Literary Speakeasy is celebrating 8 years of authors, poets, musicians, and martinis! Come join the party with featured performers Brennan DeFrisco, Tracey Knapp, antmen pimentel Mendoza, Rebecca Nie, and musical guest Matt Jaffe. Your host and curator each and every month is James J. Siegel.
Literary Speakeasy is always FREE with NO drink minimum. Arrive early for a FREE raffle ticket for a chance to win some fabulous prizes! Come on out and raise a glass with us!
Performer bios:
Brennan DeFrisco is a poet, teaching artist, editor, voice actor, & arts coordinator from the San Francisco Bay Area. He's been a National Poetry Slam finalist, a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2017 Grand Slam Champion of the Oakland Poetry Slam, & program coordinator for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. He's the author of A Heart With No Scars (Nomadic Press, 2015), Honeysuckle & Nightshade (Swimming with Elephants Publications, 2023), & has served as poetry editor on the masthead of Lunch Ticket.
After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked back. Since then, Matt has cowritten with Chuck Prophet and Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, crisscrossed the country opening for Blues Traveler and Alejandro Escovedo, and recorded half a dozen albums alongside luminaries of the Bay Area music scene. Matt has just released his sixth album, White Roses in the Snow, and is in the process of finishing its follow-up for release in 2023.
Tracey Knapp's first full-length collection of poems, Mouth, won the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award and was published in 2015. Her work has been anthologized in Best New Poets, The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems, and has appeared in Poetry Daily, Rattle, Five Points, On the Seawall and elsewhere. She is thinking about her second book.
antmen pimentel mendoza (she, he) is the author of the chapbook MY BOYFRIEND APOCALYPSE (Nomadic Press, 2023). antmen is a writer, the Acting Co-Director of the Multicultural Community Center at UC Berkeley, and a student at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. His poetry is published or forthcoming in Underblong, Peach Mag, A Velvet Giant, and Split Lip Magazine. Find antmen online at @antmenismagic and antmenpm.com or riding her bike in Oakland, CA.
Rebecca Nie is a Chinese American Zen master, scholar, and award-winning algorithm and new media artist. Rebecca Nie now serves as the Buddhist Chaplain-Affiliate at Stanford University. Chinese literature and cultural heritage are some of Nie's lifelong passions. She started writing Chinese poetry at the age of nine, studied the Song of Chu at ten, and by fifteen years old, she had memorized key passages from the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi. Nie frequently published her prose and poetry in Chinese literary journals and was an assistant editor of Shenzhen Yucai Education Group's Literary Extension Textbook Series.
James J. Siegel is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the poetry collections "The God of San Francisco" (Sibling Rivalry Press) and "How Ghosts Travel," which was a finalist for an Ohioana Library Award. He is also the host and curator of the monthly Literary Speakeasy show at Martuni's piano bar in San Francisco. His poems have been featured in the Cortland Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, HIV Here & Now, Foglifter, and many more.
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Literary Speakeasy is always FREE with NO drink minimum. Arrive early for a FREE raffle ticket for a chance to win some fabulous prizes! Come on out and raise a glass with us!
Performer bios:
Brennan DeFrisco is a poet, teaching artist, editor, voice actor, & arts coordinator from the San Francisco Bay Area. He's been a National Poetry Slam finalist, a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2017 Grand Slam Champion of the Oakland Poetry Slam, & program coordinator for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. He's the author of A Heart With No Scars (Nomadic Press, 2015), Honeysuckle & Nightshade (Swimming with Elephants Publications, 2023), & has served as poetry editor on the masthead of Lunch Ticket.
After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked back. Since then, Matt has cowritten with Chuck Prophet and Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, crisscrossed the country opening for Blues Traveler and Alejandro Escovedo, and recorded half a dozen albums alongside luminaries of the Bay Area music scene. Matt has just released his sixth album, White Roses in the Snow, and is in the process of finishing its follow-up for release in 2023.
Tracey Knapp's first full-length collection of poems, Mouth, won the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award and was published in 2015. Her work has been anthologized in Best New Poets, The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems, and has appeared in Poetry Daily, Rattle, Five Points, On the Seawall and elsewhere. She is thinking about her second book.
antmen pimentel mendoza (she, he) is the author of the chapbook MY BOYFRIEND APOCALYPSE (Nomadic Press, 2023). antmen is a writer, the Acting Co-Director of the Multicultural Community Center at UC Berkeley, and a student at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. His poetry is published or forthcoming in Underblong, Peach Mag, A Velvet Giant, and Split Lip Magazine. Find antmen online at @antmenismagic and antmenpm.com or riding her bike in Oakland, CA.
Rebecca Nie is a Chinese American Zen master, scholar, and award-winning algorithm and new media artist. Rebecca Nie now serves as the Buddhist Chaplain-Affiliate at Stanford University. Chinese literature and cultural heritage are some of Nie's lifelong passions. She started writing Chinese poetry at the age of nine, studied the Song of Chu at ten, and by fifteen years old, she had memorized key passages from the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi. Nie frequently published her prose and poetry in Chinese literary journals and was an assistant editor of Shenzhen Yucai Education Group's Literary Extension Textbook Series.
James J. Siegel is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the poetry collections "The God of San Francisco" (Sibling Rivalry Press) and "How Ghosts Travel," which was a finalist for an Ohioana Library Award. He is also the host and curator of the monthly Literary Speakeasy show at Martuni's piano bar in San Francisco. His poems have been featured in the Cortland Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, HIV Here & Now, Foglifter, and many more.
Literary Speakeasy is celebrating 8 years of authors, poets, musicians, and martinis! Come join the party with featured performers Brennan DeFrisco, Tracey Knapp, antmen pimentel Mendoza, Rebecca Nie, and musical guest Matt Jaffe. Your host and curator each and every month is James J. Siegel.
Literary Speakeasy is always FREE with NO drink minimum. Arrive early for a FREE raffle ticket for a chance to win some fabulous prizes! Come on out and raise a glass with us!
Performer bios:
Brennan DeFrisco is a poet, teaching artist, editor, voice actor, & arts coordinator from the San Francisco Bay Area. He's been a National Poetry Slam finalist, a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2017 Grand Slam Champion of the Oakland Poetry Slam, & program coordinator for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. He's the author of A Heart With No Scars (Nomadic Press, 2015), Honeysuckle & Nightshade (Swimming with Elephants Publications, 2023), & has served as poetry editor on the masthead of Lunch Ticket.
After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked back. Since then, Matt has cowritten with Chuck Prophet and Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, crisscrossed the country opening for Blues Traveler and Alejandro Escovedo, and recorded half a dozen albums alongside luminaries of the Bay Area music scene. Matt has just released his sixth album, White Roses in the Snow, and is in the process of finishing its follow-up for release in 2023.
Tracey Knapp's first full-length collection of poems, Mouth, won the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award and was published in 2015. Her work has been anthologized in Best New Poets, The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems, and has appeared in Poetry Daily, Rattle, Five Points, On the Seawall and elsewhere. She is thinking about her second book.
antmen pimentel mendoza (she, he) is the author of the chapbook MY BOYFRIEND APOCALYPSE (Nomadic Press, 2023). antmen is a writer, the Acting Co-Director of the Multicultural Community Center at UC Berkeley, and a student at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. His poetry is published or forthcoming in Underblong, Peach Mag, A Velvet Giant, and Split Lip Magazine. Find antmen online at @antmenismagic and antmenpm.com or riding her bike in Oakland, CA.
Rebecca Nie is a Chinese American Zen master, scholar, and award-winning algorithm and new media artist. Rebecca Nie now serves as the Buddhist Chaplain-Affiliate at Stanford University. Chinese literature and cultural heritage are some of Nie's lifelong passions. She started writing Chinese poetry at the age of nine, studied the Song of Chu at ten, and by fifteen years old, she had memorized key passages from the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi. Nie frequently published her prose and poetry in Chinese literary journals and was an assistant editor of Shenzhen Yucai Education Group's Literary Extension Textbook Series.
James J. Siegel is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the poetry collections "The God of San Francisco" (Sibling Rivalry Press) and "How Ghosts Travel," which was a finalist for an Ohioana Library Award. He is also the host and curator of the monthly Literary Speakeasy show at Martuni's piano bar in San Francisco. His poems have been featured in the Cortland Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, HIV Here & Now, Foglifter, and many more.
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Literary Speakeasy is always FREE with NO drink minimum. Arrive early for a FREE raffle ticket for a chance to win some fabulous prizes! Come on out and raise a glass with us!
Performer bios:
Brennan DeFrisco is a poet, teaching artist, editor, voice actor, & arts coordinator from the San Francisco Bay Area. He's been a National Poetry Slam finalist, a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2017 Grand Slam Champion of the Oakland Poetry Slam, & program coordinator for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. He's the author of A Heart With No Scars (Nomadic Press, 2015), Honeysuckle & Nightshade (Swimming with Elephants Publications, 2023), & has served as poetry editor on the masthead of Lunch Ticket.
After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked back. Since then, Matt has cowritten with Chuck Prophet and Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, crisscrossed the country opening for Blues Traveler and Alejandro Escovedo, and recorded half a dozen albums alongside luminaries of the Bay Area music scene. Matt has just released his sixth album, White Roses in the Snow, and is in the process of finishing its follow-up for release in 2023.
Tracey Knapp's first full-length collection of poems, Mouth, won the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award and was published in 2015. Her work has been anthologized in Best New Poets, The Cento: A Collection of Collage Poems, and has appeared in Poetry Daily, Rattle, Five Points, On the Seawall and elsewhere. She is thinking about her second book.
antmen pimentel mendoza (she, he) is the author of the chapbook MY BOYFRIEND APOCALYPSE (Nomadic Press, 2023). antmen is a writer, the Acting Co-Director of the Multicultural Community Center at UC Berkeley, and a student at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. His poetry is published or forthcoming in Underblong, Peach Mag, A Velvet Giant, and Split Lip Magazine. Find antmen online at @antmenismagic and antmenpm.com or riding her bike in Oakland, CA.
Rebecca Nie is a Chinese American Zen master, scholar, and award-winning algorithm and new media artist. Rebecca Nie now serves as the Buddhist Chaplain-Affiliate at Stanford University. Chinese literature and cultural heritage are some of Nie's lifelong passions. She started writing Chinese poetry at the age of nine, studied the Song of Chu at ten, and by fifteen years old, she had memorized key passages from the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi. Nie frequently published her prose and poetry in Chinese literary journals and was an assistant editor of Shenzhen Yucai Education Group's Literary Extension Textbook Series.
James J. Siegel is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the poetry collections "The God of San Francisco" (Sibling Rivalry Press) and "How Ghosts Travel," which was a finalist for an Ohioana Library Award. He is also the host and curator of the monthly Literary Speakeasy show at Martuni's piano bar in San Francisco. His poems have been featured in the Cortland Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, HIV Here & Now, Foglifter, and many more.
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4 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
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