Our Publications
PEN Oakland periodically publishes various anthologies that raise awareness and funds to support any number of global projects. The titles listed below are now available.
A PEN Oakland Anthology: FIGHTIN’ WORDS with Heyday Books
25 Years of Provocative Poetry and Prose From "The Blue-Collar Pen"
Energy crackles through PEN Oakland’s new collection of poetry and prose, in which 125 works distill radical politics and the need for social justice into passionate literature. Pieces span the spectrum of human emotion: from rage, as in Floyd Salas’s declamation against torture, to grief in CB Follett’s “Words to the Mother Whose Son Shot My Son,” to joy and contentment in the work of California poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. They range in subject from Kitty Kelley’s exposé of the revenge tactics of George H. W. Bush to Paul Krassner’s account of the night Ken Kesey invited him to a Grateful Dead concert at the pyramids of Giza. Featuring works by luminaries such as Rebecca Solnit and MacArthur Fellow Ishmael Reed as well as writers you will be glad to meet for the first time, Fightin’ Words bears witness to a vibrant American literary tradition well outside mainstream consciousness.
Advance Praise
“A tide of swelling voices that dare to speak up against the confines of official narratives and connect with the growing silenced masses.”—Genny Lim, author of Paper Gods and Rebels
“Literary artists who otherwise would be below the radar of exposure have PEN Oakland to thank for relentless cultural activism on our behalf.”—Eugene B. Redmond, founding editor, Drumvoices Revue
“Lyrical insight and the arc of human thought for a new and possible world create this amazing anthology.”—Nina Serrano, host of KPFA’s Open Book: Poet to Poet
Paperback, 6 x 9, 216 pagesISBN: 978-0-615-96797-4
Price: $18.00
The anthology includes the works of:
Paul Krassner
Floyd Salas
Richard Prince
Norman Mailer
Clive Matson
Al Young
Kim McMillon
Neeli Cherkovski
Steve Dalachinsky
Rafael Jesus Gonzalez
Eric Miles
Jack & Adele Foley
John Cur
Jack Hirschman
CB Follett
Mona Lisa Saloy
Michael McClure
A.D. Winans
Rebecca Solnit
Barry Spector
Avotcja Devereaux Baker
Andrea Zawinski
Lucille Lang Day
Sharon Doubiago
Tony R. Rodriguez
Tennessee Reed
Kirk Lumpkin
Claire Ortalda
Koon Woon
Kitty Kelley
Ishmael Reed
Gerald Nicosia
Herbert Gold
Judith Cody
Susan Suntree
Lucha Corpi
Kathleen de Azevedo
J.P. Dancing Bear
Francisco X. Alarcon
Adam David Miller
Juan Felipe
Gerald Haslam
Devereaux Baker
Oakland Out Loud: Poetry and Prose in Celebration of “There”
Edited by Karla Brundage and Kim Shuck
Among the contributors: Floyd Salas, Sharon Doubiago, Ishmael Reed, Opal Palmer Adisa, Kim Addonizio, Lucha Corpi, Lucille Lang Day, Marianne Villanueva, Al Young, Doren Robbins
Praise
“Oakland Out Loud is an opportunity for Oakland residents to rediscover their public library system which will proudly co-sponsor the Oakland Out Loud Literary Series in 2007.” - Carmen L. Martinez - Oakland Public Library Director
“With far more flavors than an ice-cream shoppe, and far more colors, too, ‘Oakland Out Loud’ is a reminder of what potery should be: original, audacious, and beautiful. As a result, it is a reminder that humanity can be all those things, too. This is a virtuoso collection.” - Gerald Haslam, author of Grace Period and Haslams’ Valley
“PEN Oakland writers are an amazing array of voices. Soak up their powerful prose and poems about the internal and external world, near and far.” - William Wong, author, Images of America: Oakland’s Chinatown and Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America.
Words Upon The Waters (2006)
A Poetic Response by Bay Area Artists In Support of Hurricane Katrina Survivors
This book was created as a collaborative effort to aid survivors of Hurricane Katrina including poetry written in response to the devastation and loss suffered by the people who were victims of the storm. The artists donated all the work in this anthology and all proceeds were donated to the Center for Independent Living.