Author: Olga Zilberbourg

Olga Zilberbourg’s English-language debut LIKE WATER AND OTHER STORIES (WTAW Press) explores “bicultural identity hilariously, poignantly,” according to The Moscow Times. It also dives into topics of bisexuality and immigrant parenthood. Anthony Marra called it “…a book of succinct abundance, dazzling in its particulars, expansive in its scope,” and Karen Bender said, “Olga Zilberbourg is a writer to read right now.” Zilberbourg’s writing has appeared in World Literature Today, The Believer, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. Born in Leningrad, USSR in a Russian-speaking Jewish family, she makes her home in San Francisco, California. She has published four collections of stories in Russia, including most recent Задержи дыхание [Hold Your Breath] from Vremya Press. She serves as a consulting editor at Narrative Magazine and as a co-facilitator of the San Francisco Writers Workshop. Together with Yelena Furman, she has co-founded Punctured Lines, a feminist blog about literature from the former Soviet Union. She is currently at work on her first novel.

St. Ulphia’s Dead

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

by Scott Lambridis

Disgraced medical researcher Mirs and his skeptical new supervisor Jo arrive on the remote island of St. Ulphia to investigate an outbreak of mass psychosis. The villagers claim they’re being possessed—one by one—by a cannibalistic demon known as the Wendigo. A psychological mystery laced with absurd humor, St. Ulphia’s Dead explores how trauma warps truth, how isolation breeds belief, and how the most terrifying demons are the ones we conjure for ourselves.

Currently based in Bellingham, WA, Scott Lambridis earned his MFA from San Francisco State University and was a regular at the San Francisco Writers Workshop. His work has appeared in Slice, Fence, and The Café Irreal, and he once ran an indie press, toured with a progressive rock band, tended an olive farm, read a book from every country of the world, and wrote his debut novel during his daughter’s naps in France.

This book is available for pre-order from Regal House Publishing, on Bookshop, and at your favorite neighborhood bookstore.

Holiday Schedule and Noisebridge

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ 1 Comment

Dear writers,

This holiday season, the San Francisco Writers Workshop WILL meet on Tuesday, December 23, and WILL NOT meet on Tuesday, December 30. We will see you back at Noisebridge (272 Capp Street) on January 6, 2026.

Speaking of Noisebridge, thanks in part to your efforts, their GoFundMe page has raised almost $22,000 so far. Let’s please continue donating, as much as possible, to ensure that we have a stable place to meet in 2026 and onward. Noisebridge is truly a special place. Anyone curious about it is enthusiastically invited to check out Noisebridge this weekend: all types of hackers will be celebrating NB’s 16th anniversary! Take a look at all the festivities on Noiserbridge Wiki.

To learn more about the Noisebridge community, consider joining the Discord: https://discord.gg/GtpDdX5.

Happy holidays,
Your moderators

Muñeca

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

by Cynthia Gómez

It is 1968 Oakland, and Natalia Fuentes has been hearing rumors about the beautiful Violeta Miramontes. The young heiress to Spanish colonial wealth has been left paralyzed by a mysterious illness. But Nati knows a thing or two about witchcraft, and she is certain that this is the work of dark magic.

A vivid, surreal Gothic about a queer, Latine, working class witch who sets out to rescue a bespelled heiress and loses control of her powers and her heart in the process.

A regular of both the San Francisco Writers Workshop and the Zoom-based Wednesday Edition, where she workshopped this novel, Cynthia Gómez is also the author of The Nightmare Box and Other Stories. Her short fiction has published in Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, Pseudopod, Nightmare Magazine, and numerous anthologies. She lives in Oakland.

Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Preorder on Bookshop.com or at your favorite local bookstore.

Support for Noisebridge

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ 2 Comments

Dear San Francisco Writers Workshop community,

Since we’ve returned to in-person meetings after the pandemic, Noisebridge Hackerspace has provided us a space to hold our weekly meetings, for free.

Noisebridge is a unique space, allowing room for artists, makers, coders, and creatives of all kinds to experiment with their projects. A membership-based organization, it survives based on financial contributions of its paying members, while allowing groups like ours to meet on its premises without any charge.

Due to a series of financial setbacks (including the need to upgrade its infrastructure to code), this organization finds itself in a precarious situation. They lost access to some of the funds they were counting on to make rent. While they have a path toward financial solvency (in part, by growing their membership base), they are asking for our help to fundraise as a stop-gap measure.

Here’s a Go Fund Me page started by a Noisebridge member with more details on this ongoing saga. Please consider donating to this organization at this time. Noisebridge is 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation may be tax-deductible.

For us writers, Noisebridge has been an incredibly welcoming home. While we remain committed to the SFWW being free for all participants, think about what you’d spend on a writing class or working with a coach. Ask yourself, isn’t it worth a few dollars a month to have a place like Noisebridge that I can come to?

Reminder: Come Crawl with us on Saturday!

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment
An image of a blackboard with a stack of yellow pencils in the foreground. Text in yellow and white reads: San Francisco Writers Workshop Presents Five writers read their stories and share the feedback that made them great. Then YOU get to critique a juicy story, Live! Below: Author's portraits with signatures: Beverly Parayno Peng Ngin Tim Sullivan Jo Beckett-King Tony Tepper Below: We've Got Notes for You! October 25, 2025 Lit Crawl, Phase II, 6:30 pm Noisebridge, 272 Capp Street

This Saturday, we hope to see many of you at our Lit Crawl event on October 25, 2025. Come support the workshop and our amazing writers, and bring your friends!

Our theme this year is “We’ve Got Notes for You!” Five of our current and former regulars will read their work and tell us how workshop feedback has informed their revision process. Then, we’ll offer you all a chance to provide a live critique on a piece of writing.

As many of you know, Lit Crawl is the final night of San Francisco’s annual Litquake festival. Beginning October 9, Litquake is bringing a slew of amazing international and local authors for signings, readings, panels, and parties. Then, it all ends with a literary pub crawl (aka Lit Crawl) through the Mission District. Our event is scheduled for Phase 2 of 3.

We will see you on:
October 25, 2025 at 6:30 pm
Noisebridge, 272 Capp Street

Our featured readers:

Beverly Parayno is from East San Jose. Her debut story collection WILDFLOWERS (PAWA Press, 2023) was shortlisted for the 43rd Annual Northern California Book Award in Fiction, winner of a 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal and 2024 National Indie Excellence Award in AAPI Fiction. She lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Jo Beckett-King is the author of the Bea Bellerose mysteries published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Her debut middle-grade novel, The House of Found Objects, was published in July 2025, and a sequel is scheduled for release in summer 2026. In addition to her middle-grade fiction, she writes for adults; her work has been listed for the Bath Children’s Novel Award, the Bristol Short Story Prize, and the Bridport Prize in the UK.

Peng Ngin left his native Malaysia to attend Vassar College. He moved to the Bay Area for graduate school at UC Berkeley, where he took his first creative writing classes. Peng returned to his lifelong interest in writing and literature during the pandemic. He lives in San Francisco and works as an investment manager.

Tim Sullivan is a San Francisco–based educator and theatre director whose fiction explores reinvention, queer life, class, and labor. He’s writing a debut novel inspired by his time as a toll collector on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Tony Tepper: 1954 Born, lovechild of Audrey Hepburn and Sherlock Holmes, left on doorstep of Tingpangoli Monastery in the Pamir Mountains. 1963 Learns to eat oatmeal. 1995 Listens to Bob and Ray while working for Dickensian firm, accidentally swallows butterfly. 2012 Falls in love with language, but love is unrequited. 2023 Dreams of beauty in eye of storm.

Come Together for Our Writers and Literature at Lit Crawl 2025!

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment
An image of a blackboard with a stack of yellow pencils in the foreground. Text in yellow and white reads: San Francisco Writers Workshop Presents Five writers read their stories and share the feedback that made them great. Then YOU get to critique a juicy story, Live! Below: Author's portraits with signatures: Beverly Parayno Peng Ngin Tim Sullivan Jo Beckett-King Tony Tepper Below: We've Got Notes for You! October 25, 2025 Lit Crawl, Phase II, 6:30 pm Noisebridge, 272 Capp Street

Dear San Francisco Writers Workshop community, we hope to see many of you at our Lit Crawl event on October 25, 2025. Our theme this year is “We’ve Got Notes for You!” Five of our current and former regulars will read their work and tell us how workshop feedback has informed their revision process. Then, we’ll offer you all a chance to provide a live critique on a piece of writing!

As many of you know, Lit Crawl is the final night of San Francisco’s annual Litquake festival. Beginning October 9, Litquake is bringing a slew of amazing international and local authors for signings, readings, panels, and parties. Then, it all ends with a literary pub crawl (aka Lit Crawl) through the Mission District. Our event is scheduled for Phase 2 of 3.

We will see you on:
October 25, 2025 at 6:30 pm
Noisebridge, 272 Capp Street

Our featured readers:

Beverly Parayno is from East San Jose. Her debut story collection WILDFLOWERS (PAWA Press, 2023) was shortlisted for the 43rd Annual Northern California Book Award in Fiction, winner of a 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal and 2024 National Indie Excellence Award in AAPI Fiction. She lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Jo Beckett-King is the author of the Bea Bellerose mysteries published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Her debut middle-grade novel, The House of Found Objects, was published in July 2025, and a sequel is scheduled for release in summer 2026. In addition to her middle-grade fiction, she writes for adults; her work has been listed for the Bath Children’s Novel Award, the Bristol Short Story Prize, and the Bridport Prize in the UK.

Peng Ngin left his native Malaysia to attend Vassar College. He moved to the Bay Area for graduate school at UC Berkeley, where he took his first creative writing classes. Peng returned to his lifelong interest in writing and literature during the pandemic. He lives in San Francisco and works as an investment manager.

Tim Sullivan is a San Francisco–based educator and theatre director whose fiction explores reinvention, queer life, class, and labor. He’s writing a debut novel inspired by his time as a toll collector on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Tony Tepper: 1954 Born, lovechild of Audrey Hepburn and Sherlock Holmes, left on doorstep of Tingpangoli Monastery in the Pamir Mountains. 1963 Learns to eat oatmeal. 1995 Listens to Bob and Ray while working for Dickensian firm, accidentally swallows butterfly. 2012 Falls in love with language, but love is unrequited. 2023 Dreams of beauty in eye of storm.

Honey in the Wound

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

by Jiyoung Han

Young-Ja infuses food with her emotions. She revels in her gift for cooking, nourishing the people she loves with her cheerfulness. But her sunny childhood comes to an end in 1931 when Japanese soldiers crush her family’s defiance against the Empire. Young-Ja is cast adrift, her food turning increasingly bitter with grief. When a Korean rebel fighter notices her talents, however, she is whisked off to Manchuria to join a secretive sisterhood of beautiful teahouse spies. There, Young-Ja finds a new sense of belonging and starts using her abilities for the resistance. But the Imperial Army is not yet finished with her…

As an unforgettable family perseveres in the long shadow of colonialism, Honey in the Wound transports readers to mountain forests where tiger-girls stalk, to Manchurian teahouses and opium dens where charming smiles veil secrets, and to the modern metropolises of Tokyo and Seoul where restless ghosts stir. This debut novel is a tender yet powerful multi-generational drama that shines light onto the twentieth century’s darkest corners and gives voice to those who bore witness.

Published by Avid Reader Press. Preorder on Bookshop or at your favorite local bookstore!

Tomorrow! Jo Beckett-King at Books Inc

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

Dear San Francisco Workshop Writers Community,

Our own Jo Beckett-King will appear at Books Inc. in the Marina tomorrow, Sunday, August 3rd, 2025, at 5 pm, to present her debut THE HOUSE OF FOUND OBJECTS.

This mystery about a twelve-year-old Bea from Passaic, New Jersey is aimed at middle-grade readers, so feel free to bring your kids (RSVP here) and/or buy a copy for yourself and all the young readers in your life. Jo has been a loyal regular at SFWW for the last few years and we’ve loved her novels and stories and benefited greatly from her feedback. If you can’t make it to the event tomorrow, please order a copy through Books Inc. or elsewhere and make sure that your local library carries a few copies. Let’s make sure Jo’s debut is a huge success!

More about the book: Bea is visiting her family in Paris for the summer when her grandmother’s most precious heirloom—a drawing by Henri Matisse—goes missing. After a cryptic clue arrives on Bea’s doorstep suggesting its whereabouts, Bea is determined to pursue the lead. Without the French skills to navigate her way around the landmarks of Paris, she teams up with her cousin, Céline, whose clear-eyed French directness makes her a perfect partner for curious, problem-solving Bea. The girls embark on a city-wide search, deciphering riddles, solving puzzles, and cracking codes as they try to locate the Matisse, find a thief, and identify their mysterious benefactor.

We look forward to celebrating Jo’s book with some of you tomorrow!

Judy, Kurt, Monya, Olga

Tracing Our Roots

Featured ~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

San Francisco Writers Workshop was founded in 1946 and met for many years at the San Francisco Public Library. During the years since its founding, we have had a number of different moderators and regulars, and have met in a variety of interesting locations. An archive of the Workshop is currently held in the San Francisco Public Library’s History Room. Here, we’re hoping to highlight some of your creative work about the workshop and nonfictional materials from our history. If you have contributions to offer, please talk to Olga or email bowlga at gmail dot com.

Tamim Ansary, 2015

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Asa Murphy for pictures of Tamim Ansary, taken when he chose to step down as a moderator of the San Francisco Writers Workshop in July 2015. His last Tuesday night as a moderator gathered a great number of old and new regulars at Alley Cat books.

Tamim Ansary receives a plaque from Kurt Wallace and James Warner
Regulars in the background: Beverly Parayno, Ian Tuttle, Ransom Stephens, Holman Turner, Yanina Gotsulsky