Calendar

UPCOMING EVENTS

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PAST EVENTS

May 11, 2018   Reading at the Café Leila (map here)  at 7:00 PM
1724 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702

Please join Vallejo’s Poet Laureate D. L. Lang and me as we read at Café Leila in Berkeley.  Many thanks to hosts Poet ESpoken Brown and Kelliane Parker for inviting us to read.  This is an excellent monthly poetry series that began just a few months ago but is already has a dedicated following.  From Café Leila’s website:

We specialize in healthy, tasty food, at affordable prices. When you visit us, you’ll find foods prepared on-site daily. We use organic ingredients and chemical free foods.  We offer you dishes that are naturally low in fat and cholesterol, yet high in taste. Our soups are prepared daily. We hope you enjoy your experience eating at Café Leila.

January 19, 2015   Reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center (map here)  at 7:30 PM
1719 25th Street, 25th and R Complex
Sacramento, CA 95816

Please join me as I read from my new collection, Wisteria from Seed, at the Sacramento Poetry Center.  Many thanks to Cynthia Linville, Managing Editor/Designer of the journal Convergence, for inviting me to this historic venue. From the Sacramento Poetry Center’s website:

Since 1979, the Sacramento Poetry Center has been a major force for literary artists in Northern California. Though primarily serving as the literary center for the greater Sacramento metropolitan area, SPC’s publications are recognized nationally for their quality and literary content and its annual writers’ conference has featured some of the most important poets of our time, including Pulitzer Prize winners Gary Snyder and Philip Levine, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, and other poetic luminaries such as Galway Kinnell, Robert Bly, Robert Creely, Diane DiPrima, Carolyn Forche, Lucille Clifton, Anne Waldman, Jack Hirschman, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Dorianne Laux, Kim Addonizio, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Jose Montoya, Robert Creeley, Robert Peters, and many others.

 

Sunday, February 1, 2015     Benicia Herald front-page article by Assistant Editor Keri Luiz, “In New Book, Benicia Poet Celebrates Life“

 

 

February 2, 2015  Salon at Bookshop Benicia (map here) at 7:00 PM
636 1st Street
Benicia, CA 94510

Thanks to Lois Requist, fourth poet laureate of the City of Benicia, for inviting me to read poems from my new collection, Wisteria from Seed, in the Benicia Literary Arts Salon series, hosted at Bookshop Benicia by proprietor Christine Mayall.  I will also be talking about the process of getting my poems and my first collection of poetry published.

Bookshop Benicia is a charming independently owned bookstore carrying carefully selected books for children & adults, plus toys & stationery.  From Bookshop Benicia’s website:

Bookshop Benicia opened in July of 1993. From the first day we opened for business we have striven to be a true neighborhood bookstore for the Benicia and Vallejo communities.  Those of us who work here do so because we not only love books but we also love sharing that enthusiasm.  We believe in the power of the written word to change lives and broaden personal horizons.  We believe that communities deserve their own locally owned bookstores, businesses that respond to and reflect their neighborhoods.

 

February 16, 2015   I JUST LEARNED OF A CHANGE OF VENUE (due to remodeling),  moving just across the street and up a couple of blocks, at Nation’s Giant Hamburgers in the meeting room (enter through the main door, then turn right) (map here) at 7:00 PM
1800 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA  94703
(510) 843-7326

Thanks to Bruce Bagnell for inviting me to read from my poetry collection, Wisteria from Seed, in the weekly Poetry Express series (website here, FaceBook page here) one of the longest running poetry venues in the area (going on about 14 years now).   PoetryExpress has featured many well known poets.

(The nearest cross street is Grant.  Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the restaurant.  Street parking is free after 6 PM.)

 

April 6, 2015   Reading at the Aqus Café (map here) at 6:30 PM

189 H Street
Petaluma, CA 94952

Thanks to Sande Anfang for inviting me to be a featured reader in the Rivertown Poets series, a monthly poetry series held on the first Monday of every month at the Aqus Cafe.  Open mic, too!

From Café Aqus’ website:

The bustling scene on a regular weekday morning at Aqus Café at Foundry Wharf might appear to the first time visitor as one not unlike any other popular West Coast coffee shop….Yet if you sit awhile with your bowl of organic soy latte, steaming mug of exotic herbal tea, it won’t take you long to absorb the extraordinary atmosphere that makes Aqus Café the region’s most talked-about hot spot of modern social capital.

 

April 19, 2015  Reading at Napa Bookmine (map here) 2015 at 2:00 PM.
964 Pearl Street,
Napa, CA 94559

I’ll be participating in a reading by several poets including Beclee Wilson, the new Napa County Poet Laureate, to celebrate National Poetry Month.  The event starts at 2:00, and I’m scheduled for 3:15.

Naomi Chamblin and her husband Eric Hagyard are co-owners of Napa Bookmine, a small independent bookstore.  Naomi grew up working at her father’s epic used bookstore, Chamblin Bookmine in Jacksonville, Florida.  Her father shipped 20,000 used books from Florida to her Napa store in a boxcar.

In an interview by the Napa Valley Press Democrat, Manager Elayna Trucker, the store manager, said

“Our best sellers are fiction, mysteries, poetry and biographies. One of the key things I use to judge a reading community is the poetry section. We sell poetry well, which is an indication of Napa’s literacy and education level.”

So this poet and Wisteria from Seed will be right at home in this Napa Valley bookshop.

(Quotes from Napa Bookmine’s website and http://napavalley.towns.pressdemocrat.com/)

 

 

April 25, 2015   Meet-and-Greet (what I would call it a book signing) at Copperfield’s Books, Napa (map here), 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Bel Aire Plaza,
Napa, CA 94558

Thanks to Barbara Heppe for inviting me for an Author’s Meet-and-Greet!

From Copperfield’s website:

Copperfield’s Books in Napa is nestled next to Whole Foods Market at the Bel Aire Shopping Plaza and is a book lovers’ bookstore. Compelling sections in both cooking and travel draw the locals from Napa as well as visiting tourists. The graphic novel section and the children’s section are both noteworthy for their offerings. This store is home to Copperfield’s Cooks, a free event series featuring renowned chef authors. These events take place in Culinary Center in Whole Foods, behind the bookstore and provide an opportunity for food lovers to meet great author chefs, purchase their featured cookbooks, and also taste their recipes (courtesy of our partner Whole Foods).

 

July 1, 2015   Reading at the iconic Sacred Grounds Cafe (map here), 7:00 PM sign-up, readings until 9:50
2095 Hayes Street (at Cole)
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-387-3859

Events livestream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sacred-Grounds-café, and the video is later transferred to YouTube.

Thanks to Dan Brady for the invitation to read at “the longest running Poetry open mic we know of (since 1972)”!

As Jennifer O. said on Yelp,

Quasi ground floor/basement space that feels warm and cozy instead of dark and cramped.

Maybe it’s the quiet but nice owners and the clientele that ranges from parents with small babies to students and true hippies (that anchored this neighborhood when it was shabby and a lil dangerous) that give The Sacred Grounds a nicely worn feel like a favorite old shoe.

And they make a really good Americano.

 

July 10, 2015   Reading at the Nefeli Café (map here), Last Word Reading Series, 7:00 PM
1854 Euclid Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709

Thanks to John Rowe, Co-Editor of Poetalk and president of the Bay Area Poets’ Coalition, for inviting me to read from Wisteria from Seed at The Last Word Poetry Series, described by Jannie Dresser in examiner.com as “a Berkeley reading series kept alive by a cadre of devoted poets.”

I’ll be sharing the mic with my friend Peter Bray, also of Benicia, and the only poet I know who featured in Herb Caen’s column back in the day.

The Last Word Poetry Series meets every second Friday at Nefeli Café.  Nefili is located on Euclid, at Hearst on the block just north of campus, just before you come to LaVal’s Pizza.  Here is John Rowe’s description:

The Last Word Reading Series (2nd Fridays) is presented by Nefeli Café, a café/restaurant that serves dinners, tapas, coffee drinks, beer, wine and more in a beautiful and colorful atmosphere.  Dinner here is wonderful and should not be missed.  Admission is free, but a one-drink or one-plate minimum is suggested.  Dale Jensen, Ralph Dranaw, John Rowe and Grace Grafton are co-hosts.  Two features each month plus open reading.

 

August 1, 2015   Reading at Book Passage (map here), 1:00 – 2:30 PM
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925

About the online directions: 

1) Do not take Route 37 (sometimes known as “Sears Point Road” or “Blood Alley”) — it will be bumper-to-bumper with Sonoma Raceway traffic.  Instead, cross the bay via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

2) Sometimes freeway exit signs do not show the exit number, so just look for the names —
for instance, the Lucky/Doherty exit off 101 has a sign in the southbound direction that shows an exit number, but the sign you see for that exit going northbound does not.

Book Passage has served the Bay Area for more than 30 years, providing the community with an array of author events, writing and language classes, and highly-respected annual conferences.

A New York Times-reporting bookstore, we offer a wide variety of books ranging from children’s literature to travel guides, from top-selling fiction to mystery novels, and we continue to work diligently with community and nonprofit organizations.

Book Passage has two stores, one in Corte Madera and a second in the San Francisco Ferry Building. 

Book Passage also boasts a lovely little café, “serving up sandwiches and smiles, seven days a week.”

I am honored to be scheduled to read at this venue. A glance at Book Passage’s events calender will show you why!

 

 

September 2, 2015   Reading at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts (map here), 7:00 PM
1601 Paru St
Alameda, CA 94501

Thanks to Cathy Dana for inviting me to read at the Bette Center.  I’ll be joined by fellow Benician, poet and songwriter Peter Bray, the A Capella Handyman (www.peterbray.org/pedro)!

From the Frank Bette Center’s website:

The non-profit, volunteer run Frank Bette Center for the Arts is housed in the lovely yellow turn-of-the-century Victorian at 1601 Paru Street at Lincoln Avenue in Alameda, California.  Benefactor Frank Bette was a master antique furniture restorer. Upon his death in 1999 at the age of 99, he bequeathed the house as “a place for meetings, readings, showings, and other creative doings.”

Frank Bette was a painter, sculptor, master furniture restorer, and humanitarian. After leaving his native Germany in protest of Nazism, he found his home in California where he was well loved and respected for his gentle spirit and love of art, people and justice.

 

November 28, 2015   Reading at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts (map here), 7:00 PM
1601 Paru St
Alameda, CA 94501

Thanks to Jeanne Lupton for inviting me to read at the Bette Center.

From the Frank Bette Center’s website:
The non-profit, volunteer run Frank Bette Center for the Arts is housed in the lovely yellow turn-of-the-century Victorian at 1601 Paru Street at Lincoln Avenue in Alameda, California.  Benefactor Frank Bette was a master antique furniture restorer. Upon his death in 1999 at the age of 99, he bequeathed the house as “a place for meetings, readings, showings, and other creative doings.”

Frank Bette was a painter, sculptor, master furniture restorer, and humanitarian. After leaving his native Germany in protest of Nazism, he found his home in California where he was well loved and respected for his gentle spirit and love of art, people and justice.
(A year-and-a-half’s worth of past calendar items that used to be right here vanished into cyberspace during a website crash.  I’ll painstakingly reconstruct them when I run out of other things to do.)

 

Saturday, August 12,  2017, lecture at 6:00 PM, concert at 7:00 PM, Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Tucson, Arizona
2331 E. Adams St. (1 block south of the Arizona Inn) (map here)
Tucson, AZ 85719
Phone: 520-327-6857
email: ParishAdmin@Grace-StPauls.org

Sunday, August 20, 2017, 4:00 PM, Forte House
1498 24th Ave. (map here)
San Francisco, CA, 94122
$25 suggested donation at the door; call 415-627-8436 for reservations

 

 

Sunday, September 3, 2017   Reading at the bakery Rosanna’s European Delights (map here) at 2:00 PM
305 First Street
Benicia, CA 94510
Phone:  707.747.9333
email: info@rosannascakes.com

Thanks to Benicia’s poet laureate Johanna Ely for inviting me to help celebrate the first anniversary of her Sunday poetry series at Rosanna’s!

“Rosanna’s European Delights is a full-service pastry and cafe, specializing in traditional and creative baked goods for families and businesses throughout the Solano County area. The next time you are craving sweets or treats, come visit us before settling for prepackaged baked goods from the grocery store.

• Eclairs
• Croissants
• Swedish Princes
• Fruit Tarts
• Cakes
• Coconut Macaroons
• Pastries
• and so much more…..

We have Cakes and Pastries for every season and special occasion. Please take some time to browse through our Web site to learn more about our baked goods.”

 

 

Composer Robert Gross has set six of my poems to music, and they will be part of a program of American music performed by the superb classical (this is the colloquial use of the word “classical”) trio The Endicott Players in three concerts, in Tuscon, San Francisco, and Boston.  Expect these very knowledgeable musicians to include fascinating background information along with the music.  (By the way, the pianist, a former columnist for the Boston Globe, wrote the text you’ll find on this website, at the tabs “Foreword” and “Introduction.”)  I found Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, arranged by Michael Hawley for solo piano (not the way that music is usually heard!) to be a revelation.  Pamela Dellal’s interpretation of my poetry and Dr. Robert Gross’ compositions perfectly carried along and emphasized my meaning.

Saturday, September 9, 2017, 8:00 PM, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Seully Hall, 8 Fenway (map here)
Boston, MA, 02115
Phone: 617-912-9222
email: boxoffice@bostonconservatory.edu