Novelist Dorothy Allison will appear at the Distinguished Writers Series at Cal State East Bay in Hayward at 7:00 pm. Click for more info and the exact location.

If you’ve never heard Allison read, she’s a knockout every time. I heard Allison read a few years ago at the Squaw Valley Writers Conference, where she is a regular workshop leader. She held the audience of 400 absolutely spellbound with her reading, and her other remarks were just as riveting, creating an intense, almost spiritual atmosphere.

The monthly Inside Story Time series hosted by James Warner also happens Thursday with Ayelet Waldman (Love and Other Impossible Pursuits), Kirk Read (How I Learned to Snap), Thaisa Frank (A Brief History of Camouflage), Jimmy Chen, and Jeff Kirschner. That’s at 6:30 pm at at Cafe Royale, 800 Post St. [map]. The monthly theme is “Subtle versus obvious.”