At the Octopus Literary Salon — Women Reading Stories About Women

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Looking for a literary Mother’s Day gift for the mothers in your life? Stop by the Octopus Literary Salon on Saturday to hear some local women read from their books and poetry and get some inspiration and maybe books to celebrate the day.

The event is sponsored by the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, and a half dozen or so writers and poets will be there with their books. Some of us  will be reading from our work, so it’s bound to be a lively event.

If I get a chance to read, it won’t be from my book, “Wrestling with God.” It will be from what I hope will be my next book: a collection of essays I wrote as a columnist for the Oakland Tribune when Peter and Christina were busy little kids, Jon was working 50 high-pressure hours a week, and I was holding down what felt like two full-time jobs — one at the Tribune and one at home.

The theme of the Saturday event is women in relationships, so right now I’m planning on reading one about taking Christina, age 7, to the old Emporium store’s lingerie department to give her a first-hand lesson in why she should never, ever wear a girdle. Or maybe I’ll read the one about my mother’s last words to me before she died . . . or the one about my glamorous Aunt Grace. We’ll see.

Other writers presenting at the Octopus Literary Salon include Aline Soules, Mary Volmer, Mary Mackey, Marylee MacDonald, Elise Collins and Lynn Goodwin. Bring your mother, your daughter, your sister, your BFF.

The Octopus Literary Salon, btw, looks like an interesting place in its own right. Check it out.

Members of the Women’s National Book Association San Francisco Chapter will read about women in relationships from 4-6:00 pm, Saturday, May 12, at the Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster Street, Oakland.

For some of those old Tribune columns, go to “Death Is the Only Guarantee.”  Also, “Am I Scotch?* — Or Midwestern?”

More about the writing life at “Write Another Book? I Dunno.”