THERE

THERE was featured prominently in the San Francisco Chronicle!

THERE (THe Eastbay Reading Extravaganza) was a reading series showcasing emerging and established writers from Oakland and Berkeley, with the occasional San Franciscan. For more than four years, Doug hosted it on the (usually) third Friday of each month at Octopus Literary Salon in Uptown Oakland. It also featured a live original musical performance by a local musical artist at “halftime” of each month’s reading, and Doug’s famous original LitQuiz literary trivia contest. THERE put the there back in Oakland since 2015! But sadly, the Octopus was forced to close its doors in August ’19, and then the coronavirus pandemic scuttled our plan to resume the series at East Bay Booksellers in the Rockridge district of Oakland in February 2020.

We featured such celebrated and award-winning authors as Maxine Hong Kingston, Yiyun Li, Yaa Gyasi, Carolina DeRobertis, Grant Faulkner, Frances Dinkelspiel, Janis Cooke Newman, Zac Unger, Shanthi Sekaran, Laleh Khadivi, Michael David Lukas, Tom Barbash, Melanie Abrams, Sylvia Brownrigg, R.O. Kwon, Vanessa Hua, Elizabeth Rosner and so many more. THERE emphasized fiction but also included non-fiction, memoir and poetry.

THERE debuted October 16, 2015 with guest authors Claire Perry, Cynthia Salaysay and Rosa del Duca, live music by Rosa del Duca and Doug Sovern, and special guest Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

THERE 2 was Friday, November 20, 2015, with guest authors Claire Green, Sunisa Manning and Timur Karaca, and live music by George Reynolds and Doug Sovern.

THERE 3 was Friday, December 18, 2015, with poet Gail Ford, novelist Kymberly Bartlo and actor/raconteur Earll Kingston.

THERE 4 was Friday, February 19, 2016 . We welcomed special guests Yiyun Li, Grant Faulkner, Amy Marcott and Irma Herrera.

THERE 5 was  Friday, March 18, 2016, with our special guests Maxine Hong Kingston and Earll Kingston, Kathie Jacobson  and Maureen Simons.

THERE 6 was Friday, May 20, 2016, featuring best-selling Oakland novelist Carolina DeRobertis, memoirist Emily Newmann and poet Lucille Lang Day.

THERE took the summer of 2016 off, then returned for THERE 7 on Friday, September 16, 2016, with Berkeley novelist and poet Richard Levine, Alameda Poet Laureate Julia Park Tracey, and Oakland author Chris Drangle.

THERE 8 was a special event on October 11, 2016, in conjunction with LitQuake ’16, featuring acclaimed Oakland novelist Yaa Gyasi, author of the New York Times bestseller “Homegoing.”

THERE 9 was Friday November 18, 2016, featuring Oakland author Na’amen Gobert Tilahun, writer Stefanie Hoffman and East Bay writer Krista Varela.

THERE 10 was Friday, December 16, 2016, featuring Berkeley author Frances Dinkelspiel, Kim Freeman and Bob Haus, and live music by The Octothree (Doug, George Reynolds and Mike Linn).

THERE 11 was Friday, January 20, 2016, Inauguration Day. The lineup was all women (excluding your humble master of ceremonies), even though it turned out the president sworn in that day was most definitely not one. Author Janis Cooke Newman headlined the bill, along with Oakland author Elizabeth Gonzalez James, plus music from The Fallopian Dudes.

THERE 12 was Friday, February 17, 2017, with Oakland firefighter and acclaimed non-fiction author Zac Unger, local fiction author Scott Hoshida, fiction writer Stace Budzko, and live music by The Beat Seekers with Doug Sovern.

THERE 13 was Friday March 17, 2017 with novelist and musician David Rosenheim, prize-winning Oakland author Chris Drangle, Oakland writer Lily Chien-Davis, and halftime music by Dirty Cello with Doug Sovern.

THERE 14 was Saturday  April 29, 2017, with award-winning short story writer and SF Chronicle columnist Caille Milner, Oakland writer Margaret Lee, Oakland poet Emma Catherine Perry, and the world premiere of the band The Braxton Hicks as our halftime entertainment.

THERE 15 was Friday, May 12, 2017, featuring local author Katie Moulton, East Bay fiction writer Cecile Barlier, and rising star writer Jia Jing Liu.

THERE took a summer break from June-August.

THERE 16 was Friday, September 15, 2017, featuring Berkeley novelist Shanthi Sekaran,  local emerging author Eanlai Cronin, Berkeley writer Amy Thigpen and music by Kate Brubeck, Jeff Ward and Doug Sovern.

THERE 17 was a special event, co-presented as part of Litquake, on Friday, October 13, 2017, with Laleh Khadivi, Whiting Award-winning Oakland author of A Good Country and other novels.

THERE 18 was Friday, November 17, 2017, with the Belize Writers Conference’s Joey Garcia, short story star Elizabeth James,  essayist Jane Anne Staw, and Professor Shelley Blanton-Stroud, plus an all-star musical celebration of the late Tom Petty.

THERE 19 was Friday, December 15, 2017, and featured award-winning and bestselling local author Tom Barbash, the very funny Pamela Weymouth, searing memoirist Vanessa Grubbs, and musical guests Kate Brubeck & Geoff van Lienden.

THERE 20 was Friday, February 16, 2018,  and featured  acclaimed Oakland novelist Sylvia Brownrigg, local fiction writer Jenny Fosket, Oakland author Melanie Abrams, guitarist extraordinaire Henry Kaiser and legendary singer-guitarist (and reptile maven) Owen “Otis Slim” Maercks.

THERE 21 was Friday, March 16, 2018, and featured bestselling Oakland novelist Michael David Lukas, Oakland writer Timur Karaca, East Bay writer Earl Barron, and the return of the magnificent Berkeley singer Kate Brubeck, accompanied by guitarist Jeff Ward and your humble host on bass.

THERE 22 was Friday, April 20, 2018, with award-winning Oakland author Nayomi Munaweera, emerging author Marie Broadway, East Bay writer Stevan Cavalier and the debut of local musical group Postcapitalism.

THERE 23 was Friday, May 18, 2018, with East Bay novelist Cameron MacKenzie, award-winning local writer Tamara Schuyler, local novelist Yang Huang,and musical guest Zoe Carter and Sugartown.

THERE 24 was Friday, September 28, 2018,  featuring local novelist Keenan Norris, up-and-coming Alameda novelist Blaze Farrar, memoirist Sarah Marxer of San Leandro, and a live halftime musical tribute to Aretha Franklin.

THERE 25 was Friday, October 26, 2018, featuring East Bay memoirist Amy Lutz, East Bay fiction writer Stevan Cavalier,  memoirist Emily Kathleen Cooke, and the THERE debut of the Eyewitness Blues Band, in a rare reunion performance.

THERE 26 was Friday,  November 16, 2018, featuring acclaimed Berkeley author Elizabeth Rosner (fiction/poetry/nonfiction), amazing poet Sharon Coleman, Oakland’s own author/humorist Nancy Davis Kho, and singer extraordinaire Kate Brubeck, with Geoff Van Lienden on guitar and Doug Sovern on bass.

THERE 27 was Friday, December 14, 2018, featuring local author R.O. Kwon (“The Incendiaries’), novelist/short story writer/Chronicle columnist Vanessa Hua (“A River Of Stars’) and Oakland novelist Natalie Baszile (“Queen Sugar”), plus musical guests Post-Capitalism.

THERE took a break in January 2019,

THERE 28 was Friday,  February 22, 2019, featuring brilliant Oakland memoirist Faith Adiele, equally amazing memoirist Reyna Grande, and poet MK Chavez, also of Oakland. Musical guests Post Capitalism.

THERE 29 was Friday, March 15, 2019,  with Oakland science and humor writer Mary Roach, award-winning fiction writer (and winemaker) Caleb Leisure,  and emerging fiction author Kelsey Leppard. Musical guests Kate Brubeck and Jeff Ward.

THERE 30 was Friday, April 19, 2019, featuring award-winning novelist Kirsten Chen, emerging novelist David Booth of San Francisco, Oakland novelist Sloane Tanen, and musical guests The Suerte Sisters!

THERE 31 was Friday, May 31, 2019, featuring Bay Area novelist Kristin (“Tree Dreams”) Kaye, local short story writer D. Wystan (“Other People’s Love Affairs”) Owen, novelist Chia-Chia (“The Unpassing”) Lin, and emerging East Bay writer Sue Granzella.

Oakland firefighter and author Zac Unger thrills the crowd at THERE