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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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6 SEPTEMBER 2025 — saturday

  • North Bay Letterpress Arts and the Laguna Foundation present the opening reception for "Watershed Moment," a new exhibit featuring original works by the printers at NBLA, some in collaboration with poets, celebrating the unique beauty of the Laguna de Santa Rosa through the connection of language, image, and place, light refreshments, free, Laguna Environmental Center, 900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa, 3:00 to 5:00 (watershedmoment.eventbrite.com)
  • 44th annual NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS, honoring the books and authors of Northern California, as well as California translators state-wide; writer and activist Rebecca Solnit will receive the FRED CODY AWARD for Lifetime Achievement and Service, Paul Yamazaki, principal book buyer at City Lights Books for over fifty years, will receive the NCBA GROUNDBREAKER AWARD for Reading the Room: A Bookseller's Tale, and presentation of awards in FICTION, POETRY, CREATIVE NONFICTION, GENERAL NONFICTION, TRANSLATION IN POETRY and PROSE by California translators, and CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: Younger Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult; bookselling and a reception open to all in the SFPL's Latino/Hispanic Community Room follows, nominated books are selected by the Northern California Book Reviewers, event presented by Poetry Flash and the San Francisco Public Library, with our community partners Women's National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter and Mechanics' Institute Library, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free and open to the public, 2:00 pm (Check back for updates and nominee announcements, poetryflash.org/programs/?p=ncba_2025 or https://sfpl.org)
  • ZYZZYVA Movie Matinee presents The Earring of Madame de… (1953), co-hosted by ZYZZYVA Editor Oscar Villalon, introducing the film will be acclaimed writer Alexander Chee, followed by a conversation with Colombian writer Ingrid Rojas Contreras; a book signing follows at the end of the screening, tickets are limited, Roxie Theatre, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, $13.62 to $17.62, 12:30 (roxie.com/film/zyzzyva-movie-matinee-with-ingrid-rojas-contreras-the-earrings-of-madame-de-35mm)

7 SEPTEMBER 2025 — sunday

8 SEPTEMBER 2025 — monday

9 SEPTEMBER 2025 — tuesday

10 SEPTEMBER 2025 — wednesday

11 SEPTEMBER 2025 — thursday

12 SEPTEMBER 2025 — friday

13 SEPTEMBER 2025 — saturday

14 SEPTEMBER 2025 — sunday

  • Poetry Flash presents a reading featuring Rafaella Del Bourgo, launching her new book, A Tune Both Familiar and Strange, poems, and Sally Ashton, Listening to Mars, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm (poetryflash.org).

15 SEPTEMBER 2025 — monday

16 SEPTEMBER 2025 — tuesday

17 SEPTEMBER 2025 — wednesday

18 SEPTEMBER 2025 — thursday

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 — friday

20 SEPTEMBER 2025 — saturday

21 SEPTEMBER 2025 — sunday

  • The 28th annual Petaluma Poetry Walk is an annual poetry festival founded in 1996, this year features 26 poets at eight venues: 11:00 am, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street: Sixteen Rivers Press kicks off the Walk with Judy Halebsky, Moira Magneson, and Patrick Cahill, with event presenter Terry Ehret; Noon, Keller Street CoWork, Main Lounge, 140 Keller Street: Unsolicited Press Poets, Cathryn Shea, LeeAnn Pickrell, and Kerry Donoghue, with event presenter Daedalus Howell; 1:00 pm, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street: Found Poets in The Round, Grayson Thompson, Original Giotis, and Bernice Espinoza, with event presenter Josh Windmiller; 2:00 pm, The Big Easy, 128 American Alley: Black Lawrence Press Poets, Cassandra Dallett, Tureeda Mikell, and Paul Corman-Roberts, with event presenter Ingrid Keir; 3:00 pm, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street: The Headliners, Dorianne Laux, Life on Earth, and Joseph Millar, Shine, with event presenter Kary Hess; 4:00 pm, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd. North: the Translator Poets, Nancy Morales, Terry Ehret, Amanda Moore, with event presenter Dave Seter, Sonoma County Poet Laureate; 5:00 pm, The Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, 20 4th Street: The Library Youth Poets, Meg Hamill, Lisa Zheng, and Anaya Ertz, with event presenter 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: The Shape of Love with Jennifer Barone, Justin Cole Demeter, Ingrid Keir, Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter, Kelechi Ubozoh, Bill Vartnaw, with event presenter Kary Hess; all in walking distance across Petaluma, all free, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm (For more information, visit: petalumapoetrywalk.org)

22 SEPTEMBER 2025 — monday

23 SEPTEMBER 2025 — tuesday

24 SEPTEMBER 2025 — wednesday

25 SEPTEMBER 2025 — thursday

26 SEPTEMBER 2025 — friday

27 SEPTEMBER 2025 — saturday

  • Fourth Saturdays: Poetry at the Claremont Library presents a reading by the Fourth Saturdays Team, the organizers of the series: Lucia Galloway-Dick, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, Genevieve Kaplan, and George Hammons, 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)
  • The Sitting Room presents a Round Table Discussion on "The Poetry of Marianne Moore: Just Fiddle or Genuine?" led by Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter, bring your own favorite poems by Moore or poems of hers that you find challenging, The Sitting Room, Cotati, 2:00-4:00 (Registration required, sittingroomlibrary.org/events)

28 SEPTEMBER 2025 — sunday

29 SEPTEMBER 2025 — monday

30 SEPTEMBER 2025 — tuesday


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