28th Annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival

Join us—Stand up for the Earth!

Celebrate Writers, Nature & Community

SCHEDULE | as PDF

Saturday, October 14, 2023, 10:00 a.m., free
Strawberry Creek Walk:
Poetry, talk, and an easy walk along beautiful Strawberry Creek through UC Berkeley and its underground path across downtown Berkeley to the Watershed Festival at Civic Center Park. Chris Olander, River Light, leads the Creek Walk and performs his poetry, with nature commentary by Elizabeth Dougherty, Ph.D, founder/director of Wholly H20, with Chris James, and poets Dave Seter, Don’t Sing to Me of Electric Fences, Lara Gularte, Fourth World Woman, Michaelyn Logue; Eco-Dance with Sharon Coleman and Ranko Ogura, under the trees, to poetry by Creek Walk poets. Meet at the southeast corner of Oxford at Center, near the large, round sphere sculpture, on the edge of UC Berkeley campus.

Saturday, October 14, 2023
Noon to 4:30 p.m. • Free
Festival Main Stage • Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park • Berkeley

Poets and writers, including
Robert Hass, US Poet Laureate 1995-97, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner, reading and introducing surprise guests
Brenda Hillman, In a Few Minutes Before Later, Pulitzer Prize finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Northern California Book Award
Danusha Laméris , Bonfire Opera, Northern California Book Award-winner
Michael Warr, award-winning poet, Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
Chun Yu, Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a memoir in verse, award-winning bilingual poet-scientist

Sam Sax, Pig, winner of the National Poetry Series and James Laughlin Award
Erin Rodoni, And if the Woods Carry You, Northern California Book Award-finalist
Antonio López, Gentefication, winner of the Larry Levis Prize in Poetry, Vice Mayor for the City of East Palo Alto
Elizabeth C. Herron, In the Cities of Sleep, Poet Laureate of Sonoma County
Avotcja, With Every Step I Take, poet and percussionist

Chris Olander performs and Sharon Coleman dances accompanied by jazz guitarist Barry Finnerty

Appearing again on the Main Stage:
Dave Seter, Don’t Sing to Me of Electric Fences
Michaelyn Logue, poet, musican, visual artist
Lara Gularte, Fourth World Woman
Chris Olander, River Light, Nevada County Poet Laureate 2019-2021

California Poets in the Schools K-12 students
with poet-teacher Maureen Hurley and Fred Dodsworth
We Are Nature Open Mic, 8 three-minute spots, 12:20 pm
enter the drawing before then, onsite at Info Tent
World-class jazz played throughout by the Barry Finnerty Trio

Hosts: JOYCE JENKINS, KIRK LUMPKIN, and RICHARD SILBERG
Books and Book Signing at the PEGASUS BOOK TENT

Check this space for updates!
For more information: info@poetryflash.org, (510) 525-5476, cell (510) 612-3958

BART to Downtown Berkeley!
Civic Center Park is next to the Berkeley Farmers' Market, MLK Jr. Way at Center Street, one block west of downtown Berkeley BART.
Chairs, tent shade, and carpet squares for seating provided.
Pick up your lunch at the Farmers' Market, or bring your sunscreen, blanket, and picnic!

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SCHEDULE

10:00:	Strawberry Creek Walk—meet at Center & Oxford Streets 2017-19 Nevada County poet laureate Chris Olander leads the Walk with poets Michaelyn Logue, Lara Gularte, Dave Seter, nature commentary with Elizabeth Dougherty, director & founder of Wholly H2O, with Chris James. Sharon Coleman and Ranko Ogura perform Eco-Dance under the trees, to poetry by the Creek Walk poets.
12:00:	Welcome—Stand Up for the Earth—Civic Center Park Emcees: Kirk Lumpkin, Joyce Jenkins, Richard Silberg Festival Invocation - Avotcja The Barry Finnerty Trio Last call for Open Mic entries! Enter the drawing while the band plays! "We Are Nature" Open Mic: 8 three-minute spots Strawberry Creek Walk Poets reprise: Michaelyn Logue Lara Gularte Dave Seter Chris Olander
1:00:	Dance to Poetry with Sharon Coleman & Chris Olander, with guitarist Barry Finnerty Michael Warr & Chun Yu, poet-scientist California Poets in the Schools students read with Maureen Hurley & Fred Dodsworth
2:00:	Sam Sax The Barry Finnerty Trio Erin Rodoni Antonio López Elizabeth C. Herron
3:00:	The Barry Finnerty Trio Danusha Laméris Brenda Hillman
4:00:	Robert Hass reads & introduces special guests

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Watershed River Village - Exhibitors!

California Poets in the Schools
CalPoets is a literary arts organization that brings live poetry workshops to schools and communities.
www.californiapoets.org

Eco-Dress Art by Patricia Bulitt (1949-2021)
Remembering Patricia Bulitt, who danced in creeks and like a bird and held storytelling tea parties for Berkeley women…Patricia Bulitt, a creative force and an impresario, also exhibited her embellished paper dresses in galleries and taught dance to kids in Berkeley and in remote Inuit communities throughout Alaska. (berkeleyside.com) PoetryFlash.org

Haight Ashbury Literary Journal
Literary magazine and books by contributors and editors of the magazine. Poetry and short stories. Writers in the current tissue include Ukrainian-American poet Natalya Sukhonos and John Curl on the Poetry of the Maya.
Visit us on Facebook!

"Making Puppets" with artist Francesca Borgatta
A family art project for all ages using recycled materials. Join in the fun!
https://www.puppetfigures.com

Manic D Press
Great books since 1984, including award-winning poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, radical kids' books, and more.
manicdpress.com

Sixteen Rivers Press
Sixteen Rivers Press is a nonprofit, shared-work poetry collective. We are a regional press and publish Northern California authors.
www.sixteenrivers.org

Tea Roots
Tea Roots is a 501(c)3 Public Benefit Organization formed to empower social and environmental change through the arts. Tea Roots aims to encourage new artistic works of under-represented writers, visual artists and activists from diverse disciplines, cultures, communities and fields of study.
https://www.tearoots.org

Click here for 2023 "River Village" Watershed Exhibitors Form—trade your exhibit fee for volunteering! Click here to pay table fee online Or mail attn: Watershed to address on form. For more information, or to volunteer or exhibit, contact info@poetryflash.org

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A collaboration of co-founder Robert Hass, U.S. Poet Laureate 1995-1997 • Poetry Flash • Ecology Center/Berkeley Farmers' Market • Pegasus Books Downtown • Poets & Writers • 100 Thousand Poets for Change

Watershed is grateful to The Watershed Keepers: individual donors, exhibitors and volunteers • This event is supported in part by the Civic Arts program, City of Berkeley and Poets & Writers • We thank our community supporters Acme Bread Company • Berkeley Bowl West • Cheese Board Collective • Trader Joe's, Berkeley

The Watershed logo is a wood block print by artist Shane Eagleton