Writers Read! (Fall 2024 Edition)

Immerse yourself in an evening of literary enchantment at Mechanics' Institute. This Fall 2024 Edition will feature the talented members from our Non-Fiction Writers' Group. This intimate event showcases the voices and narratives cultivated within our community.

Doors open at 5:30 pm, with readings beginning at 6:00 pm. Wine and soft beverages are available for purchase, complemented by complimentary light snacks. The evening will conclude with a Q&A session focused on nurturing and sustaining writers' groups at the Mechanics' Institute, offering valuable insights and practical advice for our writerly community.

Matt Ginsburg worked as an investment banker in New York, London, and San Francisco. After retiring, he completed an MFA degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in playwriting at San Francisco State University in 2019. His plays have been read or performed at theaters in San Francisco. His writing is often biographical and/or related to his favorite subjects: business, sports, and travel. Recently he has published numerous works of non-fiction and fiction in the online journal, Vistas & Byways Review.

Canyon Sam is a fourth generation San Franciscan, an activist, writer, and performance artist. She was involved with and published widely in the LGBT community in the 80s, and the same with the international human rights community in the 90s, publishing in the Buddhist press. She was a naturally acclaimed solo performance theater artist who toured the US and Canada. Her creative nonfiction book blending travel narrative, oral history and reportage and introduced with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, Sky Train Tibetan Women on the Edge of History (University of Washington, 2009) won the Pen American Center Open Book Award.

Phil Williams Ph.D. has lived in San Francisco since emigrating from England in 1970. Trained as a Civil Engineer at University College London, Phil founded a San Francisco consulting firm in 1976 that pioneered environmental restoration of rivers and wetlands. He was an advisor to many environmental groups working on California water issues, leading him to establish the International Rivers Network in Berkeley to support similar groups protecting rivers around the world. Phil has authored many peer reviewed scientific papers, as well as general interest articles in media like Civil Engineering, New Scientist, LA Times, and the Guardian. After he retired he taught environmental restoration as a Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley; now he is trying his hand at autobiographical writing as a member of the MI’s non- fiction writing group. Phil has been a Mechanics Institute member for the last 40 years.

Richard Zitrin, emeritus law professor and retired trial attorney, is the author of four books, including The Moral Compass of the American Lawyer: Truth, Justice, Power & Greed (Ballantine, 1999), and Trial Lawyer: A Life Representing People Against Power (Political Animal Press, 2022). He has published over 100 articles on the law, race and equality, current events, and sports, including in the New York Times (3 letters), the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the National Law Journal, the ABA Journal, and the Sporting News. His author pages are at https://www.richardzitrin.com/.

Cancellation Policy

We reserve the right to cancel at any time and issue a full refund. If you are unable to attend this event, please email [email protected] or call 415-393-0103 by Thursday, November 7, 2024, to receive a full refund less any non-refundable ticketing fees which may be applicable. All fees must be paid at the time of registration. After Thursday, November 7, 2024, no refunds will be issued.

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute