Featured Events in San Francisco in October, 2024 (Continuously Updated)

Sponsored by Alta Journal In its four years of existence, Alta Journal’s California Book Club has celebrated some of the West’s most important literary voices. Join Alta, Litquake, and California Book Club host John Freeman as we welcome past CBC guests Jaime Cortez, Andrew Sean Greer, and Maxine Hong Kingston for a close reading of the new California canon and a celebration of the authors capturing the spirit of the West. Ticket includes the latest issue of Alta Journal. Doors at 7:00pm. $17 adv / $20 door Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Two teams of award-winning poets, including Armen Davoudian, Luiza Flynn-Goodlett,Cindy Ok, Joseph Rios, Mimi Tempestt, and Dashaun Washington, take turns batting at topics pitched to them by the audience. Fastballs, curveballs, knuckleballs: these poets won’t know what’s coming next! Hilarity and brilliance both guaranteed. Daniel Handler returns as emcee, and eminently qualified umpires Andrew Sean Greer and Brynn Saito will score each batter’s reading. The winning team takes the series title. Don’t forget to bring a topic to stump the poets with! Book sales/signing follow the reading. Doors at 6:30PM. $17 adv / $20 door Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Sponsored by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Join RAWdance & Litquake’s Elder Project for a unique, collaborative blend of storytelling, dance, and dialogue. Featuring the personal narratives of former Catskills vacationers, including Elder Project’s 98-year-old Irene Zahler, brought to life by 826 Valencia, and excerpts from RAWdance's evocative dance performance Escape,” inspired by the history of culturally-specific summer havens. Q&A to follow with the artists and storytellers, exploring the themes of memory, culture, and belonging. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Sponsored by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Darius Simpson presents María Esqinca, Meilani Clay, and Kevin Madrigal Galindo—local poets who’ve made explicit political commitments to creating a better world outside of electoral structures with work that incites action, inspiration, curiosity, and the creativity needed for transforming reality. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Sponsored by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Finding Home follows the journeys of authors who have fought for their sense of belonging, safety, and nourishment by overcoming adversity, reframing their identity, and building community. These poets will be sharing pieces that celebrate the full breadth of the human experience and what home means to them. Rhea Joseph presents Lorrie Chang, Papi Grande, Serena Chan, and Denise Masiel. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Sponsored by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Join a conversation among poets in the lineage of June Jordan's Poetry for the People who write and speak into liberation struggles from America to Palestine. Noor Brody presents Dina Omar, Tehmina Khan, and more. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Studying at the Royal College of Art places you at the heart of London: a city internationally renowned for its creativity, culture and diversity - the perfect place to develop your creative career in. What do prospective students need to know about living and studying in the UK? You’re invited to meet Dr Kamini Vellodi in San Francisco for an in-person conversation about studying at the RCA. What to expectMonday 21 October 2024, 5.30-8.30pm 5.30pm - Guest arrivals and refreshments 6.00pm - About the RCA presentation and Q&A 8.30pm - End We'd love you to join for all parts of the event but if you can only join for part of it, that's fine too. Who is this event forThose interested in postgraduate study at the Royal College of ArtCurrent RCA applicants and offer-holdersFriends and family are also welcome to join, though please ensure they have a ticketYou don't have to specialise in any discipline to attend this event: we welcome guests planning to apply to all subject areas. About the hostKamini Vellodi (Head of Painting MA programme) Dr Kamini Vellodi's work across teaching, research and leadership brings together a commitment to the interfaces of theory, history, and practice, to painting as a mode of thinking and to nurturing practice research cultures. Dr Kamini Vellodi joined the RCA in 2024 from Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, where she was Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Theory and History of Art, and Director of Research. An alumnus of the RCA Painting programme, she completed her PhD in Philosophy from the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, Middlesex University, in 2012. Kamini researches and publishes extensively in the fields of modern and contemporary European philosophy and critical theory, philosophies of art, theories and critical historiographies of art history, contemporary visual arts and theories of the image. Recent books include Tintoretto’s Difference. Deleuze, Diagrammatics and Art History (Bloomsbury, 2019), and Grey on Grey. At the Threshold of Philosophy and Art (Edinburgh University Press 2023), and she is Series Editor of Refractions. At the Borders of Art History and Philosophy (Edinburgh University Press). She has held senior academic roles and taught widely across departments of fine art practice, art history, visual culture and philosophy, nationally and internationally, and has been a visiting fellow/faculty at universities around the world including the University of California at Berkeley and Parsons School of Design. How to joinThe event is free to attend, but please note that places are limited. Pre-booking is essential to guarantee your spot. Other events at the RCAWe are continually adding to our diverse programme of events: conversations on key topics such as funding advice and portfolio development, symposia, exhibitions, open days and more. Many are free and open to the public. Information Source: Royal College of Art | eventbrite

Co-presented with City Lights Booksellers & Publishers Bay Area author Joshua Mohr taps the troubled vein of class warfare and gentrification in Oakland with his latest book Saint The Terrifying, an ambitious tale of love and retribution. An ex-con, Saint was raised in the wilds of Norway, where his father brought him up in the old traditions and taught him the way of the Viking. Now Saint finds himself immersed in the Oakland music scene and, off stage, hunting down criminals no one else cares to find. Saint’s role as hardboiled detective is informed by Mohr’s deft interweaving of recent history, including Oakland’s Ghost Ship warehouse fire—a tragedy that Mohr revisits in a bold act of reclamation. Join the author in conversation with Peter Maravelis of City Lights, followed by a performance from Mohr’s band, Slummy. Doors at 6:30PM. $12 adv/$15 door Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Join local author, National Book Award finalist and Sibert Medal winner Elizabeth Partridge at Books Inc. in the Marina to learn about her fabulous new picture book GOLDEN GATE; a thrilling look at the process of building San Francisco’s iconic landmark! The Golden Gate Bridge, beloved landmark and symbol of San Francisco, finally gets a gorgeous picture book that tells the thrilling story of how it was built! Across a treacherous strait where deep ocean waters rip back and forth with the tides, and during the depths of the Great Depression, daring teams of engineers and builders set out to make something many thought impossible. Begun in 1933 and officially opened on May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge and its awe-inspiring and groundbreaking construction are truly a testament to the power of hope and perseverance. Told from the point of view of the lighthouse keeper’s kids, who watch in fascination as the trucks and crews arrive and steel towers coated in heavy red paint begin to rise above the tempestuous water, Golden Gate shares a thrilling visual perspective on each stage of the breathtaking project. Young readers can look and learn as each turn of the page reveals dazzling, color-soaked artwork paired with text that blends factual details into the narrators’ keen observations. By the final spread, where fireworks explode in celebration over the mighty bridge, the tale is complete—not only of an astonishing feat of engineering but of the potential of human ingenuity to defy the odds and make the impossible possible. EXTRAORDINARY NONFICTION BOOK FOR KIDS: Painstaking research went into the writing and illustrating of this story, making it an outstanding resource for learning about an American engineering marvel. The author’s afterword summarizes key facts and offers a powerful reminder of why the Golden Gate is beloved around the world as one of the most beautiful and inspiring bridges ever built. AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Elizabeth Partridge is the acclaimed author of many books for young and young adult readers, including Seen and Unseen, Parks for the People, and Marching for Freedom, as well as biographies of Dorothea Lange, Woody Guthrie, and John Lennon. Her books have received multiple honors, including the Robert F. Sibert Medal, National Book Award finalist, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Michael L. Printz Honor, and the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. Elizabeth Partridgehas lived near the Golden Gate Bridge all her life. Driving or walking across the strong steel bridge, suspended between sky and water, always thrills her. The author of many books, Elizabeth is a National Book Award finalist and has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, ALA’s Printz Honor Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Sibert Medal. She lives in Berkeley with her three-generation family, two dogs, and the world’s shyest cat. For more information, please visit elizabethpartridge.com. Information Source: Books Inc. | eventbrite

Co-presented with Jewish Community Center San Francisco Bang Bang, Niner Gang! From award-winning SF Chronicle journalist Mike Silver comes the inside story of the brilliant, hypercompetitive young NFL coaches who threw out decades of received wisdom to fundamentally remake America’s most popular sport. When Kyle Shanahan became the NFL’s youngest offensive coordinator in 2008, he had one prevailing rule: Tell me the why. If a colleague couldn’t justify his position by providing the unassailable reasoning behind it, he was told to get the hell out of Shanahan’s office. Shanahan and the members of his coaching tree—Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, Raheem Morris, and Matt LaFleur—are now NFL stars and coaching revolutionaries. With The Why Is Everything, Silver draws on unmatched access across the league to take us into the key moments of how it all happened, and in the process gives us a timeless account of friendship, rivalry, and the never-ending pursuit of perfection. Silver will be in convo with 49ers legend Steven Young. Doors at 6:30PM. $17 adv (book bundle avail.) / $20 door Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Take a midweek pause, find stillness, and bask in the words of four phenomenal poets, whose verses will soar to the vaulted ceiling in magnificent Grace Cathedral. A. Van Jordan (When I Waked, I Cried to Dream Again), Dorianne Laux (Life on Earth), Ruben Quesada (Brutal Companion), and Alice Templeton (The Infinite Field) will read work from their latest collections, in one of Litquake’s most beloved annual events, curated by D.A. Powell and Preeti Vangani. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

🧡 If you love fonts and type design, this is the place for you! 🤓 Whether you want to nerd out about kerning or chat about non-design topics, join us to connect with font friends and meet new ones! 📖 We'll have some cool pieces from our collection on view just for you! 📣 We won’t feature any presentations, but will give space for short announcements, such as news and launches in the community, birthday toasts, or anything else that might interest others. 💸 The entry fee helps cover the cost of drinks and snacks, but if money is tight for you, don’t worry about it—nobody will be turned away at the door. Information Source: eventbrite

Co-presented with Generation Women We’re pleased to welcome the San Francisco return of Generation Women, a live multigenerational storytelling series. One woman or non-binary performer in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s+ will share an original true story on the theme of “Plot Twists,” ones they’ve written, encountered, wished for, or regretted. Founded by author Georgia Clark in New York City in 2017, the mission of Generation Women is to amplify underheard voices and create space for intergenerational connection and community. Featuring Eirinie Carson, Susan Kiyo Ito, Giovanna Lomanto, Jenny Pritchett, Rachel Levin. and Jane Smiley. Hosted by writer, editor, and curator Samantha Schoech. Doors at 7:00pm. $20 adv / $25 door Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Part of Litquake’s Words Around the World Co-presented with Villa Albertine and The Gardens of Golden Gate Park; Sponsored by Center for the Art of Translation/Two Lines Press Iconic French perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, known as the creative force and “nose” behind Les Jardins d'Hermès, joins writers (and botany enthusiasts) John McMurtrie and Jane Marchant in conversation. Like his book, Atlas of Perfumed Botany, this discussion is sure to trace the cartography of particular fragrances, examine historical connections, and contemplate cultural exchange. Scent connoisseurs won’t want to miss master perfumer Ellena for this intimate discussion as he looks back on his influential career and considers the innovative ways perfume can influence a better understanding of our natural environment, and positive outcomes for our ecological futures. FREE with SFBG admission Information Source: Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival | eventbrite

Opening Night Party + Art Auction presented by SCRAP and Ruth's Table Enjoy drinks, local bites, art activations, and a live DJ in Ruth's Table's beautiful courtyard while celebrating our art exhibition and auction, Ripple Effect! Ripple Effect SCRAP and Ruth’s Table will be joining forces again in a fundraising auction and exhibition event. This year, we will be celebrating teaching artists—a group of educators that is central to both SCRAP’s and Ruth’s Table’s mission in providing creative opportunities for communities of all ages, identities, cultural backgrounds, and abilities. Teaching artists are practicing artists who have dual careers as educators, providing a tangible link from the creative process to arts-based learning. In the arts education ecosystem, teaching artists are crucial to the success of creative students of all ages—including early education, elementary and high school, college and postgraduate studies, and older adult learners. Ripple Effect is a celebration of teaching artists from the Bay Area who maintain exciting and enriching studio practices while also serving their community by sharing their knowledge and passion for artmaking. Often unseen, teaching artists’ labor is at the center of creating the next generation of artists, art appreciators, designers, and critical thinkers. As an arts community and society at large, we benefit immensely from these efforts and their invisible yet potent ripple effects. Ripple Effect celebrates the work that these teachers create inside their studios and offers us another way to connect with our teaching artist community. Support Us as Our VIP from 4-5 pm Enjoy a VIP pre-party hour including champagne toast, first contributions to our art activations, and a gift bag from SCRAP and Ruth's Table. Become a Sponsor! Sign up for logo recognition by giving level in our printed program, with priority recognition for $5,000+ sponsors. All levels include access to our VIP pre-party with Bay Area artists, and all funds support our environmental arts education programs in San Francisco! NEIGHBORHOOD HERO - $20,000 (only one!) - Priority logo recognition in program and signage; Co-branding of 2+ month show as “presented by you”; 10 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party; 3 private workshops for employees. SF CHAMPION - $10,000 (only two!) - Priority logo recognition in program and signage; Co-branding Opening Night as “presented by you”; 10 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party; 2 private workshops for employees. ARTS ED CRUSADER - $7500 - Priority logo recognition in program and signage. 8 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party; 2 private workshops for employees. LOCAL LEADER - $5,000 - Priority logo recognition in program and signage; 8 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party; 1 private workshop for employees. COMMUNITY PARTNER - $2,500 - Logo recognition in program and signage; 8 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party. ARTS ADVOCATE - $1,000 - Logo recognition in program and signage; 4 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party. ECOFRIEND - $500 - Logo recognition in program and signage; 2 tickets to Opening Night and VIP pre-party. About SCRAP and Ruth’s Table SCRAP and Ruth’s Table are community-based art organizations dedicated to using community art education to build a more connected and inclusive community for participants of all ages. This collaboration pays homage to the roots of both organizations which were profoundly shaped by Ruth Asawa’s values and are committed to continuing her vision to make art education accessible for all. Information Source: SCRAP | eventbrite

We are so excited to be hosting our MEGA social with special guest from RENO: Monique and the Reno Empire . It's Halloween weekend so get those costumes ready (costumes highly suggested NOT Required) . Also Celebrating 12 years of Inessence Dance Co. 3 huge rooms for social dancing, 3 classes, dance performances, costume contest, Halloween decor Theme /what to wear: Costumes highly suggested NOT Required. There will be a $300 cash prize for best costume. Location:SPACE 550(no ins & outs) ...Plenty of street parking. 21+ We will be decking out Space 550 and making it spooooky Location:550 Barneveld. San Francisco Main Room : Bachata Room DJ Ron D J Encanto Room 2 : Salsa Room-Hosted by SBK CONGRESS DJ TBD Room 3: TBD Classes: 7 :50pm Doors open 8pm Beginner Salsa Class Alyshia & Jorge 9pm Beginner Bachata Class (main room) w/ Bryon & Samm 9pm Class TBD Social 10pm-2amPerformances: Inessence Golden Muses Special Guest Dancers: Monique & the Reno Empire Pricing: $20 early bird 1 -ends Sept 18 at 11:59pm $25 early bird 2- ends October 10th at 11:59pm $30 early bird 3-ends October 25th at 11:59pm $40 at the door-CASH & Venmo only Videographer: More info : @inessencedanceco www.inessencedance.com Information Source: Sammantha Arias and Bryon Stroud | eventbrite

Join Roz and her friends for a live stage version of the hit Exactly Right Media podcast Ghosted! by Roz Hernandez at the reportedly HAUNTED Eclectic Box Theater! There will be some of Roz's signature research, laughs, EVPS, and of course a haunted doll! And stick around after to take a photo with Roz! Need more convincing? Here is a recording of a recent live Ghosted! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ghosted-by-roz-drezfalez/id1450864418?i=1000650330631 Information Source: eventbrite

IIDA San Francisco City Center is excited to host a new signature event this year, Design After Dark. In place of Scene Local & last year’s Future So Bright event, Design After Dark will be a night to let loose, get creative with costumes, and enjoy some after-hours indulgence amongst peers! We hope that this will become an annual event that we can offer each year to celebrate and connect our design community while raising funds in support of our philanthropic partner. The event will feature a variety of surprise entertainment to be announced soon - let's do the time warp and dance the night away! Information Source: IIDA Northern California Chapter | eventbrite

✨FREE IN-PERSON MOVIE NIGHT ✨ 🎬 Have a good time enjoying a thrilling movie, while improving your French! All movies will be screened in French 🇫🇷 with English subtitles 🇺🇸. Synopsis: Noémie, an experienced screenwriter, reunites with Vincent, her first childhood love, at the film school where he is now the director. In an extraordinary masterclass, where the intimate rubs shoulders with the universal and reality flirts with fiction, Noémie teaches Vincent and his students that the art of screenwriting is the art of living passionately. Director: Frédéric Sojcher Main cast: Agnès Jaoui, Jonathan Zaccaï, Géraldine Nakache 📍 Where? Alliance Française de San Francisco, 1345 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 👨‍👩‍👧 Who? All levels are welcome! Plus on est de fous, plus on rit! 💵 How much? This is a free event. However, if you have the possibility, we invite you to make a 5$ donation at the entrance! PHOTO RELEASE: By attending this event, I hereby grant ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE SAN FRANCISCO permission to use my likeness in photograph(s) in any publications or publicity materials (including but not limited to books, newsletters, videos and Web use), in perpetuity. I will make no monetary or other claim against ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE SAN FRANCISCO for the use of the photograph(s). E-mail louise@afsf.com for any questions. Information Source: Alliance Française de San Francisco | eventbrite