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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260914T190000
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UID:39435-1789412400-1789419600@birdbeckett.com
SUMMARY:Virtual Poets: Kim Shuck's Bird & Beckett zoom poetry series presents Al Frankie and Melissa Eleftherion\, open mic follows
DESCRIPTION:Join Zoom Meeting\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 \nMeeting ID: 843 5026 5713\nPasscode: 244211 \nAl Frankie\, also known as “The Conduit” on Substack\, is a revolutionary canary poet who sounds the alarm on immigration\, women’s rights\, human rights and injustice in general. She used to write about heartbreak and fuckgirls and fuckboys. Her debut book of poetry Heartbreak PSA can be ordered through Bird & Beckett or any independent bookshop. It’s $13.99 and worth it. \nIn what she calls “The Age of Ashes\,” she frequents open mics and climbs onto her soapbox while public soapboxes are still available. Some people also call her “a witch (politically\, of course).” She never argues with them. In her free time\, she is currently working on a four-part romantic fantasy series because\, when all hope is lost\, all a poet has left is to write about love. She also loves dancing. \n\nMelissa Eleftherion (she/they) is a writer\, a libraria\, and a visual artist. Born & raised in Brooklyn\, they are the author of four poetry collections: field guide to autobiography (The Operating System\, 2018)\, gutter rainbows (Querencia Press\, 2024)\, Suture (Cooper Dillon\, 2026) and Malocchia (White Stag\, 2026) as well as twelve chapbooks including abject sutures (above/ground press\, 2024).Melissa holds degrees from Brooklyn College\, Mills College\, and San Jose State University. A six-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize\, her work has been widely published & recently appeared/is forthcoming in Sixth Finch\, Verse Daily\, DIAGRAM\, & South Dakota Review. Melissa served as Poet Laureate for the City of Ukiah (2021-2024)\, and now lives in Northern California where she manages the Ukiah Branch Library and curates the LOBA Reading Series. \n  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \n  \nKim Shuck conducts the twice-monthly Virtual Poets series\, with featured readers followed by an open mic on the 2nd Monday of each month and an all-open mic session on the 4th Monday of each month.  \nKim embraces the fool and jester qualities of being a modern poet and artist. She is a devotee of San Francisco\, whose hills she wanders nearly always on foot. Her maternal grandparents met at the Polish Hall on Shotwell and she spent many hours with her mother and grandmother wandering the Mission St. Miracle Mile\, taking books out of the Mission Branch library and watching aquarium fish on the ground floor of what used to be Hale’s. She firmly believes in carrying a bubble wand\, keys\, pen and notebook and cats cradle string at all times. \nKim\, whose poetry draws on her multiethnic background which includes Polish and Cherokee heritage\, and her experiences as a lifelong resident of San Francisco\, served as San Francisco’s seventh Poet Laureate\, from 2017-2021. In 2019\, she was awarded an inaugural National Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets\, and a PEN Oakland Censorship Award. Among her many books and chapbooks\, Pick a Garnet to Sleep In\, one in a long line of poetry collections\,was published in 2024\, and her book of essays Noodle\, Rant\, Tangent was published in 2022.  \nIn her term as Poet Laureate\, she hosted scores of free poetry and art workshops for all ages at neighborhood libraries and schools and worked closely with San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Arts Commission to launch major citywide initiatives to honor Native American Indigenous Peoples’ heritage. \nKim is assisted by Brett Benson\, a heroic volunteer who keeps the Zoom going. When he’s not doing that\, he’s a high school teacher down the Peninsula apiece\, and runs an open mic at Le Promenade opposite the Balboa Theater in the Outer Richmond District.
URL:https://birdbeckett.com/event/39435/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Poetry Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://birdbeckett.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/kim-shuck-2.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260910T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260910T210000
DTSTAMP:20260910T141245Z
CREATED:20260824T101430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260910T141245Z
UID:38986-1789068600-1789074000@birdbeckett.com
SUMMARY:Shuffle: poet Joseph Simas\, with cellist t. persephone and poet Michael Schuffler\, plus writer Yates Cessna
DESCRIPTION:Joseph Simas presents a staged reading and sound ensemble\, introducing his latest book of poems\, Shuffle (Introducing — Anime Titles)\, The Bodily Press\, 2026. \nWorking writer and artist Yates Cessna will open with a reading of her work\, followed by a selection from Shuffle set to music\, composed and performed by t. persephone\, cello\, and Michael Schuffler\, voice. \nJoseph Simas’s first poetry collection\, Entire Days\, was published by Burning Deck in 1985. The Post-Apollo Press published his first English-language edition of Mezza Voce in 1988. Simas is known for his numerous translations in poetry\, and his art\, film\, and performance translations and writings.
URL:https://birdbeckett.com/event/2026-09-10_joseph-simas-yates-cessna/
LOCATION:Bird & Beckett Books & Records\, 653 Chenery Street\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94131\, United States
CATEGORIES:Live Music,Poetry Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://birdbeckett.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Simas-Cessna.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project":MAILTO:eric@birdbeckett.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260903T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260903T210000
DTSTAMP:20260902T162956Z
CREATED:20260824T100052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T162956Z
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SUMMARY:POETS! Tate Swindell & Shane King Zackery + Open Mic
DESCRIPTION:Shane King Zackery is a queer black poet\, filmmaker\, and technologist who has lived in the Bay for over 10 years. They like to sit in the river and talk in circles about being human. Occasionally\, they write something down about the nature of time\, space\, and love. \nArchivist\, Editor\, Poet and Photographer\, Tate Swindell is the founder of Unrequited Records\, which specializes in poetry records released on the vinyl format. Editor of On Valencia Street: Poems and Ephemera by Jack Micheline (Lithic Press\, 2019). Co-editor of the Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman for City Lights Books (2019). Tate\, and his brother Todd\, worked extensively on the Harold Norse archives\, which were donated to the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. He is currently writing short stories about his experiences in the San Francisco medical cannabis movement. Previous collections of writings include Palpitations; The Creation of Deadlines; Fotopomes and the most recent SOLAR HITS (Lithic Press\, 2025). \nMichael Koch and Jerry Ferraz host Bird & Beckett’s 1st Thursdays poetry series. The reading starts at 7pm with two to three featured readers\, with an open mic following after a short break. \nThe reading\, including the open mic\, is welcomes all comers at no cost\, although tips to augment the small honorarium awarded the featured readers by the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project are encouraged and welcome at the break before the open mic commences. BYOB. \nTo help underwrite this 25-year tradition at Bird & Beckett\, please consider a sustaining donation to the Cultural Legacy Project\, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization charged with presenting\, documenting and archiving the work of the region’s crucial corps of dedicated poets and musicians. Information can be found here: Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
URL:https://birdbeckett.com/event/poets-open-mic_2026-09-03/
LOCATION:Bird & Beckett Books & Records\, 653 Chenery Street\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94131\, United States
CATEGORIES:Poetry Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://birdbeckett.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Swindell-Zackery.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project":MAILTO:eric@birdbeckett.com
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