Writers (Video)

Blogger and author Rachel Held Evans (”Evolving in Monkey Town” rachelheldevans.com) offers humorous stories about her life as she describes the style differences in writing for the web versus the page. Evans is presented as part of the 2012 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 23...

Cristina Garcia is the author of five novels, a collection of poetry, and three works for young readers including her newest release “Dreams of Significant Girls” about three wealthy and adventurous ninth-grade girls from different worlds who converge upon a Swiss boarding school for a summer of discovery. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23646]

Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon was awarded the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for Black Swan, her debut collection of poems that mixes vernacular language with classical mythology, modern struggles with Biblical trials, and gives voice to women past and present. With her second, ]Open Interval[, nominated for the 2009 National Book Award, Van Clief-Stefanon “marries a wildness of vision with a lens-maker’s pre...

Clayton Eshleman, American poet, translator, and editor, reads from his recently released translation “Solar Throat Slashed,” by Aimé Césaire, co-translated with A. James Arnold. Césaire, a strong anticolonialist, was born in the Caribbean and wrote his poems and plays in French. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 22615]

Ben Bac Sierra’s story is one of transformation. Raised in San Francisco’s Mission District he lived a harsh existence until the United States Marine Corps set him on a path to becoming a Gulf War veteran, professor, and author of Barrio Bushido. After an honorable discharge, he received a BA at UC Berkeley, a teaching credential and an MA. at San Francisco State University, and a JD at UC Hasting...

Carol Edgarian is an author, editor, and publisher. Her novels include the New York Times bestseller “Three Stages of Amazement” and the international bestseller “Rise the Euphrates.” Edgarian and her husband, editor and writer Tom Jenks, founded the non-profit magazine Narrative which publishes more than three hundred artists each year. She speaks to an audience at UC Berkeley. Series: "Story Hou...

Are America’s civil rights laws a failure? Stanford Law professor and “Rights Gone Wrong” author Richard Thompson Ford argues that while they have been successful in fighting overt discrimination, they’ve fallen short in addressing other social injustices and in some cases, have been hijacked by political extremists for personal advantage. Ford is interviewed by Jennifer Burton, a visiting scholar...

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes writer Glenn Greenwald for a discussion of his new book, “With Liberty and Justice for Some.” Greenwald traces his intellectual odyssey; analyzes the relationship between principle, power, and law; and describes the erosion of the rule of law in the United States. Highlighting the degree to which the legal system frees the powerful from accountability whi...

Writer and MacArthur Fellow Mark Danner talks about writing as reportage versus as a creative act, and examines how words are used for differing purposes. Series: "Conversations with History" [Humanities] [Show ID: 8042]

Born in San Francisco, Robert Haas is a California poet but his poetry, translations, and essays reveal an intimacy that transcends the borders of states and nations. With his direct clarity and promotion of literacy in “places where poets don’t go,” he served two years as U. S. Poet Laureate (1995-97). His numerous books include “Sun Under Wood,” “Time and Materials,” and “The Apple Trees at Olem...

Readings from distinguished Berkeley faculty and staff, who will introduce us to their favorite books and stories. This year’s participants include: Dean Tony Cascardi, Dean Carla Hesse, Lecturer Fae Myenne Ng, Professor Ananya Roy and others. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23024]

Hosted by Robert Hass and University Librarian Thomas C. Leonard, distinguished faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines introduce and read a favorite poem. This year’s participants: Ronelle Alexander (Slavic Languages and Literatures), Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer, Myrtis Cochran (Reference Services), George Jaqua (Physical Plant), Trinh T. Minh-ha (Rhetoric an...

Since the publication of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon” in 1930, San Francisco has been recognized as the birthplace of modern crime fiction. Join a distinctive panel as they examine the Bay Area as a popular setting for mystery and detective novels. Panelist are Bay Area authors Lucha Corpi, Eddie Muller, and Kelli Stanley and is moderated by Janet Rudolph. This panel was held in conjunc...

The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons leads a provocative session on energy issues with Pulitzer-Prize winning author Daniel Yergin, Steve Koonin of the US Dept. of Energy, Dan Kammen of the World Bank and biofuels expert Stephen Mayfield of UC San Diego. Alexis Madrigal follows with Amory Lovins, author of “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. Series: "The Atlantic Meets The P...

Economist Carmen Reinhart, co-author of “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” offers compelling insight into the global economic crisis. Series: "Economics Roundtable" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 22626]

UC Berkeley's popular noontime poetry series features Suzanne Guerlac discussing her work. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Show ID: 22963]

Zainab Salbi, the founder of the humanitarian organization Women for Women International, tells a rapt audience how she has helped close to 300,000 women rebuild their lives and their communities after surviving devastating wars. Salbi, author of the best-selling memoir “Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam,” is presented by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Pea...

Story Hour in the Library celebrates the writers in the Berkeley campus community with an annual student reading featuring short excerpts of work by winners of the year’s biggest prose prizes, Story Hour in the Library interns, and faculty nominees. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20630]

UC Berkeley students read original poetry at the close of Lunch Poems for 2011. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 19353]

Eli Pariser, former executive editor of MoveOn.org and author of “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You” provides an eye-opening exposé of personal data-mining on the web. In this chilling account, he explains how powerful business interests control the information the public can see on line, while allowing others access to everything about consumers. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Hum...

Geoffrey G. O’Brien is the author of “Green and Gray” and “The Guns and Flags Project,” and co-author of “2A.” His third collection, “Metropole,” is forthcoming from The University of California Press in 2011. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 19352]

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the Nat...

Poet, visual artist and teacher Truong Tran, is the author of several publications including, “The Book of Perceptions,” “Placing The Accents,” “dust and conscience,” “within the margin” and “Four Letter Words.” Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 19351]

Li is author of “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” and “The Vagrants.” A Beijing native and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she has received numerous awards. She reads and speaks at UC Berkeley. Series: "Story Hour in the Library" [Humanities] [Show ID: 20628]

Simon Johnson, co-author of “13 Bankers” describes the rise of concentrated financial power and the threat it poses to economic well-being. He explains that over the past three decades, a handful of banks became spectacularly large and profitable and used their power and prestige to reshape the political landscape. He argues that the largest banks have become more powerful and more emphatically “t...