Celebrate the launch of Kerry Donoghue’s provocative debut, MOUTH, highlighting the ways we consume—from the drinks we can’t put down to the lovers we can’t resist—revealing deeper hungers we often keep hidden. A competitive eater, a rodeo clown, a pearl diver, and a mermaid-in-training are just a few of the outsiders in this collection of short stories. MOUTH asks: when our appetites define us, how do we survive the hunger?
Currently living in the Bay Area, her poetry and stories have appeared in journals such as Ninth Letter, Painted Bride Quarterly, Permafrost, The Louisville Review, and The South Carolina Review.Learn more at www.kerrydonoghue.com.
The Balikbayan Artist and Other Chismis in the Filipino Diaspora
Saturday, March 15th 6-7:30pm
Join us for a book party to celebrate the U.S. launch of Eileen R. Tabios’ The Balikbayan Artist hosted by the Peninsula Book Collaborative with PAWA & friends: Edwin Lozada, Beverly Parayno, Dina Klarisse, Aileen Cassinetto, & Melinda Luisa de Jesús
Panelist bios:
Eileen R. Tabios loves books and has released over 70 collections of poetry, fiction, essays, and experimental biographies from publishers in 11 countries. She is the author of two novels, The Balikbayan Artist (Penguin Random House SEA, 2024) and DoveLion: A Fairy Tale for Our Times (AC Books, New York, 2021), as well as an autobiography, The Inventor (Marsh Hawk Press, 2023). She has also edited, co-edited or conceptualized 15 anthologies of poetry, fiction and essays which has involved hundreds of writers and artists around the world.
Edwin Lozada is an author and translator, and the editor of Field of Mirrors: An Anthology of Philippine American Writers (2008). An educator in the California public school system for over 30 years, he is also a member of the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española correspondiente a la Academia Real Española, President of Philippine American Writers and Artists (PAWA) Inc., Executive Director of the Filipino American International Book Festival, and Co-Founder of The Hinabi Project, a Bay Area nonprofit which seeks to educate and foster appreciation for indigenous Philippine textiles.
Beverly Parayno is the author of the story collection WILDFLOWERS (PAWA Press, 2023), which was shortlisted for the 43rd Annual Northern California Book Awards; winner of a 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal and a 2024 National Indie Excellence Award for Asian American & Pacific Islander Fiction; and finalist for the 2023 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards and 2024 American Fiction Awards. She serves on the board of PAWA and the Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland. She lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills and co-facilitates the Cameron Park Library Writers Workshop.
Dina Klarisse Dugar is the author of Handspun Rosaries (2022). Her work has been published in ASU’s Canyon Voices, The Daily Drunk Mag, Chopsticks Alley, and Kalopsia Literary Journal, among others. She serves on PAWA’s Board of Directors, and is a member of the Filipino American International Book Festival’s organizing committee.
Aileen Cassinetto is a 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow and San Mateo County’s poet laureate from 2019 to 2022. The co-founder of Paloma Press, she serves on PAWA’s advisory board and the Filipino American International Book Festival’s advisory committee as well as the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women.
Dr. Melinda Luisa de Jesús is former Chair and Associate Professor of Diversity Studies at California College of the Arts. She writes and teaches about Filipinx/American cultural production, girl culture, monsters, and race/ethnicity in the United States. She edited Pinay Power: Peminist Critical Theory, the first anthology of Filipina/American Feminisms (Routledge, 2005). Her first collection of poetry, peminology, was released by Paloma Press in March 2018.
Meet author Nikhil Prabala and ask questions about his debut novel the Duchess of Kokora. He will answer questions and sign your book. Come out and say hi.
Created by acclaimed and multi-award-winning American folk singer/songwriter Kathy Sherman and San Francisco-based illustrator Torey Butner, ‘Too Many Moose!’ is a fun and silly story about the biggest family gathering you’re ever likely to see.
Join us at a book reading (storytime) and signing plus Kathy will be leading us in songs and Torey will have an illustration demo!
Local author, Shauna Lobre has spent most of her adult life working with children. From a preschool teacher to a pediatric ICU nurse for 34 years, she saw how stories made children smile. Along with raising her own three boys, she knew Fred & Ted would be her first book. They drew her into the story as she wrote it, and they became friends too.
**Goodie bags and drawing for your own copy of Fred and Ted*
Before you head to Chalkfest, come and enjoy author Shauna read her new book.
J.R Rice, a Black man born in Oakland, with a passion for writing, teaching, and spoken word artistry has always been captivated by the power of words and their ability to inspire, motivate and transform lives. J.R traveled abroad to Greece, where he had the honor of being mentored by the renowned author, George Crane. It was there that he honed his skills and developed his unique voice, which he would later use to inspire and empower countless others.
His novella, Broken Pencils earned the 2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Literary Global Gold Award, and many other awards. He is the host and curator of SOCIAL SATURDAYS artist showcase in Oakland. He currently resides and teaches in the Bay Area. To learn more, visit www.jrrice.com
Chef Ava Marie has 18 years of culinary experience. She does live demos and was a World Food Championships dessert finalist in 2018. She has been featured on KQED’s Check Please Bay Area, KRON 4’s Live! In the Bay and hosts a podcast, Chef Ava Marie Happy Hour Podcast. Most recently, South San Francisco’s Mayornamed Chef Ava as one of the 2024 Women of the Year for teaching people to cook, bringing food and joy to their livelihoods and for her philanthropyin the world of special needs.
Join these celebrated authors for a painting party from 4-6pm at Color Me Mine then walk over to us (Peninsula Books next door) for the authors panel from 6-7pm. We’d love to see you at both events, but if you can only make one, no worries! There is plenty of parking at the WestLake Shopping Center, just park near the Trader Joe’s.
Join TherActivist discussion their book, activism as part of our Pride festivities. They will answer questions and sign copies of their books.
The TherActivist: They/ Them/ Theirs book and documentary project shines light on the intersections of identity, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; gender expression and social justice activism against the backdrop of anti-Black racism, anti-LGBTQIA violence, and social exclusion. A combination of Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA+ rights, equity and more! The TherActivist embodies a “therapeutic activism”
approach, while servicing and empowering people of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, and marginalized populations.
