Word Week is Noe Valley’s literary festival, produced annually by Friends of Noe Valley, the neighborhood association. 2016 is the 10th year for Word Week. This year, Word Week offers nine events over seven days, Sunday, March 20 through Saturday, March 26. Friends of Noe Valley would like to acknowledge and thank Martha & Bros. Coffee Company as the official sponsor for Word Week.
2016 schedule of events with detailed descriptions below.
Sunday, March 20
Word Wit comedy night – 7 pm at Caskhouse, 3853 24th St.
Monday, March 21
Word Week at Odd Mondays, with Dr. Brandon R. Brown, Noe Valley resident, author and physics professor at the University of San Francisco – 7pm at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
Tuesday, March 22
Women in Their Own Write, with Burnita Bluitt, Janis Cooke Newman, and Ruth Galm – 7 pm at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
Wednesday, March 23
- Stories, Stickers, and Scribbles, interactive storytime for kids with Author-illustrator Corey M.P – 10am at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
- In Translation, a cooperative venture with the Goethe-Institut San Francisco featuring German author Christopher Kloeble – 5:30pm at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
- Noir at the Bar, fiction in the noir style with Cara Black, Alejandro Murguia, Kelli Stanley, Domenic Stansberry and Lia Volz – 7pm at The Peaks bar, 1316 Castro St.
Thursday, March 24
How to Get Your Book Published, a literary agent, a publisher and three authors give tips on getting your book published – 7pm at Umpqua Bank, 3938 24th St.
Friday, March 25
Queer Words: LGBT Authors, prize winning writers Wilfredo Pascual, Anne Raeff and Roberto F. Santiago read from their work – 7pm at Cliché Noe Gifts + Home, 4175 24th St.
Saturday, March 26
Does Your Cat Love You? with Dr. Tony Buffington- 4pm at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
The Details
Word Wit comedy night is set for Sunday, March 20, 7 p.m. at Caskhouse, 3853 24th St. Comedians Nicole Calasich, Mike Capozzola, Joe Nguyen, and Liz Stone appear frequently at Punchline, Cobb’s and other comedy clubs in the Bay Area. Calasich, Capozzola, and Stone all live in Noe Valley. As a result, organizer Wayne Goodman promises, “There’ll be plenty of jokes and funny stories about life in Stroller Valley.” Calasich describes her comedy as “big words smartcool.” Capozzola and Stone both moonlight at other jobs, Capozzola as a cartoonist and actor, Stone as an attorney. She claims she does standup to show off her shoe collection. There is no cover charge for Word Wit.
Odd Mondays, the long-running reading series organized by Noe Valley’s Judy Levy-Sender and Ramon Sender, is always part of the festival. This year, Judy and Ramon present Dr. Brandon R. Brown, Noe Valley resident, physics professor at the University of San Francisco, and the author of Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War. German physicist Max Planck’s discoveries in energy quanta paved the way for Albert Einstein’s quantum theory and modern quantum physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1918. Planck objected to Nazi policies, and one of his sons was killed in an assassination attempt against Hitler. Word Week at Odd Mondays is March 21, 7 p.m. at Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
Women in Their Own Write is the Tuesday Word Week event, March 22, 7 p.m. at Folio Books. Burnita Bluitt, Janis Cooke Newman, and Ruth Galm will read from their work and discuss why and how they write. Bluitt’s romantic suspense novel Quiver of the Pure Heart starts in 1948 San Francisco. Its subject is gentrification and urban displacement, specifically redevelopment of the Fillmore District. Newman’s novel A Master Plan for Rescue is set in 1942 New York and Berlin and was a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2015. Into the Valley by Noe resident Galm opens in July 1967 when the character B. decides to pass her first counterfeit check and flee San Francisco for the Central Valley. Booklist, in its starred review, says that Into the Valley “is a natural for anyone who loves Joan Didion’s work.”
Wednesday is Word Week’s busiest day. First up, at 10 a.m., is Word Week’s children’s event, Stories, Stickers, and Scribbles, at Folio Books. Author-illustrator Corey M.P. from Noe Valley will do an interactive storytime with two of her picture books, Mr. Dinosaur Is Hiding and Green Bird Loves to Count. Both books are half picture book, half coloring book. Kids attending get stickers of Mr. Dinosaur and Green Bird, coloring sheets, and crayons to use at the store.
From 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., also at Folio Books, is In Translation, a cooperative venture of the Goethe-Institut San Francisco and the bookstore. German author Christopher Kloeble will read from the English translation of his second novel, Almost Everything Very Fast (in German, Meistens alles sehr schnell), translated by Aaron Kerner.
The big finish to Wednesday is Noir at the Bar, fiction in the noir style, at The Peaks bar, 1316 Castro St., at 7 p.m. Come have a 1940’s cocktail and listen to five writers read from the seamy side of life. $1 off drinks for everyone wearing 1940’s attire! Readers include Cara Black, Noe author of the bestselling Aimee Leduc mysteries set in Paris; Alejandro Murguia, San Francisco’s Poet Laureate and author of the noir short story The Other Barrio and many books; Kelli Stanley, Macavity Award winning creator of the Miranda Corbie noir novels set in 1940s San Francisco; Domenic Stansberry, award-winning author of the North Beach Mystery Series crime novels; and Lia Volz, who has just finished her first novel. Books will be available at The Peaks for purchase and signing, thanks to Folio Books.
Thursday, Word Week brings back one of its most popular programs, How to Get Your Book Published. Publishing insiders Christine Carswell, publisher, Chronicle Books and Andy Ross, literary agent, will give you tips on making it more likely your book will be seen and considered, and the three authors on the panel will tell you how they got published. Scott Hutchins, author of A Working Theory of Love, published his first novel with Penguin Press, one of the world’s largest publishers. Genanne Walsh just published her first novel Twister with small publisher Black Lawrence Press. Wayne Goodman has three self-published novels to his credit, including the recent The Seed of Immortality. Hear them all Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m. at Umpqua Bank, 3938 24th St. Books by all three authors will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be served.
Three award-winning authors read Friday, March 25, 7 p.m. at Cliché Noe Gifts + Home, 4175 24th St. during Queer Words: LGBT Authors. Wilfredo Pascual’s essays won the 2015 Curt Johnson Prize for creative nonfiction, Anne Raeff’s short story collection The Jungle Around Us won the 2015 Flannery O’Connor Award (to be published this fall), and Roberto F. Santiago won the Alfred C. Carey Poetry Prize. Pascual will read from an essay collection in progress, Raeff from her forthcoming short story collection, and Santiago from his debut book of poetry, Angel Park. Prosecco, prosciutto, and Italian cheeses will be served and door prizes awarded.
Dr. Tony Buffington appears at Folio Books to discuss Does Your Cat Love You? on Saturday, March 26, 4 p.m., the final 2016 Word Week event. The Animal Company will supply treats for pets and humans. Dr. Buffington’s new online book, Cat Mastery, presents the latest research on who cats are, what the world looks like to them, and things their humans can do to help them thrive indoors.
All Word Week events are FREE and open to the public. If you’d like to participate in Word Week 2017, contact the organizers at wordweeknoevalley@gmail.com. Work begins in September.