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Lit City: Stories from San Francisco’s Dive Bars
by Instant City Browse fiction, nonfiction, tall tales, and small histories from San Francisco’s watering holes. & add your own!
{More»} The Latest
Come cheer on the amazing Jim Nelson who will be reading for Instant City!
June 12:
LDM SF Ep. 19
When: Friday, June 12; Doors at 6:30, show at 7:15 p.m. (sharp)
Where: Elbo Room, 647 Valencia St.
Cost: $10 (and an issue of Opium 8–$2 off the cover price!)
Hosted by: Todd Zuniga & Alana Conner.
Readers: Michelle Richmond (No One [...]
Meet us at Dog Eared Books on Valencia Street to celebrate the release of our 6th issue. Readings by L.J. Moore, Tiny Grey-Garcia, Pei Wang and others TBA!
Thursday, April 16th, 8 pm
With: L.J. Moore, Tiny Grey-Garcia, Pei Wang and more
Dog Eared Books
900 Valencia St. (@ 20th)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Tiny(aka Lisa Gray-Garcia) is a poverty scholar, [...]
Come join Instant City at the Booksmith bookstore to celebrate the release of Issue 6, with readings by Jim Nelson, Alia Voz, Matt Stewart, and others TBA!
Tuesday, March 10th, 7:30 pm
The Booksmith
1644 Haight St
San Francisco, CA 94117
Come celebrate the release of our 6th issue at the Elbo Room in San Francisco’s Mission District!
Monday, Jan. 19th, 7 p.m.
$5 at the door ($10 gets entry and an issue!)
Monday, January 19th
The Elbo Room 647 Valencia Street, SF CA
Time: Doors open at 7pm. Readings begin at 7:00 sharp.
Readings by: Alvin Orloff, Charlie Jane Anders, Jon [...]
Thursday, November 13, 2008 join dublit for the first part of their new Words+Music series.
Josh Tyree reads from an excerpt of “Ministry of Ruin” soon to appear in the highly anticipated Instant City 6: The Disappeared.
Where: Arthouse 1360 Mission, between 9th and 10th in SOMA.
When: Thursday, November 13
Time: 7:25-9:25
The evening includes performances by: Evan Rehill, [...]
Chinatown
Ross Alley»
by Pei Wang
Off of Washington Street near Grant, you’ll find an unassuming little byway cutting you a path toward Jackson Street. You’ll see tourists clustered in front of the fortune cookie factory, locals toting pink bags of groceries, laundry hung out to dry on the fire escapes high above the storefronts. You’ll see signs for acupuncture, the [...]
The Marina & Fisherman's Wharf
My Life On Alcatraz»
by Joe Donohoe
On Labor Day 2007 I escaped from Alcatraz, braving the September waters of San Francisco Bay.
Only three times did I make the mistake of looking back at the Rock and thought to myself, “Doesn’t that damn island ever get any smaller?” as rollers broke in my face and toxic salt water went up my nose.
“The [...]
The Sunset District
Along the Great Highway»
by Kevin Hobson
Chick Perkins’ cherry ’59 Chevy roars up the Great Highway. In the darkness, headlamps reveal only the moment of road before him, and if he didn’t know this stretch like his face in a mirror it might seem a mystery. But a road doesn’t change. Once you know it, you know it, and following it’ll [...]
The Tenderloin
C. Bobby & The Owl Tree»
by Jim Nelson
It was an annoyingly bright October morning, too warm too early in the day, when I learned Bobby had died. I read it over breakfast on the Chronicle’s obituary page. I looked up and told myself I should have a drink, not to settle my nerves, but a final tip o’ the glass to one [...]
Oral Histories
The Rainbow Lady of Fisherman’s Wharf»
by Alia Volz
An Interview with Shari Mueller
It was Christmas Eve, 1974, and a girlfriend of mine was supposed to visit from L.A. but she canceled at the last minute. I felt a little upset, so I decided to go for a walk. Everything was closed for the holiday. I lived right off Union Street and I was [...]
The Haight
Hill Park»
by L.J. Moore
barely afternoon black sky arms and legs scent creaking against broad ridden dirt perfectly safe blue had spent a life repairing mangled bones crushed maxillas collapsed cheekbones torn lips hamburger meat bits of cement and asphalt embedded skin rumbling idle of steam age combined weight on one foot accelerated clacked into turns leaned all she [...]
The Mission
Carlos y Elegua— A Road No One Knows How to Begın or End»
by Tiny a.k.a. Lisa Gray-Garcia & Rodrigo Jimenez
From the Poverty Hero Series
January 1, 2001
Ibaro Ago Juba (Song for Elegua)
Eshu Eshu. His body felt wet. Wet and yet covered—wet and cold in a new way, in a dead way. Was he awake? The Orisha Elegua was waking him up… Eshu Eshu Layiki. He heard the first words, the praise name for Elegua—a road [...]