Confidence & the Magnitude of Failure with Ross J. Farrar - May 17, 2026

In Sir Sidney Philips Defense of Posey, he famously said, “Poetry is to teach and delight.” The first half of Ross’ lecture will be about his greatest hurtle of becoming a poet (hopefully there will be humor in delight). And the second half will be focused on a teaching element. A concept called the magnitude of failure, which describes the power of magnification, and the failure of vagueness, along with a few other bits of info he believes the listener will find appealing and, of course, a poem read aloud.

This event will be LIVE at Gilman Street Brewery. Find us in the back room, among the barrels full of as much beer as they are atmosphere. Have a peek at Gilman's food menu before you go.

1:00 p.m. Doors open. Food and drinks available at the bar.

2:00 p.m. Club Announcements
2:30 p.m. Special Programming
3:00 p.m. Featured Speaker: Ross Farrar
4:00 p.m. Author Support Group more info here.

THE CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB was started by a group of community-minded writing professionals in the early 1900s. They met informally until 1909, when the Club was founded, with Austin Lewis as its first president. The Berkeley Branch is the founding branch of the statewide Club, which now has 19 branches and around 2000 members throughout California. We are the third oldest writers’ club in the country, celebrating over a century serving Bay Area writers.

The CWC is a nonprofit professional organization open to writers in every genre and at every level of experience, from novice to published. Our mission is to educate writers of all abilities in the craft and business of writing. Our purpose is to promote fellowship and to provide practical information that supports all members in achieving their publishing goals.

Our writer’s motto, “Sail on!” is from Joaquin Miller’s poem, .

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Host or Publisher California Writers Club — Berkeley Branch