Patron Saints of Influence Winter Reading & Open Mic

This winter’s Patron Saints of Influence literary reading & open mic will pay homage to the absurdist writer Franz Kafka with featured readings by Syr Hayati Beker, Ari Moskowitz, and Domenic Stansberry. And, as always, you are welcome to share your own written work in 5 minutes or less during the open mic. Got some Kafkaesque writing to share? Even better!

About the Featured Readers:

Syr Hayati Beker is a writer and immersive experience creator in search of the queer love language of climate change. Syr is the co-founder of Queer Cat Productions performing arts company and The Escapery Collective. Their book, What A Fish Looks Like, a novella in mutated fairy tales, is out now from Stelliform Press. Their work appears in Foglifter, Joyland, Fairy Tale Review, F(r)iction, Michigan Quarterly Review, Spunk, Gigantic Sequins, Home is Where you Queer Your Heart (Foglifter Press, 2021), and in theaters, pirate ships, galleries, and queer bars near you. You can find them at SyrBeker.com, which is definitely not haunted.

San Francisco writer. Philadelphia born and raised. Magical realist. Absurdist. Ari Moskowitz performs his stories at many Bay Area readings including Red Light Lit, The Racket, and Quiet Lightning. He has his MFA in Creative Writing from SFSU, a BA in English from Wesleyan University, and is a former editor-in-chief of Fourteen Hills. His writing has appeared in American Literary Review, The Pinch, and Transfer Magazine. His stories have placed in contests with Glimmer Train and New Millenium writing awards. He’s also been supported by writing residencies at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Tomales Bay Writers Workshop, and The Wellstone Center in the Redwoods.

Domenic Stansberry is an internationally praised San Francisco crime novelist known for his innovative noir fiction that skirts the edges of the genre while exploring the intricacies of criminal consciousness. The Lizard, released in spring 2025, is the latest of his award-winning novels. Others include The White Devil, a sultry, decadent thriller that received the Hammett, and The Confession, which received the Edgar for its controversial portrait of a Marin County psychologist suspected of murder. He is also author of the Pelican Novels—featuring investigator Dante Mancuso—widely praised for their portrayal of the ethnic and political subcultures of San Francisco. His work has been translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Polish, Japanese and numerous other languages.

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