Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Links to assorted local theater & book venues
Vernor Vinge (1944-2024)
Vernor Vinge (1944-2024), in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded in the KPFA studios, May 7, 1992 while on tour for his novel, “A Fire Upon the Deep,” which would be a co-winner of the Huge Award for Best Novel at the 1993 World Science Fiction Convention.
Vernor Vinge, who died on March 20th, 2024 at the age of 79 was one of the masters of late twentieth century and early 21st century science fiction. He won five Hugo Awards, three for Best Novel and two for best novella, and is credited as the first science fiction writer to offer a fictional cyberspace, a few years before William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Over all, Vernor Vinge wrote eight novels and had five published collections of his writings. His final novel, The Children of the Sky, was published in 2011.
A prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep titled A Deepness in the Sky, was published in 1999, and a sequel, The Children of the Sky, his last novel, was published in 2011. To date, none of his stories have been adapted for either television or film. Vernor Vince retired from teaching in 2000 to become a full-time writer.
In this interview, he goes into detail about what are now the early days of life on the internet, and discusses his early writing about cyberspace, and about singularities. There are also comments about what the future holds, a future we now are experiencing.
This interview has not aired in over thirty years, and was digitized, remastered and edited in January 2025 by Richard Wolinsky. Complete Interview.
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood 2013. Photo: Jean Malek
Margaret Atwood, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in the KPFA studios June 10, 2003 while on tour for the novel “Oryx and Crake.”
One of the most distinguished authors writing today, Margaret Atwood is best known for her novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and well as several other novels, short stories, poems, essays and political commentary.
In this interview from 2003, she discusses her science fiction novel “Oryx and Crake,” first of what later became a trilogy including ‘Year of the Flood” and “Maddadam,” along with her work on a collection of speeches and essays, “Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing.”
This is the fifth of eight interviews with Margaret Atwood conducted between the years 1989 and 2013. Complete Interview
Review of the national touring company production of “Some Like It Hot” at BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre
Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links
Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.
Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival See website for highlights from the 10th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, June 1-2, 2024.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings.
Live Theater Companies
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. See website for specific days and times, and for staged readings at LaVal’s Subterranean Theater.
Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC). See website for upcoming productions.
African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar.
Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions.
American Conservatory Theatre Nobody Loves You, a musical, Feb. 28 – March 30, Toni Rembe Theatre.
Aurora The