What lives in Oakland, features 53 local writers, took 6 months, 9 editors, and 6 photographers to create, and has a real ISBN?

The Oakland Public Library presents In Your Ear, a book release party for the Oakland Word program on July 8, 2010, 6 – 8 p.m. at the Main Library’s West Auditorium, at 125 14th Street. Event is free and wheelchair accessible.

Oakland Word's anthology In Your Ear: Selected Writings from Oakland Word showcases 53 new and emerging writers from 20 free workshops that took place between Feb and April 2010. Authors include poets from Second Start, the Library’s adult literacy program. Join us as we launch our book!

Edited by Oakland Word program coordinator Kenji Liu, and with a foreword written by acclaimed author Daniel Alarcón, In Your Ear features a wide range of voices from the workshops. There are myriad themes in this collection—childhood, life transitions, immigration, racism, sexism, romance, bereavement, war legacies, spirituality, and the simple joys of life. Playful, serious, contemplative, and humorous, these stories give intimate glimpses into the lives and histories of Oakland and Bay Area residents.

The event features live prose and poetry from selected Oakland Word writers published in the collection: Fredrick Cloyd, Cathlin Goulding, Andrea Gutierrez, Jennifer Ling, Vickie Vértiz, Jenny Yap, and Kuukua Yomekpe.

Local singer-songwriter Naima Shalhoub will grace us with a set of her jazz, R&B, roots music, neo-soul, and Arabic folklore-influenced music, and DJ Max Champ will guide our evening with his musical selections.

Free copies of In Your Ear will be available (1 per person while supplies last).

For information, call (510) 238-6572 or visit online at http://www.oaklandword.org.