Novelist Louisa Treger once called biographical fiction "the lie through with truth can emerge." In the third of our "How They Did It" series, we'll hear from four talented novelists who have blended fact with their fiction, with dazzling results. Novelist Jasmin Darznik, who has written biographical fiction about Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad and photographer Dorothea […]
Join Larry Tye, the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, in conversation with acclaimed interviewer and radio host Dr. Michael Krasny on Tye's new book, The Jazzmen. The Jazzmen is a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and […]
Join author and historian Sandra Bonura in conversation online on her new book, The Sugar King of California: The Life of Claus Spreckels. The Sugar King of California is the astonishingly intimate story of one of the most controversial entrepreneurs of the 19th century - a rule-breaking visionary who through his sugar empire became one of […]
Join local writers for an amazing reading series festival.
Join author Jared Stearns in conversation with cinephile Jesse Hawthorne Ficks on Stearns’ new book, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers. Marilyn Chambers was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the world's most famous X-rated star, and an unappreciated talent whose work in adult films hindered her dreams of becoming a serious actress. Marilyn was […]
Progressive school founder, collector and bibliophile Kent Bicknell will present on his Alcott Family Collection, winner of a recent prize from the New England-based Ticknor Society. Built around the lives and work of Louisa May Alcott (Little Women), her talented sister, the artist May Alcott Nieriker, and her parents, social worker, Abigail Alcott and progressive […]
Join Jenny Odell and Cathy Park Hong, acclaimed authors of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock and Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, in conversation at Mechanics’ Institute.
Join bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Orange in conversation with Heyday publisher Steve Wasserman in Mechanics’ Institute’s historic library space.
Join the Women's National Book Association and Mechanics' Institute for a writers' panel on imagining new worlds and futures through fiction.
This event, produced by AIGA/SF, features an expansive visual presentation by Richard Danne with projects from his stellar new book: “Shooting for the Stars,” a six-decade celebration of timeless design. The book’s 248 colorful pages include successful programs / projects which have stood the test of time – for diverse clients like NASA to FIT; Paramount to […]
Join Dr. Paul Linde, Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the UCSF School of Medicine, for an engaging dialogue on harm reduction and innovative methods to approach addiction treatment in San Francisco.
SFCB is excited to host author Bruce Holsinger as he shares stories from his latest book "On Parchment: Animals, Archives, and the Making of Culture from Herodotus to the Digital Age".