Book talks and author readings in the South Bay — 19 upcoming

Sherine Hamdy - Landing in Place

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / CollegeBook Talk

Mon, Oct 26 ·12:00 pm ·Building 260, Pigott Hall ·Stanford

Medical anthropologist and author Sherine Hamdy discusses her debut graphic novel Landing in Place (Penguin Random House, 2026), illustrated by Myra El Mir. The coming-of-age story follows Anisa, an Egyptian American college freshman navigating premed expectations, identity, and artistic aspiration as she spends time in Cairo discovering her own voice. Hamdy is a leading scholar of Muslim medical ethics and the political economy of disease in Egypt, and a pioneering advocate for academics sharing research across multiple media forms, including her co-authored graphic novel Lissa: A Story of Friendship, Medical Promise, and Revolution.

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Fady Joudah - Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumUniversity / College

Tue, Oct 27 ·12:15 pm ·Florence Moore Hall ·Stanford

A reading and conversation with Palestinian American physician, poet, and translator Fady Joudah, whose newest collection, Exhibit G, comprises poems, essays, and photographs offering a Palestinian perspective on grief, resilience, and survival amid genocide. Joudah is an acclaimed translator of Arabic poetry, including works by Mahmoud Darwish, and has won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and American Book Award, among others. He co-founded the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize and practices internal medicine in Houston.

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An Evening of Poetry with Fady Joudah

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumUniversity / College

Tue, Oct 27 ·5:00 pm ·Humanities Center ·Stanford

A reading and conversation with Fady Joudah, Palestinian American physician, poet, and translator. Joudah will discuss his newest collection, *Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza*, which combines poetry, essays, and photographs to document Palestinian grief, resilience, and life under genocide. A multiple-award winner—including the Yale Younger Poets Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize, and American Book Award—Joudah has also translated works by Mahmoud Darwish and co-founded the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. *Exhibit G* will be available for purchase and signing.

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Best Literary Translations: Wendy Call, Dmitri Manin, Ilze Duarte

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Tue, Oct 27 ·6:00 pm ·Books Inc. ·Campbell

A reading and conversation celebrating *Best Literary Translations 2026*, an annual anthology edited by National Book Award winner Arthur Sze featuring poetry and prose translated from 62 languages—from French to Xitsonga, Korean to Guaraní. Translators Wendy Call (author and co-founder of the anthology, recent Fulbright Scholar to Colombia), Dmitri Manin (whose translation of Nikolay Zabolotsky's *Columns* was shortlisted for the NCBA and ALTA First Translation Prize), and Ilze Duarte (translator of Marilia Arnaud's *The Book of Affects*) will read from their work, discuss the craft and discovery of translation, and answer questions. The event concludes with a book signing.

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Mark Shaw - Girl Around the World

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop Free

Tue, Oct 27 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

Bestselling historian and former criminal defense attorney Mark Shaw discusses his book *Girl Around the World*, which reveals the untold friendship between pioneering journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and aviator Amelia Earhart in the mid-1930s. Shaw explores how these trailblazing women supported each other's groundbreaking achievements—Kilgallen's famous 1936 24-day solo race around the globe and Earhart's historic transatlantic flights—and Kilgallen's response to Earhart's mysterious disappearance in 1937. Shaw is the author of *The Reporter Who Knew Too Much* and nearly 30 other books, with presentations garnering over 16 million YouTube views.

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Ann Liang - To Dream in Darkness

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop

Wed, Oct 28 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. ·Mountain View ·$38.87

Ann Liang, New York Times bestselling author, reads from and discusses her lush historical fantasy *To Dream in Darkness*, set in ancient China where a Death God and a healing goddess strike a bargain with devastating cosmic consequences. The novel explores an unlikely alliance that blooms into romance while threatening to unravel the balance of the celestial realms. Event includes Q&A and signing; ticket includes admission and a copy of the book.

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Chrystia Freeland - Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider's View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumBook TalkUniversity / College ✦ burnoff pick

Mon, Nov 2 ·4:00 pm ·Encina Hall ·Stanford

How should democracies deal with an unreliable superpower? Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland discusses her new book examining power inside government, the intersection of trade, security and democracy, and how democracies might resist authoritarian states and oligarchs. Drawing on her careers as a foreign correspondent covering Russia's oligarchs and as a senior Canadian official who renegotiated the USMCA, Freeland offers insights into international political economy and democratic resilience. Moderated by Kathryn Stoner, Freeman Spogli Institute Senior Fellow and Director of CDDRL, with audience Q&A to follow.

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Frish Brandt with Roberta Katz - Unfinished Business: Writing the Five Essential Letters of Your Life

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop Free

Tue, Nov 3 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

Frish Brandt, a letter-writing teacher at Stanford Medical School, discusses her book *Unfinished Business: Writing the Five Essential Letters of Your Life* — a guide to crafting five essential letters: thank you, I'm sorry, I miss you, I love you, and goodbye. Drawing on her experience teaching at Stanford, Harvard Divinity School, and in workshops across the country, Brandt weaves practical writing prompts with reflections on grief, connection, forgiveness, and closure. In conversation with Roberta Katz, PhD in anthropology and former Associate Vice President for Strategic Planning at Stanford.

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Stanford in Haus Cramer: A Berlin Microhistory - Book Launch and Reception

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / CollegeBook Talk

Wed, Nov 4 ·5:30 pm ·Humanities Center ·Stanford

A book launch celebrating Stanford in Haus Cramer: A Berlin Microhistory, which documents the 50th anniversary of the Stanford Berlin Bing Overseas Studies Program. The book examines the history of Haus Cramer as a witness to Berlin modernity, Jewish-German life between the wars, and as a refuge for residents, faculty, and students. Featuring presentations from editors Karen Ruoff Kramer and Cheryce von Xylander, and Faculty Emeritus Larry Friedlander, with reception to follow.

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36th Annual Jonathan J. King Lecture: Dr. Bryant Lin & Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / CollegeBook Talk

Thu, Nov 5 ·5:30 pm ·Cedar Room, Stanford Faculty Club ·Stanford

Dr. Bryant Lin, a primary care physician and cancer researcher living with terminal cancer, shares a personal reflection on serious illness, hope, and living fully amid uncertainty in 'My Cancer Journey: Happiness and Sadness, Hope and Fear.' In conversation with Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, a physician, journalist, and leading voice in patient-centered care, they explore the emotional and practical dimensions of cancer diagnosis—fear, purpose, relationships, and navigating life-limiting illness with honesty. Dr. Lin's new book, *Sunshine: An Exploration of Living When You Are Dying*, launches November 10; signed copies available for purchase to in-person attendees. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments served after the talk.

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Data Are Made, Not Found

Civics & PowerScience & Tech Lecture / ForumBook TalkMuseum Free ✦ burnoff pick

Thu, Nov 5 ·7:00 pm ·Computer History Museum ·Mountain View

Where does the data shaping our democracy actually come from? Danah boyd, author of *Data Are Made, Not Found*, discusses her investigation into the U.S. Census Bureau during the 2020 Census—one of the nation's most challenging periods. Drawing on rare access to the agency and hundreds of interviews, boyd reveals the people, decisions, and effort required to produce trustworthy public datasets and what was at stake when that process came under pressure. The conversation explores the forces that shape public data and why protecting institutions that produce reliable information matters to democracy.

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Scott Lambridis - St. Ulphia's Dead

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop Free

Tue, Nov 10 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Campbell ·Campbell

Scott Lambridis reads from and discusses his debut novel *St. Ulphia's Dead*, a psychological mystery about a disgraced medical researcher and his supervisor investigating an outbreak of mass psychosis on a remote island where villagers claim to be possessed by a cannibalistic demon. The novel explores how trauma warps truth, how isolation breeds belief, and the line between fact and folklore. Lambridis holds a degree in neurobiology from the University of Virginia and an MFA from San Francisco State University.

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Susan Stryker - Changing Gender

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / CollegeBook Talk

Thu, Nov 12 ·12:00 pm ·RSVP for location ·Stanford

Susan Stryker, professor emerita of gender and women's studies at the University of Arizona and distinguished visitor at Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research, discusses her latest book Changing Gender. Stryker traces the gender concept from its grammatical roots through the culture wars, exploring surprising historical moments—from "Yankee Doodle" to 19th-century phrenology to present-day anti-trans conspiracy theories. Drawing on her lifetime as a historian, filmmaker, activist, and founding figure of transgender studies, Stryker argues that to change gender is to change what it means to be human. The book exposes limiting assumptions about gender across the political spectrum and imagines possibilities beyond them.

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Matt O'Hara - The Flying Death: Poison, Plunder, and the Quest for a Miracle Medicine in the Amazon

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Tue, Nov 17 ·6:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

Historian Matt O'Hara discusses his book *The Flying Death*, a narrative nonfiction account of 1930s explorers racing to harvest curare from the Amazon—a poisonous vine used by Indigenous tribes that became a revolutionary surgical anesthetic and led to a Nobel Prize. The book traces American explorer Richard Gill's obsessive quest to connect Indigenous poison masters with pharmaceutical companies, alongside rival Boris Krukoff, examining how their success created a curare-industrial complex while raising urgent questions about who pays the price of scientific progress and who receives credit. O'Hara, a history professor at UC Santa Cruz and award-winning author, explores themes of Indigenous knowledge, exploitation, and the ethics of discovery.

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Jim Emison - Murder on the Hatchie

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Thu, Nov 19 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

A reading and discussion of *Murder on the Hatchie*, retired Tennessee trial attorney Jim Emison's narrative nonfiction account of the 1940 murder of NAACP organizer Elbert Williams in Brownsville, Tennessee—the first voting-rights martyr in the Civil Rights Movement. Drawing on FBI files, DOJ correspondence, and eyewitness testimony, Emison reconstructs how federal and local officials conspired to suppress Black voter registration and evade justice for Williams's lynching, decades before Emmett Till and Medgar Evers. The book reorients civil-rights chronology and exposes the embedded character of government complicity in racial terror. Featured by NPR and the Associated Press; led to renewed DOJ review under the Emmett Till Act.

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Kimberly Bea - The Curse of the Feathers

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Tue, Nov 24 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. ·Mountain View

Kimberly Bea discusses her fantasy novel *The Curse of the Feathers*, a feminist retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale "The Wild Swans." The story follows Elisa von Ahlefeldt, who must weave magical garments from stinging nettles to break a curse transforming her six brothers into swans, all while maintaining a vow of silence. Bea is a social historian and author of mythology and fable-inspired fiction, with degrees in ancient and medieval history.

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Angèle Christin with Hannah Zeavin - Gurus, Hucksters, Entertainers: How Influencers Reshaped Social Media

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumUniversity / College

Wed, Dec 9 ·12:00 pm ·Gates Computer Science Building ·Stanford

A book launch and conversation on the content creator economy. Digital studies scholar Angèle Christin examines how social media creators—from vegan YouTubers to Instagram dads to drama commentators—enter the platform economy, monetize their work, and navigate the pressures of algorithmic environments. Based on extensive fieldwork, Christin demystifies the professionalization and pitfalls of digital content creation. In conversation with Hannah Zeavin.

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Debbie Raphael - Carry My Strength

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Thu, Jan 28 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

A discussion of *Carry My Strength: A Parent's Guide to Growing and Thriving Alongside Your Child*, featuring Debbie Raphael, M.D., a double board-certified child and adult psychiatrist. Dr. Raphael decodes the psychological forces shaping early parenthood, helping parents understand their own emotional patterns and build stronger connections with their children. Drawing on clinical concepts like reflective functioning, secure attachment, and mentalization, she offers actionable guidance on interrupting intergenerational trauma cycles and cultivating resilience. Event includes a reading and audience Q&A.

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Mike Chen & Yangsze Choo - The Haunting of Santo Domingo Street

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Tue, Feb 2 ·7:00 pm ·Books Inc. Palo Alto ·Palo Alto

New York Times bestselling author Mike Chen discusses his novel *The Haunting of Santo Domingo Street*, a supernatural horror tale exploring gentrification, immigrant trauma, and family secrets when two cousins inherit a crumbling Victorian in San Jose haunted by the desperate history their father concealed. Chen appears in conversation with fellow Bay Area author Yangsze Choo, bestselling novelist of *The Ghost Bride* and *The Night Tiger*. The event features a reading from the novel and audience Q&A.

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