Dialogue: Grotto Nights @ the Library

When Bad People Do Good Things: Writing the Antagonist
Tuesday, 11/19/2024
6:00 - 7:30
Virtual Library

United States

Register

Grotto Nights is a monthly series at the Library featuring The Writers Grotto members who will showcase and discuss their writing around a theme of their choice.  Minna Dubin, Terry Tierney and Brad Balukjian will share strategies and discuss the complexities of writing unsavory characters, both real and imagined, with moderator Janine Kovac.

Minna Dubin is the author of MOM RAGE: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood. Her writing has been featured in the New York Times, Oprah Daily, The Times Sunday Magazine, Salon, Lit Hub, & Electric Literature. Minna lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband, two kids, and no pets because enough is enough. 

Terry Tierney is the author of The Poet’s Garage and the novels Lucky Ride and The Bridge on Beer River. His poems appear in The Bellevue Literary Review, Remington Review, Reed Magazine, and Rust + Moth. His new poetry book, Why Trees Stay Outside, was published 10/1/24 by Unsolicited Press.

Brad Balukjian is a freelance journalist and entomologist who has written two narrative nonfiction books, The Six Pack and The Wax Pack. He has been published in Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Smithsonian and many others. As part of his PhD research, he discovered and described 17 species of plant bugs in Tahiti.

A former professional ballet dancer, Janine Kovac is the author of the memoirs The Nutcracker Chronicles and Spinning: Choreography for Coming Home. Janine is an alumna of Hedgebrook and a MacDowell fellow. If she had any free time, she’d spend it knitting. 

Connect:

Minna Dubin – Website

Terry Tierney - Website

Brad Balukjian – Website

Janine Kovac - Website

The Writers Grotto is a community of working writers and narrative artists who connect in physical and virtual space, pooling our talents to support each other, mentor and teach others, and engage the wider world. The Grotto fosters a literary culture that is generous in spirit and deeply inclusive, elevating writers of all backgrounds.

Connect: The Writers Grotto - Website | The Writers Grotto - Instagram | The Writers Grotto - Facebook

Author Readings & Lectures

Engage with your favorite writers and discover your next read.

Spotlight

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.