Barry Gifford and Greg Rucka at Writers With Drinks!

San Francisco's longest running reading series is back -- with comics/thriller writer Greg Rucka and David Lynch collaborator Barry Gifford!

When: Saturday, May 12, 2012, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM
Who: Greg Rucka, Barry Gifford, Terry Johnson, Elena Rose and Liz Henry!
Where: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St., San Francisco
How much: $5 to $10 sliding scale, all proceeds benefit the CSC.

About the readers/performers:

Barry Gifford’s books include The Phantom Father, named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; Wyoming, named a Los Angeles Times Novel of the Year, and which has been adapted for the stage and film; The Sinaloa Story; The Rooster Trapped in the Reptile Room: A Barry Gifford Reader; Do the Blind Dream?; and The Stars Above Veracruz. His book Night People was awarded the Premio Brancati in Italy, and he has been the recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. David Lynch’s film Wild at Heart, which was based on Gifford’s novel, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, and his novel Perdita Durango was made into a feature film by Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia in 1997. Barry Gifford co-wrote with director David Lynch the film Lost Highway (1997); he also co-wrote with director Matt Dillon the film City of Ghosts (2003), as well as the libretto for Ichiro Nodaira’s opera, Madrugada (2005). His most recent books are The Cavalry Charges (essays), and Memories from a Sinking Ship (fiction).

Greg Rucka is the author of nearly a dozen novels, six featuring bodyguard Atticus Kodiak, and two featuring Tara Chace, the protagonist of his Queen & Country series. Additionally, he has penned several short-stories, countless comics, and the occasional non-fiction essay. In comics, he has had the opportunity to write stories featuring some of the world’s best-known characters—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—as well as penning several creator-owned properties himself, such as Whiteout and Queen & Country, both published by Oni Press. His work has been optioned several times over, and his services are in high-demand in a variety of creative fields as a story-doctor and creative consultant.

Terry Johnson is the co-author of How to Defeat Your Own Clone, with Kyle Kurpinski. He teaches bioengineering at UC Berkeley and wrote the "Ask a Biogeek" column for io9.

Elena Rose co-curates the Girl Talk spoken word series, writes online as “Little Light,” and travels the country as a preacher and poet. Her work has turned up everywhere from college classrooms to bathroom mirrors to protest marches, in magazines including Aorta and Make/Shift, and on the acclaimed spoken-word album It Is Better to Speak! Rose is currently finishing her first book, Mountain of Myrrh, forthcoming from Dinah Press, and attends seminary in Northern California.

Liz Henry's books of poetry include Unruly Islands, Mother Frankenstein, artless, Woodbird Jazzophone and Short. She's also published several collections of poetry translations, including Toward an Anthology of Spanish American Women Poets, 1880 – 1930. She also co-edited the poetry anthology Cuts from the Barbershop.

About Writers With Drinks:

Writers With Drinks won "Best Literary Night" from the SF Bay Guardian readers' poll six years in a row and was named "Best Literary Drinking" by the SF Weekly. And it was namechecked in Armistead Maupin's latest Tales of the City novel. The spoken word "variety show" mixes genres to raise money for local worthy causes. The award-winning show includes poetry, stand-up comedy, science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, literary fiction, erotica, memoir, zines and blogs in a freewheeling format.