LAST CALL FOR BOOZE ‘N’ SCI-FI!

Yes, cows and cowboys, today’s the big day. You DO NOT want to miss this one: the big Yay Area fundraiser for the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholaraship.

The lineup is kickass:

Nalo Hopkinson will be there, she of the interesting hybrid accent, straight from Toronto, author of two of my favorite books: Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robber (wouldn’t it be cool if she did a sequel to Brown Girl in the Ring and called it Tralalalala?)

Jewelle Gomez will be there, in all her former grantor glory! Four words: lesbian escaped slave vampires. I know that’s enough.

Guillermo Gomez-Peña will be there, mixing it up, literally, linguistically, futuristically, and poetically. A MacArthur Genius. Heh, like Octavia. Now how often do you get to see geniuses?

Susie Bright will be there, erotica’in like there’s no tomorrow. Really, do you want to miss the woman who is the nation’s true expert on sex fiction? I think not.

Marta Acosta will be there, and can someone please explain to me what could possibly be wrong with Latina vampire chicklit? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Jennifer de Guzman will be there. Comix goddess, yes. That’s “Woman of Color Comix Editor” to you, sucka, Ms. de Guzman if yer nasty.

So you see why you can’t miss out.

Here’s the info again:

The Carl Brandon Society presents an

Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser

with readings by

Nalo Hopkinson
Jewelle Gomez
Susie Bright
Marta Acosta
Jennifer de Guzman
and
Guillermo Gomez-Peña

A fundraiser reading to benefit the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship.
Fabulous fabulists honor one of our great writers and raise funds for the next generation.

Sunday, March 4, 5 – 7 pm

The Starry Plough
3101 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA.
510-841-2082
http://www.starryploughpub.com/

$5-20 sliding scale.

The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship will enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops, where Octavia got her start. It is meant to cement Octavia’s legacy by providing the same experience/opportunity that Octavia had to future generations of new writers of color. In addition to her stint as a student at the original Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in 1970, Octavia taught several times for Clarion West in Seattle, Washington, and Clarion in East Lansing, Michigan, giving generously of her time to a cause she believed in.