Join us on for a public online event on

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 5 PM PDT – 6 PM PDT

"THIS AIN'T CHICK LIT"

 Hosted by

 Authors, Large and Small Literary Publicity

Joan Gelfand and Sheryl J. Bize Boutte

Sheryl Bize-Boutte, author of Betrayal on the Bayou

Joan Gelfand, author of Extreme

Moderator: Cristina Deptula

In their new novels, authors Joan Gelfand, Extreme and Sheryl Bize-Boutte, Betrayal on the Bayou, have written women characters who soar above the norm, sometimes literally. You will hear about two women, from vastly different worlds and world views, separated by hundreds of years, sharing commonalities of strength, courage and tenacity to move their lives forward.

ASL interpretation courtesy of Rebekah King. 

Event starts at 5pm PST.

Pay What You Can, Hear Folks Read, Help Writers and Teachers and Creatives in Need ($10-$20 suggested, tickets available on Eventbrite, no one turned away)

Zoom link available through a page for ticket holders at 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/share-words-share-love-a-literary-benefit-reading-series-tickets-118383860313

Winner of the Cervena Barva and Chaffin Fiction Awards, Joan Gelfand's work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, Rattle, Pank! The Meridien Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Chicken Soup for the Soul. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Joan has worked for California Poets in the Schools, Poetry Out Loud, Chiat/Day Advertising and other Bay Area companies. She currently coaches writers and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Pushcart Prize nominee Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer whose autobiographical and fictional short story collections, along with her lyrical and stunning poetry, artfully succeed in getting across deeper meanings about the politics of race and economics without breaking out of the narrative. Her writing has been variously described as "rich in vivid imagery," "incredible," and "great contributions to literature." Her first novel, "Betrayal on the Bayou," was published in June 2020 and a poetry collection she has written with her daughter Dr. Angela M. Boutte, titled "No Poetry No Peace," was published in August 2020. She is also a popular literary reader, presenter, curator and emcee for local events.

This is one of a series of literary readings (and author talks and interviews) which you can attend Tuesday evenings and some Mondays (5pm PST/8pm EST) over Zoom, starting Sept 22 and running through Election Day on Tues Nov 3rd. These are pay what you can, no one turned away, benefit fundraisers for writers, artists and teachers around the world who are in need.

This event is co-sponsored by Authors, Large and Small Literary Publicity (authorslargeandsmall.com) and Synchronized Chaos International Magazine (synchchaos.com)

So far beneficiaries will be author Leticia Escalera (so she can publish her memoir about learning and working with a learning disability), Ghanaian national author and poet Ike Boateng, Nigerian national and disabled author Chimezie Ihekuna, California artist Sofia Carmi, and Las Vegas/Oakland author and speaker Aqueila Lewis, Bangladeshi author and elementary school teacher Mahamuda Milli, disabled Black femme author Sarah Myles Spencer, and disabled/chronically ill author Leslie Berry. Event proceeds will be equally divided among them.