Join our panelists, San Francisco-based authors Julia Flynn Siler '82, Ravi Chandra '89, and Ho Lin '92, for an evening dedicated to writing at Booksmith's event space, The Bindery!

The authors will discuss their experiences getting published, read excerpts from their recent books, and take questions from the audience about these and other writing topics. A cash bar will be available. Admission is free, and guests are welcome.

About the Authors

Ravi Chandra '89

Ravi Chandra '89 is a psychiatrist and author in San Francisco. He blogs about spirituality, psychology and culture for Psychology Today, and Asian American film and culture for the Center for Asian American Media. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and in 2016 received a proclamation for his community work from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Ravi's latest book, Facebuddha, is about transcendence in the age of social networks. He is currently working on books about narcissism, loneliness and travel. Read more about Ravi at www.facebuddha.co.

Ho Lin '92

Ho Lin '92 is an author, editor, musician and filmmaker who currently resides in San Francisco. He is the co-editor of the literary journal Caveat Lector, a well-worn traveler, and a fan of the New York Giants and green onion pancakes. His debut novel, China Girl, is about a modern woman adrift in modern China. Learn more about Ho on his website, www.holinauthor.com.

Julia Flynn Siler '82

Julia Flynn Siler '82 is a New York Times bestselling author and journalist. As a veteran correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek magazine, Ms. Siler spent more than two decades in the Europe and the United States, reporting from a dozen countries. She is the sixth recipient of the annual Mayborn Biography Fellowship, which, in partnership with Biographers International Organization, provides a creative residency in Santa Fe and was previously a National Endowment for the Humanities “Public Scholar.” She is currently working on Daughters of Joy: America's Other Slaves and Their Fight For Freedom, forthcoming from Alfred A. Knopf in 2019. For more information, please visit www.juliaflynnsiler.com. Ms. Siler concentrated in American Studies while at Brown.

RSVP for free here.

Brown & Its Winemakers

Sunday, April 17th
3 PM - 6 PM
Zazu // Sebastopol

This is the one BCSF event you won’t want to miss!

On Sunday, April 17, the Brown Club of San Francisco invites you to Sonoma County for

Brown & Its Winemakers

Discover six of the most prestigious wineries from Napa and Sonoma with Brunonian roots, while feasting on a panoply of delectable appetizers from nationally acclaimed chef Duskie Estes ’90. Curated by D. Marc Capobianco ’81 AM, a 35-year wine industry veteran and noted authority on West Coast viticulture, selected wineries will include:

• Vineyard 29 (Chuck McMinn ’74)
• Littorai (Ted Lemon ’80)
• Rocca (Eric Grigsby ’79)
• Montemaggiore (Lise Ciolino ’85)
• Radio Coteau (Mike Dmytrenko ’12)
• VGS Château Potelle (Mariette Fourmeaux du Sartel ’99)

File your taxes and head to Sebastopol for this special event. The tasting will take place at Zazu, Duskie’s own restaurant in The Barlow, the remodeled historic apple cannery where Sonoma County’s best chefs, vintners, and artisans have come to work side by side. Vendors here include five winery tasting rooms, a brewpub, a handcraft distillery, SubZero ice cream, and more. Specials for Brown alumni are being arranged at many of these venues, so why not make a day of it!

Early bird tickets are available until March 15th, with optional bus service provided from San Francisco. 

We look forward to seeing you in Wine Country!

Check out our winemaker interviews here.  Tickets are available here.

Creative Expression & Diversity: Faculty Reflections

Friday, February 19th
7 PM - 9:30 PM
University Club of SF // 800 Powell Street

Liza Cariaga-Lo, Vice President for Academic Development, Diversity, and Inclusion, will moderate a Brown faculty panel discussion exploring how diversity enriches innovative thinking, critical analysis, and problem-solving in performance, design, research, and teaching at Brown. BCSF is pleased to be one of only seven alumni communities to host this special series! A reception with drinks and light dinner fare will be followed by the speaking program and Q&A. Faculty panelists include Ralph Rodriguez, Professor of American Studies and English, Courtney Martin, Professor of History of Art and Architecture, and Daniel Kim, Professor of American Studies and English.

For more information and tickets please head here! If you can't make it to the Friday event, Brown is hosting the same event in the South Bay on Saturday the 20th. 

This Unity event is sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Brown Alumni Association’s Multicultural Alumni Committee, and the Brown Club of San Francisco.

February is National Chocolate Lover's Month!  Join us for a very sweet tasting and tour of Dandelion Chocolate in the Mission. 

Greg D'Alesandre '95 is the cocoa bean sourcer at this award-winning, small-batch chocolate factory and he will lead us on a personal tour of the bean-to-bar process.  Learn about how Greg was inspired by a book on sale at the Brown Bookstore and how it eventually led him down this delicious career path.  We'll get a chance to ask questions about chocolate and the production process, all while tasting our way through the factory! 

Dandelion is graciously offering a special $20 price for Brown alumni.  The factory is small and can only accommodate a group of 12, so be sure to purchase tickets here soon!

Celebrate Brown's 250th with readings by contributors to The Brown Reader. Monday, Dec 8th!

In celebration of Brown University’s 250th anniversary, fifty remarkable, prizewinning writers and artists who went to Brown provide unique stories—many published for the first time—about their adventures on College Hill. Funny, poignant, subversive, and nostalgic, the essays, comics, and poems in this collection paint a vivid picture of college life, from the 1950s to the present, at one of America’s most interesting universities.

The evening features a panel of 3 contributors to The Brown Reader, including Robert Arellano ‘91 MFA ‘94, Andrew Sean Greer ‘92, and Brian Christian ‘06, moderated by Shawn Wen '09. Copies of The Brown Reader will be available for purchase, along with other selected works by the authors.

Reserve your seat / copy here!