Well-RED features authors from the 2024 issue of Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine.

Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
New address: 38 South Second Street, downtown San José.

Register for your ticket to attend in-person at Eventbrite. Link: https://bit.ly/pcsjtix

If you are unable to attend in person, we welcome you to join via Zoom! Register in advance for this event via Zoom.
Link: https://bit.ly/3CBuiVL

Get a copy of Red Wheelbarrow 2024 and a letterpress printed broadside of the winning poem from Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2024! Back issues will also be available for sale!
There will be no open mic tonight. We will feature more than 12 authors.

TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2

Third Thursday is a monthly poetry program in partnership with Poetry Center San José and hosted by Mighty Mike McGee!

Willow Glen Public Library, 1157 Minnesota Ave, San José, 95125.

Sign up for the open mic begins at 6:30pm. Featured poet begins shortly after 7pm. Open mic to follow.

Our guest poet tonight is Keiko O’Leary!

Keiko O'Leary is the author of Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired. Her poems, stories, and essays have been featured in Caesura, FICTION Silicon Valley, and at curated live events, including Flash Fiction Forum and Play on Words San José. As Cupertino Poet Laureate, Keiko leads poetry-themed workshops and live events that celebrate creativity. She is a co‑founder of Thinking Ink Press, where she publishes traditional books, as well as innovative formats such as poetry postcards and mini books folded from a single sheet of paper. Connect with Keiko at KeikoOLeary.com.

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Poetry Center San José's mission is to nurture and promote diverse literary expression in our community as a means of exploring, defining, and enriching the human experience.

For those under 18 years of age who may be attending, we recommend that a parent/legal guardian be with you during the program.

Please observe San José Public Library’s Safety Guidelines.

To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act for library-sponsored events, please call 408-808-2355 or email Accessibility@sjlibrary.org at least three business days prior to the event.

Poetry Exchange featuring Jeanine U-C via Zoom!

Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com

Jeanine U-C is a poet, a punster, a word play queen. She prefers near rhymes to their closer cousins, adores alliteration and absolute accuracy. Her three books of poetry Allowed Aloud, Letting Go of Detachment and Too Pretty to Be Porn are available for purchase. Please email her at jeanine.uc.poetry@gmail.com.

Join Tshaka Campbell for the next installment of Beautiful Black Books with guest Gill Sotu!

BBB is a recurring program featuring black writers in conversation followed by a Q&A. It is a vessel of exchange as we bring black writers to our communities and our communities to these writers to learn about their sources of inspiration.

Register for your Zoom link at: https://bit.ly/4hl9PVc

Gill Sotu is a Navy veteran, poet, playwright, DJ, and performing artist. He is a 2x Grand Slam Poetry Champion, 2x Raw Performing Artist of the Year, and 5x TEDx San Diego presenter. Currently, he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre & La Jolla Playhouse, and the official Poet in Residence for the San Diego Writer's Festival. He has over 10 years of experience teaching written and performing arts within the penal system, working directly with incarcerated persons and in recovery settings, as well as with veterans and students from junior high school to college.

His screenplay The History Of Joy in 2022 won two Gold Anthem Awards, was an Official Selection of the SoCal Film Awards and The San Diego Movie Awards as well as the Silver Award for Best Drama at the Paris Film Awards; and was a Finalist at the Cannes World Film Festival. The poem he created and performed for Project Clean Water won the Gold MarCom Award for advertising and has been shown at AMC & Regal Cinemas across San Diego County.

Gill was the Poet in Residence for the 2024 Inhabit Conference, former program director and teaching artist with Intrepid Theatre, creative director for TEDx San Diego, 2020 Artist in Residence for the Gainesville Creative Forces Art Summit, as well as the former Artist In Residence for The Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and Makers Church. He has been commissioned to produce original pieces for leading arts and community organizations such as: The San Diego Symphony, New Village Arts Theatre, The Unity Way, Feeding America, SD Fringe Fest, and the San Diego Opera to name a few. His play on the life of the French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is commissioned by Classical Kids Live!, premiered in 2023 with both the Toronto Symphony and San Francisco Symphony and is currently touring across the country. For more information, visit: https://gillsotu.com.

Book: Equally Strange, Beautifully Different


TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit https://bit.ly/3YGz3q1

Well-RED features Jessica Cohn and Hilary King reading from their new books!

Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
New address: 38 South Second Street, downtown San José.

Open mic to start the show!
Register for your ticket to attend in-person at Eventbrite. Link: https://bit.ly/pcsjtix

If you are unable to attend in person, we welcome you to join via Zoom! Register in advance for this event via Zoom.Link: https://bit.ly/3Udm8sC

Finding her way forward in the post-truth world, Jessica Cohn marks a path with rocks, ribbons, and observations in verse. In GRATITUDE DIARY, the first poetry collection from this long-time nonfiction writer, the poems follow an arc from grief and regret to illumination—from broken islands and rancid flower water to communal fire and the medicine creek. Within these pages, readers are fitted with “the apparatus of wings” to find the healing and “terrible beauty” found in “stranger things.” A Michigan native, Cohn has made homes in Illinois, New York, and most recently, Aptos, California, where she started a poetry practice with the support of the Santa Cruz community of writers. For more information, please visit jessicacohn.net.

Hilary King was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After spending over twenty years in Atlanta, Georgia, she moved with her family to the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Her poems have appeared in many publications, and she has been nominated for Pushcarts and Best of the Web. She is currently an MFA student at San Jose State, she is also an editor for DMQ Review. Her book of poems, Stitched on Me, was published this fall by Riot in Your Throat Press. She loves hiking, travel, and ribbon. For more information, please visit hilarykingwriting.com.


TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2

POETRY LOUNGE featuring Danusha Laméris!

Saturday, November 9th, 1:00 p.m. (PST).

Hosted by Lesa Medley!

Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com

Danusha Laméris, a poet and essayist, was raised in Northern California, born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. Her first book, The Moons of August (2014), was chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the Autumn House Press Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Book Award. Some of her work has been published in: The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, Orion, The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner. Her second book, Bonfire Opera, (University of Pittsburgh Press, Pitt Poetry Series), was a finalist for the 2021 Paterson Poetry Award and recipient of the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. She was the 2018-2020 Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, California, and is currently on the faculty of Pacific University’s low residency MFA program. Her third book, Blade by Blade, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press. For more information, visit: www.danushalameris.com

Room opens at 6:30 p.m. (PDT)
Sign up list will be open from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Slam starts at 7:00 p.m.

This is a free event.

Your host and Emcee will be Scorpiana Xlent!
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

Register through Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/pcsjtix

Eventbrite is only allowing us a limited amount of tickets so feel free to message San Jose Poetry Slam or Scorpiana if you need the link to the zoom room before 7, we will be unable to assist with links once the show starts.

You can sign up to compete via the chat box in the zoom room.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.

If you have never been to a Poetry Slam before, a poetry slam is a competition, imagine spoken word poetry as an olympic sport. The rules are simple: 1) poets must use their own poems, 2) poet must use only one poem per round, 3) no musical accompaniment, 4) no props, 5) there is a time limit of 3 minutes and 10 seconds. going over that will result in a time penalty, 6) poets must have video on while performing or there will be a 3-point penalty deduction.

This is a two-round slam, poets with the highest scores will move up to round two.
You can sign up to compete via the chat box in the zoom room.

Please remember to submit a quick audience survey to help us improve our logistics and content and report to our funders and sponsors. Here is the link to the survey: https://bit.ly/3M63VqH

Poetry Exchange featuring Roger Funston!

Sunday, October 20th

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. (PDT)
via Zoom

Program includes an open mic.

Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com

Roger Funston came to poetry late in life after a long career as an environmental scientist. He met the love of his life (Diane Funston) at an open mic in Tehachapi, CA. Roger began to hone his writing skills at a weekly poetry gathering hosted by Diane. He participates in several reading and critique groups via Zoom. Roger writes about his life journey, his travels, his tribe and about things he has seen that you can’t make up. He often finds inspiration roaming the forest and deserts of the Western US.

"Odes to Everyday Things"
Poetry can emerge from the smallest details, if we’re willing to notice them. That’s why we’re thrilled to have Jasmine Sufi lead a workshop to help us uncover the poetry hidden in the everyday moments that often go unnoticed.

A leading voice in the Bay Area slam poetry scene since 2009, Jasmine brings years of experience as both a performer and a mentor. She’s a former Berkeley Grand Slam Champion and has represented the Bay Area at the National Poetry Slam on multiple occasions. Her workshop will explore how great poets find inspiration in the seemingly mundane and guide us through exercises designed to sharpen our observation skills.

No RSVP required. Just show up at 1pm, ready to hone your performance skills.

Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024
Time: 1–3pm
Admission: Free, but donations are welcome!
Location: Markham House @ History Park / 635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA / Once you walk into the park, go straight until the road dead ends with the firehouse on the right, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left.

RSVP recommended but not required: programming@pcsj.org
Just show up!
If you participated in this workshop, help us continue providing events like this one at little or no cost by completing this brief participant survey: https://bit.ly/3AiPIpA

Join Tshaka Campbell for the next installment of Beautiful Black Books with guest Carmen Estela
Kennedy Saleh!

BBB is a recurring program featuring black writers in conversation followed by a Q&A. It is a vessel of exchange as we bring black writers to our communities and our communities to these writers to learn about their sources of inspiration.

Register for your Zoom link at: https://bit.ly/3BnxDqT

Carmen is a writer and a perennial learner, so you can find her rooted in discussions with bright students as easily as you can find her planted behind a good book. In fact, she says she sees her name on a few of these and has therefore sown some seeds of her work in the Themis and Acacia journals, respectively; proudly reaped a James D. Phelan Literary Award; a Solas Award in the Category of Culture and Ideas; and in 2023, debuted A Love Letter that was honored by Small Press Distribution as a bestseller in May and June of that same year.

A Love Letter steps you into the sharp tenderness of a loved one’s transition. San Francisco Poet Laureate emeritus, Tongo Eisen-Martin wrote, “Its pages expose your mind to the various mirrors of an embrace while walking you down the predatory nodes of a medical system that serves capital and rage with equal measure. In a few pages, you are years changed.” This love letter should make you uncomfortable. It should confront you with humanity. And it should animate your cry for care that is both cost free and comprehensive – care that follows the body from its inception to its interment.

It is as life affirming to honor the body’s return as earnestly as its arrival, and so this little book documents some of the most graceful aspects of a goodbye. Carmen tells us, “A Love Letter captures where I was when my beloved aunt left the world, and where I am now, and where any of us might find ourselves in the future.”

Book: A Love Letter
purchase link: https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/a-love-letter/

TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit https://bit.ly/3YGz3q1

Third Thursday is a monthly poetry program in partnership with Poetry Center San José and hosted by Mighty Mike McGee!

Willow Glen Public Library, 1157 Minnesota Ave, San José, 95125.

Sign up for the open mic begins at 6:30pm. Featured poet begins shortly after 7pm. Open mic to follow.

Our guest poet tonight is K.K. Mills!

K.K. Mills, a seasoned poet and performer with an MFA in Theater and an MA in Literary Arts, returned to the poetry scene in San Jose earlier this year, after a two-decade hiatus. In addition to performing, Mills has written several plays and a two-woman show, published poetry and essays, taught workshops and college courses in performance, literature and creative writing. At this point in her career, she is best described a spoken word artist, poet, and writer. PCSJ's October 17th Third Thursday Open Mic will be the first time Mills has been the featured reader in San José in over 20 years. Her current work reflects on the changes over those years in poetic content and performance style.

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Poetry Center San José's mission is to nurture and promote diverse literary expression in our community as a means of exploring, defining, and enriching the human experience.

For those under 18 years of age who may be attending, we recommend that a parent/legal guardian be with you during the program.

Please observe San José Public Library’s Safety Guidelines.

To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act for library-sponsored events, please call 408-808-2355 or email Accessibility@sjlibrary.org at least three business days prior to the event.

We are excited to celebrate our contributors with the Cæsura 2024 Book Release Party! Join us for a
Sunday luncheon of literature readings and art viewing from the new issue "neighborhood"!

October 13th, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Empire Firehouse located at History Park, 635 Phelan Avenue, San José.

We will serve hors d’oeuvres and drinks and distribute copies to contributors and PCSJ members. Copies will be for sale to the general public. Please sign up to read upon arrival; first come will have an opportunity to read their work. We are limiting time to 5-minute increments. We will begin readings at 11:30 a.m.

Back issues of Cæsura will also be available for purchase.

Mark your calendars and hope to see (and hear) your work!

The Cæsura Editors and PCSJ Staff

Poetry Lounge featuring Bill Cozzini!

Saturday, August 10th

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (PDT)
via Zoom

Program includes an open mic.

Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com

Bill Cozzini is a poet, editor, actor, and director. He studied Theater and graduated with a BA in English from SJSU. In 1992 he started organizing poetry events and editing poetry books with the creation of the Ajax Lounge Poetry series. He also organized the SOFA Poetry Readings during the mid 90s, and in 2001, he co-created the Waves Poetry series with Ted Gehrke. He’s currently a board member for Stabbydoll Media and was a director and treasurer for Poetry Center San José. Bill was editor-in-chief and is now managing editor of Poetry Center San José’s literary journal Cæsura.

Well-RED features Gail Wronsky and Joel Thomas Katz reading from their new books!

Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
New address: 38 South Second Street, downtown San José.

Open mic to start the show!

Register for your ticket to attend in-person at Eventbrite. Link: https://bit.ly/pcsjtix

If you are unable to attend in person, we welcome you to join via Zoom! Register in advance for this event. Link: https://bit.ly/3zmJHrO

Joel Thomas Katz lives in Palo Alto, California. His poems have appeared in Sand Hill Review, Montserrat Review, West Wind Review, Spillway, Caesura, DMQ Review, Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine and MacQueen’s Quinterly. His latest books are Aqueduct (2023) and Erase | Endure (2020), both published by Dutch Poet Press. Joel has also co-translated poems by contemporary Dutch poets Ingmar Heytze and Saskia Stehouwer. www.joelthomaskatz.com

Gail is the author, coauthor, or translator of seventeen books of poetry and prose, including Some Disenfranchised Evening (Swan Scythe Press, 2024), Under the Capsized Boat We Fly: New & Selected Poems (White Pine Press, 2021) and the poetry collections Imperfect Pastorals; Poems for Infidels; and Dying for Beauty, a finalist for the Western Arts Federation Poetry Prize. She is the translator of Argentinean poet Alicia Partnoy’s book Fuegos Florales/Flowering Fires, winner of the American Poetry Prize from Settlement House Press. Her poems have appeared in many journals, including Poetry, Boston Review, Antioch Review, Denver Quarterly, Poetry International, Guesthouse, and Volt.

Gail is the recipient of an Artists Fellowship from the California Arts Council. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Pratik, the LA Issue; Poets Against War; The Black Body; In Possession of Shakespeare; The Poet’s Child; Wide Awake: The Poetry of Los Angeles and Beyond, and Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles. The Moose in the Moon, her book of poetry for children, was published by Tsehai Publishers. Gail is coeditor of the anthology What Falls Away is Always: Writers Over 60 on Writing & Death (What Books Press, 2021). She taught creative writing and women’s literature at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where she was awarded the Harry M. Daum Professorship.
https://www.gailwronskypoet.com
Photo: Alexis Rhone Fancher

TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2

Ready to look and sound your best when reading your work for an audience? Join us at Poetry Center San José for a dynamic workshop led by Kate Mills, a seasoned poet and performer with an MFA in Theater and an MA in Literary Arts. Learn to improve articulation, overcome nervousness, and master microphone techniques for any venue. Perfect for poets, presenters, and performers alike!

No RSVP required. Just show up at 1pm, ready to hone your performance skills.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 21
Time: 1 - 3pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Location: Markham House @ History Park / 635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA / Once you walk into the park, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left.

Third Thursday is a monthly poetry program in partnership with Poetry Center San José and hosted by Mighty Mike McGee!

Willow Glen Public Library, 1157 Minnesota Ave, San José, 95125.
Sign up for the open mic begins at 6:30pm. Featured guest poet begins shortly after 7pm. Open mic to follow.

Our guest poet tonight is Dave Eisbach!

Dave Eisbach refers to himself as a dinosaur because he loves rhyme. He served on San Jose’s Arts Commission, 2002-2008 when he became an active member of Third Thursday boasting poets like Nils Peterson and Sally Ashton. Under the leadership of Dennis and Christine Richardson, the crew launched three anthologies of its members' poems. He helped revive the San Jose Poetry Festival in 2015 after a pause from Sally Ashton's 2007 Poetry Festival, and joined PCSJ in presenting the second annual Poetry Festival in 2016, still going strong. 

He is delighted that Third Thursday is live again, nurtured by Mighty Mike McGee. This more recent period shows a change in his poetry with an emphasis on the Sonnet and Villanelle. He continues to broaden his poetry.

Dave has a book of poetry, Entwined, 2019, price $15. You can reach him at deisbach@sbcglobal.net. He hopes to have a second by Christmas 2024.

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Poetry Center San José's mission is to nurture and promote diverse literary expression in our community as a means of exploring, defining, and enriching the human experience.For those under 18 years of age who may be attending, we recommend that a parent/legal guardian be with you during the program.

Please observe San José Public Library’s Safety Guidelines.
To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act for library-sponsored events, please call 408-808-2355 or email Accessibility@sjlibrary.org at least three business days prior to the event.

Bauchhaar Poetry Ensemble!
Explore the beauty of poetry in Hindi through plays, dances, and performances like never before!

Curated by Anshu Johri
Hosted by Sareeka Malhotra

Sunday, September 15th, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
@ Santa Teresa High School Theater Arts
6150 Snell Ave, San Jose, CA 95123

For tickets visit https://bit.ly/pcsjtix

Abhinaya: Poetry Plays
"Kamand"- A Noose
Cast: Vishal Vatnani, Sparsh Johri, Upendra Singh, Music: Sparsh Johri

Madam Kutty ki Class
Cast: Riana Jain, Nikita Srivastava, Saumya Mishra, Bhumi Gupta, Swasti Johri, Pooja Neema, Sareeka Malhotra
Written & directed by Anshu Johri

Thirkan: Poetry of Movements
Ras Vihaar:
Recital: Sundeep Kohli, Kathak Performance & Choreography: Prima Virani

Samvaad
Recital: Anshu Johri, Odissi dance performance & Choreography: Chandreyee Mukherjee & Saheli Ghosh

Manchan: Poetry Performance by Saswati Das, Sanjay Mathur, Anshu Johri & other poets in the Bay Area

Content Warning: Some themes are sensitive and inappropriate for kids under 10. Parental discretion is advised for kids under 13.

Kids under 5 are not allowed.

No food or drink is allowed in the theater.

Poetry Exchange featuring Brandon Luu!
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com

Brandon lives in San José and in his spare time he serves on the board of directors for Poetry Center San José.

Poetry is something Brandon has felt strongly about for some time, noting that it’s an opportunity to bring people together, regardless of age or circumstance. “It’s a form of expression that sets itself apart as a hybrid between language and feeling. People often ask, ‘Do you have to understand a poem totally for it to leave you with a feeling?’ I’ve learned that however you come to understand that feeling, it’s valid.”

As a Creative Ambassador, Brandon produced a creative expression project focused on community poetry. The project’s core was based on the creation of a collaborative art piece titled We Are San José. For more about Brandon, visit Content Magazine, issue 14.4.

Well-RED features Soad Grayeb and authors appearing in the latest issue of La Raíz Magazine, Pedro Rivas López and Ruben Zamora. Special guest appearance by La Raíz Magazine editor & publisher Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo!

Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
New address: 38 South Second Street, downtown San José.
Come visit and celebrate the new gallery space for Works/San José!

Open mic to start the show!

If you are unable to attend in person, we welcome you to join via Zoom! Register in advance for this event via Zoom.

Link: https://bit.ly/3yXv4ei

Soad Grayeb was born in Mexico City on the first day of December 1965 into a large family, and with big dreams. “I have always fought for these dreams and this book is the clearest example of them.” Author of Poemas de Amor y Desamor.

Pedro Rivas López is a Teatrista, stage storyteller, and visual artist born in Guadalajara Jalisco. Pedro uses art to speak truth to power, uplift oppressed voices, amplify social change, and expand his storytelling into the visual world, using art to uplift BIPOC communities and take space to inspire other queer brown folks to tell their stories.

A native of San José, Ruben has lived in the Santa Clara county for most of his life. He writes about his experience, people and observations throughout his life. A lover of nature, sporting events and chile verde. He currently writes and reads in Sunnyvale.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a poet, visual artist, and facilitator whose work is informed by her Indigenous ancestry, Mesoamerican philosophy, Mexika & Mixtec art, Mexican culture, Chicano history, and her experiences as a woman. Her poetry is published widely in both print and online journals such as Somos en escrito and Harvard’s PALABRITAS, and in several anthologies including Nos pasamos de la raya. She has facilitated and presented at various colleges and universities. She earned a BFA in Pictorial Art and a BA in French from San José State University, served as Creative Ambassador of the San José Office of Cultural Affairs, received a Commendation from the City of San José, and was awarded a Creative Corps Initiative grant from the California Arts Council and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. She serves as a Board Member of Poetry Center San José, and is the Founder La Raíz Magazine. www.ejmontelongo.com/poetry

TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2

This is Day Four of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

Nearest parking garage

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We close our 2024 festival by bringing together New York spoken word legend Rachel McKibbens, San Francisco’s pocho poeta, Josiah Luis Alderete, and former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, Sally Ashton. A trio and treat for lovers of poetry that moves. 

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Rachel McKibbens is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, blud, Pink Elephant and Into the Dark & Emptying Field. In 2012, McKibbens founded The Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing intensive held exclusively for non-men writers of color.

Ploughshares recently called McKibbens “the witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised.” For over two decades, she has taught poetry to the outcasts, misfits and witches of the world while raising five children. In 2022, Mckibbens was the subject of the podcast We Were Three, from The New York Times and the creators of Serial.

She is currently writing a romance novel and believes Palestine will be free in this lifetime. rachelmckibbens.com

Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded Spanglish speaking Pocho y left handed callejero de Aztlán who has been part of La Area Bahia’s spoken word scene for over twenty years. He is the curator and host of the long running Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl and is the author of two books of poetry Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos (Black Freighter Press 2021) and the chapbook Fuchi Faces de los Estados Jodidos (For The Pueblo 2023). In 2023 he was the Poetry Center’s Mazza Writer in Residence at San Francisco State.  Along with his bookstore sister Tân Khanh Cao, Josiah tends the portal known as Medicina Para Pesadillas Bookstore y Galeria on 24th street in La Mission. medicinefornightmares.com

Sally Ashton is a poet, writer, Editor-in-Chief of the DMQ Review, San José State University professor emerita, lecturer, blogger, and workshop presenter who has taught over 100 workshops. Author of 5 books including this year's Listening to Mars (Cornerstone Press) and The Behaviour of Clocks (WordFarm, 2019), she was appointed the second Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, 2011-2013. She is a Lucas Artist fellow at Montalvo and has collaborated with both visual artists and musicians. Her current project is a book of essays about going to the Moon. sallyashton.com

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Four of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

$30 for general public and $20 for PCSJ Members and youth 19 and under. Admission may be purchased at the door.

Parking is available at the end of Phelan Avenue, just past the park entrance.

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This writing workshop is facilitated by Rachel McKibbens. It will follow the Small Press Fair and Open Mic.

Workshop title: The Cracked Mirror

Workshop Description: In this writing workshop we will examine the magic and uncertainty of memory, exploring strategies that permit our voices to wild away from the "order" of things. Through fragmented images, erasures, kennings, and bent language, we will generate texts subverting linear narrative, presenting our stories how our bodies received them.

# # #

Rachel McKibbens is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, blud, Pink Elephant and Into the Dark & Emptying Field. In 2012, McKibbens founded The Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing intensive held exclusively for non-men writers of color.

Ploughshares recently called McKibbens “the witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised.” For over two decades, she has taught poetry to the outcasts, misfits and witches of the world while raising five children. In 2022, Mckibbens was the subject of the podcast We Were Three, from The New York Times and the creators of Serial.

She is currently writing a romance novel and believes Palestine will be free in this lifetime. rachelmckibbens.com

# # #

Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Four of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to the public!

# # #

Our Small Press Fair invites over a dozen local and regional publishers, authors and poets to show off their books under a glorious oak tree, above the tree’s roots, below the Markham House windows, at the delightful History Park of San José, across from the Firehouse featuring readings from each table. We’ll have Rachel McKibbens and RC Weslowski perform short sets. You can also take a tour of the Naomi Clark Library and the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society room on the second floor of Markham House.

# # #

Rachel McKibbens is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, blud, Pink Elephant and Into the Dark & Emptying Field. In 2012, McKibbens founded The Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing intensive held exclusively for non-men writers of color.

Ploughshares recently called McKibbens “the witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised.” For over two decades, she has taught poetry to the outcasts, misfits and witches of the world while raising five children. In 2022, Mckibbens was the subject of the podcast We Were Three, from The New York Times and the creators of Serial.

She is currently writing a romance novel and believes Palestine will be free in this lifetime.

rachelmckibbens.com

RC Weslowski is an award-winning poet and broadcaster/podcaster including the 2024 Hunna Bubba Prize. He’s also a workshop leader, clown and bon vivant. He has performed his poetry across Turtle Island and parts of Europe since 1998. RC is celebrating his 25th year of performing poetry by being at the San Jose Poetry Festival. His first collection of poetry My Soft Response to the Wars is available now from Write Bloody North Publishing writebloodynorth.ca

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

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Our Saturday Night main event is a celebration of Yosimar Reyes, our new Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, along with the incoming 2024 class of Youth Poets Laureate and Ambassadors. We want their take on the world to impact us, to inspire us and to influence us. We are certain that their poetry has the power to motivate us to leave a better world for them. With special festival guests, RC Weslowski and Rachel McKibbens.

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[Youth Poet bios to come.]

Yosimar Reyes

Hailing from East San Jose by way of Guerrero, Mexico, Reyes quickly made a name for himself at the tender age of sixteen, exploding onto local Bay Area stages and captivating his audiences with deeply moving spoken word performances.

Reyes’ repertoire has since evolved to include nationally-acclaimed keynotes, writing workshops, and his one-man show, Prieto, a coming-of-age story that explores subjects like migration, sexuality, and socio-economic struggle—all while empowering his audiences to tap into their own creative potential.

His achievements don’t stop there. In addition to being the first-ever undocumented poet to achieve Santa Clara County Poet Laureate status, Reyes was chosen to be a 2024 Creative Ambassador by the City of San Jose, The Advocate named him one of "13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World," and Remezcla included him on their list of "10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know."

Amongst numerous accolades, Reyes has been awarded a NALAC Catalyst for Change Grant (2020), a Gerbode Foundation Grant and most recently, a Walter & Elise Haas Creative Work Fund Grant (2023), . His writing has appeared in publications such as MARIPOSAS: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry, Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings and forthcoming UndocuPoetics.

yosimarreyes.com

Rachel McKibbens is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, blud, Pink Elephant and Into the Dark & Emptying Field. In 2012, McKibbens founded The Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing intensive held exclusively for non-men writers of color.

Ploughshares recently called McKibbens “the witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised.” For over two decades, she has taught poetry to the outcasts, misfits and witches of the world while raising five children. In 2022, Mckibbens was the subject of the podcast We Were Three, from The New York Times and the creators of Serial.

She is currently writing a romance novel and believes Palestine will be free in this lifetime.

rachelmckibbens.com

RC Weslowski is an award-winning poet and broadcaster/podcaster including the 2024 Hunna Bubba Prize. He’s also a workshop leader, clown and bon vivant. He has performed his poetry across Turtle Island and parts of Europe since 1998. RC is celebrating his 25th year of performing poetry by being at the San Jose Poetry Festival. His first collection of poetry My Soft Response to the Wars is available now from Write Bloody North Publishing writebloodynorth.ca

Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

Threads of Memory: Haiku and Haibun by Members of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

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Linda Papanicolaou is an art historian and retired art teacher in Palo Alto, California. She began writing haiku in 1998 with the World Haiku Club on Yahoo Groups. For fifteen years she edited Haigaonline and has since been involved with other online and print publications. Her haiku, haiga, renku, and other short-form poems have appeared in online and print journals and have won awards. She has special interest is combining poetry with images in handcrafted artists’ books.  A member of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society since 2005, she began serving as president in 2022. She lives in Palo Alto.

Roger Abe is a retired San Jose Park Ranger who enjoys interpretation of nature. He has been active with the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society for over thirty years. He has served as Yuki Teikei President and continues to work as a dojin in the society. Roger lives in Morgan Hill, California.

Kathy Goldbach’s haiku come from her attraction to words and to music: from jump rope rhymes and piano lessons in Peoria, Illinois, to Shakespeare tucked between nursing classes in Iowa City, to Goodnight Moon and Old Joe Clark with her children, to a music degree and poetry at San Jose State in the ‘80’s, to a new language and a Bach choir in Germany in the ‘90’s, to piano teaching and poetry writing for the past 25 years. For the last six years, she has found haiku’s sturdy words and subtle music to be her best way to capture life’s “aha” moments.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live performances and online events.

$30 for general public and $20 for PCSJ Members and youth 19 and under. Admission may be purchased at the door.

Street parking available for this event.

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This performance workshop is facilitated by Jason Bayani.

Workshop Title – From Page to Body: How to Read Your Work for Audiences

Workshop description – Becoming a better more confident reader begins with understanding how the words we write connect to our bodies. In this hour long workshop, poet and performer, Jason Bayani, will help you find your voice on stage through theatre games, vocal exercises, performance coaching, and a bit of play.

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Jason Bayani

Jason Bayani is the author of the Northern California Book Award nominated Locus (Omnidawn Publishing 2019) and Amulet (Write Bloody Publishing 2013), and creator of the solo theater show "Locus of Control". He’s also the co-director of Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization in the country.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all at the Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara, CA

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On September 7 at 11 a.m. at the Central Park Library's Margie Edinger Room, join us for a special reading of select stories by the award-winning Minnesota poet and children’s book author, Bao Phi! He will be sharing from several of his children’s books, including his first book, A Different Pond, which received six starred reviews and won multiple awards including a Caldecott Honor. During this special visit he will answer questions from children and adults about his stories and writing journey.

Seating is first come, first served. This is a non-ticketed event. All-ages are welcome.

Your attendance to this program grants permission to the City of Santa Clara to take your photograph and/or your child's photograph for marketing purposes.

About the author:

A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. His poems and essays are widely published in numerous publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. A short story of his, Revolution Shuffle, appeared in the anthology Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, AK Press, 2015, and an essay of his was included in the anthology A Good Time for the Truth, edited by Sun Yung Shin, Minnesota Historical Society Press.

He has two collections of poems, both published by Coffeehouse Press, Sông I Sing and Thousand Star Hotel, the latter of which was nominated for the Minnesota Book Award, named by NPR as one of  the best books of 2017, and was chosen as 2017’s best poetry book of the year by San Francisco State’s Poetry Center.

His first children’s book, A Different Pond, received six starred reviews and won multiple awards including a Caldecott Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association award for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award for excellence in children’s book writing. It made several best books of the year lists, including Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and Shelf Awareness. He has written three additional children’s books since then: My Footprints. (2019), Hello, Mandarin Duck! (2022), and You Are Life (2022).

He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and the Artist of the Year (2017) and Author of the Year (2018) by City Pages, and was awarded the Kay Sexton Award in 2024. He was recently on the editing team for We The Gathered Heat, a forthcoming anthology of Asian American and Pacific Islander poets in the oral and spoken word traditions.

Born in Saigon shortly before the mass exodus of his family and many others to the United States, Bao is a Vietnamese American raised in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his child and their cat.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This workshop is presented by Poetry Center San José, in partnership with La RaízMagazine, facilitated by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo.

This workshop is free to all on Zoom. Register for this event on Zoom.

Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles is a bilingual generative poetry workshop inspired by the seven principles of the Zapatistas of the EZLN, Indigenous peoples of Chiapas, México. 7 Principles: 1. To Obey, Not Command, 2. To Propose, Not Impose, 3. To Represent, Not Supplant, 4. To Convince, Not Conquer, 5. To Construct, Not Destroy, 6.To Serve Others, Not Serve Oneself, 7. To Work From Below, Not Seek To Rise. Participants will be guided to write poetry in an interactive workshop featuring three segments of sample poetry, a prompt, verse starters, and sample verses. Everyone will be welcome to share their poetry aloud with the group and comment. The workshop is open to writers of all ages with any level of experience and is a continuation of the theme, with new content.

Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles es un taller de poesía generativo, inspirado por los siete principios de los Zapatistas del EZLN, gente indígena de Chiapas, México. Los siete principios: Obedecer y No Mandar;  Proponer y No Imponer; Representar y No Suplantar; Convencer y No Vencer; Construir y No Destruir; Servir y No Servirse; Bajar y No Subir. Se guiará a los participantes a escribir poesía en un taller interactivo con tres segmentos de poesía de ejemplo, entrada, versos para completar, y versos de ejemplo. Todos seran bienvenidos a compartir su poesía con el grupo y ofrecer comentarios. El taller es para escritores de todas edades y cualquier nivel de experiencia.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a poet, visual artist, and facilitator. She is Xicana Mexican of Indigenous descent. She served as 2021 Creative Ambassador of the San José Office of Cultural Affairs is a California Arts Council and YBCA Creative Corps Initiative Grantee and has facilitated generative poetry workshops for universities and non-profit organizations. Elizabeth earned a BFA in Art and a BA in French from San José State University. She is a Board Member of Poetry Center San José and Editor of La Raíz Magazine. www.ejmontelongo.com/poetry

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo es poeta, artista plástica y facilitadora Xicana Mexicana de herencia indígena. Fué nombrada embajadora creativa de la oficina de asuntos culturales de San José, y tambien seleccionada para el programa del concilio de arte de California y YBCA, Creative Corps Initiative. Ella há facilitado talleres de poesía para universidades y organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Elizabeth recibió licenciaturas en arte y frances de la universidad estatal de San José. Es miembra de la mesa directiva de Poetry Center San José y editora y directora de La Raíz Magazine, una publicación bilingüe.

Instagram: @elizabethjimenezmontelongo Facebook: @ejmontelongo

La Raíz Magazine provides culturally-relevant, generative arts engagement experiences and opportunities for the publication and public presentation of creative work, with an emphasis on promoting the expression of people of color, women of color, women & girls, and people whose heritage is rooted in areas that are now Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, who may identify as: Indigenous, Raza, Chicana/o, from their country of origin, Latinx, or Hispanic. www.laraizmagazine.com

La Raíz Magazine provee oportunidades para participar en el arte de manera cultural y generative, también abriendo paso para la publicación y presentación pública de obras creativas, con el enfoque en apoyar la expresión de gente de muchas culturas, mujeres y niñas, particularmente personas con herencia en areas que ahora son México, Centro América, el Caribe, y Sur América, de alguna parte del continente Américano, quienes son gente indígena, de herencia indígena, Raza, Chicana, Latina, o Hispana.

Instagram: @laraizmagazine Facebook: @laraizmag

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This is Day Two of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

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This year's Friday Night main event is one that bridges three points of poetry and place: San José, Minneapolis and Vancouver, BC. Three different styles of poetry from veteran three voices—with shared influences and vastly different approaches. To have Bao Phi, Arlene Biala and RC Weslowski share a stage on the same night is sure create moments we will not forget.

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Bao Phi is a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist. His poetry is included in The Best American Poetry 2006 anthology and published widely elsewhere, including in two collections from Coffee House Press and in Poetry magazine, Asian American Literary Review, and The Spoken Word Revolution. His fiction and essays have appeared in Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.

Bao is also known for his children’s books. His A Different Pond received six starred reviews and multiple awards, including the Caldecott Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association award for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books, and other recognitions. His latest children’s book is You Are Life.

He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and the Artist of the Year (2017) and Author of the Year (2018) by City Pages, and was awarded the Kay Sexton Award in 2024. He was recently on the editing team for We The Gathered Heat, a forthcoming anthology of Asian American and Pacific Islander poets in the oral and spoken word traditions.

Born in Saigon shortly before the mass exodus of his family and many others to the United States, Bao is a Vietnamese American raised in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his child and their cat.

baophi.com

Arlene Biala (she/her) is a Pinay poet and performance artist born in San Francisco, CA and raised in the South Bay. She has been participating in poetry performances and workshops in the Bay Area for over 30 years and was Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016 and 2017. She is the author of several collections of poetry: bone, continental drift, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book, one inch punch, was published in 2019.

Arlene’s poetry has been described as "grounded in ritual object and ritual practice, mantras that resonate within the body and plant the body firmly in the world. Her work responds to the call of ancestors and our own broken bodies, spirits, and the spaces we inhabit. Her poems are prayer flags offered to those whose stories have been silenced, hidden, and ignored. Arlene’s work centers on stories of family, of generations who have left their native lands to live in diaspora, particularly those from the Philippines. She writes poetry to serve as witness, to create space for recognition and dialogue toward healing.

RC Weslowski is an award-winning poet and broadcaster/podcaster including the 2024 Hunna Bubba Prize. He’s also a workshop leader, clown and bon vivant. He has performed his poetry across Turtle Island and parts of Europe since 1998. RC is celebrating his 25th year of performing poetry by being at the San Jose Poetry Festival. His first collection of poetry My Soft Response to the Wars is available now from Write Bloody North Publishing

• • •

Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.