Booksmith and The Bindery are very pleased to partner with the Headlands Center for the Arts to present an evening of readings by Ari Banias, Vincent Chu, Tomas Moniz, Shelley Wong & Hazel White, curated by Emily Wolahan (AFF '16–'19).

This event is free and all ages, but RSVP is required. Event link will be sent to all who register.

Ari Banias is a poet, and the author of Anybody (W.W. Norton, 2016) and the forthcoming A Symmetry (W. W. Norton, 2021). His recent poems appear or are forthcoming in bæst, Hyperallergic, Kenyon Review, The Nation, and The New Republic. Ari lives in Oakland.

Tomas Moniz’s debut novel, Big Familia, was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway, the LAMBDA, and the Foreward Indies Awards. He edited the popular Rad Dad and Rad Families anthologies. He’s the recipient of the prestigious SF Literary Arts Foundation’s 2016 Award and the 2020 Artist Affiliate for Headlands Center for Arts. Among the residencies he's attended, the 2016 Can Serrat Residency, the 2017 Caldera Residency, the 2018 SPACE on Ryder Farm and others. He teaches creative writing at Berkeley City College, Ariel Gore’s Literary Kitchen, and the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. He has stuff on the internet but loves penpals: PO Box 3555, Berkeley CA 94703. He promises to write back.

Shelley Wong is the author of As She Appears (YesYes Books, 2022), winner of the 2019 Pamet River Prize, and the chapbook RARE BIRDS (Diode Editions). She has received a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from MacDowell, Kundiman, and Vermont Studio Center. 

Hazel White Hazel White is the author of Vigilance Is No Orchard (Nightboat 2018), which was a finalist for the National Poetry Series, Fence Ottoline Prize, and California Book Award. She was one of the winners of a 1-minute monologue competition, in Tony Labat's public art project at SFMOMA. Her monologue was titled I Want You to End Racism. She’s writing now about violence. 

Vincent Chu is a Bay Area writer and author of the debut story collection Like a Champion (7.13 Books). His fiction has appeared in STILL Magazine, Fjords Review, Pithead Chapel, PANK Magazine and elsewhere. He is a Headlands Center for the Arts Affiliate Artist, Hambidge Center Fellow and member of The Writers Grotto. Vincent lives in San Francisco and can be found online at @herrchu.

Headlands Center for the Arts is a multidisciplinary, international arts center occupying a cluster of artist-rehabilitated military buildings at historic Fort Barry in the Marin Headlands, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Headlands provides an unparalleled environment in support of the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. Through a range of programs for artists and the public, we offer opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange that build understanding and appreciation for the role of art in society. Photo of the Headlands by Andria Lo.

Booksmith is an an off-center general interest independent bookstore and legacy business, a flagship of San Francisco's Haight Street since 1976. Booksmith is the force behind The Bindery, a multi-purpose events parlor established in 2017 that features The Arcana Project: a deep, highly inclusive array of books—fiction and nonfiction, from all over the world—presented in chronological order by the date they were written. Booksmith also organizes Berkeley Arts & Letters, an East Bay speaker series since 2009 that features exceptional authors with new books. Between the three programs, Booksmith produces over 250 events per year.

This event is free and all ages, but RSVP is required.