ThursDates at OMCA with The Bay Area Book Festival
ThursDates at OMCA | OMCA and The Bay Area Book Festival Present: Maw Shein Win ft. Live Music Performance by SPRINGTWIN, Free-Writing Workshop, and Open Mic Storytelling, Plus DJ Set by La Femme Papi, and Gallery Chats
March 26 from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Adults 18+
Unwind into a reflective and creative ThursDates evening at OMCA, where storytelling, art-making, and music unfold at an easy, welcoming pace. OMCA and the Bay Area Book Festival team up this Thursday to present Maw Shein Win, Burmese American poet and inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, for a collaborative program that moves through the Museum. The evening begins with a performance by SPRINGTWIN (Win and guitarist Danny Allen), followed by a drop-in writing workshop in the Gallery of California History, inviting guests to reflect on personal and collective histories through free-writing exercises. The program culminates in Town Fare with an open mic, where participants can share their writings while enjoying cocktails and bites. All the while, DJ La Femme Papi provides soulful, expansive music throughout the evening, creating a warm and immersive soundtrack for the night.
In addition, every ThursDates at OMCA offers a rich gallery experience with Gallery Chats from 5:30–7:30 pm. Unlike traditional tours, these conversations invite you to ask questions, share perspectives, and engage with OMCA facilitators who blend content expertise with lived experience. Gallery Chats take place in all of our galleries—including our Special Exhibitions—and are included with Museum and Special Exhibition admission. This is a night made for celebrating creativity, community, and culture in every form.
Program Schedule:
5:30–5:45 pm Live Music Performance w/ SPRINGTWIN | Gallery of California History
5:45–6:45 pm Free Writing Workshop w/ Maw Shein Win | Gallery of California History
5:30–7:30 pm DJ Set w/ La Femme Papi | Town Fare
5:30–7:30 pm Gallery Chats | All Galleries
7–7:30 pm Open Mic w/ The Bay Area Book Festival | Town Fare
About ThursDates
Every Thursday, January through March, step into OMCA’s warm after-hours glow. Experience a rotating mix of intimate performances, live figure drawing sessions, game nights, and more—designed just for adults. Or sip a signature cocktail and grab a light bite in Town Fare by Michele McQueen, all to a soundtrack of local Oakland artists and DJs.
Whether you’re exploring the Museum with a date, catching up with friends, or are coming solo and looking to meet someone new, you’ll find connection, inspiration, and creative surprises, week after week.
Accessibility
Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is committed to providing programs that are accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of our community. Wheelchairs, sensory inclusive devices, and additional amenities are available for checkout on a first come, first served basis at the Ticketing Desk. To request other accommodations, like American Sign Language (ASL), Cantonese, Spanish or another language interpreter, please email [email protected] at least three weeks before the event.
Performer BIOS
The Bay Area Book Festival is a vibrant celebration of literature, diversity, and progressive ideas, drawing over 20,000 people to its flagship weekend event in Downtown Berkeley each year. In addition to this major festival, the Bay Area Book Festival hosts monthly events and year-round programming in venues throughout the region, making it a dynamic, community-driven hub for authors, readers, and literary advocates across the Bay Area. Their mission is to uplift and honor the full spectrum of literary voices, with particular care for those who have been historically excluded or marginalized, while encouraging reading, creative expression, and critical thinking across all ages and backgrounds, fostering understanding, resilience, and collective action.
Maw Shein Win’s latest full-length poetry collection, Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn, 2024), was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. Her previous full-length collection, Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn, 2020), was longlisted for the PEN America 2021 Open Book Award, shortlisted for the Golden Poppy Award for Poetry, and nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA, the 2025 Berkeley Poetry Festival Lifetime Achievement Awardee, and a 2025 Recipient of the Nomadic/San Francisco Foundation Literary Award. Win’s previous collections include Invisible Gifts and two chapbooks, Score and Bone and Ruins of a Glittering Palace. She teaches poetry in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco and in the Low Residency MFA Program at Dominican University.
Danny Allen is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer living in Oakland, California. He’s played all over the US and Europe both as a solo performer and as a touring guitarist. Danny isn’t tied to one genre—he simply loves songs, and sonics that move and inspire him. He has a deep love for the American songbook and loves to perform standards. He also has a deep appreciation of punk rock, and early country music. He hopes you’re doing well!
La Femme Papi is a non-binary, first-generation Salvadoran American DJ, youth worker, and community healer. They were born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District (Yelamu), the unceded ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Their work centers joy and healing for immigrants, as well as queer and trans people of color dedicated to collective liberation. They’re the current resident DJ at Clutch the Pearls, a QTBIPOC drag cabaret in the Mission, and have held residencies with iconic Bay Area parties including Soulovely, Puti Club, and Queer Qumbia.
Sponsor
Major support for ThursDates at OMCA is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.
