If you’re inspired by Oakland and also love the feeling of sinking into a soft chair with a good book, then you won’t want to miss the next installment of The Oaklandside’s Culture Makers, our live event series celebrating the local creatives who make our town unique.
The Oaklandside’s Culture Makers
Where: The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th St., Oakland
When: March 19, doors at 6 p.m, program begins at 6:30 p.m sharp. A book sale and signing will take place after the show at 8 p.m.
On Thursday, March 19, from 6:30–8:00 pm at The New Parkway Theater, The Oaklandside’s arts and community reporter Azucena Rasilla will be in conversation with two Oakland authors and a longtime publisher and bookseller who are doing their part to quench the thirst of local bibliophiles.
Oakland resident Jasmine Guillory is a New York Times bestselling author of six romance novels, including The Wedding Date, The Proposal, and While We Were Dating. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine; Cosmopolitan; Bon Appetit; and Time.
Oakland writer Carolina Ixta’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Shut Up, This Is Serious, was a Morris Award finalist, an LA Times Book Prize finalist, and the winner of the Pura Belpré Award. Parade Magazine named the book one of the 101 best young adult novels of all time. Her sophomore novel, Few Blue Skies, was released by Harper Collins on Feb. 3.
J.K. Fowler founded Nomadic Press in 2011, a community-rooted publishing house headquartered in Oakland that paused operations in 2023. It reemerged this year in a different form, as Nomadic Bookshop, “a nonprofit community home for books, events, workshops” and more, in Uptown.
Together, we’ll explore their creative journeys, what inspires their work, and how place, identity, and community shape the stories they tell.
Oakland poet Myra Estrada performs at the Oakland Public Library. Photo courtesy of Estrada
The evening will also feature a poetry performance by Myra Estrada, a former Oakland Youth Poet Laureate who has performed across the Bay Area in spaces including the DeYoung Museum, Ella Baker Center, Youth Speaks, and The Oakland Public Library.
Stay after the conversation to meet the guests, get your books signed, and connect with fellow readers. Books will be available for purchase on site courtesy of Nomadic Bookshop.
Come be part of an evening that celebrates storytelling in all its forms—and the communities that make those stories possible.
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