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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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5 JULY 2025 — saturday

6 JULY 2025 — sunday

7 JULY 2025 — monday

8 JULY 2025 — tuesday

  • Award-winning author and paramedic Joanna Sokol reads from her new book, A Real Emergency: Stories From the Ambulance, joined in conversation by Kevin Fagan, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

9 JULY 2025 — wednesday

10 JULY 2025 — thursday

  • Poem Jam: Kim Shuck, San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita presents contributing poets reading from their new anthology, Colossus: Water, Poem Jam takes place on the second Thursday of each month unless otherwise noted, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-10-25)

11 JULY 2025 — friday

12 JULY 2025 — saturday

13 JULY 2025 — sunday

14 JULY 2025 — monday

15 JULY 2025 — tuesday

  • Jackie Thomas-Kennedy reads from her new novel, The Other Wife, joined in conversation by Carol Edgarian, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

16 JULY 2025 — wednesday

  • Crystal Haryanto presents her new book, The Glory of Giving Everything: The Taylor Swift Business Model, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

17 JULY 2025 — thursday

  • Poetry Night Reading Series presents Dane Cervine, Nine Volt Nirvana, and Adela Najarro, with host Dr. Andy Jones, air-conditioned venue, John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street, Davis, 7:00 (www.poetryindavis.com)
  • Poets Molly Fisk and Kim Shuck present poems from varied perspectives about wildfire, flooding and related catastrophes in California from the California Fire & Water anthology; they will be joined by six other contributors to the anthology, Gene Berson, Heather Bourbeau, Aileen Cassinetto, Susan Cohen, Alison Luterman, and Maw Shein Win, California Fire & Water anthology, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-17-25)
  • Miranda S. Spivack reads from her new book, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards, a groundbreaking look at how ordinary people are fighting back against local governments to keep their communities safe, joined in conversation by Victoria Baranetsky, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

18 JULY 2025 — friday

19 JULY 2025 — saturday

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)
  • 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).

21 JULY 2025 — monday

22 JULY 2025 — tuesday

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)

24 JULY 2025 — thursday

25 JULY 2025 — friday

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)
  • Sacramento Poetry Alliance presents the VOICES reading with Cold River Press, 1169 Perkins Way, Sacramento, refreshments, 4:00 (see Sacramento Poetry Alliance on Facebook)
  • 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)

27 JULY 2025 — sunday

28 JULY 2025 — monday

29 JULY 2025 — tuesday

30 JULY 2025 — wednesday

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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