29th Annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival

Join us—Stand up for the Earth!

Celebrate Writers, Nature & Community

Saturday, October 5, 2024, 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, and poets Claire Blotter, Expanding. Water. Ways, Gabriel Cortez, Ecology Center Poet-in- Residence, poet and spoken word artist Mario Ellis Hill, Emilie Lygren, What We Were Born For, and more. Meet at the southeast corner of Oxford at Center, near the large, round sphere sculpture, on the edge of UC Berkeley campus.

Saturday, October 5, 2024
Noon to 4:30 p.m. • Free
Festival Main Stage • Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park • Berkeley

Poets and writers, including
Genny Lim, San Francisco Poet Laureate 2024
James Cagney, Martian: The Saint of Loneliness,
James Laughlin Award-winner, Academy of American Poets

Jane Hirshfield, Northern California Book Awards Fred Cody
recipient for Lifetime Achievement and Service, "one of American poetry's central
spokespersons for the biosphere," The Asking: New and Selected Poems
Lee Herrick, California Poet Laureate,
In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected

Marsha de la O, Creature, Pitt Poetry Series,
Morton Marcus Poetry Prize, The New Yorker
John Shoptaw, Near-Earth Object,
Northern California Book Award-winner for Times Beach

Cintia Santana, The Disordered Alphabet,
Northern California Book Award-winner 2024
Ellery Akers, poet, visual artist, and naturalist, A Door Into the Wild: Poetry and Art, Swerve: Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance

California Poets in the Schools students with poet-teachers Tureeda Mikell, The Body: Oracle of Memory, and Brennan DeFrisco

WE ARE NATURE OPEN MIC, 8 three-minute spots, 12:20 pm, enter the drawing before then, onsite at the Info Tent

Chris Olander, River Light, Nevada County Poet Laureate 2019-2021, performs his poetry with dancers Sharon Coleman and Ranko Ogura accompanied by jazz guitarist Barry Finnerty

Appearing again on the Main Stage:
Claire Blotter, Expanding. Water. Ways
Gabriel Cortez, Ecology Center Poet-in-Residence
Mario Ellis Hill, poet and spoken word artist
Emilie Lygren, What We Were Born For

World-class jazz played throughout by The Barry Finnerty Trio,
acclaimed jazz guitarist Barry Finnerty, who has toured and played with Miles Davis, The Crusaders, and Hubert Laws, with PETER BARSHAY on bass

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

Check back 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 and tent shade for seating provided.
Pick up your lunch at the Farmers' Market, or bring a blanket and picnic!

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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. Students and Poet-Teachers reading at Watershed are part of the John Oliver Simon Legacy Project.
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. Featured writers in past issues have included Ukrainian-American poet Natalya Sukhonos and John Curl on the Poetry of the Maya.
Visit us on Facebook!

Longship Press
Longship Press is an independent small press publishing company in San Rafael, California. It publishes poetry collections and chapbooks and produces the literary journal NOSTOS: Poetry, Fiction, and Art.
Longshippress.com

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

Milvia Street Journal
Milvia Street is Berkeley City College’s art and literary journal. It showcases the diverse voices and visions of Berkeley City College students. BCC students will also bring their own publications to display and sell.

Northern California Book Awards
Northern California's vibrant literary scene is celebrated annually at the Northern California Book Awards, honoring books by Northern California authors and California translators state-wide, presented by the Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash, and San Francisco Public Library, with community partners Mechanics' Institute Library and Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter.

Poetry Flash (poetryflash.org)
Poetry Flash is an online review and literary calendar for California, presenting the Poetry Flash Reading Series, Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, Northern California Book Awards, and John Oliver Simon Legacy Project for East Bay poetry in the schools.

Puppet-Making, for all ages
Fun with recycle, reuse! Learn to use recycled materials to make your own puppets at Watershed. Taught by artist Francesca Borgatta
www.puppetfigures.com

SF Creative Writing Institute
We are an eclectic group of teachers who have been hand-picked to provide excellent instruction in storytelling, poetry, fiction, memoir, blogging, and more.
sfwriting.institute

Sixteen Rivers Press
Sixteen Rivers Press is a nonprofit, shared-work poetry collective. We are a regional press and publish Northern California authors. Meet Sixteen Rivers poets Eliot Schain and Patrick Cahill at Watershed.
www.sixteenrivers.org

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To exhibit, email info@poetryflash.org, with WATERSHED in the subject line. Tables, chairs, and 10x10 canopies available!

Click here for 2024 "River Village" Watershed Exhibitors Form—trade the $30 exhibit fee for volunteering! Click here to pay table fee online. Or mail attention: Watershed to address on form. For more information, or to volunteer or exhibit, contact info@poetryflash.org with WATERSHED iin the subject line

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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

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 • We thank our community supporters

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