12:00 - 12:45 PM
Events with a red asterisk* contain mature themes and content that may not be suitable for younger audience members.
*The Revolutionary Power of Rage: Asian Women Poets Reclaim Anger | feat. Maw Shein Win, Preeti Vangani, Sabina Khan-Ibarra, and Jenny Qi
Anger is a necessary protective emotion that tells us our boundaries have been violated, and suppressing anger puts us at risk. Women are often conditioned to silence our anger in response to threats and injustice. Asian women, in particular, are often viewed as submissive, ignoring boundaries to keep the peace and maintain the status quo. What do we do when the status quo is untenable? Four Asian diasporic women poets from the San Francisco Writers Grotto will read poems reclaiming necessary, revolutionary rage. Bookish (520 W. Olive Avenue)
broke poets collective showcase | feat. Ellie Celina Labampa, Andrea Aliseda, Shaena Reyes, and Kyle Doria
broke poets collective is from the Bay Area and Los Angeles area. These amazing upcoming poets work revolves around the immigrant diaspora, grief, heart break, mental health, political current events, education system, etc. We are a collective that elevates the voices of often overlooked BiPoc experiences and help them get into spaces to showcase their talent and voices. Majority of our collective are promoting their debut chapbooks for the very first time! Ellie Celina Labampa released her first chapbook Depressed in Dealers Hall via Sampaguita Press in December 2025. Kyle Doria and Shaena Reyes’s books will be published by Sampaguita Press later this year. Andrea Aliseda is self-publishing her first chapbook of poetry. Each poet has a special story to tell with heart and love and, above all, creatively with words. CellPros Tower District (812 E. Olive Avenue)
*Poetry, Protest, and Resistance | feat. Cherice Cameron, Sammy Herrera, Jeffery Martin, and Alexis Jaimes
A conversation on poetry and literature as activism, resistance, and collective empowerment. This panel explores how writers use poetry to challenge systems of oppression, amplify marginalized voices, and inspire social change. Poets use poetry to bear witness, preserve truth, and build solidarity across communities. Literature becomes both a personal and political act. Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen (1279 N. Wishon Avenue) 21+ older only
What We Carry: Navigating Grief Through Poetry | feat. Erica Castro, Hope Cerna, M. K. Sullivan, and Betty Harbison
This panel focuses on grief. These poets have published the following books: Letters From My Guardian Angel, Sentimental Garden, The Pain Left Behind: Surviving a Suicide Loss, and Looking Down on the Moon. These books contain poems on grief and loss. This panel will reflect on mourning, memory, hope, and the ways writing helps us move through pain. Each writer shares a different perspective, but together their stories create a space that feels honest, vulnerable, and deeply human. Audiences can expect a heartfelt discussion about using poetry to process grief, honor the people we miss, and find connection through shared experiences. Hart's Haven Used Bookstore (950 N. Van Ness Avenue)
*Gillis Library Cluster | feat. Bill Simmons, Gavriel Gómez, Tiffany Evans, and Steve Below
Two have bits of novels, two have poetry in their hearts. Mi Cafesito Van Ness (1495 N. Van Ness Avenue)
*San Francisco On the Road Writers | feat. Joseph Donohoe, Joe Clifford, Charlie Getter, and Bridgit Clancy
Four distinguished San Francisco writers of fiction, poetry and memoir will be reading at this event. Summer Fox Brewing - Tower (1426 N. Van Ness Avenue) 21+ older only
Black Freighter Press: The Docks | feat. Alex Mendez, Norman Antonio Zelaya, James Cagney, and Alie Jones
Black Freighter Press is a platform for Black and Brown writers to honor ancestry and propel radical imagination. We are excited to be curating a LitHop Fresno reading featuring a few of our favorite creative minds: Norman Antonio Zelaya, Alex Mendez, James Cagney, and Alie Jones. Teazer World Tea Market (645 E. Olive Avenue)
*Memoir In Motion | feat. Samina Najmi, Renee Gilmore, Armen Bacon, and Soreath Hok
Even as we ink our memories on the page, they shapeshift or slip away entirely. Four women writers will read from their memoirs in and about transition: from one place to the next, one stage in life to another, our roles shifting as daughters, mothers, and grandmothers. We come from varied professional backgrounds in print and radio journalism, small business, marketing, and academia, and those markers of professional identity are always evolving, too. Our approach to memoir is similarly fluid: we write personal essays, linear memoirs, and prose poems that reflect our sense of our selfhoods as always in motion. Tower Yoga Lotus Room (626 E. Olive Avenue)
Fresno City College Students | readers to be announced
Full description to be announced shortly. Broadway Parque (940 N. Broadway Street)
Of Monsters, Monarchs, and other Muses | feat. Steven Church, Jessica Johnson, James Morrison, and Sara Wainscott
Four authors, four friends from Fresno, Chicago, and Portland gather to read their mix of poetry and prose grappling with the absurdity and beauty of the human condition. We’ll consider various muses and inspirations, including artifacts, animals, and addiction. We may wrestle with loss and family dynamics, or we may just consider what it means when chickens wear shoes and rabbits inevitably rabbit. Spectrum Art Gallery (608 E. Olive Avenue)