2:00 - 2:45 PM
Events with a red asterisk* contain mature themes and content that may not be suitable for younger audience members.
Event titles, readers, and descriptions subject to change. Check this page often for the latest updated schedule and line-up.
*Oddly Curious: How Unexpected Curiosities Enliven Writers’ Work | feat. Elizabeth Svoboda, Brad Balukjian, Rowena Leong Singer, and Jenny Qi
Ever found yourself falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole on Star Trek ship designations or suddenly obsessed with the sleeping habits of bumble bees? What feels like a distraction might be a clue into yourself or your next writing topic. Join Elizabeth Svoboda, Brad Balukjian, Rowena Singer, and Jenny Qi as they share their unexpected obsessions in their writing. Bookish (520 W. Olive Avenue)
La Raíz Magazine Power Poetry (NEW) | feat. Montezuma III Zepeda, Christiane Williams-Vigil, Alberto Saldaña Uribe, and Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
La Raíz Magazine presents empowering poetry in English, Spanish, and Spanglish that spans themes of family, culture, memory, the struggle for justice, and visions for a better future. La Raíz offers free workshops, showcases, and multilingual literary journal to create space for creative work by members of the global majority; with an emphasis on work by people whose heritage is rooted in lands that are now Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, who identify as: Chicana/o, Indigenous, Raza, or from their country of origin. CellPros Tower District (812 E. Olive Avenue)
*A Third More Hopeful Thing | feat. Haley White, Allison Botello-Nieto, Gina Sandí-Díaz, and Wade Pierson
Inspired by Michaela Angemeer's poem of the same name, "A Third More Hopeful Thing" explores the space between individuals, their parents, their ancestors, and the world at large. Four readers will share personal, vulnerable work that moves fluidly between the intimate and the universal, tracing the inheritance of memory, silence, and longing across generations. This reading invites the audience into moments of quiet reckoning: with family, with lineage, and with the tender, complicated ground of where we come from, especially in relation to how it influences who we become. Broadway Parque (940 N. Broadway Street)
*Beyond the Manosphere | feat. Kaylynn Holt, Antonia Cardinale, Hannah Sutton, and Ivy Tong
What roles do you imagine women in fiction embodying? A doting wife? Overworked mother? Manic pixie love interest? Instead of troubled detectives or dashing heroes, women are often subjected into two dimensional archetypes. This very embodiment diminishes us to being present but passive, reactive but not active in our own stories. But this is not our truth. This is not our voice. As we share our stories, we share our voices. Join us, four emerging authors, as we explore various genres—YA, historical fiction, horror, fantasy—demonstrating our fiction is as complex as we are. Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen (1279 N. Wishon Avenue) 21+ older only
*We, The Rancid Tree | feat. Blu Torres, Ozzy Cortez, Brenda "Morita" Mora, and Destiny Delgado Gonzales
“We, The Rancid Tree” is a collection of narratives woven together parallel to roots beneath the soil: poets tracing their stories of growth, decay, and transformation into one. Though our paths have strayed and crossed like branches bursting in every direction, an invisible thread tethers us to another. We become whole through each other— and find that we are a body inseparable from the world around (and inside of) us. Through rot, metamorphosis, and rebirth, these poems explore the painful beauty of becoming whilst revealing the inescapability of such nature. Summer Fox Brewing - Tower (1426 N. Van Ness Avenue) 21+ older only
*Fresno City College Poetry Student Reading | feat. feat. Lewis Allen, Chris Colter, Rose Collins, Esmeralda Garcia-Lopez, Alexander Gonzalez, Lloyd Hall, Ivy McFiren, Liam Mirise, Amy Arlesa Ronhaar, Linda Shekerjian, and Alex Taylor
A poetry showcase from eleven Fresno City College students from many walks of life. Mi Cafesito Van Ness (1495 N. Van Ness Avenue)
Flight | feat. Megan Anderson Bohigian, Corrinne Clegg Hales, C. G. Hanzlicek, and John Hales
Did you know birds come from dinosaurs which are not so unlike us? In poems and prose, four Fresno writers connect past to present, memory to the moment, and dark to light. Come. Fly. Spectrum Art Gallery (608 E. Olive Avenue)
Writing Ourselves Into the World | feat. Cherice Cameron, Erica Castro, Lisa Montagne, and Jamie Maxwell
This panel brings together four women writers for a genuine conversation about storytelling, creativity, and what it means to find your voice. Through personal experiences, the discussion will touch on identity, vulnerability, self-doubt, inspiration, and the realities of navigating writing as women. This panel focuses on the emotional and human side of expression. Why we create, how stories connect us, and the importance of making space for honest voices. Audiences can expect a thoughtful and engaging discussion about creativity, community, and the power of telling stories that feel real and deeply personal. They connect us to the world and others. Hart's Haven Used Bookstore (950 N. Van Ness Avenue)
Whimsy and Magical in the Margins: A Filipinx American Reading | feat. feat. Jason Bayani, Conrad A. Panganiban, Aimee Suzara, and Von Torres
Our reading brings together Filipinx American poets and playwrights. Storytellers have always shaped how the world sees Filipinx American histories, cultures, and identities. Join us for an afternoon of celebrating and meditating on food, family memories, history, sacrifice, love, mythology, mothering, and decolonizing. Tower Yoga Lotus Room (626 E. Olive Avenue)