Come toast the 4-year anniversary of Literary Speakeasy! To celebrate the evening, we have an amazing lineup of writers and performers, including Mark Abramson, Michael Tod Edgerton, Heather June Gibbons, Nazelah Jamison, Zoe Young and musical guest Emily Zisman! Your host and curator every month is James J. Siegel. Come raise a glass to four years at Martuni’s and four years of the best Bay Area writers and performers.
There is no cover and no drink minimum. Arrive early receive a free raffle ticket to win the evening’s secret Speakeasy prize.
Performer bios:
Writer/historian Mark Abramson has lived in San Francisco so long he might as well be a native. He is the author of the “Beach Reading” mystery series, set in the Castro district, as well as the non-fiction books “For My Brothers,” the two-volume “Sex, Drugs & Disco – San Francisco Diaries from the Pre-AIDS Era,” “Minnesota Boy,” and “Farm Boy – a Memoir with Recipes.” He is currently at work on a new memoir about gay life at the Russian River from 1976 – 1984 called “River Days, River Nights.”
Michael Tod Edgerton is the author of the poetry collection Vitreous Hide from Lavender Ink press. His poems have appeared previously as the winner of the Boston Review and Five Fingers Review contests, and in Coconut, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, EOAGH, Interim, New American Writing, New Orleans Review, Posit, and Sonora Review, among other journals. He holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and a PhD in English from the University of Georgia. He currently lives with his husband in San Francisco and teaches academic and creative writing at San José State University.
Heather June Gibbons was born in Utah and grew up on an island in Washington. She is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir, winner of the 2017 Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press) and two chapbooks, Sore Songs (Dancing Girl Press), and Flyover (Q Avenue Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Best New Poets, Blackbird, Boston Review, Drunken Boat, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, jubilat, New American Writing, and West Branch. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has been the recipient of a Full Fellowship Residency from the Vermont Studio Center, the Pavel Strut Poetry Fellowship from the Prague Summer Program, and the Harold Taylor Prize from the Academy of American Poets. She lives in San Francisco, CA and teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University, the Writing Salon, and as a Teaching Artist for Performing Arts Workshop, a youth arts education non-profit.
Nazelah Jamison is a performance poet, actor, vocalist, and emcee. She is an East Coast transplant, former organizer of the Oakland Poetry Slam and sometimes reluctant superhero. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was released in Fall of 2016 on Nomadic Press.
Zoe Young is a writer living in San Francisco. She has an Mfa from California college of the arts and currently writes full time for the nature conservancy in California. You can find her work in McSweeneys Quarterly, issue 53, and on multiple bathroom walls.
Emily Zisman is an unapologetic storyteller of the contemporary woman’s experience. She uses unabashed honesty and humor to punctuate the complexity of the entire escapade. Emily found her way to songwriting as an outlet for her struggles when she was studying to be an actress in New York City. Over time, she realized that songwriting and sharing her personal stories connected her more closely to her community than her attempts to be an actress. The more raw and candid her songs were, the more people seemed to be drawn in. So, she packed up and moved back to California to pursue writing more studiously. Hilarity and devastation continue to ensue, and so in turn does she.
show less
There is no cover and no drink minimum. Arrive early receive a free raffle ticket to win the evening’s secret Speakeasy prize.
Performer bios:
Writer/historian Mark Abramson has lived in San Francisco so long he might as well be a native. He is the author of the “Beach Reading” mystery series, set in the Castro district, as well as the non-fiction books “For My Brothers,” the two-volume “Sex, Drugs & Disco – San Francisco Diaries from the Pre-AIDS Era,” “Minnesota Boy,” and “Farm Boy – a Memoir with Recipes.” He is currently at work on a new memoir about gay life at the Russian River from 1976 – 1984 called “River Days, River Nights.”
Michael Tod Edgerton is the author of the poetry collection Vitreous Hide from Lavender Ink press. His poems have appeared previously as the winner of the Boston Review and Five Fingers Review contests, and in Coconut, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, EOAGH, Interim, New American Writing, New Orleans Review, Posit, and Sonora Review, among other journals. He holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and a PhD in English from the University of Georgia. He currently lives with his husband in San Francisco and teaches academic and creative writing at San José State University.
Heather June Gibbons was born in Utah and grew up on an island in Washington. She is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir, winner of the 2017 Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press) and two chapbooks, Sore Songs (Dancing Girl Press), and Flyover (Q Avenue Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Best New Poets, Blackbird, Boston Review, Drunken Boat, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, jubilat, New American Writing, and West Branch. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has been the recipient of a Full Fellowship Residency from the Vermont Studio Center, the Pavel Strut Poetry Fellowship from the Prague Summer Program, and the Harold Taylor Prize from the Academy of American Poets. She lives in San Francisco, CA and teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University, the Writing Salon, and as a Teaching Artist for Performing Arts Workshop, a youth arts education non-profit.
Nazelah Jamison is a performance poet, actor, vocalist, and emcee. She is an East Coast transplant, former organizer of the Oakland Poetry Slam and sometimes reluctant superhero. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was released in Fall of 2016 on Nomadic Press.
Zoe Young is a writer living in San Francisco. She has an Mfa from California college of the arts and currently writes full time for the nature conservancy in California. You can find her work in McSweeneys Quarterly, issue 53, and on multiple bathroom walls.
Emily Zisman is an unapologetic storyteller of the contemporary woman’s experience. She uses unabashed honesty and humor to punctuate the complexity of the entire escapade. Emily found her way to songwriting as an outlet for her struggles when she was studying to be an actress in New York City. Over time, she realized that songwriting and sharing her personal stories connected her more closely to her community than her attempts to be an actress. The more raw and candid her songs were, the more people seemed to be drawn in. So, she packed up and moved back to California to pursue writing more studiously. Hilarity and devastation continue to ensue, and so in turn does she.
Come toast the 4-year anniversary of Literary Speakeasy! To celebrate the evening, we have an amazing lineup of writers and performers, including Mark Abramson, Michael Tod Edgerton, Heather June Gibbons, Nazelah Jamison, Zoe Young and musical guest Emily Zisman! Your host and curator every month is James J. Siegel. Come raise a glass to four years at Martuni’s and four years of the best Bay Area writers and performers.
There is no cover and no drink minimum. Arrive early receive a free raffle ticket to win the evening’s secret Speakeasy prize.
Performer bios:
Writer/historian Mark Abramson has lived in San Francisco so long he might as well be a native. He is the author of the “Beach Reading” mystery series, set in the Castro district, as well as the non-fiction books “For My Brothers,” the two-volume “Sex, Drugs & Disco – San Francisco Diaries from the Pre-AIDS Era,” “Minnesota Boy,” and “Farm Boy – a Memoir with Recipes.” He is currently at work on a new memoir about gay life at the Russian River from 1976 – 1984 called “River Days, River Nights.”
Michael Tod Edgerton is the author of the poetry collection Vitreous Hide from Lavender Ink press. His poems have appeared previously as the winner of the Boston Review and Five Fingers Review contests, and in Coconut, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, EOAGH, Interim, New American Writing, New Orleans Review, Posit, and Sonora Review, among other journals. He holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and a PhD in English from the University of Georgia. He currently lives with his husband in San Francisco and teaches academic and creative writing at San José State University.
Heather June Gibbons was born in Utah and grew up on an island in Washington. She is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir, winner of the 2017 Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press) and two chapbooks, Sore Songs (Dancing Girl Press), and Flyover (Q Avenue Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Best New Poets, Blackbird, Boston Review, Drunken Boat, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, jubilat, New American Writing, and West Branch. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has been the recipient of a Full Fellowship Residency from the Vermont Studio Center, the Pavel Strut Poetry Fellowship from the Prague Summer Program, and the Harold Taylor Prize from the Academy of American Poets. She lives in San Francisco, CA and teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University, the Writing Salon, and as a Teaching Artist for Performing Arts Workshop, a youth arts education non-profit.
Nazelah Jamison is a performance poet, actor, vocalist, and emcee. She is an East Coast transplant, former organizer of the Oakland Poetry Slam and sometimes reluctant superhero. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was released in Fall of 2016 on Nomadic Press.
Zoe Young is a writer living in San Francisco. She has an Mfa from California college of the arts and currently writes full time for the nature conservancy in California. You can find her work in McSweeneys Quarterly, issue 53, and on multiple bathroom walls.
Emily Zisman is an unapologetic storyteller of the contemporary woman’s experience. She uses unabashed honesty and humor to punctuate the complexity of the entire escapade. Emily found her way to songwriting as an outlet for her struggles when she was studying to be an actress in New York City. Over time, she realized that songwriting and sharing her personal stories connected her more closely to her community than her attempts to be an actress. The more raw and candid her songs were, the more people seemed to be drawn in. So, she packed up and moved back to California to pursue writing more studiously. Hilarity and devastation continue to ensue, and so in turn does she.
read more
There is no cover and no drink minimum. Arrive early receive a free raffle ticket to win the evening’s secret Speakeasy prize.
Performer bios:
Writer/historian Mark Abramson has lived in San Francisco so long he might as well be a native. He is the author of the “Beach Reading” mystery series, set in the Castro district, as well as the non-fiction books “For My Brothers,” the two-volume “Sex, Drugs & Disco – San Francisco Diaries from the Pre-AIDS Era,” “Minnesota Boy,” and “Farm Boy – a Memoir with Recipes.” He is currently at work on a new memoir about gay life at the Russian River from 1976 – 1984 called “River Days, River Nights.”
Michael Tod Edgerton is the author of the poetry collection Vitreous Hide from Lavender Ink press. His poems have appeared previously as the winner of the Boston Review and Five Fingers Review contests, and in Coconut, Denver Quarterly, Drunken Boat, EOAGH, Interim, New American Writing, New Orleans Review, Posit, and Sonora Review, among other journals. He holds an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and a PhD in English from the University of Georgia. He currently lives with his husband in San Francisco and teaches academic and creative writing at San José State University.
Heather June Gibbons was born in Utah and grew up on an island in Washington. She is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir, winner of the 2017 Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press) and two chapbooks, Sore Songs (Dancing Girl Press), and Flyover (Q Avenue Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Best New Poets, Blackbird, Boston Review, Drunken Boat, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, jubilat, New American Writing, and West Branch. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has been the recipient of a Full Fellowship Residency from the Vermont Studio Center, the Pavel Strut Poetry Fellowship from the Prague Summer Program, and the Harold Taylor Prize from the Academy of American Poets. She lives in San Francisco, CA and teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University, the Writing Salon, and as a Teaching Artist for Performing Arts Workshop, a youth arts education non-profit.
Nazelah Jamison is a performance poet, actor, vocalist, and emcee. She is an East Coast transplant, former organizer of the Oakland Poetry Slam and sometimes reluctant superhero. Her first book of poetry, Evolutionary Heart, was released in Fall of 2016 on Nomadic Press.
Zoe Young is a writer living in San Francisco. She has an Mfa from California college of the arts and currently writes full time for the nature conservancy in California. You can find her work in McSweeneys Quarterly, issue 53, and on multiple bathroom walls.
Emily Zisman is an unapologetic storyteller of the contemporary woman’s experience. She uses unabashed honesty and humor to punctuate the complexity of the entire escapade. Emily found her way to songwriting as an outlet for her struggles when she was studying to be an actress in New York City. Over time, she realized that songwriting and sharing her personal stories connected her more closely to her community than her attempts to be an actress. The more raw and candid her songs were, the more people seemed to be drawn in. So, she packed up and moved back to California to pursue writing more studiously. Hilarity and devastation continue to ensue, and so in turn does she.
show less
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