Join us for an exciting evening of literature, community, and creativity at the debut reading of The Other Lives of Altagracia Sanchez, a compelling new novella by Felicia Martinez. The evening will feature a lively discussion about the novellas' themes, inspiration, and writing process, followed by a captivating reading from Felicia Martinez herself. The Other Lives of Altagracia Sanchez delves into the complexities of identity, family, and resilience, offering a poignant and thought-provoking exploration that will resonate with readers of all ages. In addition to the debut reading, the event will include three short readings from talented local Bay Area authors, showcasing the diverse voices and literary talent of our community.
Felicia Martínez (she/her) is a writer and artist from Eastern New Mexico, though the San Francisco Bay Area is now home. While an Associate Professor in the Integral Program at Saint Mary's College of California, she had the great pleasure of leading students in discussions across the liberal arts tradition. Her avid interest in conceptions of personhood, and the ways in which such conceptions inform narrative experimentation in literature, inspires her creative outlets, both visual and written. She favors surreal, speculative writing and stories that explore identity, agency, and empowerment. Find her words at Asimov's, The Razor, The Acentos Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, The Deadlands, and others. Her short novella, The Other Lives of Altagracia Sanchez, is available now from Querencia Press.
Dylan Connell is an author and musician who seems to have wandered out of the classical canon and into the modern-day metropolis of the Bay Area. He holds an MFA from the University of San Francisco and writes fast paced philosophical fiction. His story Cult of Venus won Ab Terra’s 2021 Prize for best short story in Science Fiction and his re-imagining of an ancient myth: Lotus Drinkers was a finalist for the Pushcart Prize. Akinoga Press will be publishing his novella: Nadie se Salva in the summer of 2025. And his Collection: Mask of Aphrodite will be published by Legacy Press in early 2026. He co-hosts a hip-hop cypher every first Friday at the Alan Blueford Center for Justice.
Tino V. H. Jr. is a Mexican-American teaching artist and spoken word poet born and raised in Oakland, CA. He attended UC Santa Cruz, pursuing a degree in Literature with a concentration in Latin American Literature.. He’s represented poetry teams for cities like Santa Cruz and Berkeley, CA on national stages.Mostly recently, he traveled to the Bigfoot Poetry Festival with the 2023 Berkeley Slam team, where they took 3rd place. His work explores im/migration, indigeneity, the hood, queerness, feminism, and decolonial frameworks. He currently organizes with RichOak Events in the Bay Area co-curating 4 shows: Alchemy Open Mic, Day Dreamer’s Poetry, the Oakland Poetry Slam and the Berkeley Poetry Slam. In his spare time he constantly updates his “Best Tacos in East Oakland” list, plays too many video games, reads to feel alive and writes pre-colonial high fantasy.
Gayathri Kamath is a South Indian-American engineer, waylaid on her original path to build rockets and ended up herding cats in tech instead. She’s told stories all her life about goddesses, apsaras, and warrior-princesses and started writing again after not seeing enough of these people in the books she was reading.Her short story, Akka, will be in an upcoming issue of Reckoning, and she was awarded the 2021 Futurescapes Award for most Promising Writer of the Year for her novel, Raven’s Journey to the West