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Lynne Thompson

Lynne Thompson and Dorianne Laux

25 JULY 2024 — thursday

Poetry Flash presents an exciting poetry reading by Dorianne Laux, Life and Earth, and Lynne Thompson, Blue on a Blue Palette, part of Poetry Flash's 50+ Anniversary celebration, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event and at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash. This event will be posted on the Poetry Flash YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UClwdR-uPFNz7XxbBbLcnoEA.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS

Dorianne Laux's new book of poems is Life on Earth. Kwame Dawes says, "A prodigious imagination that somehow manages to sift through the ordinary, quotidian, and squalid realities of our world, to produce moments of grace and shimmering beauty, and empathetic illumination. Dorianne Laux is a national treasure, a poet of immense insight and masterful craft." Her previous collections include Awake; What We Carry, a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle Award; Smoke; Facts About the Moon; The Book of Men, which received The Paterson Poetry Prize; and Only as the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems, a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She's co-author of the celebrated book The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry, and she's authored a new book in that vein, Finger Exercises for Poets. She is a founding faculty member of Pacific University's low-residency MFA program, and lives in Northern California.

Lynne Thompson's new book of poems is Blue on a Blue Palette. Ellen Bass says, "Singing the blues in this beautiful and devastating collection, Lynne Thompson calls on the tradition of poets such as Patricia Smith and Adrienne Rich to examine a culture of loss for women and for people of color.…Thompson employs a variety of forms—from abecedarian to cento and villanelle—in skillful, smart, and generous poems that include allusions to nursery rhymes, Bible verses, musicians, artists, and writers to explore the tensions between creation and violence.…This is an important collection, one to keep close.…" Her previous collections include Beg No Pardon, winner of Perugia Press Prize and Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award; Start with a Small Guitar; and Fretwork, winner of the 2019 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize selected by Jane Hirshfield. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, her honors include an Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, Tucson Literary Festival Poetry Prize, and George Drury Smith Award for Achievement in Poetry 2023. She lives in Los Angeles and graced that city as Poet Laureate 2021-22.

Daily Listings

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18 JULY 2025 — friday

Community Open Mic featuring 826LA students, the culminating event of 826LS's Summer Writers Workshop, emcee Ariadne Makridakis Arroyo, all participants have five minutes to share, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice Beach, Los Angeles, doors open 7:00, reading 7:30 (www.eventbrite.com/e/826la-beyond-baroque-present-community-open-mic-tickets-1397352441769?aff=oddtdtcreator)
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19 JULY 2025 — saturday

City Lights and PM Press celebrate the publication of Surrealism, Bugs Bunny, and the Blues: Selected Writings on Popular Culture, with the editors Abigail Susik and Paul Buhle, the book is a collection of Franklin Rosemont's writings on popular culture over a period of more than forty years, Zoom, free, Noon (citylights.com/events/abigail-susik-and-paul-buhle)
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Marin Poetry Center Traveling Show presents a poetry reading by Louise Yost and Jonathan Livingston, with host Dotty LeMieux, Novato Library, 1720 Novato Blvd., Novato, free, 2:00 (marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events-category/traveling-show)
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20 JULY 2025 — sunday

Roberto Tejada, Why the Assembly Disbanded, celebrates the release of his new poetry collection, Carbonate of Copper: Poems, with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Forrest Gander, Mojave Ghost, limited seating, Kerouac Alley, between City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe, 257 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: citylights.com/events/forrest-gander-with-roberto-tejada)
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Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading featuring Rachel Richardson, Smother, and Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Mothersalt, 2727 California Street, a Cooperative Art Gallery, Berkeley, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).
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21 JULY 2025 — monday

Blue Light Press presents "Eleven Poets from the Blue Light Press Summer Workshop," a poetry reading by Barbara Saxton, Mylo Schaaf, Susanna Praetzel, MJ Moore, Nancy Lee Melmon, Melissa Hobbs, Jennifer Grant, Robin Gabbert, Kay Barnes, Pat Barone, and Diane Frank, Society of Artists Gallery, 1513 3rd Street (at E Street), San Rafael, free, 6:00 pm (www.bluelightpress.com/events.php)
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22 JULY 2025 — tuesday

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23 JULY 2025 — wednesday

Bridget A. Lyons reads from and presents her new book, Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species, joined in conversation by Leigh Marz, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)
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24 JULY 2025 — thursday

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25 JULY 2025 — friday

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26 JULY 2025 — saturday

Fourth Saturdays: Poetry at the Claremont Library presents Karen Greenbaum-Maya and Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, in the Claremont Village, Claremont, free, 2:00 (909/621-4902, www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html)
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The Bay Area Book Festival and Litquake present "Narrating the Mother," an intimate (virtual) conversation with Iman Mersal and Kate Briggs, two writers who reshape our understanding of motherhood and the art of living, moderated by Sri Lankan American novelist Nayomi Munaweera, Gilman Brewing, 912 Gilman Street, Berkeley, free, 10:00 am-11:00 am (www.eventbrite.com/e/narrating-the-mother-tickets-1328737101439)
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Sacramento Poetry Alliance presents the VOICES reading with Cold River Press, 1169 Perkins Way, Sacramento, refreshments, 4:00 (see Sacramento Poetry Alliance on Facebook)
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Marin Poetry Center Traveling Show presents a poetry reading by Judy Wells, Dale Jensen, Carol Dorf, LeeAnn Pickrell, and Judy Bertelsen, with host Kathryn Jordan, North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library,1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins), Berkeley, free, 2:00 (marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events-category/traveling-show)
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27 JULY 2025 — sunday

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28 JULY 2025 — monday

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29 JULY 2025 — tuesday

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30 JULY 2025 — wednesday

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31 JULY 2025 — thursday

"The Jingwei Bird" is a program that explores the complexity of climate change and our relationship to the planet through multi-disciplinary performances with Del Sol Quartet and San Francisco poet laureate Genny Lim, weaving newly composed music by Asian-American composers with powerful bilingual poetry, using storytelling and mythology to deepen our understanding and awareness of the environment, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-31-25)
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