Past Writers Read Events
Fallbrook’s Writers Read
Wednesday 12 November 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
November’s featured writer is Patty Campbell, co-editor of War Is… Soldiers, Survivors and Storytellers Talk About War. Read more below.
Hosted by Cafe des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook
Enter the Cafe from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
Supported by Fallbrook independent bookseller The Book Nook, 760-731-2665.
Award-winning young adult genre writer and editor Patty Campbell, of Fallbrook, co-edited the recently published anthology, “War Is… Soldiers, Survivors and Storytellers Talk About War,” with Marc Aronson. Campbell will read from her introduction and the collection, which reflects the editors’ opposing viewpoints on the nature of war.
Aronson thinks war is inevitable; Campbell thinks war is wrong; but they agree teens need to hear truthful voices of those who have experienced war firsthand. The result is a selection of essays, memoirs, letters and fiction by writers such as Ernie Pyle, Christian Bauman, Mark Twain, Chris Hedges, Fumiko Miura, a soldier who writes a miliblog and others. The divergent pieces look war straight in the face and provide an invaluable resource for teenagers considering military service and for their parents.
“War is…” will be available for purchase at the reading.
The featured reading will be following by an open mic session for anyone eager to share his or her original short fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. Open mic readers have five minutes each.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read, Wed 17 December 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The featured writer is poet, essayist and artist Karen Cunagin. Read more below.
Hosted by Cafe des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook
Enter the Cafe from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
Supported by Fallbrook independent bookseller The Book Nook, 760-731-2665.
Karen Cunagin is a writer, telling her stories with words on paper and in cloth. In 1992 she received a BA from UC Riverside where she first began refining her word craft in poetry. Most of her good words are presently used writing patterns, but she keeps a blog and enjoys composing essays that challenge her students to take little risks that lead to important life decisions. She will read poetry and essays.
Cunagin is also an artist, teaching color and design in the fiber arts for two San Diego community colleges. The themes in her art revolve around the small world of family, the garden and spiritual work. Although most of her textile compositions are machine sewn, she spends hours hand finishing each piece with beads and sequins and vintage trim. Her work has been shown in Visions: The Art Quilt 2006, regional juried shows and international publications.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read, Wed 14 January 2009 , 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Featuring Jincy Willett
Please note: 5:30 to 6:00 4th through 8th graders read
6:00 to 6:45 Featured writer and Q&A Jincy Willett
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic for adults and high school students
January’s featured writer is novelist Jincy Willett, author of “The Writing Class,” “Winner of the National Book Award,” “Jenny and the Jaws of Life” and short stories published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Read more about Willett below.
Writers Read is hosted by Café des Artistes at 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, and supported by independent bookseller, The Book Nook (760-731-2665). Enter the Café from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
The featured reading will be following by an open mic session for anyone eager to share his or her original fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. Open mic readers have five minutes each; if there’s adequate time, folks may have a second five minutes.
Jincy Willett’s website describes her as “An aging, bitter, unpleasant woman living in Escondido, California, who spends her days parsing the sentences of total strangers and her nights teaching and writing. Sometimes, late at night, in the dark, she laughs inappropriately.”
I can’t attest to the accuracy of the description, but it does miss some points. Willett has an uncommon gift for writing funny, for writing poignant, for cultural commentary wrapped in wit and barbed wire.
She will be reading from “The Writing Class,” published in June 2008. Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about it: Can a class of wannabe novelists solve a murder in their midst? That’s the premise of this dark comedy of the absurd from Willett, a boisterous satire of pseudointellectuals, impotent writers and the adult extension programs of public universities. The only things Amy Gallup, a once-noted California author, has published in years are blurbs of other writers’ work. Amy’s only income comes from teaching fiction writing to a motley collection of varyingly talented prepublished adults. Someone in the class is making threatening phone calls and sending extremely cruel notes to other students. When two of the students are murdered, a deep sense of danger takes hold. Yet the class goes on. Amy’s lectures actually constitute a damn fine guide to writing fiction, while Willett’s prose has sparkling moments (The line was playful, offhand, the poem itself a smug, imperious cat stretch). The tension is so strong that readers can hardly resist the temptation to peek ahead and see which student is the killer.
“The Writing Class” and other books by Willett will be available at the reading for purchase.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read, Wed 11 February 2009 , 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Slam Poet Chris Vannoy
Please note: 5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Chris Vannoy, followed by Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic
Chris Vannoy is a San Diego-based poet and co-author of “Twenty Poems Against Love,” a collection of poems and photographs. He has read at events up and down the West Coast, including the Artists On The Cutting Edge, a series organized by Quincy Troupe and sponsored by University of California San Diego. Vannoy was on the first slam team from San Diego to perform at the West Cost Regional Slams in Big Sur and was on the first San Diego team to go to the national slam in Seattle, Washington. He is also a winner of the Full Moon Poetry Slam at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas. Vannoy is currently running The Drunk Poets Society readings at Winston’s in Ocean Beach, California.
Writers Read is hosted by Café des Artistes
at 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, and supported by independent bookseller, The Book Nook (760-731-2665).
Enter the Café from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents: Telling Women’s Tales
A Special Open Mic Reading Celebrating Women’s History Month
Wednesday 11 March 2009, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Writers Read is hosted by Café des Artistes at 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, and supported by independent bookseller, the Book Nook (760-731-2665). Enter the Café from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Author and Poet Terry Hertzler
Wednesday 08 April 2009, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes, 103 S. Main, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Terry Hertzler reading and Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Terry Hertzler is the author of The Way of the Snake, a book of poetry on the Vietnam War, Second Skin: Stories and Poems and several other books of poetry and fiction. His work has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, and his poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology, In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet’s Portable Workshop, North American Review, Margie, Nimrod, and the Los Angeles Times — and his work has been produced on stage and for radio and television. He owns Caernarvon Press in San Diego, and Hertzler served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, 1969-1970.
Writers Read is hosted by Café des Artistes at 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, and supported by independent bookseller, the Book Nook (760-731-2665). Enter the Café from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Bestselling Author T. Jefferson Parker
Wednesday 13 May, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes, 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 T. Jefferson Parker reads from his new novel, The Renegades, followed by a Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of crime novels for those who love to read. His books are fast, fun, generous of character and rich with Southern California details that make locals feel right at home and nudge others to go West.
Parker has twice won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best Novel, for Silent Joe and California Girl. His first novel, Laguna Heat, made the New York Times bestseller list in 1986 and was made into an HBO film in 1987. Four subsequent novels made the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, two of them topping the list at number one, Red Lightand Silent Joe.
Since moving to Fallbrook, locations around the county have worked their way into Parker’s novels, including Cold Pursuit, The Fallen, Storm Runners and L.A. Outlaws. Several of Parker’s books will be available at the reading for purchase and signing by the author.
Writers Read is hosted by Café des Artistes at 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, and supported by independent bookseller, the Book Nook (760-731-2665). Enter the Café from the rear parking lot behind Main Street.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kbgressitt@aol.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Come Out of the Closet and Read!
Wednesday 10 June, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m
Mural by Brett Stokes
Mural by Brett Stokes
An All Open Mic Night
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open (enter from the rear of the building, off the parking lot), supper menu available
6:00 to 7:30 Open mic: Drag your musings, your late-night poetry, your fabulous fiction out of the closet and give yourself the gift of an audience.
In recognition of the CA Supreme Court’s recent failure to rule in favor of marriage equality, we encourage sharing work about living gay or having LGBT family members or friends in your life.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
The Poetry of Marte Bröehm and R.D. Skaff
Wednesday 15 July, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes, 103 S. Main St, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Featured poets read
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Marte Bröehm is an educator, visual artist and poet. She was born and raised in Wisconsin, but after 36 years in California she is practically native. Her poems have appeared in The Pedestal Magazine, Perigee, the Magee Park Poetry Anthology and the San Diego Poetry Annual.
When R.D. Skaff (better known as Duke) moved to Carlsbad in 2003, she returned to her writing roots, this time inspired by her proximity to the sea. Her more recent poems have been published in American Pen Women Winning Poetry and Haiku,Today’s Alternative News, the last three editions of The San Diego Poetry Annualand the Magee Park Poetry Anthology. Her poetry was also included in a Poets Inc. Art Summation Exhibition.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
Spoken Word Artist Brandon Cesmat
Wednesday 09 September
Café des Artistes, 103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Brandon Cesmat reads
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
ONTHEBUS has described Brandon Cesmat‘s book Driven into the Shade as a “Califor-noir,” the story of a So-Cal son who grows into a father, learning that some of the darkest shadows fall in the land where the sun shines brightest. Driven into the Shade received a San Diego Book Award for Best Poetry.
Cesmat has also won a San Diego Book Award for fiction, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work appears in ONTHEBUS, Homestead Review, Pemmican, Red River Review, Weber: The Contemporary West and ROADSpoetry. Cesmat’s two most recent books are Light in All Directions and When Pigs Fall in Love & Other Stories.
Cesmat teaches writing and film studies at Cal State San Marcos. He also serves on the advisory board of California Poets in the Schools (CPITS), the largest artist-residency program in the United States.
As a performer, Cesmat redefines the boundaries of the “spoken word artist.” He is the poet-vocalist in the performance ensemble Drought Buoy and has received first prize in the Poetry of Music anthology (Palabra Productions). In 2008, his songs were featured in the Writers Who Play showcase in New York.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Poet and Musician John Amen
Wednesday 07 October, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 John Amen reading
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
John Amen is the author of a new collection of poetry, At the Threshold of Alchemy, released by Presa this year. He has two other collections of poetry, Christening the Dancer (Uccelli Press 2003) and More of Me Disappears (Cross-Cultural Communications 2005), and has released two folk-folk rock CDs, All I’ll Never Need (Cool Midget 2004) and Ridiculous Empire (2008). Amen’s poetry has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including, Rattle, The New York Quarterly, The International Poetry Review, Gargoyle, and Blood to Remember. He founded and continues to edit the award-winning literary bimonthly, The Pedestal Magazine. Amen is also an artist, working primarily with acrylics on canvas.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Poet Robt O’Sullivan Schleith
Tuesday 10 November, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:30 Robt O’Sullivan Schleith reading
6:30 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Robt O’Sullivan Schleith currently hosts a monthly reading through Escondido Arts Partnership at the Municipal Art Gallery downtown (www.escondidoarts.org). He hosted the Poetsperformance readings in San Diego until 2003, and is the (retired) founder of the San Diego Poetry Slam, and editor of the Joe’s Journal andDrift Wood Highway series of poetry anthologies, which ran from 1998 through 2002. His poems have appeared in print with Dan River Press, North Woods Press,Northern Virginia Review, City Works, the San Diego Poetry Annual and The Philosophical Library’s Paths. His poems have appeared online at Poetry SuperHighway, Map of Austin Poetry, the Muse Apprentice Guild and Sun Runner Magazine.
Robt publishes under his mother’s name, O’Sullivan, and his stepfather’s name, Schleith, to honor both of them with his writing.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Bestselling Author Jan Burke
Tuesday 08 December, 6:00 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Jan Burke reading and book signing
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Bestselling and critically acclaimed author Jan Burke has written twelve novels and a collection of short stories. The Messenger, a supernatural thriller, is her newest 
book. Her novels of crime fiction, many featuring reporter Irene Kelly, include Flight, Bloodlines and Bones,which won the Edgar® for Best Novel. Her books have been on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, and have been published internationally and optioned for film and television. Her stories have won the Agatha, Macavity, and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Awards. A forensic science advocate, Jan founded the nonprofit Crime Lab Project.
From the age of seven, Jan knew she wanted to write. She completed her first novel, Goodnight, Irene in the evenings after work. It was sold unagented and unsolicited to Simon & Schuster. The debut novel received a surprising boost when, during his first White House interview after taking office, President Bill Clinton said he was reading Goodnight, Irene.
Learn more about Jan at her blog, Is this thing on?
Our special thanks to Mysterious Galaxy Books for providing Jan Burke’s books for sale and signing at the reading. You can reach Mysterious Galaxy at 858-268-4747.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents All Open Mic Night
Celebrate a New Year of Words!
Mural by Brett Stokes
Mural by Brett Stokes
Thursday 14 January, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
T. Jefferson Parker and his new novel Iron River
Thursday 11 February, 5:30 p.m. 
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper seating is sold out, but ample seating for those not dining is available on a first-come, first-served basis
6:00 to 7:30 T. Jefferson Parker reading, Q&A and book signing
In T. Jefferson Parker’s new novel, Iron River, detective Charlie Hood is running the California-Mexico border with the ATF, searching for the iron river — the massive and illegal flow of handguns and automatic weapons that fuels the bloody cartel wars south of the border. Gunrunners by nature aren’t exactly ethical, but the lengths they’ll go to, and the innocent lives they’ll risk, are shocking even to Hood. Most shocking of all is the close personal connection Hood finds wrapped up in events south of the border — a connection that shakes him to his core!
Parker immerses Hood in the very real, dangerous and lawless place along the U.S.-Mexican border, giving us a window into the current problems law enforcement from San Diego to Corpus Christi face everyday.
Join Parker and his Southern California fans for an evening of reading and discussion with the author. Iron River will be available for purchase and signing.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
Our special thanks to Mysterious Galaxy Books for providing T. Jefferson Parker’s books for sale and signing at the reading.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents Author Terry Spohn
Thursday 11 March, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 7:30 Terry Spohn reading, followed by open mic
Terry Spohn has an MFA from the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa and lives with his wife, Dionne, in Escondido. His short fiction, prose poems, and poetry have appeared in Ascent, Grub Street, Mississippi Review, North American Review, Oyster Boy Quarterly, Eclectica, and other magazines, and his poems have appeared in three anthologies.
Contact: Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Calling All Closet Writers:
Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents All Open Mic Night
Come Out of the Closet and Read!
Thursday 08 April, 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 7:30 Open mic – in or out of the closet, share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
Comic Fiction Author Dan McClenaghan
Thursday 13 May, 5:30 p.m. 
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Dan McClenaghan reading and Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Dan McClenaghan is an award-winning fiction author, with the gift for making his readers laugh and wince — and enjoy every second of both. Dan’s short stories have been published by Pearl, Wormwood Review, The Bridge, New York Quarterly, Tidepools and Turbula.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
Author Lew Decker
Thursday 10 June 5:30 p.m.
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Lew Decker reading and Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
Lew Decker is a veteran, a blue water sailor (he worked in the Caribbean charter trade), a world traveler, a retired educator (he taught for sixteen years at the middle school level in Escondido) and author of Fingerprints… a coffeehouse reader, a collection of autobiographical essays. Lew’s writing is evocative and generous, as it shares his visions of far-flung lands and seas — and the wisdom he has gleaned from them. He has written for Cruising World, Latitudes & Attitudes and CQ. Lew is working on his first novel, Alligator Food.
Fingerprints will be available for sale and signing by the author.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents
Poet Mai Lon Gittelsohn
Thursday 08 July 2010
Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available
6:00 to 6:45 Mai Lon Gittelsohn reading and Q&A
6:45 to 7:30 Open mic – share your original poetry or prose or relax and listen to others
A fifth Chinese daughter, Mai Lon Gittelsohn is also a poet and writing teacher. She lives in Del Mar where she leads classes of seniors in memoir writing. An elementary school teacher in Del Mar for twenty-three years, she now enjoys writing in Harry Griswold’s poetry workshop and singing with Villa Musica. Her poems have appeared in the Paterson Literary Review and in the San Diego Poetry Annual.
For more information, contact Kit-Bacon at kb@kbgressitt.com or 760-522-1064.
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