Writers’ Cafe at Markham House
The new PCSJ writing project where we all just drink hot bevs and write at Markham House!
You're invited to a gathering for those looking for a supportive writing community that focuses on the social aspects of being a writer and a space to discuss any and all disciplines of writing.
We welcome writers from all disciplines to hang out, work, then hang out some more.
This isn't a workshop, but a work time in a workspace with other writers.
This event is free and no registration necessary. Just show up with something to write.
We will meet at 11:30am for pastries, snacks, coffee and tea. Some will be provided, but more is welcome. If you do bring pastries, please only bring enough to share with one or two others.
Approximate Schedule
11:30am: Conversation over coffee and tea.
Noon: Quiet work. There are quite a few places to work quietly inside Markham House. Find your nook and write, or explore the books in our library upstairs, or continue your conversation outside, on the porch, or somewhere in History Park. We'll keep the coffee and kettle hot while you work.
2:45–3:15pm: Optional sharing and conversation. Writers are not expected to share what they’ve written, but if you’d like feedback, this would be the time for it.
Keep in mind, Markham House will be open to the public, so visitors will be coming in to peruse, but we will let them know that the house is infested with writers writing!
Admission: Free, but donations are welcome!
Parking: There is a parking strip on Phelan Avenue at the park gate. If there is no space available, there is a lot at the end of Phelan Ave.
Location: Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road veers left with the firehouse on the right, then follow the left turn. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There should be an OPEN flag out on the porch.
Poetry Lounge (via Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, September 7, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge is held twice a month on the first and third Sunday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Well-RED features Veterans of Life Write authors G. Craige Edgerton, Jaime Lee Johnson, Bill Noyes & Nick Butterfield!
Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
38 South Second Street, downtown 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/Well-REDseptember2025
Our featured poets:
G. Craige Edgerton
Craige started his writing practice at age 75, as suggested by his Vet Center counselor to help him deal with his negative issues regarding his time in Vietnam as a combat Marine. He fought it for many months and finally decided to try it just once. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life and he hasn’t stopped writing since. In college, he admired those who could write creatively and tell compelling stories. But being from rural South Texas, he lacked confidence. And who would want to hear his story of a very ordinary life anyway? The counseling sessions at the Vet Center that dealt with his, and many others, PTSD made him realize that being in combat was not an ordinary experience. Very few individuals have such experiences. He realized that the stories of the mostly Vietnam veterans were unique, not in actual combat stories, but in how they had recovered fifty-plus years later. For reasons that are still unclear, he decided to write some of those stories and enroll others willing to tell their stories too. This book is the result of that decision.
Jaime Lee Johnson
Born in San Jose, California, Jaime Lee Johnson was raised by his aunt after an adoption at a very early age. Jaime knew he wanted to serve, given how every generation in his family had in one way or another, but he also knew it was a commitment. He served 7 years in the US Army as an infantryman and in a military intelligence unit, including a deployment to Baghdad in 2005. After his discharge, he experienced trouble, like most vets with PTSD, and had to find help for it. A friend recommended he go to the Vet Center in San Jose, and everything changed. Jaime knew that the lessons he learned through the group could help others, which is why he became part of the project for this book. To pass on his experiences with PTSD and how he found ways to deal with the side effects of war, both physically and mentally. He hopes that with this book, he can help at least one veteran reconnect with their family or their friends, or show them the way to get help for problems they feel no one else can understand.
Bill Noyes
Born in San Francisco, Bill was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then again in San Francisco. He graduated in 1965 from Andrew Hill High in San Jose and then attended San Jose State College. In 1967, Bill was drafted into the Vietnam War, B 2/22, earning a Silver Star and a Combat Infantry Badge north of Saigon. He finally earned his BA degree from San Jose State University in Philosophy in 1978. Bill married in 1976 and raised two daughters at their Campbell home. He retired from welding after 30 years. During this time, he worked on various home additions, sculpted statues, and persisted with writing projects and books. War experiences have taken much of his attention throughout his life and, accordingly, resulted in many valuable lessons learned.
Nick Butterfield
Nick AKA Nektarios Butterfield served in the USNR as a Hospital Corpsman HM1 from 1983 to 1993. Active during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield in 1990-1991 “Grief is the source of many of my writings.” “PTSD, I saw in my dad who was a Pearl Harbor Survivor and many of my current writing collaborators.” They are not just veterans of war but of life.” Nick was one of the few who gathered in Willow Glen Bookstore in the mid-90s. The Willow Glen Poetry Project went on to publish 3 anthologies in which Nektarios participated in. He has contributed to 3 Caesura editions in the past and contributed to Veterans of Life Write book that came out in 2020. He co-facilitates Veterans of Life Zoom meetings, the first Friday of every month, which is sponsored by the Psychology Dept. at SJSU and Martin Luther King Library and Poetry San Jose. The group has participated in seven Poetry San Jose Festivals and has been meeting regularly since 2015. This group started with Amy Meier’s recognition of a need for Veterans to write and heal.
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
Poetry Lounge (via Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, September 21, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge is held twice a month on the first and third Sunday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with Arlene Biala
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Emeritus Arlene Biala will teach your soul!
Poets@Play is a monthly creative writing workshop hosted by former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez. Each session features a different guest facilitator—or sometimes David himself—leading hands-on exercises to inspire creativity and new ideas.
Our Facilitator: Arlene Biala!
POET, AUTHOR, PERFORMANCE ARTIST, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Arlene Biala is a Filipina American writer from the San Francisco Bay Area who has been participating in poetry performances and workshops for over 30 years. She is a 2023-2026 Lucas Artist Residency Fellow in Literary Arts at the Montalvo Arts Center and was Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016 and 2017. She is the author of continental drift, one inch punch, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book, a thousand voices whispering, is forthcoming from Sampaguita Press in November 2025.
Workshop Description
workshop title: do you remember? burning for the new moon
The new moon is a time to release what doesn’t serve us. It’s a time to write the raw break up poem, to cycle out the stagnant energy and see what imagination can do. Through some free writing exercises and poetry prompts we can share a space to write, listen, and talk story in the key that our souls are singing. And in case you can't tell by now, there will be earth, wind & fire music in the house :)
No RSVP required. Just show up at 1:00pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
📍Location: Markham House @ History Park
635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA.
Free parking right outside of the main gate or in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue (except during some History Park events.)
Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There will be a flag over the steps that reads OPEN.
2025 San José Poetry Festival: Opening Night with Jan McEwan, Keiko O'Leary & José Jiménez
San José Poetry Festival, Day 1: Bauchhaar’s Poetry ‘n’ Movement
This is Day One of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 2025 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. $25 for general public and $20 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.
Click here to peruse all 2025 San José Poetry Festival tickets and passes!
Doors open at 6:30pm. Show begins at 7pm.
OPENING NIGHT!
Our 11th annual festival opens with three local legends from different parts of the Santa Clara Valley. While they may vary in style, form and presentation, they have read on the same stages, inspired the same audiences and fostered a Venn diagram of communities throughout the South Bay. From workshops, to publishing, to supporting new poets and writers, tonight's trio represents three generations of San José poetry!
Tonight's Poets
Jan McEwan (Janet M.) wore all the hats as Running Deer Press, publisher/editor of Writing For Our Lives, a feminist lit/mag, 15 issues in all, in the 1990’s. It was all about the healing value of telling our untold stories, & ushering some of them into print. While enjoying the privilege of reading thousands of manuscripts of women’s writing, she was engaging in the rich & serendipitous life of arts, writing, healing & women’s community that paralleled her long practice in healthcare as a Registered Nurse. For several summers she led writing retreats called Write For the Trees at the Women’s Forest Sanctuary, a non-profit land trust in the Mattole watershed, while she was on its board. Long in the shadows with her own work, she was a founding member of Nibwits, a writers’ support group; was once a featured reader at Poet/Speak in Santa Cruz; listened in awe at open mics in Los Gatos from the time Robert Pesich & Bea Garth hosted them at Café Rouge. There she met a kindred spirit with whom she became “The Beats of Los Gatos,” an art & writing-inspired friendship to this day. These days she’s known at Third Thursday open mics for her long serial poem Mother Vulture. Not long after she retired from paid work in 2019, COVID hit. “Sacred Pause” was the reframe that transformed her leaden solitude into gold. At the balance point of Autumn Equinox 2020, to practice for her dream of entering the annual August Poetry Postcard Fest, she poised her pen over paper & tuned in for a spontaneous poem to write directly onto a postcard, quick & alive, here & now, first draft. Her pen wrote “Mother Vulture.” From that portal Mother Vulture arrived, wild, from somewhere deep & vast, a most unlikely but perfect muse for the cosmology of a life, & no less than a guise of the Great Mother goddess archetype. Her ongoing serial poem unfurls itself.
Jan finally did become a Postcard Poet, two years now.
Born & raised in San Jose, she’s lived in Los Gatos many years.
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.
José Jiménez is a California poet with proud Mexican roots, driven by a passion for truth, resistance, and reflection. His poetry explores justice, resilience, and social change, drawing from personal and collective experiences to challenge, heal, and inspire. With a commanding presence, José blends raw emotion with sharp wordplay, turning poetry into both a mirror and a megaphone. Jose is a 2x Grand Slam Champion and a finalist at multiple regional & national competitions in the Bay Area and around the country.
Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook and Instagram 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.
San José Poetry Festival 2025 is presented by Poetry Center San José and sponsored in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council; and additional support from Anne & Mark’s Art Party and the Brandenburg Family Foundation. Many thanks to Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations and Robertino R. Ragazza for his guidance and hospitality. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: San Jose Stage, Central Park Library Santa Clara, Convergence Arts Center, SJZ Break Room, Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Mama Kin, Recycle Bookstore, The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, Tabard Theatre (R.I.P.), Willow Glen Public Library, Works/San José art & performance center and Hillbrook Upper School of San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.
2025 San José Poetry Festival: ¡Cultura Poetry Night! w/Open Mic – Featuring Leticia Hernández-Linares & Marvin Flores (Zoom Event)
San José Poetry Festival, Day 2: ¡Cultura Poetry Night! w/Open Mic on Zoom
Featuring Leticia Hernández-Linares & Marvin Flores
This is Day Two of our four-day festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events.
Click here to peruse all 2025 San José Poetry Festival tickets and passes!
This event is free to the public. Zoom opens at 6:15pm. Show begins at 6:30pm.
¡Cultura Poetry Night! with Open Mic
Friday, September 26, 2025
6:30-8:30pm Pacific Time via Zoom
¡Cultura Poetry Night! celebrates the culture of people who identify as Chicana/o, Raza, Latinx, and people with Indigenous heritage rooted in areas that are now Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. A multilingual event with two featured poets, guest poets, and open mic! Everyone is welcome at this inclusive event presented by Poetry Center San José, hosted by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, in partnership with La Raíz Magazine.
About the Featured Poets:
Leticia Hernández-Linares is a bilingual, interdisciplinary writer, artist, and racial justice educator. Widely published, she is the author of the poetry collection Mucha Muchacha, Too Much Girl (Tía Chucha Press, 2015) and the children’s book Alejandria Fights Back! ¡La lucha de Alejandria! (Feminist Press, 2021). A five-time San Francisco Arts Commission grantee, she received the San Francisco Flor y Canto Community Appreciation award in 2023. She teaches in Latina, Latino Studies at San Francisco State University, and has lived, created, and protested in the Mission District (unceded, ancestral Ramaytush Ohlone land), while living on the same block, for thirty years.
website: joinleticia.com
IG: @mucha_muchacha15
Marvin Flores is a Chicano poet, teaching artist, and community organizer who won the 2024 Youth Speaks Bay Area Slam and went on to represent the Bay Area at the national youth slam in Washington, D.C. His work centers on bringing poetry to underserved and underrepresented youth in the South Bay, with the goal of launching a youth slam specifically for local voices. Marvin is also a member of Los Jaguares, a student-led organization at Foothill College dedicated to political education, advocacy, and holistic community support—addressing the spiritual, physical, and mental well-being of Latino students and their broader communities. He is also the first ever Poet Laureate of his college campus.
IG: @marvinflorespoesia
OPEN MIC:
Sign up at http://bit.ly/laraizopenmic
Confirm your presence at the start of the event, when asked (in the first 10 minutes).
Day-of sign ups are first come, first served.
Thank you!
*****
Presented by: Poetry Center San José www.pcsj.org @poetrycentersanjose
Host: Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
IG: @elizabethjimenezmontelongo / FB: @ejmontelongo
Community Partner: La Raíz Magazine http://laraizmagazine.com
IG: @laraizmagazine / FB: @laraizmag
#culturapoetrynight #pcsj #laraizmagazine #multilingualpoetry #poesiabilingue #indigenouspoetry #chicanopoetry #poetasenvivo #poetsofcolor #laculturacura #poetry #poesía
Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook and Instagram 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.
San José Poetry Festival 2025 is presented by Poetry Center San José and sponsored in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council; and additional support from Anne & Mark’s Art Party and the Brandenburg Family Foundation. Many thanks to Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations and Robertino R. Ragazza for his guidance and hospitality. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: San Jose Stage, Central Park Library Santa Clara, Convergence Arts Center, SJZ Break Room, Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Mama Kin, Recycle Bookstore, The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, Tabard Theatre (R.I.P.), Willow Glen Public Library, Works/San José art & performance center and Hillbrook Upper School of San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.
2025 San José Poetry Festival: Workshop – Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles (Zoom Event)
San José Poetry Festival, Day 3: Workshop – Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles (Zoom Event)
This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events.
Click here to peruse all 2025 San José Poetry Festival tickets and passes!
This event is free to the public. Zoom opens at 9:45am. Workshop begins at 10:00am.
Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles
To Serve Others, Not Serve Oneself
Saturday, September 27, 2025 10:00am-11:30pm via Zoom
This workshop is presented by Poetry Center San José, in partnership with La Raíz Magazine, facilitated by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo.
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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Image: detail of artwork by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
#palabrasandpoetry #pcsj #laraizmagazine #generativepoetryworkshop #zoompoetry #poetryworkshop #liberation #multilingualpoetry #poesiabilingue #spanglishpoetry #chicanapoet #chicanopoetry #latinapoets #latinxpoetry #laculturacura #poetry #poesía
Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook and Instagram 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.
San José Poetry Festival 2025 is presented by Poetry Center San José and sponsored in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council; and additional support from Anne & Mark’s Art Party and the Brandenburg Family Foundation. Many thanks to Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations and Robertino R. Ragazza for his guidance and hospitality. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: San Jose Stage, Central Park Library Santa Clara, Convergence Arts Center, SJZ Break Room, Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Mama Kin, Recycle Bookstore, The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, Tabard Theatre (R.I.P.), Willow Glen Public Library, Works/San José art & performance center and Hillbrook Upper School of San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.
2025 San José Poetry Festival: Bauchhaar's Poetry 'N' Movement
San José Poetry Festival, Day 3: Bauchhaar’s Poetry ‘n’ Movement
This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events.
Click here to peruse all 2025 San José Poetry Festival tickets and passes!
Bauchhaar’s Poetry ‘n’ Movement
(Interpretation of Poetry through various dance forms)
Music performed by Sparsh Johri (Piano), Prasad Jogalekar (Sitar).
Anshu Johri (Curator and Poet)
Anshu Johri authors short stories, poems, and plays in Hindi and English. She has published three poetry and short story collections in Hindi, and a short story collection “Scareped” in English. Her work in English has appeared in “SAGE”, “Caesura”, “Soul-Lit”, “Dukool”, “Vine Leaves Literary Journal”, “Calliope”, and “Creation and Criticism”. She is a hardware engineer with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University. She is on the advisory board of Poetry Center San Jose and is the curator of “Bauchhaar,” a monthly reading series. Her work is available on Amazon, Kindle, Audible, and Apple Books worldwide. https://www.amazon.com/Anshu-Johri/e/B00N5KJUXK
Poppy Charnalia (Poet)
Poppy Charnalia is an established poet and artist based in Lexington, Massachusetts. She writes in English and Hindi. In 2018, she launched her poetry book ‘Yeh Sach Anwarat’ at the DeCordova Contemporary Art Museum.
She recently exhibited at the May 2023 Cannes Film Festival Contemporary Art Biennial and at the Louvre in Paris in October 2024. Her upcoming art exhibitions are in Boston, New York, Rome, Venice, London, and Switzerland in 2026
Now, a retired investment professional, she volunteers to help families with investment portfolios. She attempts to raise funds and awareness for Autism through her art and poetry.
Kalpana Singh Chitnis (Poet)
Kalpana Singh-Chitnis is an Indian-American poet, filmmaker, and author of seven poetry collections, including Trespassing My Ancestral Lands (Finishing Line Press, 2024); LoveLetters to Ukraine from Uyava, a 2023 International Book Awards finalist and the winner of the prestigious Hryhorii Kochur Award, a State Award of Ukraine, for its Ukrainian translation; and Bare Soul, recipient of the 2017 Naji Naaman Literary Prize. Her work has appeared in notable journals such as World Literature Today, Columbia Journal, Tupelo Quarterly, The Los Angeles Review, Poetry International, Indian Literature, and Stanford University's Life in Quarantine.
Her poems and poetry film were archived in the Lunar Codex, landed on the moon with NASA–SpaceX–Intuitive Machines and Aerospace Firefly missions in 2024 and 2025. Website: www.kalpnasinghchitnis.com
Monica Korde (Poet)
Monica Korde is a poet, artist and community builder amplifying youth voices and cultural connection. As founder of Project POETRY 360, she creates spaces where BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, AAPI, and immigrant voices thrive through movement, music, and verse. Her practice bridges poetry and performance, inviting audiences to engage deeply with identity, belonging, and collective creativity. Appointed in 2021 as the Poet Laureate of Belmont, California, Monica is proud to be the city’s first South Asian immigrant to hold the title.
Saswati Das (Poet)
Saswati Das, an engineer by profession and a poet by heart, lives in the Silicon Valley. She writes poems in English, Bengali, and Hindi and aspires to touch human lives through poetry. Her published works include a poetry collection
in English, “Fragrant Flute of Fire”, and another in Hindi, “Kalpanain”. She has performed her poetry in various reading series in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Chandreyee Mukherjee (Poet of Movements)
Chandreyee Mukherjee began her classical Manipuri training at age six under Guru Debjani Chaliha in Kolkata. She later studied Odissi under Guru Niharika Mohanty in the US. Chandreyee has performed extensively in India and the US and is passionate about experimenting with traditional forms as a creative vocabulary of expression. Actively involved in Bay Area theatrical and dance productions. She has choreographed and directed several productions and collaborative artistic initiatives.
Dipanwita Sengupta (Poet of Movements)
Dipanvita Sengupta has a Master’s in Engineering and a Bachelor's in Kathak. She is the founder-director of "California Nupur Dance Academy".
A member of the International Dance Council, she has received a certificate of Special Congressional recognition from the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, “Naari-Celebration of Women” Award from the Association of Indo-Americans, and the Indian Consul General, a gold US Presidential award.
Dipanwita is regularly invited to lecture on Kathak at UCSC.
Lauren Baines (Poet of Movement)
Lauren Baines is a choreographer, performer, and nonprofit arts leader whose work has been presented throughout the Bay Area, in New York, and internationally. She holds an MFA in Dance/Choreography from Mills College and BA and BS degrees in Theatre Arts (Dance Emphasis), Art History, and Psychology from Santa Clara University.
Pragya Dasgupta
(Poet of Movement)
Pragya Dasgupta, founder of Tarana Dance Academy, is a gold medalist Kathak artist and holds the prestigious “Sangit Praveen” title from Prayag Sangit Samiti. She has received awards, including Kala Bharati, the President's Volunteer Service Award, and Jayavarman IV (honoring the Cambodian king). Pragya has choreographed acclaimed productions like Mahabharat, Geet Ramayan, and Meera. Her work has earned widespread recognition, and she has been featured in interviews with Radio Mirchi USA, Comcast TV, and Doordarshan India.
Saheli Ghosh (Poet of Movement)
Saheli Ghosh began dancing at age 3, trained in Bharatanatyam, and later studied Uday Shankar Dance Style under Smt. Mamata Shankar for 15 years. This has helped her perceive dance as a medium of emoting and storytelling. She also explored Manipuri and Indian folk dance. Although known for her forte in expressive style and bold movements, folk dance is still the closest to her heart. Saheli is actively involved in Bay Area dance productions and loves the stage.
Depanwita Seal (Poet of Movement)
Depanwita is a trained classical and creative dancer skilled in Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, and more. She teaches dance and has performed in India and the US. She trained under renowned dancers and gurus Kohinoor Sen Barat and Sanjib Bhattacharya. She values innovation in dance and continues learning diverse styles
Aynakus (Poetry itself)
Aynakus is an artist, performer, and animal lover. Non-believer in picture promotion, so stop by to check her performance. :-)
Sangita Das, a dedicated Kathak artist of the Lucknow Gharana, trained under Kathak Maestro NrityaSiromani Guru Bandana Sen and Guru Suchandra Banerjee. She is the founder of Kathak Kala Vihar (2005, Bay Area) and brings over 20 years of teaching experience. An early childhood special educator, she has performed internationally in Bali, Morocco, Greece, Sri Lanka, and India, promoting inclusive arts education and personal growth through dance.
San José Poetry Slam – Zoom Edition
Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Room opens at 6:30p.m. (PST)
Sign up list will be open from 6:30 to 7:00p.m.
Slam starts at 7:00p.m.
Admission is free! Get your ticket here.
Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
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.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.
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 Center San José promotes and supports the literary arts in San José. Over the past four decades, PCSJ has brought hundreds of exceptional writers from around the country to read from their works and, in many cases, to conduct workshops for local writers. PCSJ is a nonprofit organization established in 1978. Its base of operations is in the charming turn-of-the-century Victorian home where the renown poet Edwin Markham once lived, now located in San José History Park. Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
PCSJ Board of Directors Meeting (via Zoom)
Public comment period will be available to begin the meeting, a chance for the public to share feedback on programming, suggestions, and constructive criticism to be considered by board members of PCSJ.
To join and participate in the public comment, please register:
https://bit.ly/PCSJboardmeeting
Between 6:30-6:35 is your time to notify that you wish to be heard. Provide your name in the chat to reserve your two minute time-slot.
Agenda and minutes will be provided.
San José Poetry Slam – Zoom Edition
Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Room opens at 6:30p.m. (PST)
Sign up list will be open from 6:30 to 7:00p.m.
Slam starts at 7:00p.m.
Admission is free! Get your ticket here.
Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
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.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.
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 Center San José promotes and supports the literary arts in San José. Over the past four decades, PCSJ has brought hundreds of exceptional writers from around the country to read from their works and, in many cases, to conduct workshops for local writers. PCSJ is a nonprofit organization established in 1978. Its base of operations is in the charming turn-of-the-century Victorian home where the renown poet Edwin Markham once lived, now located in San José History Park. Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with Brandon Luu
Our friend Brandon Luu will soothe us with his perfect voice and inspire us to create!
Poets@Play is a monthly creative writing workshop hosted by former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez. Each session features a different guest facilitator—or sometimes David himself—leading hands-on exercises to inspire creativity and new ideas.
Our Facilitator
Brandon Luu is a poet from San Jose, California. He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from San Jose State University, and he is a member of the Board of Directors of Poetry Center San Jose. He also served as a 2022 Creative Ambassador for the City of San Jose.
Workshop Description:
"Breathing Life into Poems" is a performance workshop that explores an alternative way of appreciating poetry and writing. How do you want to read a poem vs. how does a poem want to be read? Learn about the different techniques that readers use to enhance the experience of reading out loud and try them for yourself!
No RSVP required. Just show up at 1:00pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
📍Location: Markham House @ History Park
635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA.
Free parking right outside of the main gate or in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue (except during some History Park events.)
Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There will be a flag over the steps that reads OPEN.
Poetry Lounge (via Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, August 17, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge is held twice a month on the first and third Sunday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Well-RED features Dane Cervine & Donna Presson (In Person & Zoom)
Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
38 South Second Street, downtown 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://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Sf0kuLQlScmCuWCbPygYWA
Our featured poets:
Dane Cervine’s recent books of poetry include Nine Volt Nirvana (Word Poetry Press), DEEP TRAVEL – At Home in the [Burning] World (Saddle Road Press), The World Is God’s Language (Sixteen Rivers Press), Earth Is a Fickle Dancer (Main Street Rag), and The Gateless Gate – Polishing the Moon Sword (Saddle Road Press). Dane’s poems have won awards from Adrienne Rich, Tony Hoagland, the Atlanta Review, Caesura, and been nominated for multiple Pushcarts. His work appears in The SUN, the Hudson Review, TriQuarterly, Poetry Flash, Catamaran, Miramar, Rattle, Sycamore Review, Pedestal Magazine, among others. Dane lives in Santa Cruz, California. Visit his website at: https://danecervine.typepad.com/
You can also find him on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/dane.cervine
Donna’s interest in the arts began with dance. In the 1980’s she attended San Jose City College. There she was mentored by Jimmyle Kester, head of the thriving dance department. Eventually, Donna joined Jimmyle’s modern dance company: “Leda” where she played Sheena in the 1987 production of “Taste of Blood”. Years later, as a first time mother, Donna discovered Interplay@—a form of improvisation combining words and movement. Cynthia Winton Henry and Phil Porter founded Interplay. Both are trained theologians who have a background in liturgical dance. At Interplay, Donna met individuals at every level of experience who shared a common desire to create and participate in spontaneous movement and storytelling. Donna went on to earn her a bachelors degree in Creative Arts from San Jose State University in 1997. She completed the Interplay leadership training in 2011. Mighty Mike McGee, San Jose Poet Laureate (2018-2020), is credited with Donna’s current love of open mic. Every Thursday night, prior to Covid, Cafe Friscatti in San Jose Arts District was home to “Live Lit”. Everyone was welcome. Anyone could vent, read, act, or tell a story for 5 minutes or under. McGee and his ability to identify and appreciate everyone’s uniqueness allowed Donna to test out new ideas. She is proud to have been invited to feature at “Live Lit” in 2018.
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
Poetry Lounge (via Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC
Sunday, August 3, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge is held twice a month on the first and third Sunday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2025 Deadline
Submissions are open for the 2025 Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize!
Submit up to three original unpublished poems at https://redwheelbarrow.submittable.com/submit
Submission Deadline: July 31st, 2025, 11:59 p.m. (PDT)
Final Judge: Stephen Kuusisto
Three prizes: $1,000, $500, $250
Letterpress broadside of the winning poem will be made by Gary Young, Greenhouse Review Press.
Winners & Finalists published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine.
One $15 submission fee good for all 3 poems; upload all poems in one file, please. Each poem must fit onto one 8.5 x 11 page. Yes, simultaneous submissions accepted. No author name on text or in file name.
Co-sponsors: Poetry Center San José & Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine.
Finalists announced September 15th, winners October 1st.
Stephen Kuusisto holds a “University Professorship” at Syracuse where he teaches across multiple disciplines and serves as the Director of the Burton Blatt Institute’s interdisciplinary programs. He’s the author of the memoirs Planet of the Blind (a “New York Times Notable Book”) and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening as well as Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey. His previous collections of poems include Only Bread, Only Light, Letters to Borges, and Old Horse, What is to Be Done? His latest book, Close Escapes will be published by Copper Canyon Press in the spring of 2025.
San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Room opens at 6:30p.m. (PST)
Sign up list will be open from 6:30 to 7:00p.m.
Slam starts at 7:00p.m.
Admission is free! Get your ticket here.
Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
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.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.
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 Center San José promotes and supports the literary arts in San José. Over the past four decades, PCSJ has brought hundreds of exceptional writers from around the country to read from their works and, in many cases, to conduct workshops for local writers. PCSJ is a nonprofit organization established in 1978. Its base of operations is in the charming turn-of-the-century Victorian home where the renown poet Edwin Markham once lived, now located in San José History Park. Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
Beautiful Black Books featuring Shawn William (via Zoom)
Join Tshaka Campbell for the next installment of Beautiful Black Books with guest Shawn William!
BBB is 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/BBBJuly2025
Our Guest
Shawn William is a Grammy-nominated spoken word artist, published author, storyteller, and proud father hailing from Oakland, California. With over 20 years of dedication to his craft, his dynamic writing and captivating performances have taken him to iconic stages such as the Apollo Theater, Radio City Music Hall, and the Essence Festival. His work has been featured on The Arsenio Hall Show and Verses and Flow, and he was honored as one of only five artists selected for a prestigious residency at The Kennedy Center.
The cover of Shawn William’s book, “Tall, Dark and Healing.” Available at writeaboutnowpoetry.com/shawn.
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Emeritus Tshaka Campbell has authored four books of poetry and is an internationally recognized artist and performer. He has won grand slam championships in a number of cities across the US. He will publish his next poetry collection, Blood at the Root, with @elmartillopress He currently resides in San José and continues to ask the world to listen different.
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit https://bit.ly/3YGz3q1
PCSJ Board of Directors Meeting (via Zoom)
Public comment period will be available to begin the meeting, a chance for the public to share feedback on programming, suggestions, and constructive criticism to be considered by board members of PCSJ.
To join and participate in the public comment, please register:
https://bit.ly/PCSJboardmeeting
Between 6:30-6:35 is your time to notify that you wish to be heard. Provide your name in the chat to reserve your two minute time-slot.
Agenda and minutes will be provided.
Poetry Lounge (feature TBA)
POETRY LOUNGE feature TBA!
Sunday, July 20, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge now moves to twice a month on the first and third Saturday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Our feature to be announced.
Bauchhaar Open Mic
This month’s Bauchhaar will feature an open mic at the Evergreen Farmers’ Market.
Bauchhaar invites your poems and flash fiction in English and/or Hindi.
Hosted by Anshu Johri!
Bring your poems, with your family and friends, and join Bauchhaar's Open Mic to add poetic hues to the vibrant aura of the farmers' market. Featuring Brandon Luu, Sundeep Kohli, Saswati Das, Sujata Tibrewala and many more...
Please read your own work. Please do not read work that glorifies or justifies violence. We are excited to receive your work and your presence as an audience.
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with Jarvis Subia
Hometown poet Jarvis Subia returns!
Poets@Play is a monthly creative writing workshop hosted by former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez. Each session features a different guest facilitator—or sometimes David himself—leading hands-on exercises to inspire creativity and new ideas.
Our Facilitator
Jarvis Subia is a Queer Latinx poet, educator, and performer originally from San José’s Seven Trees neighborhood, now based in Boston. With over a decade in spoken word and youth arts education, Jarvis is a 2019 Poetry Foundation Incubator Fellow and a former Programming Fellow with Harvard’s HipHopEx Lab. He earned his Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he studied the impact of spoken word in K–12 schools. A published author (Hello Joy, Black Lawrence Press), Jarvis has competed in 14 national poetry slams and his work appears in FEMS Anthology, Acentos Review, and Mother Tongue Anthology.
Workshop Description:
Rephrase/Refrain: a workshop about creating a cadence though language and viewing how the work changes when we revisit particular lines from the poem. The workshop is pull from the Classroom Workshop Guide section of my chapbook Hello Joy. In this workshop we will participate in a free write, discuss mine and other poets works, and follow a guided writing exercise.
No RSVP required. Just show up at 1:00pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
📍Location: Markham House @ History Park
635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA.
Free parking right outside of the main gate or in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue (except during some History Park events.)
Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There will be a flag over the steps that reads OPEN.
Writers’ Cafe at Markham House
The new PCSJ writing project where we all just drink hot bevs and write at Markham House!
You're invited to a gathering for those looking for a supportive writing community that focuses on the social aspects of being a writer and a space to discuss any and all disciplines of writing.
We welcome writers from all disciplines to hang out, work, then hang out some more.
This isn't a workshop, but a work time in a workspace with other writers.
This event is free and no registration necessary. Just show up with something to write.
We will meet at 11:30am for pastries, snacks, coffee and tea. Some will be provided, but more is welcome. If you do bring pastries, please only bring enough to share with one or two others.
Approximate Schedule
11:30am: Conversation over coffee and tea.
Noon: Quiet work. There are quite a few places to work quietly inside Markham House. Find your nook and write, or explore the books in our library upstairs, or continue your conversation outside, on the porch, or somewhere in History Park. We'll keep the coffee and kettle hot while you work.
2:45–3:15pm: Optional sharing and conversation. Writers are not expected to share what they’ve written, but if you’d like feedback, this would be the time for it.
Keep in mind, Markham House will be open to the public, so visitors will be coming in to peruse, but we will let them know that the house is infested with writers writing!
Admission: Free, but donations are welcome!
Parking: There is a parking strip on Phelan Avenue at the park gate. If there is no space available, there is a lot at the end of Phelan Ave.
Location: Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road veers left with the firehouse on the right, then follow the left turn. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There should be an OPEN flag out on the porch.
Well-RED features Adela Najarro, Jen Siraganian & Aida Zilelian
Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
38 South Second Street, downtown 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/4k5BqdQ
Adela Najarro is the author of five poetry collections, including Variations in Blue, selected for publication in 2025 through the Letras Latinas/Red Hen Collaborative. Her other works include Split Geography, Twice Told Over, My Childrens, and Volcanic Interruptions, a chapbook featuring artwork by Janet Trenchard. The 2024 Int'l Latino Book Awards designated Volcanic Interruptions as an Honorable Mention in the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award category. The California Arts Council recognized her as an established artist for the Central California Region and appointed her as an Individual Artist Fellow. Adela Najarro is a poet with a social consciousness who is working on a novel. Her extended family left Nicaragua and arrived in San Francisco during the 1940s; after the fall of the Somoza regime, the last of the family settled in the Los Angeles area. She is the Board President for Círculo de poetas and Writers and works with the Latinx community nationwide, promoting the intersection of creative writing and social justice. She holds a doctorate in literature and creative writing from Western Michigan University, as well as an M.F.A. from Vermont College, and is widely published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines. Her poetry and essays appear in Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, Latino Poetics, The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and other anthologies. Her work has also been featured in numerous journals, including Poetry, Huizache, Porter Gulch Review, Acentos Review, BorderSenses, Feminist Studies, Puerto del Sol, Nimrod International Journal of Poetry & Prose, Notre Dame Review, Blue Mesa Review, Crab Orchard Review, and more. She currently resides in Santa Cruz, California.
Jen Siraganian is an Armenian-American writer, educator, and former Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, California. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, won the 2024 New Ohio Review Poetry Prize, and has appeared in AGNI, Best New Poets, Cortland Review, Poetry Daily, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus. Her current manuscript Journal for Pomegranates has been a finalist of the Tupelo Press Dorset Prize, the Perugia Press Prize, and the University of Wisconsin’s Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry, and a semi-finalist for the Persea Books’ Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize, Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, and Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry. A former managing director of Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival, she is a current Lucas Artist Fellow.
Aida Zilelian is a first generation American-Armenian writer, educator and storyteller from Queens, NY. She is the author of The Legacy of Lost Things (2015, Bleeding Heart Publications), recipient of the 2014 Tololyan Literary Award. Aida’s most recently completed novel, All the Ways We Lied, released in January 2024 (Keylight Books/Turner Bookstore). Her debut poetry chapbook Dissonance was the recipient of the 2024 Swan Scythe Press Poetry Chapbook Contest and is forthcoming in June 2025. She recently completed her short story collection Where There Can Be No Breath At All. Aida was the curator of Boundless Tales, one of the first and longest-running reading series in Queens, NY. She is on the Board of Directors of Newtown Literary, a Queens-based literary journal that supports emerging writers. Aida is a board member of the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), an organization that helps Armenian writers in all stages of their careers. Aida has served as a mentor for IALA’s annual mentorship summer program for the last four years and served as a judge for IALA’s first Creative Writing Grant. She is IALA NYC chapter leader. As an educator, Aida has been teaching in NYC public high schools for twenty years and facilitates creative writing workshops through various organizations. She has been performing at storytelling events (NYC’s Finest Storytelling, RISK!, Generation Woman, Suitcase Stories and others) in Boston, Los Angeles, and Montreal.
For more information or to schedule an event, you can contact her here: aida [@] aidazilelian.com
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
Poetry Lounge (feature TBA)
POETRY LOUNGE featuring a full open mic!
Sunday, July 6, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge is twice a month on the first and third Saturday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Beautiful Black Books presents Tiny Room Poetry Series feat. Rudy Francisco, Carlos Andrés Gomez, Derrick Sanderlin, Destiny Muhammad & Tshaka Campbell!
Beautiful Black Books invites you to the Tiny Room Poetry Series, a special event celebrating the power of poetry and music hosted by Tshaka Campbell. Join us for an intimate evening featuring some of the most celebrated East and West Coast artists.
Sunday, June 29th, doors at 6:00pm, show 6:30pm - 9:00pm
SJZ Breakroom
310 South 1st Street San Jose, CA 95113
Reserve your spot now for an evening that will uplift, inspire, and stay with you long after the last word is spoken. Tickets on sale now.
An inspiring lineup featuring:
Rudy Francisco is one of the most recognizable names in Spoken Word Poetry. Rudy Francisco has shared stages with prominent artists such as Gladys Knight, Jordin Sparks, Musiq Soul Child, and Jill Scott. Ultimately, Rudy's goal is to continue to assist others in harnessing their creativity while cultivating his own. Rudy Francisco is the author of Excuse Me As I Kiss The Sky (2024), I'll Fly Away (2020) and Helium (2024). He is also an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, a National Poetry Slam Champion and has appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” starring Jimmy Fallon and “The Bachelorette”.
Carlos Andrés Gómez is a Colombian American poet, actor, and speaker from New York City. He is the author of the poetry collection Fractures (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020), selected by Pulitzer Prize winner and 19th U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the 2020 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, and the memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood (Penguin Random House, 2012). Winner of the Foreword INDIES Gold Medal and the International Book Award, Gómez has been published in The Nation, New England Review, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series, The Yale Review, Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World (W.W. Norton & Co., 2022), and elsewhere. A star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, TV One’s Verses and Flow, and Spike Lee’s #1 box office movie Inside Man with Denzel Washington, Carlos partnered with John Legend on Senior Orientation, a program to counteract bullying and champion inclusive masculinity among high school students. He has delivered keynotes and recited his original work at more than 1,500 colleges, universities, independent schools, and companies in 47 U.S. states and 28 countries across six continents. Carlos is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. For more, please visit: www.CarlosLive.com
Derrick Sanderlin is a musician, writer and organizer who lives, works and loves in the city of San Jose. They grew up in a diversity of sound, singing in convalescent homes, churches, and performing with local punk rock and metal bands. Derrick’s first EP Ghetto blends jazz, punk, folk, and R&B to communicate the complexity of family, love life, and identity as a young black kid in a dominant and oppressive culture. Derrick went on to open up sounds and conversations around toxic masculinity, mental health, the power of story, and the art of resilience through their project Sine Wave, a band borne out of an artist residency. While Derrick is not a native, he has experienced a deep love for San Jose, collaborating with local artists such as former poet laureate Mighty Mike McGee, singer/songwriter Noñameko, and rapper Latoya Fernandez.
Destiny Muhammad is a Recording/Performing Artist | Band Leader |Composer & Producer. Her genre is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & Storytelling to round out thesonic experience. Destiny collaborations, curations and commissioning include: Grace Cathedral Christmas Concert Series Stanford Jazz Festival featured Artist, Santa Cruz Symphony Recital Series, a San Jose Jazz Fest JazzAid Commissioned Artist, Guest/ Collaborator with Composer Marcus Shelby for Zaccho Dance ‘The Peoples Palace’ and featured on KQED Podcast & Sunday Music Drop. Destiny is an Elected Governor of the The Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, SFJAZZ, Teaching Artist, ASCAP, Songwriter Awardee, Chamber Music America/ Doris Duke Foundation Performance Plus Awardee and California Arts Council Legacy Fellow.
Poetry Lounge featuring Maw Shein Win (Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE featuring Maw Shein Win!
Sunday, June 22, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Join the Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85381844430?pwd=tvGx9MAewMaUiNKADQRxNxnrvbX0Oq.1
Meeting ID: 853 8184 4430
Passcode: 565275
Maw Shein Win’s latest full-length poetry collection is Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn, 2024). Her previous full-length collection Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn, 2020) was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, and shortlisted for the Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. Her work has recently been published in The American Poetry Review, The Margins, The Bangalore Review, and other literary journals. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA. Win’s previous collections include Invisible Gifts and two chapbooks, Ruins of a glittering palace and Score and Bone. Win often collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers and her Process Note Series features poets on their process. Literary Cherry is an ongoing project in collaboration with Adrian Jesus de la Peña. She teaches poetry in the MFA Program at University of San Francisco and is a member of The Writers Grotto. Along with Dawn Angelicca Barcelona and Mary Volmer, she is a co-founder of Maker, Mentor, Muse, a literary community.
Check out literarycherry.com, a collaboration with Adrian Jesus de la Peña
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with Jacqueline Gallegos
Jacqueline Gallegos leads our June workshop!
Poets@Play is a monthly creative writing workshop hosted by former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate David Perez. Each session features a different guest facilitator—or sometimes David himself—leading hands-on exercises to inspire creativity and new ideas.
Our Facilitator
Jacqueline Gallegos, known as Jacqnasty on the stage, is from the Bay Area, California. She now lives on the California Central Coast with her family. She has never moved away from the Golden State, but travels anytime she has a buck, a calling, and a few days off.
She was a member of the Santa Cruz Poetry Slam Team, placing 8th in the nation at The National Poetry Slam. Her work has appeared in Red Wheelbarrow, Chinquapin, Porter Gulch Review, and Caesura. Her first book Not Yet Fluent in Luminescence was published by Space Cadet Records in 2015. Her second book The Break Up Tapes was published by Rawmeash in 2025.
Workshop Description:
A simple color can elicit some of your strongest memories– the red roses from your first love, the misty evergreen trail you hiked and felt the sublime, or the midnight black sky when you saw your first shooting star. Poets such as William Carlos Williams, June Jordan, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickison utilize color to enhance the beauty of the natural world, and explore the intimacy of human relationships. In this workshop we will learn how to write poems in color by using a hands-on approach. We will sift through paint chips, drawing inspiration from their creative names to write lyrical free form poetry.
No RSVP required. Just show up at 1:00pm
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
📍Location: Markham House @ History Park
635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA.
Free parking right outside of the main gate or in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue (except during some History Park events.)
Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There will be a flag over the steps that reads OPEN.
Well-RED features William Greenwood & Renée M. Schell
Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
38 South Second Street, downtown 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/43EgmFy
Born in Arizona, William Greenwood studied languages and social sciences, eventually receiving a degree in Philosophy from the University of California. Subsequently he joined the farm workers’ struggle for justice during early unionization. He taught literacy and organized the first producer-marketing cooperative of Mexican farm workers. This led to a career in agricultural and small business development, mainly in Latin America and the Middle East. As an aid worker on long term assignments, he lived with his family in Honduras, Bolivia, Colombia and Palestine.
He has written poetry all his adult life. In the 1970’s he cofounded Green Horse Press, dedicated to the translation and bilingual publication of poetry not yet available in English. His published work includes a translation of selections from Guatemalan poet, Arqueles Morales’, La Paz Aún No Ganada, selected for the 1971 Cuban Colección La Honda. His poetry books are Into the Center of America and
Landscape/Cityscape, published by Word Temple Press, of which Paul Vangelisti wrote, “His originality is not to be measured in terms of style and technique…but in the singular integrity of his vision…. It is a sensual, hard-bought knowledge that pervades his poetry, founded in and of the world, reinforced by the adventure of language.” His most recent publication is the chapbook, Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Hope, which he describes as a reimagining of Pablo Neruda’s iconic book of almost the same name.
Renée M. Schell’s debut collection, Overtones, was published in 2022 by Tourane Poetry Press. Her poetry appears in New Verse News, Catamaran Literary Reader, Caesura, Naugatuck River Review, and many other journals and anthologies, including Women in a Golden State (Gunpowder Press 2025). She was lead editor for the anthology (AFTER)life: Poems and Stories of the Dead. She holds a Ph.D. in German Studies and also taught for seven years at a Title I elementary school. Renée’s work has been nominated for Best of the Net. You can find her at www.reneemschell.org
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
Tagged: open mic, william greenwood, renée m. schell, well red, open san jose, works gallery
Writers’ Cafe at Markham House
The new PCSJ writing project where we all just drink hot bevs and write at Markham House!
You're invited to a gathering for those looking for a supportive writing community that focuses on the social aspects of being a writer and a space to discuss any and all disciplines of writing.
We welcome writers from all disciplines to hang out, work, then hang out some more.
This isn't a workshop, but a work time in a workspace with other writers.
This event is free and no registration necessary. Just show up with something to write.
We will meet at 11:30am for pastries, snacks, coffee and tea. Some will be provided, but more is welcome. If you do bring pastries, please only bring enough to share with one or two others.
Approximate Schedule
11:30am: Conversation over coffee and tea.
Noon: Quiet work. There are quite a few places to work quietly inside Markham House. Find your nook and write, or explore the books in our library upstairs, or continue your conversation outside, on the porch, or somewhere in History Park. We'll keep the coffee and kettle hot while you work.
2:45–3:15pm: Optional sharing and conversation. Writers are not expected to share what they’ve written, but if you’d like feedback, this would be the time for it.
Keep in mind, Markham House will be open to the public, so visitors will be coming in to peruse, but we will let them know that the house is infested with writers writing!
Admission: Free, but donations are welcome!
Parking: There is a parking strip on Phelan Avenue at the park gate. If there is no space available, there is a lot at the end of Phelan Ave.
Location: Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road veers left with the firehouse on the right, then follow the left turn. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There should be an OPEN flag out on the porch.
Poetry Lounge featuring Mighty Mike McGee (Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE featuring Mighty Mike McGee!
Sunday, June 1, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Poetry Lounge now moves to twice a month on the first and third Saturday
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Mighty Mike McGee is a well-traveled stand-up poet from downtown San José. He’s toured his poetry and humor approximately one million miles throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. McGee has appeared on CBC, NPR, and HBO's Def Poetry Jam. McGee was appointed Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2018 & 2019. He produces and hosts events all over San José. For the last two decades, McGee has been a proud poetry teacher to thousands of students throughout the Santa Clara Valley and beyond.
Markham House & Library Open Hours
Looking for a cozy spot to read, write, or just unwind? Stop by Markham House from 11am to 3pm. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while you browse our library, chat with our friendly docent, and take in some dedicated poetry appreciation time.
📍Location: Markham House @ History Park • 635 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA.
Free parking right outside of the main gate or in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue (except during some History Park events.)
Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road dead ends, then make a left. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There will be a flag over the steps that reads OPEN.
PCSJ Board of Directors Meeting
Board of Directors Meeting
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
via Zoom
Public comment period will be available to begin the meeting, a chance for the public to share feedback on programming, suggestions, and constructive criticism to be considered by board members of PCSJ.
To join and participate in the public comment, please register:
https://bit.ly/PCSJboardmeeting
Between 6:30-6:35 is your time to notify that you wish to be heard. Provide your name in the chat to reserve your two minute time-slot.
Agenda and minutes will be provided.
San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition
Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Room opens at 6:30p.m. (PST)
Sign up list will be open from 6:30 to 7:00p.m.
Slam starts at 7:00p.m.
This is a free event.
Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.
Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
Be sure for the zoom room before 7 on the day of the slam; we will be unable to assist with links once the show starts.
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.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.
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 Center San José promotes and supports the literary arts in San José. Over the past four decades, PCSJ has brought hundreds of exceptional writers from around the country to read from their works and, in many cases, to conduct workshops for local writers. PCSJ is a nonprofit organization established in 1978. Its base of operations is in the charming turn-of-the-century Victorian home where the renown poet Edwin Markham once lived, now located in San José History Park. Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
New Project! Writers’ Cafe at Markham House
A new PCSJ writing project where we all just drink hot bevs and write at Markham House!
You're invited to a gathering for those looking for a supportive writing community that focuses on the social aspects of being a writer and a space to discuss any and all disciplines of writing.
We welcome writers from all disciplines to hang out, work, then hang out some more.
This isn't a workshop, but a work time in a workspace with other writers.
This event is free and no registration necessary. Just show up with something to write.
We will meet at 11:30am for pastries, snacks, coffee and tea. Some will be provided, but more is welcome. If you do bring pastries, please only bring enough to share with one or two others.
Approximate Schedule
11:30am: Conversation over coffee and tea.
Noon: Quiet work. There are quite a few places to work quietly inside Markham House. Find your nook and write, or explore the books in our library upstairs, or continue your conversation outside, on the porch or somewhere in History Park. We'll keep the coffee and kettle hot while you work.
2:30pm: Sharing and conversation.
Keep in mind, Markham House will be open to the public, so visitors will be coming in to peruse, but we will let them know that the house is infested with writers writing!
Admission: Free, but donations are welcome!
Parking: There is a parking strip on Phelan Avenue at the park gate. If there is no space available, there is a lot at the end of Phelan Ave.
Location: Once you walk into the park from Phelan Avenue, go straight until the road veers left with the firehouse on the right, then follow the left turn. Markham House is then the second house on your left. There should be an OPEN flag out on the porch.
Poetry Exchange via Zoom
Online open mic held on Zoom every third Sunday of the month!
Hosted by Lesa Medley.
Contact Lesa to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com