Word Week is Noe Valley’s annual literary festival. This is our 11th year! Events have been set for March 19-26, 2017 all across Noe Valley. A run down of events is detailed below. All events are FREE!
Friends of Noe Valley would like to thank Martha & Bros. Coffee Company, the OFFICIAL sponsor of Word Week.
TALE SPIN: Poetry, Songs, Storytelling, and Open Mic
Sunday, March 19, 7pm-8:30pm
Charlie’s Corner, 24th St. at Castro St.
In Tale Spin, four women performers experiment with words through improvisation, gesture, text, melody, and story. They surf through the day-to-day of these tsunami times with poetic collaborations, songs, and stories. They attempt to untwist and untangle language weaving in and out of the personal and the political, engaging the audience with their fierce honesty and delightful artistry. They offer prayers, love, and humor, as they nurture our collective resilience to garner our humanity back. Susan Dambroff is a poet, performer, and teacher. Elizabeth Summers is a playwright, actor, teacher and a founding member of the Brava Theatre Center. Chris Kammler is a writer, director, performer, and drama therapist working in a psychiatric hospital. Kimi Sugioka is a poet, songwriter and educator. A free Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
A Jane Austen Celebration
Monday, March 20, 7pm-8:30pm
Umpqua Bank, 3938 24th St.
Jane Austen lived and wrote 200 years ago, but her books are still avidly read and her plain life studied today. What is it about her novels and Jane herself that continue to fascinate readers? Danine Cozzens, co-chair of the Jane Austen Society, Northern California Region, will speak to this point at Word Week’s A Celebration of Jane Austen. In addition, four local authors will read from some of Jane’s finished work. New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Cara Black and Mary McNear will read from Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, poet and novelist Marylee McNeal from Mansfield Park, and short story author Richard May from Persuasion. Jane Austen inspired door prizes will be awarded, and Netherfield punch will be served. A free Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Cleve Jones in Conversation With Wayne Goodman
Tuesday, March 21, 7pm-8pm
Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
Noted LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones will discuss his memoir When We Rise and his life in “The Movement” (as he calls it) with local author and event host Wayne Goodman. This will be Jones’s first public appearance following the broadcast of the television mini-series based, in part, on his work. Jones co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and conceived the idea of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. He worked with slain Supervisor Harvey Milk and was an aide to Mayor Art Agnos when he was in the California State Assembly. Books will be available for purchase and signing. A free Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Double Vision: Immigrant Writers on Embodying Two Cultures at Once
Wednesday, March 22, 7pm-8pm
Noe Valley Library, 451 Jersey St.
How do immigrant writers navigate multiple cultural and geographical perspectives? In this reading and panel discussion, Kirstin Chen, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Andrew Lam, and Juliana Delgado Lopera will share how they encapsulate two—or more—sometimes radically different cultural identities in their work and the complications and opportunities that arise when those identities intermingle on the page. Moderated and co-hosted by Kirstin Chen. Copies of the authors’ books will be available for sale and signing. Free refreshments! This event is in the Library Meeting Room on the ground floor of the Noe Valley Library. A free Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Summer of Love
Thursday, March 23, 7pm-8pm
Cliché Noe Gifts + Home, 4175 24th St.
50 years ago, young men and women put flowers in their hair and headed to San Francisco for the Summer of Love. San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury (Arcadia Press) by local author Katherine Powell Cohen, Ph.D., chronicles this and other events in the history of San Francisco’s grooviest neighborhood. Cohen compiled vintage images and stories from individual sources, public collections, and from interviews she has conducted as a columnist for the Haight Ashbury Beat newspaper. The author will appear at our event and read from and discuss her book. A book signing follows. Free admission and free refreshments. A Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Katherine Powell Cohen, Ph.D., is an English professor at San Francisco State and Golden Gate Universities and has lived in the Haight-Ashbury for over 20 years. She is the author of several other books on local history.
Night of the Graphic Novelists
Friday, March 24, 6pm-7pm
Folio Books, 3957 24th St.
For all you graphic novel fans, Noe Valley Word Week and Folio Books are sponsoring an amazing panel of ultra-talented, nationally-famous graphic novelists. Imagine having Paige Braddock author-illustrator of the Stinky Cecil series, together with Beowolf series author-illustrator Alexis Fajardo and Judd Winick, author-illustrator of the Hilo series. So much talent in the same room! Join us as they share insight as to what inspires their characters and storylines. It will be an action-packed presentation, with plenty of time for you to ask your favorite novelist some questions. A book signing will follow. Free admission and free refreshments. A Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
High Spirits: The Legacy Bars of San Francisco
Friday, March 24, 7pm-8pm
The Peaks Bar, 1316 Castro St.
J. K. Dineen is the author of High Spirits: The Legacy Bars of San Francisco. The book leads readers on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood pub crawl in search of the city’s most remarkable nightspots. Atmospheric photographs accompany descriptions of each bar’s colorful history, unique architectural features, idiosyncratic owners, and quirky clientele. J. K. is a guy who can tell a great story. Drop by The Peaks Bar for a drink with J.K. and hear a few of them! Maxine Einhorn will talk with J. K. about his book and his fave bars in different San Francisco neighborhoods.
Dineen is also a metro reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, writing about real estate development, the waterfront, housing, neighborhoods, and planning. He lives in San Francisco with his family. Free admission. A Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Noe Valley Authors Festival
Saturday, March 25, 2pm-5pm
Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez St.
The third Noe Valley Authors Festival includes an author exhibit hall and book readings throughout the afternoon. Meet local authors and discuss their books with them. All genres and all ages. Some of the authors who have confirmed they will be on hand include David Hathwell, Erika Atkinson, Warren Rothman, Marylee McNeal, Laurie Barkin, Ann Miller, Michael Aleynikov, Ramon Sender, Judith Levy-Sender, Wayne Goodman, Michael Helquist, Bill McBride, Eveline Kanes, and Keven Bellows. Admission to all events is free. A Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Story Time Crawl
Sunday, March 26, 1pm-3pm
All along 24th Street
Ready for an adventure? Then, join the Story Time Crawl for a treasure hunt through downtown Noe Valley. Start by picking up your secret treasure map at any of the Story Time locations, follow the map to various themed story times, and collect a sticker at each stop. Surprises await! Story times run in 15-minute loops with 10-minute intermissions so you can see them all. Free admission to all readings. A Word Week 2017 event. Read more on our Facebook page.
Participants include:
Folio Books, 3957 24th Street
Meet the Author/Illustrator: Jim Averbeck, One Word From Sophia
Small Fry’s, 4066 24th Street
Noe Valley Neighborhood: Shops & Stories. Explore the people and places that make Noe Valley unique. A special surprise awaits the first ten guests.
Charlie’s Corner, 4102 24th Street
Spanish Fiesta: Stories & Snacks
Cliché Noe, 4175 24th Street
Call of the Wild: Nature & Animals
Emma Bland Smith, Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West
The Rabbit Hole, 800 Diamond Street
Curtain Call: Theatrical Stories
Reading A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker and Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, with costumes, face painting, crafts, and theater games.