The Bushwick Book Club was founded in 2009 by Brooklyn based singer-songwriter, Susan Hwang.  At every Bushwick Book Club performance, a book is selected, and a collection of local musicians read the book and write songs inspired by them.  Over the past decade, branches of the book club have sprouted all over the world, in cities such as Portland; Los Angeles; Seattle; Malmo, Sweden; Santa Barbara; New Orleans; Greenville, South Carolina; and Toronto, Canada.

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Now Oakland, California has its very own Bushwick Book Club!  BBC Oakland specifically selects literature written by authors of color, members of LGBTQ communities and books exploring facets of the natural world. Each season, a book is chosen and group of select singer-songwriters and composers read the book, write a song inspired by it, and perform their pieces for an audience of enthusiastic book people.  Bushwick Book Club Oakland selects books that take up issues of race, gender, class, the natural world, and mental health. Audience members are encouraged to read the book ahead of time for added fun.