English

Local Resources for Language Arts

The San Francisco Bay Area is a vibrant literary community with a wide variety of resources to offer students and faculty in the Language Arts Division.

This is a "starter" collection of organizations that host live literary events, of centers for further study in the language arts, and of virtual resources that spark conversations about language and literature.

Contemporary Issues

• Our own Flint Center: Show Information and the Celebrity Forum Speakers Series are popular venues for speakers from literature, politics, and film.
• At the The Aurora Forum at Stanford University you'll hear an inspiring collection of journalists and analysts who comment on the most pressing contemporary issues. Past speakers have included a panel of editors from Time, Newsweek, and The Nation.
• See a fascinating list of contemporary writers in an interactive setting at the Center for Literary Arts - San Jos? State University - Home Page and 2007-2008 Series . Simon Winchester, Amy Tan, Ron Hansen, and many hundreds more have spoken here.

Check out our local universities. Known for the diversity of their events, both Stanford and Santa Clara host a remarkable array of experts and authors speaking on contemporary and global issues.

• Events at Stanford: featured events
• Events at Stanford: lectures, readings & talks
• Educators Corner: Podcasts accesses lectures and discussions in a variety of disciplines.
• Santa Clara University - Visitors - President's Speaker Series

The Lively Arts

• Artsopolis.com is a comprehensive site listing of all live and local events including theater, the spoken word, music, family friendly arts, and more. It covers Silicon Valley and points south.

Theater

• Performing in Palo Alto and Mountain, TheatreWorks - Special Events consistently wins high praise for their New Works Festival and for their performances of audience favorites.
• The Berkeley Repertory Theatre pushes the envelope, both thematically and creatively, performing unique works such as The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci and Argonautika.
• The resources For Teachers - Education - Oregon Shakespeare Festival are useful for exploring specific productions, arranging for Ashland field trips and deepening student understanding of dramatic literature.
• Check out the American Conservatory Theater - ACT San Francisco for a wide variety of spirited productions of new and venerable works. Post-theater discussions are rich resources for student discovery.
• In the Blue Cube downtown San Jose, the San Jose Repertory Theatre showcases productions that capture local issues with a global flavor.
• Check out Teatro Campesino at http://www.elteatrocampesino.com/ to find vibrant theater exploring Latino history and culture.
• The San Jose Stage Company - Special Events do theater "up close and personal" in ambitious productions.
• Go to The Pear Avenue Theatre to see Foothill College faculty and staff in accessible and creative productions.
• The Bus Barn Stage Company highlights local actors in an intimate setting.

Poetry and Creative Writing

• San Francisco State University: The Poetry Center is one of the oldest centers for the study and appreciation of local poetry in the area. Films, recordings, and archives are testament to the area's importance to poetry and poets.
• The LAB - About Us is a multi-disciplinary collective of contemporary artists. Check out works that "push the creative envelope" here.
• Check out Writers' and Poets' Events--Artist Resource to find out what's new and exciting on the "word" scene.
• San Francisco Art and Poetry Event Calendar lists current events and shows in the SF Bay Area.
• The Poetry Foundation: The online home of the Poetry Foundation supports poets and showcases their work.
• Think that the millennial generation is not into literature: Check out Youth Speaks | Literary Arts Organization
• ZYZZYVA: the journal of West Coast writers and artists is for writers and poets in the local area.
• The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts offers an eclectic area of performances and speakers in the heart of San Francisco.
• Intersection for the Arts is San Francisco's oldest alternative art space. See poetry slams and performance artists here.
• Want to meet other writers? Click here: SF Station: Literary Arts - Writing Groups
• Find out what's new in the TEACHING of writing at the bayareawritingproject.org/
• An annual event, the Litquake is a showcase for creative writing, nonfiction writing and poetry.

Bookstores Near and Far

• A favorite of the literati and lovers of independent bookstores, Kepler's | Programs Events | Calendar showcases their popular (very popular, so arrive early) author series as will as many of their other events.
• Find out what's happening at your local Borders - Store: Palo Alto, CA by using their store locator and event listings. Speakers, poetry slams, and story hours and more happen at Borders.
• Cody's Books is a venerable institution with an eclectic mix of literature and political texts in Berkeley.
• You need a map to navigate Powell's Books - Used, New, and Out of Print. Known for the breadth and depth of their collection this Portland bookstore 's catalog is available via the internet AND they list used books as well.

It Happened Here

• Literary Locales lists local sites appearing in literature. There are some surprises here.

ESLL

• This group helps non-native speakers find conversation groups to practice their English. Check out San Francisco ESL/TOEFL iBT Preparation Group (San Francisco, CA) - Meetup.com

These resources have been collected within the last year and in most cases, have been vetted by the collector.