The Writers' Lunch: Food Writing the Human Factor
moderated by Taryn Edwards

This event will be conducted via Zoom. Register and you will be emailed the Zoom credentials.

The Writers' Lunch is virtually back! This month librarian Taryn Edwards will moderate the discussion the Food Writing: the Human Factor with food and culture writer Laura Smith Borrman, food and travel journalist Anna Mindess, and novelist/journalist Alec Scott for an examination of the ways good writing about what we eat can also speak to who we are.  It’s not just lunch, when these three write about it! 

California native Laura Smith Borrman is a writer, editor, story gatherer, lover of food and drink, and author of Iconic San Francisco Dishes, Drinks, and Desserts (2018), Discovering Vintage San Francisco (2015) and Wine Country Chef’s Table (2012). She has worked in pastry kitchens, culinary travel, public radio, research, and the corporate world.She was honored as a 2017 Library Laureate by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and writes about the city and the people who’ve shaped it, food memories, recipes and motherhood at Cravings of Home. She lives with her husband (the photographer for her two most recent books) and children in Oakland.

Anna Mindess writes about food, culture and travel. Her work has appeared in Gastro Obscura, AFAR, Lonely Planet, Fodor's, KQED, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, as well as local Bay Area publications, where she often focuses on immigrant-owned restaurants. Her piece, Refugees' Life Stories Deepen the Brew at 1951 Coffee Company, was named Best Food Essay by the Association of Food Journalists in 2018. Anna enjoys exploring food subjects that cross or connect different cultures, such as eating with the hands. She also works as an American Sign Language interpreter and delights in connecting her two worlds, such as her recent story for Gastro Obscura on Deaf-owned restaurants around the world. Find her on Instagram @annamindess or at www.annamindess.com

Alec Scott is an award-winning journalist, a longtime contributor to the Guardian, LA Times, SF Chronicle and the Smithsonian. He has written on food for Toronto Life, Western Living and Sunset magazine. Out this summer, his first novel, Until It Shimmers, has been called a “potent, vigorous coming-of-age tale” by Kirkus Reviews, “a sparkling debut, drenched in longing” by the Globe & Mail. It is full of food. He is working on a book about San Francisco’s longstanding institutions, Oldest San Francisco, due out next spring from Reedy Press. Find out more at www.alecscott.com

Join us, share and learn!

The Writers' Lunch is a casual brown-bag lunch activity on the 3rd Friday of each month. Look forward to mini-reviews on books that have been added to our "literary craft" collection, informal presentations by member writers, and excellent conversation. Please contact Taryn Edwards if you have any questions or if you would like to be a panelist contact Taryn - [email protected]