Babylon Salon
@babylonsalon.bsky.social
San Francisco's premier reading & performance series since 2007! www.babylonsalon.com
"A propulsive debut. . . . von Blanckensee pulls the reader in with this voice-driven & heartfelt narrative, then adds gritty details of 1990s San Francisco" ~Publishers Weekly Check out this Vogue interview & get excited to hear Shoshana read from GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS this Sat 9/12! babylonsalon.com
Shoshana von Blanckensee on Her Glowing, Gay Gem of a Debut Novel, ‘Girls Girls Girls’
vogue.com
💟 With an undying love of dinosaurs & a practice of wandering the woods, T.K. Rex is our kind of writer! Check out this fantastic review of T.K.'s new book THE WILDCRAFT DRONES & get stoked to hear them read this Sat, 9/12 at Babylon @ The Sycamore! Doors, 5pm. Reading, 5:30. www.babylonsalon.com
The Wildcraft Drones by T. K. Rex
Speculative fiction is able to imagine interaction with the other not as something horrific but as something positive for all.
strangehorizons.com
"A firecracker. JUNE MARTIN bursts onto the scene w/ this surreal comic novel, a book w/ heart, soul & viscera" ~Isaac Fellman (Dead Collections) Check out this stellar review & get stoked to hear June read from LOVE/AGGRESSION this Sat, 9/12! www.babylonsalon.com @theworldsgreatestwriter.com
Love/Aggression: a review
This madcap novel is a sugar-rush of situational absurdity, wicked satire, hallucinatory imagery, and maximally burlesque characters.
medium.com
We're so excited to welcome @vanessahua.bsky.social, a nationally bestselling author, former SF Chronicle columnist & all-star literary citizen to Babylon this Sat, 9/12! Check out this gorgeous excerpt from Vanessa's latest, COYOTELAND, & get stoked to hear her read this Sat. www.babylonsalon.com
Coyoteland
Days after Ana Rodriguez started working for the Belles, feeding the chickens had become a part of the morning routine: her bosses’ youngest daughter, Jordan, would fetch a scoop of pellets from th…
lithub.com
On Sat, Sept. 12, Babylon celebrates these 5 AMAZING #writers: ⭐ Vanessa Hua ⭐ June Martin ⭐ TK Rex ⭐ Shoshana von Blanckensee ⭐ Beth Winegarner Doors at 5pm, reading, 5:30. Admission is free! At The Sycamore SF (near 16th St BART). www.babylonsalon.com @thewritersgrotto.bsky.social #writing
💥Our summer Babylon Salon on Sat night was amazing -- & the house was packed! Many MANYthanks to the 4 #authors who wowed us w/ their work: Portia Elan [Homebound], Heidi Kasa [A Bullet Takes Forever), Samantha Kimmey [The Extremities], & Jesus Sierra [At Times of Loss and Other Cuban Stories]! ❤️ ❤️
As the Southern Review of Books says, Bernardo Wade’s new #book of #poetry A LOVE TAP stops you in your tracks & gives you chills in the best possible ways. We can’t wait to hear Bernardo read at Babylon tomorrow, 6/13 @ 5;30pm. At our usual stomping grounds, The Sycamore! www.babylonsaloncom
“A Love Tap”: A Tender, Visceral Debut
At the core of this collection is Wade’s complex relationship with his father, whose presence is at once both painful and familiar.
southernreviewofbooks.com
Jesus Sierra is such an anchor in the Bay Area #literary community! We love his insightful #essay in @altajournal.bsky.social on Manuel Muñoz's short #story “Anyone Can Do It.” We're thrilled to welcome Jesus to Babylon Salon this Saturday, June 13 at 5:30pm! www.babylonsalon.com #writing
Unpredictable Places in ‘The Consequences’
The short story “Anyone Can Do It” in Manuel Muñoz’s collection, the February CBC selection, illuminates immigrant hardship.
altaonline.com
💥“I think it’s safe to say that the book is a little strange. A little offbeat..." We love strange. We love offbeat. ❤️ So check out this glowing write-up & get stoked to hear Bay Area author Samantha Kimmey read from THE EXTREMITIES! This Sat, 6/13, 5:30pm at The Sycamore! www.babylonsalon.com
Atypical Type, Pt. Reyes Author Samantha Kimmey’s ‘The Extremities!’ | Pacific Sun
Pt. Reyes author Samantha Kimmey's debut novel, the The Extremities!, plunges readers into the world of a newspaper reporter who loses the ability to type.
pacificsun.com
#Poet & speculative #fiction #author, Heidi Kasa, talks about trusting her own voice in this great conversation on NJ Knight's "Punk Rock, Art Deco" substack. 🌿 ❤️ Give it a read & get excited to meet Heidi at Babylon this Sat, 6/13 at our favorite spot, The Sycamore! www.babylonsalon.com
Chapter IX: Poetry & Flash Fiction
In Which Heidi Kasa Talks Art School, Motherhood and How To Create During the Horrors
njknightbooks.substack.com
Please join us this Sat, June 13 as we celebrate these 5 amazing authors: ⭐ Portia Elan ⭐ Heidi Kasa ⭐ Samantha Kimmey ⭐ Jesus Sierra ⭐ Bernado Wade Doors, 5pm, show starts promptly at 5:30pm. As always, admission is free! www.babylonsaloncom
"Portia Elan’s "Homebound" is a hymn to found families--the kin we choose rather than inherit--& it’s fitting that it reads that way, assembled from allegiances." ~The Guardian Come hear @portiaelan.bsky.social & 4 other amazing authors read at Babylon this Sat, 6/13 @ 5:30! www.babylonsalon.com.
🌟 Incredible Babylon Salon last night featuring 5 Bay Area legends: ⚡Charlie Jane Anderson/@charliejane.bsky.social ⚡Grayson Thompson ⚡Grant Faulkner/@gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social ⚡Lauren C Johnson/ @laurencjohnson.bsky.social ⚡Mark Ernest Pothier Sending HUGE thanks to each of them! 💜💚💙 #writer
🐊Check out this gorgeous interview w/ poet Grayson Thompson about his new book A CONGREGATION OF ALLIGATORS, in Foglifter Journal! www.foglifterjournal.com/grayson-thom... Then join us TOMORROW Sat, 3/14 as we celebrate Grayson & 4 other amazing authors at Babylon Salon! 💜www.babylonsalon.com
🌙 We're over the MOON to celebrate our very own Lauren C. Johnson at Babylon on 3/14! Her debut #novel THE WEST FACADE is a deeply empathetic #book, "full of very relatable human wants & worries." ❤️ 🌀 The full review: unrulyfigures.substack.com/.../book-rev.... Info: www.babylonsalon.com #writer
📚What happens when a #writer picks up a #photo & follows his imagination? ✍️📸 For @gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social, this inspired his 7th book “something out there in the distance” Come Grant read from this “flash novel of super-short stories" @ Babylon on Mar 14! ❤️ www.berkeleyside.org/2026/02/23/b...
What isn’t Berkeley flash fiction master Grant Faulkner doing next?
Plus, in other new Berkeley books: Michael Pollan on consciousness — and a deeply researched novel about two famed women pirates of history.
berkeleyside.org
"Charlie Jane Anders writes the kind of stories that break your heart & expand your mind simultaneously. @charliejane.bsky.social is a true literary gem. I am a proud fan.” ~Janelle Monáe 🙌 What A Blurb! 🙌 We're thrilled to host Charlie Jane Anders @ Babylon Salon on Sat, Mar. 14! Deets above!
🌱🪻Our Mar. 14 Babylon Salon features 5 fabulous writers! ⭐ Charlie Jane Anders ⭐ Grant Faulkner ⭐ Mark Ernest Pothier ⭐ Grayson Thompson ⭐ And our very own Lauren Johnson! Bay Area friends, come on out to The Sycamore @ 5:30pm. As always, our shows are free! ❤️ www.babylonsalon.com
💥 Film & TV-lovers rejoice! We're thrilled to welcome @weegee.bsky.social/Kevin Smokler to Babylon tonite! 🎥🎞️ Kevin's author of Break the Frame: Conversations with Women Filmmakers & director of the films VINYL NATION and MIDDLE GROUNDS.🎬 Join us @ The Sycamore for drinks at 5pm, reading's at 5:30!
🐉 🔥 We are so excited to hear Aimee Phan /@aimeephan.bsky.social Phan read from her soaring novel THE LOST QUEEN at this Sat's Babylon! If you love coming of age stories, dragon myths & books about girls w/ "too much fire & will," you'll love THE LOST QUEEN! Show's @5:30pm. And free! (Info above) ❤️
✴️ Lori Ostlund/@loriostlund.bsky.social is an absolute rock #star! We cannot wait to hear her share from her new #book "Are You Happy?" at Babylon Salon this Saturday, 12/6 @5:30pm! (Info above) ⭐⭐ Here's the starred review from Publishers Weekly www.publishersweekly.com/978166260302.... #writer
“Earthquake Shack is a love letter to the San Francisco of our past, present, and future, not to mention a rollicking ride with a vibrant cast of characters. Fun, queer & unforgettable.” ~Brittany Newell, author of Soft Core Help us welcome #author Susie Hara to Babylon this Sat nite! Deets above
💥 This Sat Dec 6, Babylon Salon proudly presents: Susie Hara [Earthquake Shack], Lori Ostlund [Are You Happy?], Aimee Phan [The Lost Queen], & Kevin Smokler [Break the Frame]! Come out for drinks at The Sycamore at 5pm. Reading at 5:30. We'd love to see you! ❤️ Deets: www.babylonsalon.com
❤️ VAST thanks to our readers on Sept 13 who made this show one of our best! 💥 Ann Cummins 💥 Tomas Moniz 💥 Peter Mountford 💥 M.M. Olivas 💥 & our very own Maury Zeff! We -- and everyone in the very full audience -- appreciate you and your work! ❤️
💥"We’re all surrounded by the ways we are told we should be, how #women should act, how Mexicans should be, what types of #queerness are valid—it’s all bullshit!" ~M.M. Olivas This interview w/Olivas about her #story "¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror" is what we all need. Come hear her TONITE 9/13!💥
Interview: M. M. Olivas - Uncanny Magazine
M. Olivas is an alumna of the 2022 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop and the 2023 Under the Volcano Writers Residency. She received her bachelor’s degree in creative writing from t...
uncannymagazine.com
"Mountford has a gift for creating crystalline articulations of the messiness inside us. I loved these #stories." ~Karen Russell, on Peter Mountford's new collection, Detonator! Check out this interview, then come Peter read at Babylon this Sat, 9/13 @5:30pm! www.petermountford.com/interviews?f...
💥 Tomas Moniz is truly a legendary reader! 💥 This whole conversation between Tomas & Genevieve Hudson in BOMB Magazine is a lesson on craft. Give it a read & get excited to hear Tomas share his work at Babylon Salon this Sat, Sept 13 at The Sycamore! www.babylonsalon.com. 💜
BOMB Magazine | Tomas Moniz by Genevieve Hudson
Experimental forms on friendship, fluid sexuality, and playful love.
bombmagazine.org