Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore returns to her adopted home of Seattle and reads from her acclaimed novel Sketchtasy at Elliott Bay Book Company on February 21.

Sketchtasy was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by NPR. Sarah Schulman has said of the novel: ""If Sketchtasy doesn't become a classic, we are doomed."

Thursday, February 21, 2019
7:00pm
Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, Seattle
A FREE EVENT
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Facebook event page.

Lambda Literary Award-winning poet and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha reads from their acclaimed nonfiction book Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice at Women and Children First in Chicago on February 22.

Wheelchair accessible (but bathrooms are not); the closest accessible bathroom is located across the street at Starbucks (5300 N. Clark). Seating is first-come, first-served, but the store ishappy to reserve seats for people with disabilities. Please call the store at 773-769-9299 the day of the event if you need a reserved seat or have additional questions.

Friday, February 22, 2019
7:00pm
Women and Children First, 5233 N. Clark St. Chicago
A FREE EVENT
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Women and Children First website.

Lambda Literary Award-winning poet and activist Leah Piepzna-Samarasinha reads from their acclaimed nonfiction book Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice at Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis on February 24.

Sunday, February 24, 2019
7:00pm
Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis
A FREE EVENT
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Moon Palace Books website or the Facebook event page.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, author of Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, hosts an interactive workshop on Building Care Webs at the People's Movement Center in Minneapolis on February 26.

From Leah: In these apocalyptic times, many of us are talking about how we can care for each other outside of hospitals, social services and the medical industrial complex- through making what many call care collectives or care webs. But caring for each other sustainably is more complex than it seems. This workshop is a space to talk about the often feminized and under-respected work of care. We’ll map what allows us to ask for and give care well, and how ableism, racism, capitalism and sexism complicate who feels worthy of care and who is expected to care. We’ll look at some examples of how people create care webs for disability, chronic illness or mental health needs and access some tools we can use to create a sustainable and just care economy. We will dream what abundant care can look like in our lives and communities.
This interactive workshop is offered at a sliding scale ($10 to $50) and depends on registration. The PMC's commitment is to hold an event that is a majority of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in attendance and a majority of queer and trans identified people. For this event, we are also committed to ensuring that people living with disabilities are prioritized. Registration does not guarantee entrance. We will send a confirmation email to let you know if you are attending or on a waiting list. The registration link is listed as ticket information below.
This is also a fragrance free event.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019
6:00-9:00pm
People's Movement Center, 736 E 41st St, Minneapolis

For more information, see the Facebook event page.

Arielle Twist, author of the debut poetry collection Disintegrate/Dissociate, appears at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 9, as part of the festival's "Indigenous Brilliance" series of events.

"Tender Rage: Keeping the Flame": How do we balance our rage with the gentle side of us? These exceptional creators lend us the privilege of sharing their Tender Rage: ways they love and yell, care and seethe, comfort and fume. Fire can both warm and burn you, and Eden Robinson, Valeen Jules, Katherena Vermette, and Arielle Twist know just how to do both.

Saturday, March 9, 2019
2:00-3:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St (Granville Island), Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50 per reading or $40 for the day)
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Growing Room website.

Bestselling authors Ivan Coyote (Tomboy Survival Guide) and Lindsay Wong (Canada Reads finalist The Woo-Woo) read at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 10, as part of "Funny Feminists."

Punch up at the patriarchy with an afternoon of witty poetry and prose featuring some of the most incisive and hilarious writers in the country -- Ivan Coyote, Lucas Crawford, Molly Cross-Blanchard, Jo Dworkshack, Eden Robinson, Hana Shafi, and Lindsay Wong. Hosted by Samantha Nock (host of the podcast Heavy Content).

Sunday, March 10, 2019
1:30-3:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St (Granville Island), Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
Books available for purchase and signing by the authors

For more information, see the Growing Room website.

Lindsay Wong, whose memoir The Woo-Woo is a 2019 Canada Reads finalist, and Lydia Kwa, author of the newly reissued novel The Walking Boy, appear at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 10 as part of the panel discussion/reading "The Vast Inscape: Writing About Mental Health."

To write is to reflect and ruminate, to follow the twists of one’s inscape and mine its vulnerabilities—this can be healing, but it can also intensify the wounds. Four writers -- Meghan Bell, Triny Finlay, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, and Lindsay Wong -- discuss the complexities and challenges of writing about mental health: how it can be both a source of inspiration and one of the greatest barriers to a writer’s “productivity” (ugh), how the ways we talk about “mindfulness” and “self-care” in popular culture can do more harm than good, and how to write responsibly about mental health in a culture that stigmatizes, marginalizes, and gaslights people who are struggling to stay “sane”—if there can be such a thing -- in our mad and maddening world. Moderated by Lydia Kwa.

Sunday, March 10, 2019
4:30-6:30pm
Native Education College, 237 East 5th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
Books available for purchase and signing by the authors

For more information, see the Growing Room website.

Arielle Twist, author of the debut poetry collection Disintegrate/Dissociate, and Amber Dawn, author of the novel Sodom Road Exit, appear at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 10, as part of the panel discussion/reading "Kinship Bonds: The Love That Holds."

Kinship relations in writing are some of the most powerful and complex relationships that exist in storytelling. Kinship ties exist beyond the romantic; our blood and chosen family create loves that hold us close and forever. Join Katherena Vermette, Jessica Johns, Sharon Bala, and Arielle Twist with moderator Amber Dawn, as they talk about the strength, heart, and complexities of kinship bonds.

Sunday, March 10, 2019
4:30-6:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston Street (Granville Island), Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Growing Room website.

Arielle Twist, author of the debut poetry collection Disintegrate/Dissociate, appears at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 11, as part of the panel discussion/reading "Invisible Womxn."

Writers discuss why many womxn writers choose to write about those who are either who are either derided, commodified, or even go completely unrecognized in our culture’s mainstream. The invisibility is palpable in the undercurrent of unspoken rage expressed by those who either do or do not pop with our culture’s fascination with the sexually explicit, standardized conceptions of beauty, behaviour, and identity. In this panel, creating character becomes an act of insurgency via creativity.

Appearing are Sharon Bala, Whitney French, Sara Graefe, and Arielle Twist. Moderated by Maureen Medved.

Monday, March 11, 2019
4:30-6:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St (Granville Island), Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Growing Room website.

Arielle Twist, author of the debut poetry collection Disintegrate/Dissociate, appears at Vancouver's Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival on March 11 as part of the reading "Cut to the Feeling: A Night of Queerotica."

The mark of truly great literature is writing that makes you feel feelings you’ve never felt before. This evening, prepare to feel sparks all over as you are present to the sultriest literary readings from the hawtest queers around: Serena Bhandar, Lindsay Nixon, Hana Shafi, and Arielle Twist. Moderated by jaye simpson, this night will have you sweating in your seats, so be sure to wear something breezy.

Monday, March 11, 2019
7:30-9:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St (Granville Island), Vancouver
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
Books available for purchase and signing by the author

For more information, see the Growing Room website.