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Nov 9, 2022
Honor Them With More Than a Parade
‘Our Veterans’ digs deep into vets’ challenges
Friday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day this year. There will be parades. Politicians will make speeches “honoring the sacrifices” of the men and women who serve or have served in the...
Oct 5, 2022
Piercing the Book Bubble: Litquake celebrates 23 years of bringing literature to the people
If Litquake 2022 were weaponry, it would be a bow and arrows. Instead, Litquake is the Bay Area’s beloved annual literary festival that this year sprawls over 16 days with 93 events and over 350 authors and...
Sep 14, 2022
Leaving Miami: Jonathan Escoffery’s ‘If I Survive You’ follows a family seeking identity that...
With his new collection of interlinked short stories, Oakland author Jonathan Escoffery dissects the ironies of race, identity and family for Jamaican immigrants living in South Florida.
Through the eyes of two brothers on divergent career and social...
Mar 2, 2022
Seeking Self: Jay Caspian Kang tackles the pull of white assimilation for second- and...
In a phone conversation, Berkeley-based writer Jay Caspian Kang speaks his truth in a multiplicity of voices—and reveals he may forever be a man in search of a singular identity.
We’re talking about Kang’s most recent book, The...
Feb 9, 2022
What Is Love?: Mac Barnett’s latest book takes young readers on a heartfelt journey
In 2013, New York Times-bestselling author Mac Barnett told me that growing up as an only child, whose time was divided between his father’s and mother’s homes in Castro Valley and Oakland, left him feeling lonely and...
Dec 22, 2021
The Second Shooter: Nick Mamatas’ latest book begins with a mysterious phenomenon and takes...
Oakland author Nick Mamatas offers a trip down the rabbit hole of theories about mass shootings in his new metaphysical thriller, The Second Shooter.
According to Mamatas, for every mass shooting in America—four victims or more—there is initially...
Oct 27, 2021
Escaping Into Horror: In his new novel, James Han Mattson explores the politics of...
Mattson provides a galvanizing setup for 'Reprieve'. Each of the five cells at Quigley House is occupied by gore-covered actors, who are permitted to hit, punch and spatter muck on the visitors, who are sometimes allowed to retaliate. The first contestant to use the safe word, “reprieve,” loses the chance to take $60,000 home with them. The owners claim to have made at least one payout.