator of the political comic strip Bad Reporter, which runs in the The Chronicle on Wednesday and Fridays and is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. Don is right-handed.

Garchik, Leah

On her first day of work at The Chronicle 37 years ago, Leah Garchik learned that brass spittoons had been removed from the newsroom the week before. She is still disappointed.

Garofoli, Joe

As a sign of either his versatility, ineptitude or short attention span, Joe Garofoli has covered two Olympic games, presidential campaigns, Seventh Avenue fashion shows, the Jeffrey Dahmer serial killings, and his own vasectomy.

Morford, Mark

Mark Morford is a columnist, yoga teacher, blogger, author of the mega-compendium The Daring Spectacle, admirer of trees, neo-pagan orgasmican mystic destroyer of worlds, and humble servant.

Vale, V.

V. Vale is the founder of Search & Destroy and RE/Search Publications. His books include Modern Primitives, Incredibly Strange Music, Pranks, and Freaks.

Gatewood, Charles

Charles Gatewood is a photographer, writer, and video artist. His books include Sidetripping, Forbidden Photographs, Primitives, Badlands, True Blood, Messy Girls, and Photography for Perverts.

Wilkey, Kaila

Kaila Wilkey is a student at Berkeley Technology Academy.

Redfield, Ashley

Ashley Redfield attends Oakland School for the Arts.

Tremblay-McGaw, Alexandra

Alexandra Tremblay-McGaw is in the 8th grade at James Lick Middle School in the Spanish Immersion program.

Givehand, Kiala

Kiala Givehand lives and writes in Oakland where she and her husband live surrounded by books. Kiala completes her MFA in Poetry at Mills College in 2010.

Oakes, Kaya

Kaya Oakes is the author of Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture, and a poetry collection, Telegraph. She teaches at UC Berkeley and is writing a nonfiction book about radical faith.

Sigo, Cedar

Cedar Sigo moved to San Francisco in 1999. His books include two editions of Selected Writings and most recently Expensive Magic.

Reyes, Barbara Jane

Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Gravities of Center, Poeta en San Francisco, and the chapbooks Easter Sunday and Cherry. Her third book, Diwata, is forthcoming.

Piccillo, Juliana

Juliana Piccillo is a mother, writer and filmmaker who lives in the space between soccer mom and whore.

November, Juliet

Juliet November is a hooker, a white anti-racist feminist and activist. She blogs at bornwhore.wordpress.com.

Morgaine, Diana

Diana Morgaine is an Oakland-based writer, tarot reader, freelance editor, improv performer, and the former editor-in-chief of a Bay Area arts magazine.

Martin, R.J.

R.J. Martin is a San Francisco native, a member of Musician’s Union #6, and holds an MA in English from San Francisco State University. He works as a grantwriter.

Sterry, David Henry

David Henry Sterry is a performer, activist, muckraker, Huffington Post regular, and author of 12 books, including The Glorious World Cup, with Alan Black, and the upcoming The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.

Zapruder, Matthew

Matthew Zapruder’s poem “Lazy Comet, Hurry” was featured as a Poem of the Week in NarrativeMagazine.com. He is the author of two collections of poetry: American Linden, awarded the Tupelo Press Editors Prize, and The Pajamaist (Copper Canyon Press, 2006), winner of the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America.

Levy, Kara

Kara Levy’s story “Ready” received second place in NarrativeMagazine.com’s 30 Below Story Contest in 2008. She was a 2006–2007 Steinbeck Fellow in Fiction at the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies.

Haas, Charlie

Charlie Haas’ story “Spelunk,” excerpted from his debut novel The Enthusiast, was featured as a Story of the Week in NarrativeMagazine.com. Haas’ screenwriting credits include Over the Edge (1979), Gremlins 2 (1990), and Matinee (1993).

Gideon, Melanie

Melanie Gideon’s story “Mattress Wars” from her recently published memoir The Slippery Year was excerpted in NarrativeMagazine.com. She is the author of two young adult novels: The Map That Breathed and Pucker, an American Library Best Book finalist.

Edgarian, Carol

Carol Edgarian (Emcee), co-founder and editor of Narrative, is the author of the novels Three Stages of Amazement and the bestselling Rise the Euphrates.

Barbash, Tom

Tom Barbash is author of the novel The Last Good Chance and The New York Times bestselling nonfiction book On Top of the World.

Teutsch, Maria Garcia

Maria Garcia Teutsch serves as Editor-in-Chief of Ping-Pong magazine. She has been widely published, has two chapbooks, and knows why female hyenas are often considered hermaphroditic.

Anders, Charlie

Charlie Anders work has appeared in Ping-Pong, McSweeney's Joke Book Of Book Jokes, Sex For America, Salon.com, and Mother Jones. She hosts the Writers With Drinks reading series.

Smith, Kimberly Jean

Kimberly Jean Smith is a fiction writer, English instructor, and coordinator of the Gavilan College Writing Center. She is also currently working toward an MFA at Warren Wilson College.

Linehan, Dan

Author of SpaceShipOne, foreword by Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Linehan’s works include poetry and screenwriting. Writing has taken him to the Middle East and Antarctica.

Maughn, James

James Maughn writes poetry. He’s published a book, Kata, with BlazeVOX books. He’s the poetry co-editor of Ping-Pong. He’s still a couple words shy.

Kasper Hauser

Kasper Hauser is a four-man comedy group from San Francisco. They are the authors of SkyMaul, Weddings of the Times, and Obama's Blackberry.

Heyerman, Luke

Luke Heyerman, an award-nominated playwright with excellent reviews in the Oregonian and Los Angeles Times, pitches screenplays in L.A., and is seeking representation for his contemporary comic novel, Euthanize My Love.

Dugas, Andrew

Andrew Dugas’ fiction has appeared in Instant City, Flatmancrooked, and SoMa Literary Review. His San Francisco novel Sleepwalking in Paradise languishes among the slush.

Citrak, Joshua

sixteen in the clip and one in the hole, joshua citrak’s ‘bout to make all the people say, “oh!”

Chan, Eugenie

San Francisco native Eugenie Chan’s plays have been performed at Cutting Ball, SF Mime Troupe, the Magic, the Public, Playwrights Horizons, and more. She’s a proud Resident Playwright at Cutting Ball, the Playwrights Foundation, and New Dramatists. newdramatists.org/residentplaywrights.htm

Alameddine, Rabih

Rabih Alameddine, a recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, is the author of the novels Koolaids and I, the Divine, the story collection The Perv, and, most recently, The Hakawati, which won the Premio Roma for 2009.

Menon, Manjula

Manjula's stories have or will appear in Nimrod, North American Review, Santa Monica Review, Pleiades, Southern Humanities Review, Tampa Review and Ego Magazine, among others. She was awarded residencies at Yaddo and the Vermont Studio Center.

Stone, Sarah

Sarah Stone teaches in the CIIS program and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.

Lim, Genny

Genny Lim, a native San Franciscan poet–performer-playwright, is the author of Winter Place and Child of War.

Kessler, Stephen

Stephen Kessler's latest books include Burning Daylight (poems) and Luis Cernuda's Desolation of the Chimera (translation). He is the editor of The Redwood Coast Review.

Chen, Ching-In

Ching-In Chen is a multi-genre, border-crossing writer. Her debut collection, The Heart's Traffic (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press), chronicles the life of Xiaomei, an immigrant girl.

Babtkis, Randall

Randall Babtkis is the author of Bannister. He is working on a volume of 250 poems and a hyperfiction collection called The Originals.

Galloso, José Antonio

José Antonio Galloso was born in Lima, Peru in 1972. He has published three novels and a visual poetry book and lives in the Bay Area.

Flores, Paul S.

Paul S. Flores is a bilingual poet, playwright, award winning novelist and internationally known spoken word performer. He lives in San Francisco.

Esteva, Ananda

Ananda Esteva's writing hits you direct; speaks to your heart while weaving in a duality of culture, perspective, sexuality, and language.

Espinosa, Maria

Maria Espinosa is an award-winning novelist, poet, and translator. Her fourth novel, Dying Unfinished, was recently published by Wings Press.

de Azevedo, Kathleen

Kathleen de Azevedo’s novel Samba Dreamers was nominated for the Northern California Book Award and won the 2007 Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award.

Lazo, Irete

Irete Lazo (pseudonym) is a novelist, Santeria priestess, and freelance science writer who has a Ph.D. in biology from UC Berkeley.

Jones, Justin

Justin Jones is furiously penning a scandalous book about his life as an Olympic hopeful turned traveling escort.

DeLorenzo, Maria

Maria DeLorenzo authored the zine Nobody Loves You, was published online at Splinter Generation, and is working on a novel called The Margarets.

Wisby, Sarah Fran

Sarah Fran Wisby is author of Viva Loss, a required textbook at the School of Hard Knocks.

Richman, Jan

Jan Richman is the author of Because the Brain Can Be Talked Into Anything. She used to teach writing at the Academy of Art College.

Tokunaga, Wendy

Wendy Tokunaga is a native San Franciscan and the author of the novels Midori by Moonlight and Love in Translation. Her favorite sushi is chirashi.

Sunley, Christina

Christina Sunley's first novel was published by St. Martin's Press in 2009. The Tricking of Freya delves into all things Icelandic.

Soehnlein, K.M

K.M. Soehnlein is the author of three novels: Robin and Ruby (2010), You Can Say You Knew Me When (2005), and The World of Normal Boys (2000). He teaches at USF.

Shumas, Holly

Holly Shumas is the author of two novels. The most recent, Love and Other Natural Disasters, is about an emotional affair.

Shimoda, Todd

Todd Shimoda, Cal grad, author of Oh! A mystery of 'mono no aware,' The Fourth Treasure, and 365 Views of Mt. Fuji, lives on Kaua'i.

Martinez, Victor

Victor Martinez has published two books: Caring For A House, and a novel, Parrot In The Oven.

Konstantinou, Lee

Lee Konstantinou is the author of Pop Apocalypse. He lives in the Mission district of San Francisco and is at work on his second novel.

Bazell, Josh

Josh Bazell has a BA from Brown University and an MD from Columbia. He wrote Beat the Reaper while completing his internship at a hospital.

Rhoads, Loren

Loren Rhoads is the editor of Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox, and Unusual.

McGuire, Seanan

Seanan McGuire's first novel, Rosemary and Rue, was released by DAW Books in September 2009; the sequel is set to follow in March, 2010.

Mouthy Dames

Terry McMillan—author of the bestselling Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and other fabulous fiction—will be part of Litquake's annual “women’s night,” this year called Mouthy Dames! Also appearing are other women who don’t know how to keep their feelings and opinions to themselves — and aren’t we happy about that? Reading vociferously in the beautiful Paris ballroom of the Hotel Monaco are Kim Addonizio, Christine Comaford, Kim Wong Keltner, Wendy Merrill, April Sinclair, and Jane Smiley. Emceed by Litquake co-founder Jane Ganahl.

Wilson, Emily

Emily Wilson writes for radio, print and the web, and teaches at City College of San Francisco.

Teenquake Takes Over

Friday, Oct. 16
6:30-9 pm
Free
A Friday night carnival of events where 13- to 18-year-olds take over the library after hours! From the Koret Auditorium to the Rotunda to the Teen Center, there will be an extravaganza of hands-on workshops, a scavenger hunt, performances by teen writers, artists, musicians, dancers, even a chance to win a Wii! Two teen-run author panels will rock you: "Ch-ch-ch-changes" will happen in the Latino Rooms at 6:45 with authors Betsy Franco & Tom Franco, Sean Beaudoin (pictured below), and Kristen Tracy. At 8pm is the "Fringe Fest" with Frank Portman (pictured above), Tom Dolby, and Ying Chang Compestine.

Kindly check your adults at the door.
Koret Auditorium
San Francisco Public Library-Main Branch
100 Larkin at Grove

Underground Exposed: A Zine Retrospective

Friday, October 16
8 pm
Free
San Francisco has always been home to prolific and influential underground publishers. Join some of the city’s best and brightest zinesters in a panel-style discussion about the world of alternative press, followed by readings of their favorite pieces. Beverages for sale, and a chance to win a free Chrome bag! Moderated by Eric Zassenhaus (Instant City). With Layla Gibbon (Maximum Rock n’ Roll), Erick Lyle (Scam, On The Lower Frequencies), John Marr (Murder Can Be Fun), and Tena Scalph (Bitter Pie Comix).
Chrome Bags, 580 4th Street, San Francisco
(415) 503-1221
Admission: free

Tracy, Kristen

Kristen Tracy is the author of many novels for children and young adults, including Lost It, Crimes of the Sarahs, A Field Guide for Heartbreakers, and the forthcoming book, The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter.

Smokler, Kevin

Kevin Smokler is the Co-founder and CEO of BookTour.com, the world's largest directory of author and literary events. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The LA Times, Fast Company, the Believer and on NPR. His book Bookmark Now was a Chronicle Notable Book of 2005. He drinks excessively most mornings at Philz Coffee in the Castro

Levitt, John

John Levitt. Author. Musician (The Procrastinistas). Mission dweller. New novel, Unleashed, out in November. Ex-New Yorker, ex-cop, detoured into urban fantasy.

Black, Alan

Alan Black is the author of Kick the Balls. He murdered an American lawn.

Keats, Jonathon

Jonathon Keats is a conceptual artist and writer. His exhibitions at venues including the Berkeley Art Museum have been documented by the BBC and PBS.

Tidman, Jill

Jill Tidman lives in San Francisco with her posse: Wil and Izy. She is Program Director at the Redford Center.

Lichtenberg, D.W.

D.W. Lichtenberg is 23 years old and living in San Francisco. He is the author of The Ancient Book of Hip.

Pritchett, Jenny

Jenny Pritchett's debut story collection, At or Near the Surface, won the 2008 Michael Rubin Chapbook Award. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Gilmartin, Steve

Steve Gilmartin's work has appeared in Eleven Eleven, elimae, Double Room, 3rd Bed, and Drunken Boat, among others. He lives in Berkeley.

Doernberg, Alison

Alison Doernberg grew up in Georgia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Eleven Eleven, Alehouse, and Switchback.

Breheny, Jessica

Jessica Breheny teaches writing at San Jose City College. She is the author of a collection of short stories and a young adult novel.

Sekaran, Shanthi

Shanthi Sekaran released her first novel, The Prayer Room, in 2009. She currently teaches writing at CCA and Berkeley Extension and works with Apostrophecast.com.

Ansary, Tamim

Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted, A History of the World through Islamic Eyes won the 2009 Northern California Book Award for nonfiction. Born and raised in Afghanistan, Ansary has lived in American since 1964.

Abinader, Elmaz

Author, poet, playwright, Elmaz Abinader won the 2002 Goldies Award for Literature, a PEN/Josephine Miles award for poetry and two Drammies (Oregon’s Drama Circle).

Agarwal, Shilpa

Shilpa Agarwal is the author of Haunting Bombay, a literary ghost story set in India and a winner of the First Words Literary Prize.

Bendimerad, Soumeya

Soumeya Bendimerad is an editor living in San Francisco.

Altschul, Andrew Foster

Andrew Altschul directs the Center for Literary Arts. His first novel, Lady Lazarus, was a finalist for the 2008 Northern California Book Award. His new novel, Deus Ex Machina, comes out in February.

Daughters of Yam

Daughters of Yam: poets Opal Palmer Adisa and devorah major have performed as Daughters of Yam since 1984. Each has published multiple books of poetry and fiction.

Ryan, Shawna Yang

The Boston Globe has called Shawna Yang Ryan “a writer to watch.” Her debut novel, Water Ghosts, recently out in paperback, was a 2008 Northern California Book Award finalist. She teaches English at CCSF.

Black, Rebecca

Rebecca Black's first book of poetry, Cottonlandia, won the Juniper Prize in 2004. She directs the creative writing program at Santa Clara University.

Taylor, Nick

Nick Taylor's debut novel, The Disagreement, is now available in paperback. He teaches at San Jose State University.

Houston, Pam

Pam Houston is the author of a novel, a collection of essays, and two story collections including Cowboys Are My Weakness.

Spiller, Nancy

Nancy Spiller's writings have appeared in The San Jose Mercury News and The Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Entertaining Disasters is her first book.

Dunlap, Susan

Sue Dunlap is author of 22 novels and the recipient of both Anthony and Macavity awards.

Queen, Carol

Carol Queen is Staff Sexologist at Good Vibes, founding director of the Center for Sex & Culture, award-winning author and anthologist.

Sheppard, Simon

Simon Sheppard has been called "our erotica king" by San Francisco magazine and accused on Fox News of helping "destroy American culture."

Roche, Thomas S.

Thomas S. Roche is the author of hundreds of published stories in the genres of erotica, crime, horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

Cross, Jen

Jen Cross’ writing can be found in over thirty anthologies and periodicals, including Visible: A Femmethology, Nobody Passes, and Best Sex Writing 2008.

Aarens, Blake C.

Blake C. Aarens is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who writes award-winning erotic fiction. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies.

Wickes, Helen

Helen Wickes lives in Oakland. She is a member of Sixteen Rivers Press, which published her first book of poems in 2007.

Herrick, Lee

Lee Herrick is the author of This Many Miles from Desire. His poems have been in ZYZZYVA and other magazines. He teaches in Fresno, California.

Candelaria, Xochiqueztal

Xochiqueztal Candelaria's work has appeared in The Nation, New England Review, Gulf Coast, Seneca Review, and other magazines.

Flowers, Charles

Charles Flowers' poems have appeared in Gulf Coast, Barrow Street, Indiana Review, and Puerto del Sol. Flowers is also the founding editor of BLOOM.

Welch, Paul

Paul Welch is a second year MFA poetry student at SF State, focusing on Chinese translation.

Kaiser, Jo Ellen Green

Jo Ellen Green Kaiser is editor-in-chief of Zeek. She has published in Instant City, Tikkun, and The Lesbian Review of Books.

Harris, Daniel Y.

Daniel Y. Harris is the author of Unio Mystica, and co-author of Paul Celan and the Messiah’s Broken Levered Tongue.

Bellm, Dan

Dan Bellm has published three books of poetry, most recently Practice (Sixteen Rivers Press), winner of a 2009 California Book Award.

Rohmer, Harriet

Harriet Rohmer's most recent book is Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People who are Helping to Protect Our Planet (Chronicle Books).

Raz, Yosefa

Yosefa Raz, Zeek Poetry Editor, has work in Glimmer Train and ZYZZYVA. Her first book is In Exchange for a Homeland (Swan Scythe Press, 2004).

Gelfand, Joan

Joan Gelfand is Zeek Fiction Editor. Her publications include Seeking Center and A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities and Streams.

Espinoza, John Olivares

John Olivares Espinoza’s book of poetry, The Date Fruit Elegies, was a 2009 nominee for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry.

Vadi, Jose

Writer/Performer Jose Vadi was the recipient of the 2008 Shenson Performing Arts Award for his debut theatrical piece, A Eulogy For Three.

Murguía, Alejandro

Alejandro Murguía is the author of This War Called Love (City Lights Books) and the memoir The Medicine of Memory (University of Texas Press).

Quirk, Joe

Joe Quirk is a bestselling novelist and science humorist. He's the author of It's Not You – It's Biology and the novel Exult.

Nam, Tammy

Tammy Nam heads content and marketing at Scribd, where she observes reading behavior trends. She believes that social publishing presents a huge opportunity for authors.

Kinsella, Bridget

Bridget Kinsella is marketing and publicity manager at Cleis Press and Viva Editions. She has reported for Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness, and is the author of Visiting Life: Women Doing Time on the Outside.

James, Scott

Scott James is a columnist for The New York Times and The Bay Citizen. He writes fiction under the pen name Kemble Scott and is the author of two bestselling novels, SoMa and The Sower.

Eberhardt, April

April Eberhardt is a literary agent with Reece Halsey North, specializing in adult literary and commercial fiction, particularly ironic family dramas and realistic midlife tales. For five years she worked at literary magazine Zoetrope: All-Story.

Amy Tan Tribute/Roast October 14

Litquake’s third annual Barbary Coast Award for contribution to the Bay Area literary community is presented to Amy Tan, international bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and member of the all-author band Rock Bottom Remainders. Join us for this highly entertaining tribute-roast with special guests Rabih Alameddine, Sam Barry, mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao, Ben Fong-Torres, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Andrew Sean Greer, Michael Krasny, Armistead Maupin, Roger McGuinn, Elaine Petrocelli and of course, Amy Tan. Music by Los Train Wreck. Book sales and signing to follow.
Wednesday, October 14, 8 pm
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue at McAllister Street, San Francisco
(415) 392-4400
Admission: $25 general, $75 includes post-event reception
Tickets available at City Box Office.

Here's a quote we love from a 2005 interview with Amy in the Guardian.

"I accept that probably for the rest of my life I will be identified with The Joy Luck Club -- I will always be introduced as the author of the Joy Luck Club. On my tombstone -- if I wanted a tombstone, which I don't -- it would say 'Author of The Joy Luck Club.' That's fine. I hope that I continue to write my best book with each book that I write. I am very lucky that that happened to me."

Chin, Justin

Justin Chin is the author of three books of poetry and three books of essays. His most recent poetry collection, Gutted (Manic D Press), received the Publishing Triangle's 2007 Thom Gunn Award for Poetry.

James Ellroy, author of Blood's a Rover

Thursday, October 15
7:30 p.m.
Admission:  Free
Summer, 1968. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are dead. The assassination conspiracies have begun to unravel. A dirty-tricks squad is getting ready to deploy at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Black militants are warring in southside L.A. The Feds are concocting draconian countermeasures. And fate has placed three men at the vortex of History.

Dwight Holly is J. Edgar Hoover’s pet strong-arm goon, implementing Hoover’s racist designs and obsessed with a leftist shadow figure named Joan Rosen Klein. Wayne Tedrow—ex-cop and heroin runner—is building a mob gambling mecca in the Dominican Republic and quickly becoming radicalized. Don Crutchfield is a window-peeping kid private-eye within tantalizing reach of right-wing assassins, left-wing revolutionaries and the powermongers of an incendiary era. Their lives collide in pursuit of the Red Goddess Joan—and each of them will pay “a dear and savage price to live History.”

Political noir as only James Ellroy can write it—our recent past razed and fully reconstructed—Blood’s A Rover is a novel of astonishing depth and scope, a massive tale of corruption and retribution, of ideals at war and the extremity of love. It is the largest and greatest work of fiction from an American master.
“Ellroy concludes the scorching trilogy begun with 1995’s American Tabloid with a crushing bravura performance. As ever, his sentences are gems of concision…It’s impossible not to read Blood’s A Rover with a sense of awe…It’s a stunning and crazy book that could only have been written by the premier lunatic of American letters.”
–Publishers Weekly
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