Elise Marie Collins
Dear WNBA SF Chapter Members,
As the year comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on our chapter’s accomplishments in 2021. We take pride in our many heartfelt literary panels and readings on Zoom, including the Afrofuturism/Afrosurrealism Panel (organized by board member Ellen McBarnette) in October, our South Asian Author Panel in May, as well as our now annual Holiday Storytelling (organized by past president Kate Farrell, WNBA SF Chapter and Board Development Chair, Sheryl Bize-Boutte.
We continued to support our writer/author members with events steeped in inspiration and wisdom, including: “How to Blog Your Book” (with Nina Amir), “How to Make Your Book an Amazon Bestseller,” (with Tamara Monosoff), “Cocktails with Publishers” (with past president Brenda Knight), and “How to Follow up with a Literary Agent” (with Randy Peyser). Additionally, our chapter held two powerful poetry events: our National Poetry Month Event Mixer in April and “Five Poets Read in Celebration of Native American Heritage Month.” We look forward to expanding our poetry offerings in 2022.
Our second annual virtual Pitch-o-Rama was another raving success in April, and our Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture (in conjunction with the SF Public Library) went online for the first time, with Jason Reynolds speaking on “Transformation.” Although the recording of the lecture is no longer available, Reynolds’ recent appearance on The Late Show was exhilarating and uplifting. If you haven’t yet seen it: https://youtu.be/nNzYE_4DdtA.
As we embark on a new year, we are in the planning stages for most of our Zoom programming with several exciting events already lined up. In person for the first time since the pandemic will be the 18th Annual San Francisco Writers’ Conference, from February 17th through the 22nd. WNBA is a proud sponsor of the conference, and we encourage you to register: https://www.sfwriters.org/2022-conference/. Please sign up before December 31st to receive early bird pricing.
On January 14th, we kick off our chapter Zoom events with “Set Yourself up for Success in 2022, Goal Setting for Writers” (with Deb Eckerling). Next, “How to
Write About Grief and Loss Related to the Pandemic,” will take place on January 28th. Finally, save the date for our best ever, Virtual Pitch-o-rama Plus, which happens on April 30th.
Please schedule a quick chat to talk about your membership here: https://calendly.com/elisemariecollins/wnba-sf-membership.
We appreciate our members’ strong support, helping us continue to offer our stellar events. We request your WNBA membership renewal by December 31st to ensure our continued success in offering a robust array of warming and inspirational literary events in 2022.
My warmest wishes for a richly fulfilling new year,
Elise Marie Collins
WNBA – SF Chapter Board President
Sharifah Hardie is a business consultant, talk show host and influencer. Sharifah was a Long Beach City Council Candidate in the 2020 March 3rd Primary Election and is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Expert. With over twenty five years of business experience, Sharifah Hardie has positioned herself to become one of the top executives in entertainment, business, politics and a person on the rise. Sharifah is the author of Signs You Might Be An Entrepreneur – How to Discover the Entrepreneur in You
Lyzette Wanzer’s work appears in over twenty-five literary journals. She is a contributor to The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays (Wyatt-MacKenzie), The Naked Truth, Essay Daily, and San Francisco University High School Journal. A three-time San Francisco Arts Commission and Center for Cultural Innovation grant recipient, Lyzette serves as Judge for the Soul-making Keats Literary Competition Intercultural Essay category. She is currently helming an anthology entitled Trauma, Tresses, & Truth: Untangling Our Hair Through Personal Narrative.
Sumbul Ali-Karamali, a former corporate attorney with an additional degree in Islamic law, is an award-winning writer and speaker. She grew up in California, answering questions about her religion, which is why her books engagingly introduce readers to Muslim beliefs and practices and include The Muslim Next Door: The Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing and her just-released Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Not Taking Over Our Country.
Pushcart Prize nominee Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte is an Oakland multidisciplinary writer. Her autobiographical and fictional short story collections, along with her lyrical and stunning poetry have been described as “rich in vivid imagery,” “incredible,” and “great contributions to literature.” Her first novel, Betrayal on the Bayou, was published in June 2020. She is also a popular literary reader, presenter, storyteller, curator and emcee for local events.
Fourth-generation native San Franciscan, Kathleen Archambeau, is an award-winning writer and LGBTQ activist. She is author of four nonfiction works, Climbing the Corporate Ladder in High Heels (2006), “Seized,” an essay in The Other Woman (2007), edited by Victoria Zackheim, Pride & Joy (2017), and We Make It Better (2019), with gay dad, Eric Rosswood. Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black wrote the Foreword to Pride & Joy and endorsed We Make It Better. Archambeau’s work has been favorably reviewed in global and national literary publications and she has been a featured speaker at national and global Pride literary events. Her book was included as part of the Oakland Museum of California store’s Queer California Exhibit and she is a founding member of the James Hormel LGBT wing of the SF Public Library.
Michael Larsen co-founded Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in 1972. Over four decades, the agency sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers and imprints. The agency has stopped accepting new writers, but Mike loves helping all writers. He gives talks about writing and publishing, and does author coaching. He wrote How to Write a Book Proposal and How to Get a Literary Agent, and co-authored Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. Mike is co-director of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference.
Rose Castillo Guilbault is the author of the highly acclaimed memoir Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican In America. Her essays have been published in dozens of textbooks and anthologies. She also wrote the book The Latina’s Guide to Success In the Workplace. Rose was the first Hispanic columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle; her column “Hispanic USA” was honored by a number of journalistic and community organizations. A longtime television journalist, she was awarded an EMMY for her work. Ms. Castillo Guilbault was featured in the award-winning book Latinas and Their Muses. Her community activities include Chair of the Commonwealth Club of California’s board of directors and serving as a judge on the Book Awards Committee for several years.
Ms. Morris was the first Coordinator of Children’s Services at the San Francisco Public Library and established the Children’s Historical and Research Collection at the Children’s Center of the San Francisco Library. She went on to become the first African American president of the Public Library Association. In 1968, Ms. Morris founded the San Francisco Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association, which began in 1917. The WNBA SF Chapter is continuing our advocacy for the voices of women and diverse authors in tribute to Ms. Morris’s important work and legacy.
First Place: Butterfly Girl by Anne Marie O’Brien
Third Place: Someone Else by Harriet Garfinkle 
First Place: Refugees in the Promised Land by Ellie Bozmarova 
Second Place: Seoraksan by Lucille Lang Day