Events
Upcoming Book Events for The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs
Winner of the 2020 Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction – Sarabande Books
Marvelous…sexy…harrowing.
Anthony Doerr, All the Light You Cannot See & Cloud Cuckoo Land
Compelling…unpredictable….vibrant and vital…a memorable force.
Stuart Dybek, Ecstatic Cahoots: Fifty Short Stories
Hypnotic, strange, and lovely..
Michelle Wildgen, You're Not You
Events 2026
STORIES ON STAGE DAVIS Sunday, January 11, 2026
In-person event
DRAMATIC READINGS OF SHORT FICTION Written by Leslie Kirk Campbell and Edward Gauvin.
4-6PM PT
Sudwerk Brewery, 2001 – 2nd St., Davis, CA
ALOUD/OUTLOUD Saturday, March 14
In-person event
Reading series – a partnership between The Writers Grotto & Telegraph Hill Books
curated by Leslie Kirk Campbell
READERS: Kristen Mickelwait, Devi Laskar, Tara Dorabji, Dr. Jeanne Powell, saahil m., Christine C. Hsu
6:30-8:30pm PT
Telegraph Hill Books.
1501 Grant Ave. San Francisco
ALOUD/OUTLOUD Saturday, June 6
In-person event
Reading series – a partnership between The Writers Grotto & Telegraph Hill Books
curated by Leslie Kirk Campbell
READERS: Sabina Khan-Ibarra, Lisa Rosenberg, Lauren C. Johnson, Eirinie Carson, Arely Miranda González
6:30-8:30pm PT
Telegraph Hill Books.
1501 Grant Ave. San Francisco
WORDS & STORIES Wednesday, August 19
In-person event
Reading Series – a partnership between The Writers Grotto & Transit Joint Powers Authority
Leslie Kirk Campbell & Jenny Bitner
1-1:30pm. PT
Wetlands Garden Salesforce Park, SF
WRITERS GROTTO LITERARY SALON Friday, September 18
In-person event
Reading: WHO AM I REALLY? AND WHO CAN I BE?
READERS: Susan Kyo Ito, Doug Henderson, Chino Lee Chung, Cristl Rikka Perkins, Leslie Kirk Campbell
Curated by Leslie Kirk Campbell
5-7:30pm. PT
The Writers Grotto
1663 Mission Street, Ste. 602, SF
ALOUD/OUTLOUD Saturday, September 19
In-person event
Reading series – a partnership between The Writers Grotto & Telegraph Hill Books
curated by Leslie Kirk Campbell
READERS: Preeti Vangani, T.K. Rex, Leslie Kirk Campbell, Betty Shamieh, Kush Khandelwal, Claudia Meléndez Salinas
6:30-8:30pm PT
Telegraph Hill Books.
1501 Grant Ave. San Francisco
NTH POWER: DEFYING GRAVITY Neythri: Southeast Asian Leadership Summit Saturday, October 10
In-person ticketed event
“Discover the Heart of Your Legacy”
Workshop leader: Leslie Kirk Campbell
1:40-2:40pm
Palo Alto, California
METROPOLITAN WOMEN’S CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO Tuesday, December 8
In-person private event
Lecture: “Reading Like a Writer”
Leslie Kirk Campbell
3-4:30pm PT
Metropolitan Club
640 Sutter Street, San Francisco
ALOUD/OUTLOUD Saturday, December 12
In-person event
Reading series – a partnership between The Writers Grotto & Telegraph Hill Books
curated by Leslie Kirk Campbell
READERS: Sarita Sarvate, Nina Schuyler, Rowena Leong Singer, Adeela Najarro, Tet Shein Win
6:30-8:30pm PT
Telegraph Hill Books.
1501 Grant Ave. San Francisco
2025 Reading & Events
THE WRITERS GROTTO READING Friday, January 27, 2025
In-person event
The Writers Grotto
1663 Mission Street, Suite 602, San Francisco
Readers: Leslie Kirk Campbell, Paul S. Flores, Margaret Juhae Lee & Brad Balukjian
Free/donation: 5-7pm PST
AWP Conference Thursday, March 27, 2025
In-person event
Room 502B, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles
Thieves or Transformers: How Much of Fiction is Fiction
Panel discussion and Q & A with authors T Kira Mahealani Madden, Sidik Fofana, and Ananda Lima, and entertainment lawyer Lizbeth Hasse
Moderated by Leslie Kirk Campbell, 9-10:15am PT
WORDS & STORIES SERIES April 25, 2025
In-person event
TJPA’s Salesforce Park
Main Plaza
425 Mission Street, San Francisco
Readings with Leslie Kirk Campbell & Laura Doyle
Hosted by THE WRITERS GROTTO
Free event. Noon-1pm PST
2024 Readings & Events
MECHANICS INSTITUTE WRITER’S LUNCH Friday, February 16, 2024
Online event
WRITING ABOUT LOVE & LOSS IN RELATIONSHIPS
Panel discussion with Lauren Alwan, Nona Casper, and Leslie Kirk Campbell
Moderated by Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
Free event, Noon-1 pm PT
IF YOU MISSED IT:
SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE WINE & BOOK TASTING Friday, February 16, 2024
In-person event
Hyatt Regency, 5 Embarcadero, San Francisco
Book signing, live music and wine tasting, 7:30-9:30 pm
SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE Saturday, February 17, 2024
In-person events
Hyatt-Regency, 5 Embarcadero, San Francisco
PANEL: Putting Together Speaking Engagements and a Book Tour to Promote Your Book, 11:30-12:30 pm
PANEL: Fiction in the Marketplace: What You Need to Know to Polish & Sell Literary Fiction in 2024, 4:30-5:30 pm
SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE Sunday, February 18, 2024
In-person event
Hyatt-Regency, 5 Embarcadero, San Francisco
MASTER CLASS: THE DYNAMIC POWER OF LANGUAGE (+ HEART): How to Get Your Manuscript to Light Up in the Slush Pile, 2-5 pm
Cost: $99
SHORT STORIES NIGHT Saturday, August 10, 2024
In-person event
Telegraph Hill Books
1501 Grant Avenue, San Francisco
Reading & Book signing, 7-9 pm
(Reading with Toni Mirosevich, Elizabeth Stix, & Zach Williams)
July-December 2023
MECHANICS INSTITUTE Wednesday, September 13, 2023
In-person event
57 Post Street, San Francisco
WHAT THE BODY HOLDS: It’s Shame & It’s Pleasure
Readings & discussion with Memoirist, Isidra Mencos &
Fiction Writer, Leslie Kirk Campbell
Presentation, wine reception & book signing, 6-8 pm
IF YOU MISSED IT:
STANFORD UNIVERSITY Thursday, October 19
In-person event
’73 Reunion Class Tent,
Stanford University
AUTHOR’S CORNER
Discussion & Book Signing, 9-10:30 am
LIT NITE November 6, 2023
SHORT STORY TODAY Wednesday, November 29, 2023
PODCAST RELEASE
Interviews with:
Leslie Kirk Campbell, The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs & Daniel Olivas, How to Date a Flying Mexican plus readings of their work
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION (WNBA) Friday, December 1, 2023
Virtual Event
Host: WNBA-SF Chapter
2022/2023 Book Release Party & Discussion
5-6:30 PM PT
Note: The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs is a 2022 WNBA Great Group Reads Selection
January-JUNE 2023
Western Connecticut State University MFA Residency: Guest Author January 3-8, 2023
In-person events
Danbury, CT
Reading & Lecture
January 7th & January 8th
AWP Conference 2023 March 8-11, 2023
AWP: Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Seattle Convention Center
Thursday, March 9, 12:10-1:25pm
Panel: Ambition of the Short Story: Bringing the Short Form Front and Center: Leslie Kirk Campbell, Sidik Fofana, Erica Plouffe Lazure, and Daniel Olivas
Friday, March 10, 1:45-3pm
Panel: Journey to the Prize: Five Women, Five Prizewinning Debut Story Collections: Kerry Dolan, Kate McIntyre, AJ Bermudez, Leslie Kirk Campbell, and Erica Plouffe Lazure
The Center SF – Open Mic Featured Reader Sunday, April 2
In-person event
The Center SF, 548 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Event: 6-9 pm
Featured Reader, Leslie Kirk Campbell: 7-7:30 pm
San Francisco State University Tuesday, April 4, 2023
In-person event
SFSU Creative Writing Department
The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs assigned to students
Q&A with author at 2 pm
Central Oregon Writer’s Guild Tuesday, April 11, 2023
In-person event (zoom option)
Downtown Bend Library
601 NW Wall Street, Bend, OR
PRESENTATION: “THE DYNAMIC POWER OF LANGUAGE (+ HEART):
How to Get Your Writing to Light Up in the Slush Pile in Paragraph One!!”
Noe Valley Library Anniversary Reading Wednesday, April 26
In-person event
Noe Valley Library
451 Jersey St. San Francisco
Reading and Q&A 6:30-7:45 pm
February 2022
PROSPECT STREET READINGS (previously Bennington Writers Reading)
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Virtual Event – Facebook LIve
With Erica Plouffe Lazure, Kim Young & Betsy Stone
Link to Prospect Street.org.
ZOOM FORWARD Friday, February 18, 2022
Hosted by Bookshop Santa Cruz
Virtual Event
With Nancy Wang & Lisa Okuhn
IF YOU MISSED IT:
LITERATI BOOKSTORE Tuesday, February 8, 2022
#1 Indie Bookstore 2019
Virtual event
At Home with Literati Series
Hosted in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Reading & Conversation 7 pm EST
In conversation with playwright/memoirist Tanya Shaffer, The Fourth Messenger
IF YOU MISSED IT:
COPPERFIELD’S BOOKS Friday, February 4, 2022
COPPERFIELD’S BOOKS (Montgomery Village)
Virtual event
Hosted in Santa Rosa, CA
Reading & Book Signing 6pm PST
In conversation with author Scott Landers, Coswell’s Guide to Tambralinga
IF YOU MISSED IT:
SAN FRANCISCO BOOK LAUNCH Tuesday, February 1, 2022 (Pub date!)
GREEN APPLE BOOKS ON THE PARK
In-person event plus live streaming option
1231-9th Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Reading & Book Signing 7pm PST
In conversation with author Nora Caspers, The Fifth Woman, winner of the 2016 Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction
IF YOU MISSED IT:
March 2022
LOS ANGELES BOOK LAUNCH Tuesday, March 1, 2022
SKYLIGHT BOOKS
In-person event
1818 N Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Reading & Book Signing 7pm PST
In conversation with poet/essayist Elena Karina Byrne, If This Makes You Nervous
WORD WEEKEND Sunday, March 6, 2022
FOLIO BOOKS
In-person event
Bethany United Methodist Church
1270 Sanchez St. San Francisco, CA
Reading & Book Signing 5pm PST
In conversation with author Allison Bartlett Hoover, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
CENTER FOR FICTION Tuesday, March 8, 2022
In-person event
15 Lafayette Ave. Brooklyn, NY
Reading, Conversation & Signing 7pm EST
In conversation with Sidik Fofana, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs
BOOK CLUB Sunday, March 13, 2022
Virtual Event
Hosted in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Featured Author Q&A 7:45 pm EST
HONOLULU BOOK LAUNCH Sunday, March 20, 2022
ARTS & LETTERS NU’UANU
In-person event
1164 Nu’uanu Ave., Honolulu, HI
In conversation with Lyla (Bonnie) Berg, Leaving the Gilded Cage
Music by Bailey Matsuda
AWP CONFERENCE March 24-26, Philadelphia, PA
In-person event
Sarabande Books Booth
Book signing. Saturday, 3/26, 11:30am
CHICAGO SUNDAY SALON Sunday, March 27, 2022
Virtual Event
with Gerald Brennan, Archy Jamjun, Natania Rosenfeld, and Irene Zabytko
IF YOU MISSED IT:
MYSTERY TO ME BOOKS Thursday, March 31, 2022
In-person event
1863 Monroe St., Madison, WI
Reading & Book Signing 6pm CST
In conversation with Michelle Wildgen, Bread & Butter and You Are Not You; Past Executive Editor, Tin House
April 2022
MAGERS & QUINN BOOKSELLERS Monday, April 4, 2022
In-person event
3038 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN
In conversation with Kathryn Savage, Groundglass (Coffee House Press, 8/2022)
IF YOU MISSED IT:
ROUNDABOUT BOOKS Thursday, April 7, 2022
In-person event
900 NW Mt. Washington Dr. Suite 110, Bend, OR
Reading & Book Signing 6pm PST
In conversation with Ellen Santasiero, writer & teacher
IF YOU MISSED IT:
POWELL’S BOOKS Friday, April 8, 2022
In-person event
Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, OR (15 minutes from downtown Portland)
In conversation with Whitney Otto, Art for the Ladylike: An Autobiography Through Other Lives.
STORIES ON STAGE SACRAMENTO Friday, April 22, 2022
In-Person event
The Auditorium at CLARA
1425-24th Street, Sacramento, CA
PERFORMANCE, Q&A and BOOK SIGNING with the authors, 7-8:30 pm PST
Actors performing the fiction of Leslie Kirk Campbell & Steve Almond, All the Secrets of the World
IF YOU MISSED IT:
Intro to Leslie @4.00 minutes; Performance of Leslie’s stories @7:30-31.00 minutes
(Steve Almond performance and Q&A @50 minutes)
May 2022
BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL Sunday, May 7, 2022
In-person event
Residence Inn, Ballroom 2
2121 Center Street, Berkeley (Adjacent to BART Station)
Featured Fiction Panel 11:30am-12:30pm PST
Featured Fiction Panel: “Keep Calm and Quietly Go Mad” Molly Giles, Leslie Kirk Campbell, Sarah Moss
FOLIO BOOKS – ODD MONDAYS Monday, May 9, 2022
Virtual event
“Spring Fiction Fling”
Hosted in San Francisco
Reading, 7-8pm PST
Readings by Leslie Kirk Campbell, The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs; Mimi Lok, Last of Her Name; Karen Melander Magoon, Footsteps Whispering; & Toni Mirosevich, Spell Heaven
June 2022
July 2022
MRS. DALLOWAY’S BOOKSTORE Wednesday, July 6, 2022
In-person event
2904 College Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
In conversation with author Keenan Norris
September 2022
The Bookery & Myrtle Tree Arts Friday, September 23, 2022
In-person event
Green Room Social Club
251 Main Street, Placerville, CA
In conversation with local writer, Ameera Godwin
Poetry of the Sierra Foothills Saturday, September 24, 2022
Hosted by: El Dorado County’s Poet Laureate, Lara Gularte
In-person event
Myrtle Tree Arts, Downtown Placerville, CA from 2-3:30pm
(Exact location available after registration)
October 2022
LitQuake LitCrawl Saturday, October 22, 2022
In-person event
Arcana: Wine Bar & Greenhouse
2512 Mission St., San Francisco
Reading with Sarabande authors and poets: CJ Evans, Adam Davis, and Elizabeth Hughey.
IF YOU MISSED IT:
Past Events
HILL STREET WOMEN ARTIST SALON Sunday, October 24, 2021
Presenting artists:
Christina Leilani Campbell, playwright, actor & producer (Orange, CA)
Erica Hunt, poet & essayist (Brooklyn, NY)
Corinne Quinajon, composer & lyricist (Hilo, HI)
Leslie Kirk Campbell, fiction writer (San Francisco, CA)
2021
Women’s Artist Salon on Hill - Sunday, May 16, 11 am – 1 pm
Caoilinn Hughes, Irish poet and fiction (Dublin)
Karen Kao , author (Amsterdam)
Leah Korican, visual artist (Oakland)
Lenore Weiss , poet and fiction writer (Oakland)
Women’s Artist Salon on Hill - April 11, 2021
Kamini Ramani, memoirist. (San Francisco)
Tammie Knight, miniaturist (Concord)
Ann Coffey Proctor, water-colorist (Carmel Valley)
Leslie Kirk Campbell (San Francisco)
2020
Women’s Artist Salon on Hill - December 20, 2020
Josie Iselin, seaweed photographer (San Francisco)
Karen Wiederholt, writer (San Francisco)
Happy Hyder, photographer (Mendocino)
Helen Cohen, painter (San Francisco)
Sunday, February 16, 1-5:30 pm: Women’s Artist Salon on Hill
Saturday, March 28th 4-6 pm: San Francisco Book Launch for Cathy Colman’s brilliant book of poems, Time Crunch
Sunday, April 26, 1-5 pm: Hill Street Salon & West Coast Launch for Jenn Hollmeyer’s award-winning short fiction collection, Orders of Protection, Anne Coffey Proctor: watercolors; Rain Graves: healing stones/jewelry; Tribute to Caryl Joy Finn Campbell 1926-2020: a reading
Sunday, May 31, 4-6pm ON ZOOM: Women Artist Salon on Hill – Lenore Weiss: fiction; Corinne Quinajon: original songs; Christina Leilani Campbell: spoken word; Colette Lafia: painting; Leslie Kirk Campbell: fiction
Sunday, August 16, 4-6 ON ZOOM: Women Artist Salon on Hill – Karen Wiederholt: ceramics, Colette Lafia: painting; Jenn Hollmeyer: fiction; Leslie Kirk Campbell: fiction
Sunday, October 18, 4-6pm ON ZOOM – Women Artist Salon on Hill – Bonnie Oda Homsey: modern dance/choreography; Elena Felix: fiction; Tammie Knight: miniatures (micro-art gallery); Cathy Colman: poems; Helen Cohen: painting
Sunday, December 20, 4-6pm ON ZOOM – Women Artist Salon in Hill – Artists TBA
2019 Readings
Monday, August 19, 7:30pm: Lit Nite @ Ocean Ale House
Sunday, October 20, 1-5pm: Women’s Artists Salon on Hill
Monday, October 21, 7pm: Lit Nite @ Ocean Ale House
Sunday, November 17, 1-5pm: Women’s Artist Salon on Hill
Sunday, December 15, 1-5pm: Women’s Artist Salon on Hill