
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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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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