Dear writers,

Come out on June 12 to celebrate our community and collaborate with our hacker friends to raise funds for everyone’s favorite local makerspace: Noisebridge!

Since 2022, Noisebridge has been providing us a welcoming place to meet free of charge, and we would love to give back as much as possible to ensure Noisebridge’s long-term survival in San Francisco’s storied Mission District.

This year, we’re collaborating with the hackers. We’ve asked several of our glorious authors to share their literary work with a hacker, who will respond with a device/app/gadget/doohickey inspired by the writing. On the night of the event, audience members (you!!) will vote for the device that best complements the assigned writer’s piece. The winning hacker will receive a prize of dubious value.

The event will also feature a raffle!! refreshments!! opportunities to mingle!! and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the San Francisco Writers Workshop that according to the lore was started by female poets in the aftermath of WWII, in 1946.

Be there on June 12 at 7 pm, at 272 Capp Street and celebrate with us!

And if you can’t make it, please DONATE TO NOISEBRDIGE and support our writers.

Featured Readers:

Jiyoung Han was born in Seoul, Korea and grew up in the American Midwest. She has lived and worked in four continents but now calls San Francisco home. When not writing, she conducts research in climate change and human behavior. Her first novel, Honey in the Wound, was published in April 2026.

Lalita Abhyankar is a family physician and writer based in San Francisco. Her work explores the challenges and rewards of working in a broken primary care system. She was a regular contributor to the American Academy of Family Physicians New Physicians blog from 2017-2022 and was the host and producer of the 2021 Health Affairs podcast Piecemeal, exploring the impact of consolidation on independent primary care. She has independently produced a podcast called “One Click at a Time” exploring how AI and technology are impacting the speciality of family medicine. She is currently working on a manifesto on the importance of family medicine.

Contact: lalita[dot]abhyankar [at] gmail.com, www.lalitaabhyankar.com 

John “Jaune” Hanig (they/them) is a queer, non-binary writer and licensed psychotherapist working in private practice in San Francisco, serving a wide diversity of LGBTQ+ teens and adults using arts therapy and harm reduction. They are currently writing a novel that draws from issues encountered in their therapeutic work, including transgender and non-binary social and medical transition, trauma recovery, active substance use, living with HIV, and living as an undocumented immigrant.

Contact: john [at] honeyartstherapy.com 

Aaron Lee (any pronouns) is a para for kids with complex trauma. His students have grown so much this school year and he is so proud of them :)! He likes writing once in a while and bringing it to the SF writer’s workshop (at Noisebridge PLEASE DONATE) — he wishes he could go more. He usually writes about the worst moments of his life but he’s studying to become a WATER RESOURCE ENGINEER which is cool I think! He enjoys learning guitar, Nathan Fielder, and the 16 million word-LitRPG-web serial The Wandering Inn. He wants to be a better person but it can be difficult at 22. My instagram or whateva: aaronlee.ves

Savannah Mandella was born in Westchester, New York and now works as a substitute teacher in San Francisco. She was the recipient of the 2025 Presidential Award For Undergraduate Research at the University of Albany, and worked as a writing tutor throughout her college career. Her writing explores themes of intergenerational conflict, physical repression, the philosophy of status and the flexible limits of the unconscious mind. She can be contacted at smandella [at] albany.edu.

Samantha Shields was adopted from foster care and reunited with her original mother in 1997. Her mother was one of the “girls who went away,” the approximately 4 million women sent to maternity homes during the Baby Scoop Era to give birth in secret, often with devastating consequences. Shields’s work explores issues of identity within adoption, adoption reunion, maternity homes, and reproductive freedom. She is a member of the San Francisco Writer’s Workshop and the Page Street Memoir writers group. She lives in San Francisco.