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Poetry Flash Reading Series
Linda Ravenswood and Yiskah Rosenfeld
9/19, Berkeley
more info


Fog and Light: Vince Gotera, Ken Haas, Kathleen McClung, Diane Frank, more

24 JUNE 2021 — thursday

Poetry Flash presents a virtual poetry reading to celebrate Fog and Light: San Francisco Through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here, a new anthology, with contributors Vince Gotera, Ken Haas, Jodi Hottel, Kathleen McClung, Gwynn O'Gara, and editor Diane Frank, online via Zoom, free, 7:00 pm PDT (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link to join the reading)


Please join us for a Poetry Flash virtual reading on Thursday, June 24 at 7:00 pm PDT! We are excited to bring you this anthology celebration via Zoom. To register for this reading, please click on the link in the calendar listing above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event. Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series during these unprecedented times.

This reading is co-sponsored by Moe's Books in Berkeley; Fog and Light is available at bookshop.org/lists/poetry-flash-readings.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Many of these bio notes are from the Fog and Light anthology:
Vince Gotera's recent book is The Coolest Month, a collection of poems written everyday throughout April, in response to NaPoWriMo and Poem-a-Day prompts. Maureen Thorson says, "Vince Gotera's The Coolest Month leans into T. S. Eliot's bromide for April while turning it on its head.…An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but as Gotera shows, a poem a day can help chase away the blues." Now a professor in Iowa, Gotera was born and raised in San Francisco. He grew up in the Haight-Ashbury and was a teenager during the Summer of Love. "As a lead guitarist," Vince says, "I was influenced by the rock bands that played around The City: Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Charlatans, The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver, Santana, and many others. In fact, I fondly remember being an eighth grader at St. Agnes School on Ashbury and hearing The Dead rehearsing in their house across the street." Gotera left for grad school in the Midwest and hasn't lived in The City since. "But I am always excited to visit and enjoy the dazzling diversity, charming neighborhoods, and utter beauty of San Francisco, forever home."

Ken Haas's first full-length collection, Borrowed Light, won the 2020 Red Mountain Press Discovery Award. Ellen Bass said, "…Ken Haas's first collection of poems…is complex, vibrant, capacious and wildly imaginative. With affection and wonderful clarity, Haas describes a childhood of 'taking infield practice and shagging flies,' Atlantic City's 'sunburn and saltwater taffy,' a trip into Manhattan to see the legendary John Coltrane, who 'emptied his arms in a wave that even now speaks to the kind of man I could become.' But it would be a mistake to call this book nostalgic. Haas is keenly aware of the darker forces of history. The same Antisemitism that forced his grandparents to flee Nazi Germany is alive and well today—'we just forgot that shirt-wise brown is brown, words do burn, and we can see the rest from here.'" Haas's work has appeared in over fifty literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and received the Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award. He grew up in New York City, but has lived for the past forty-four years in San Francisco.

Jodi Hottel is a sansei, third generation Japanese American. She is author of the chapbooks Out of the Ashes, Voyeur, and Heart Mountain, her collection of poems about the Japanese American incarceration, winner of the 2012 Blue Light Press Poetry Prize. Most of those families were initially taken to a temporary detention site at the Tanforan race track in San Bruno, now the site of a shopping mall.

Kathleen McClung's books include Temporary Kin, Three Soul-Makers, A Juror Must Fold in on Herself, The Typists Play Monopoly, and Almost the Rowboat. Julie Kane wrote of Temporary Kin, " Kathleen McClung is a master of the sonnet crown. In her skilled hands, that venerable form expands to encompass active shooter drills, smartphones, and Lyft drivers, as well as songbirds, the sea, and the moon." She fell in love with San Francisco at age nine when she came with her mother on a Greyhound bus to see Carmen at the War Memorial Opera House. She cried when they had to leave at the intermission to catch the bus back to Sacramento. For over thirty years, Kathleen McClung has lived, taught, and written on the foggy west side of San Francisco.

Gwynn O'Gara's books include Snake Woman Poems, with a foreword by Nanos Valaoritis, and the chapbooks Fixer-Upper, Winter at Green Haven, Fruit of Life, and Sea Cradles. She grew up in San Francisco and left many times, almost always coming back. For twenty-five years she worked as a California Poet in the Schools and served as Sonoma County Poet Laureate 2010-2011.

Diane Frank is author of eight books of poems; her 2021 collection is While Listening to the Enigma Variations: New and Selected Poems. Los P. Jones said this of Frank's 2018 book, Canon for Bears and Ponderosa Pines: "In this new and startling collection, Diane Frank's poems transcend not just genres but entire dimensions. When she speaks to J.S. Bach, she really means it and when Bach speaks back, she listens—entirely—the way certain moths perceive sound via their whole body, even their wings. How is this accomplished? It will seem to come through the poems themselves—their music, tonal qualities and subjects, yet it goes even deeper as it pushes up like duende through the soles of your feet." She is also the author of Blackberries in the Dream House, winner of the Chelson Award for Fiction, two other novels, and a photo memoir of her 400-mile trek in the Himalayas. She teaches at San Francisco State University and Dominican University and lives in the Outer Sunset in San Francisco, where she dances, plays cello, and creates her life as an art form. She selected the poems for the Fog and Light anthology.




Daily Listings

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8 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

9 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday

  • Left Margin Lit welcomes writers of all experience levels for their workshop, "12 Flash Prompts in 12 Days," running over twelve days (September 9 to 20, 2024), the workshop will encourage writing to prompts that focus on different aspects of craft and voice, and are designed to challenge and motivate, hosted by Rachel Sarah, Girl Warriors and Climate Champions, virtual on Slack, $50, Asynchronous (For more information, visit: leftmarginlit.org/late-summer-shorts-3-meserve-sarah)
  • Pegasus Books welcomes scholar and author Sunaura Taylor, Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation, for a discussion on her new title, Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert, in conversation with Yomi Young; Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, free, 6:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.pw.org/literary_events/sunaura_taylor_disabled_ecologies_lessons_from_a_wounded_desert_with_yomi_young)

10 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday

  • Warwick's presents novelist and TV/film writer Gary Goldstein, The Last Birthday Party, to read from and discuss his latest, Please Come to Boston, Warwick's, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/goldstein-2024)

11 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday

12 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday

13 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

  • Society of Young Inklings presents their annual two-day (September 13 to September 14, 2024) writing conference "The Way Words Move Us," celebrating the launch of the annual Inklings Book, featuring a keynote event with children's book author Joanna Ho, creative writing breakout sessions, workshops on using movement to bring words to life, experiments in word play, a storytelling workshop, reflective writing, a silent auction with literary-themed baskets and a pop-up bookstore; Reception and autograph session with all the conference authors, including youth published in the Inklings Book 2024; Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley, $50-$300, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-way-words-move-us-tickets-893677833457?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)

14 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

  • THIS EVENT IS CANCELED - Point Reyes Books welcomes poet Ellery Akers in celebration of her new collection, A Door Into the Wild: Poetry and Art, joined by Jane Hirshfield and others; Point Reyes Presbyterian Church, 11445 CA-1, Point Reyes Station, free, 3:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/ellery-akers-jane-hirshfield-and-more)
  • The Garlicky Group of Poets welcomes all for their monthly poetry reading and open mic; Come perform and listen to poetry in a relaxed, judgment free environment, Gilroy Library, 350 West Sixth Street, Gilroy, free, 3:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: sccl.bibliocommons.com/events/65691a42067df23e0029839b)
  • California State Parks and Quiet Lightning, in partnership with Friends of China Camp, present Poetry in Parks 2024, a daylong literary arts festival, featuring a set from Better Ancestors with Karla Myn Khine, Alex Feliciano Mejia, Kato Bisase, Zouhair Mussa and Sarah O'Neal, China Camp Village, 100 China Camp Village Road, San Rafael, free, Noon PDT (For more information, visit: friendsofchinacamp.org/event/poetry-in-parks-2024)
  • Point Reyes Books welcomes Laura Marris in celebration of her debut essay collection, The Age of Loneliness, Dance Palace Church Space, 503 B Street, Point Reyes Station, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/laura-marris)

15 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • The Petaluma Poetry Walk is an annual poetry festival founded in 1996 by the late poet Geri Digiorno, this year features over two dozen poets at eight venues: 11:00 am, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street: Sixteen Rivers Press kicks off the Walk with Christina Lloyd, Alice Templeton, and Murray Silverstein, with event presenter Terry Ehret; Noon, The Petaluma Cheese Shop, 112 Washington Street: Raleigh Review Geri Digiorno Prize Winner Emily Schulten, Lynn Watson, Gene Berson, with event presenter Bill Vartnaw; 1:00 pm, Keller Street CoWork, Main Lounge, 140 Keller Street: Jonah Raskin, Lisa Summers, Stacey Tuel, and Steve Shain on Standup Bass, with event presenter Daedalus Howell; 2:00 pm, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street: Avotcja, Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş, Nancy Miller Gomez, with event presenter Elizabeth Herron; 3:00 pm, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street: California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick and former San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate Genny Lim, with event presenter Iris Jamahl Dunkle; 4:00 pm, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd. North: Marin Poetry Center Poets, Ellery Akers and Lee Rossi, with event presenter Francesca Bell; 5:00 pm, Petaluma Historical Museum, 20 4th Street: Georgina Marie Guardado, Jodi Hottel, Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, with event presenters Sabine Wolpert and John Johnson; 6:00-8:00 pm, Aqus Café, 189 H Street (this location is the farthest, you might want a ride for this venue): The Grande Finale with Emilie Lygren, Kirk Lumpkin, Chris Olander, Lin Marie DeVincent, Fran Carbonaro, and Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter, with event presenter Gwynn O'Gara; all in walking distance across Petaluma, all free, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.petalumapoetrywalk.org)
  • Rumi's Caravan returns to Berkeley for recitations of world poetry, featuring an improvised poetic conversation with music, the presentation quotes from the works Rumi, Hafiz, Mary Oliver, Kabir, Wendell Berry, Neruda, Rilke, Robert Bly, Yeats, Naomi Shihab Nye, William Stafford, Maya Angelou, Leonard Cohen, Seamus Heaney, Denise Levertov, Antonio Machado, May Sarton and others, ticket sales support the work of the Middle East Children's Alliance; The Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, $29 Advance or $39 Door, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: secure.thefreight.org/14235/rumi-caravan-0915, or www.RumisCaravan.com)

16 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday

  • Warwick's welcomes Brenda Novak, Summer on the Island, author of more than sixty novels, to discuss and read from her latest, The Banned Books Club, Warwick's, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, free, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/novak-2024)
  • The Booksmith welcomes Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room, to read from and discuss her most recent novel, Creation Lake, The Booksmith, 1727 Haight Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.booksmith.com/event/rachel-kushner)

17 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday

  • KQED Live welcomes San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, Blood in the Fog, for "Rhymes for Reform," a reading and discussion about how poetry can ignite action, The Commons, 2601 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.kqed.org/event/4431)

18 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday

19 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday

  • Marin Poetry Center welcomes Joan Baranow, Reading Szymborska in a Time of Plague, and Matthew Gellman, Beforelight, for a poetry reading and discussion, Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, free, 6:15 pm PDT (For more information, visit: marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events/joan-baranow-matthew-gellman-poetry-reading)
  • Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading by Yiskah Rosenfeld, reading from her two new collections, Tasting Flight and Naked Beside Fish, and LA poet and performance poet Linda Ravenswood, A poem is a house, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

20 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

21 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

22 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • Marcus Books welcomes Code Tenderloin founder Del Seymour and author Alison Owings, Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich, for a discussion and reading from their book, The Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco, followed by a book signing, Marcus Books, 3900 Martin L King Jr Way, Oakland, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.instagram.com/marcus.books/?hl=en)

23 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday

24 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday

25 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday

26 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday

27 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

28 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

  • Fourth Saturdays Poetry at the Claremont Library monthly poetry reading presents featured poets Tiffany K. Elliott, Bones Awaiting the Blaze, and Scott Noon Creley, Digging a Hole to the Moon, Helen Renwick Library, 208 North Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/events/1797746840635833/?ref=newsfeed)
  • Left Margin Lit welcomes writers of all experience levels for their workshop, "Speaking from Experience: Writing Personal Narrative," runs over four Saturdays (September 28 to October 19, 2024), the workshop explores elements of craft pertinent to personal writing: voice, narrative distance, detail, characterization, using writers's personal lives and experiences to generate new writing, work toward a draft of one personal essay by the end of the month, hosted by Jaclyn Moyer, On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family from Punjab to California, virtual on Zoom, $275, 10:00 am PDT (For more information, visit: www.leftmarginlit.org/speaking-from-experience-moyer)

29 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • In this "line break" poetry workshop, "Poetry of the Sixth Sense," participants will use dreams, tarot, the powers of sensory and textual associations, and several generative prompts to help them unblock and access new images and narrative, hosted by poet Alex Mattraw, Raw Anyone, private garden location, South Berkeley, $90-$180, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.alexmattraw.com/linebreakworkshops)

30 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday


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