A free evening of LGBTQ+ poetry comes to downtown San Rafael on Saturday, Aug. 29, when the Marin LGBTQ Center hosts "Queerly Spoken," featuring a Lambda Literary Award-winning poet, two young local voices and a tribute to a beloved Marin writer who died last year.

Shelley Wong, a queer Chinese American poet whose collection As She Appears won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry and was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry, headlines the 6–8 p.m. event at 709 Fifth Ave., according to the Pacific Sun. Wong lives in San Francisco and has received fellowships from MacDowell and the Montalvo Arts Center.

In a 2024 Poetry Northwest conversation, Wong said the poems resonating most with audiences "are the ones about Asian American queer joy and I hold that joy close to me and will call on it when I write again."

Joining Wong on the lineup are Marin Poetry Center Youth Poet Laureate Ambassadors Ezra Buell and Frances Sveinson, plus Marin County poet, attorney and librettist Karen Poppy, whose debut collection Diving at the Lip of the Water was published in 2023 by Beltway Editions. Poppy's work has appeared on a Grammy-nominated CD, according to the Marin County Bar Association.

Poppy will also lead a photo presentation and readings honoring the late Joseph Zaccardi, who served as Marin County Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015. Zaccardi, a Fairfax resident and member of the LGBTQ community, joined the Marin Poetry Center in 1996, authored five books of poetry and edited the center's anthology from 2010 to 2012. He died in 2025. His Sixteen Rivers Press author profile notes he believed writing a single poem was a minor miracle.

The evening wraps up with an open mic inviting attendees to share their own LGBTQ+ poetry. Light snacks and beverages will be provided.

All are welcome.

What: "Queerly Spoken" LGBTQ+ poetry evening When: 6–8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29 Where: Marin LGBTQ Center, 709 Fifth Ave., San Rafael Cost: Free Info: marinlgbtqcenter.org