POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, February 1, 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.

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 RSVP on Zoom here.

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 Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition

Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.

Sunday, January 25, 2026
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.

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.

12:30: 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.

Here is a map of History Park’s parking options:

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: David Perez

David served as the 3rd Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County. He is a recipient of the Arts Council Silicon Valley Literary Art Fellowship and the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Achievement Award. He has appeared on the NPR series, Snap Judgment and his book, "Love in a Time of Robot Apocalypse" is available from Write Bloody Publishing. He has taught literature and creative writing at San Jose State University and Ohlone College.

Workshop Description

Revision and Revelation

Beautiful things can happen when you embrace revision as an art unto itself. You notice things you didn’t see before. You can make images clearer and more impactful. With a sharp eye, this can often be achieved with just a few well-placed edits. In this workshop, David will focus on simple revision techniques that can help you realize your vision and possibly surprise yourself with insights you didn’t catch during the first draft.

It’s encouraged to bring a draft that you’d like to revise, but it’s not required.

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 ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, January 18, 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.

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.
Link: https://bit.ly/Well-RED_January2026

Arlene Biala
POET, AUTHOR, PERFORMANCE ARTIST
Arlene Biala is a Pinay 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, (November 2025) from Sampaguita Press is available at bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Arlene's tote bag.

Rosanna Alvarez
Rosanna Alvarez is a Chicana storyteller, educator, Aztec dancer, and visual artist whose work thrives at the intersection of cultura, creativity, and comunidad. A woman of many hats—literally and artistically—her practice spans poetry, performance, publishing, and handcrafted art that honors memory and movimiento. A silver medalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Book of Poetry Award, she is the author of Braided [Un]Be-Longing, a collection that weaves poetry, testimonio, and ancestral echoes into a journey of healing and reclamation.

Her work has been anthologized and published across academic journals and community-rooted collections, including Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, the MALCS Journal of Chicana/Latina Studies, Somos Xicanas, and Anger Is a Gift, among others.

Through every medium, Rosanna invites others to dream, heal, and dismantle fronteras as we co-create a future rooted in dignity, humanidad, and collective joy.

She is also the co-founder of Eastside Magazine, the founder of Ocote Libre Press, and an Ethnic Studies educator at West Valley College.

Downtown SJ provides free parking on the street after 6:00 p.m. Available street parking is difficult to find after 6:30 p.m.
If you are unable to find parking on the street, there are two parking garages of note:
1.) 25 S. 3rd Street PARKSJ Garage (located underground, under The Globe Apartments), about 300 meters from Works/San Jose;
2.) 2nd & San Carlos PARKSJ Garage (first 90 minutes are free). This is a 5-10 minute walk to Works/San Jose

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

Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam Zoom Edition

Come join us for poetry from the comfort of your own home.

Sunday, December 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.

POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, December 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.

The ruth weiss Foundation Annual Poetry Awards & Ceremony

In partnership with Caesura Publishers

Location: Counter-Cultural Museum, 1485 Haight Street (NE corner of Haight & Ashbury), San Francisco
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025
Time: 6:00–8:00 PM (PT)

The ruth weiss Foundation (rwF)—dedicated to preserving and celebrating the literary legacy of ruth weiss (1928–2020)—announces its Fifth Annual Poetry Awards and Ceremony, held at San Francisco’s new Counter-Cultural Museum in the heart of Haight-Ashbury. This historic venue, rooted in the spirit of artistic rebellion, provides a fitting stage to honor ruth weiss’s creative influence.

2025 Theme: Ekphrastic Poetry

This year’s theme, Ekphrastic Poetry—poems inspired by visual art—drew submissions from around the world, including cinepoems that merge poetry and film.

Award Categories & Winners:

• Maverick Poet Award ($1,200 + Publishing) — Dagne Forrest, “A Study in Light”

• Emerging Poet Award ($1,000) — Lulu Lenam, “The Waiting Time”

• Youth Poet Award ($800) — Arabella Rose Gray, “Ace of Hearts”

• Cinepoem Awards ($250 each) — Pracheta Ahana Alam, “The Indiscriminate Sun” & Natasha Abrahams, “Balloon Man”

• Honorable Mention (Youth, $250) — Calandrea Tzema, “I’m Still Here”

• Founder’s Award ($200) — Jen Schneider, “Dispatches from the Future—Lady Adjusters Spend a Day in the Archives of the U.S. Treasury”

An Evening of Poetic Celebration

Curated by Kimy Knight and Bill Cozzini of Caesura, art & literary journal of PCSJ, with special guest Kim Shuck, former Poet Laureate of San Francisco. The evening will feature live readings, performances, and an exhibition of ruth weiss’s poem-paintings. Estelle Cimino, Co-Founder of the Counter-Cultural Museum, will deliver opening remarks.

Honoring the Beat Legacy

Hosting this year’s awards at the Counter-Cultural Museum celebrates the enduring legacy of the Beat Generation—and ruth weiss’s trailblazing role within it.

About the Foundation

Co-founded by Dr. Elisabeth P. Montgomery and Melody C. Miller, the ruth weiss Foundation is a nonprofit supporting poets and interdisciplinary artists through grants, awards, and education. The pair also co-produced ruth weiss: The Beat Goddess (Emmy Award, 2023).

Tiny Room Poetry Series | Special Edition | Presented by Listen Different and Poetry Center San José

Join us for an intimate evening of poetry, music and community! This special edition offers a rare chance to connect with poets and musicians up close, meet fellow lovers of the art, and experience a vibrant local space in a fresh new way.

With performances by legendary author and poetry slam champion Patricia Smith and local soul legends Noah and the Arkiteks. 

Reserve your seat here! Choose a donation priced ticket or a free ticket—no one turned away for lack of funds. Any support you can offer helps us pay our guest performers.

There are a limited number of free online tickets, but more are available at the door. We ask that those who claim a free ticket to wait for available seating at show time.

As a special gift, there will be a raffle of Patricia Smith's new book, The Intentions of Thunder, held during the show. We would like to thank Leigh's Favorite Books in Sunnyvale for providing us with copies of Ms. Smith's book.

Patricia Smith will also participate in a Q&A after her reading.

Tiny Room Poetry Series is supported by SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Our performers:

Patricia Smith

Patricia Smith is the author of ten books of poetry, including The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems (Scriber, 2025), finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry; Unshuttered (Northwestern 2023); Incendiary Art (Northwestern 2017), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Award, the LA Times Book Prize, and the NAACP Image Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House Press, 2012), winner of the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets; and Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press, 2008), a National Book Award finalist. Her work has been published widely, including in Best American Poetry and Best American Essays. Her short story “When They Are Done With Us” won the Robert Fish Award from the Mystery Writers of America and was featured in Best American Mystery Stories. 

Smith is a 2024 inductee into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a chancellor in the Academy of American Poets, a Guggenheim fellow, an National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, a finalist for the Neustadt Prize, a former fellow at Civitella Ranieri, Yaddo, and MacDowell, and a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, the most successful poet in the competition’s history. 

She is a professor in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, as well as a former distinguished professor for the City University of New York. Currently, she is at work on her first novel and a collection of short stories.

NOAH and the Arkiteks

Bay Area soul singer/songwriter and guitarist Noah exudes so much soul and blues that he and his tight group of seasoned musicians - known as NOAH AND THE ARKITEKS - will take you down memory lane of great soul vocalists Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and then switch it up and funk things up with nods to Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley. Formed in 2015 the Alternative Soul band throws in hints of a classic sound that pulls from American Roots music. Their first single “Soul Fire” is a bare bones dive into heartbreak and a wanting for Love. Noah and the Arkiteks sprinkle in their own Bay-area influenced West coast jazz and funk to keep you moving to a truly signature Bay Area groove.

Your host:

Tshaka Campbell is the first black, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate and has authored four books of poetry entitled “TARMAN”, “MUTED WHISPERS”, “STUFF, I will write more”, “TUNNEL VISION'' and is latest book published by El Martilo press entitled “BLOOD AT THE ROOT. ” His words have been featured in Bridges Review, BBC UK, Content magazine, Speakeasy vol 1, Liminal Animals, Rigorous magazine, among others. A city of Milpitas and city of Sunnyvale commendation in the arts award recipient, Tshaka has also collaborated on projects with the World Health Organization (WHO), the De young museum in San Francisco, the NUMU and Triton museums, as well sits on the Board of Directors for Silicon Valley Creates arts council and Poetry Center San Jose. He has partnered with the Silicon Valley Transit Authority and community members to deliver youth programs centered around expanding poetry and literature. He has 4 spoken word albums entitled "ONE", “BLOODLINES”, "SKIN vol.1"; and his most recent release "NKISI" is currently available on all streaming platforms.

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.
Link: https://bit.ly/Well-RED_December2025

Ellie Celine is a Filipino-American poet who resides in the Bay Area. Her writing skills are better than her juggling skills, but ask her to juggle and she’ll do it.

Maria Garcia Teutsch is an award-winning poet, professor and experimental filmmaker whose work merges the lyric intensity of poetry with the visual language of cinema and stage. Her most recent poetry chapbook, What She Saw in the Lotería Cards was published by Bottlecap Press in 2025. Her cinepoem, The Blue Whale of Madness (2025) was selected as a semi-finalist at the Austin International Art Festival, Palermo International Film Festival, and Brussels World Film Festival. She is the author of the prize-winning collection, The Revolution Will Have its Sky, (Minerva Rising Press); and The Swallows of America (Dancing Girl Press). With a career steeped in curating literary journals (Homestead Review, published by Hartnell College in Salinas, and Ping-Pong journal of art and literature, published by the Henry Miller Library), she brings a uniquely cinematic eye to language. As founder of Ping-Pong Free Press and Poet Republik Ltd., she publishes and curates boundary-pushing literature and international poetry in translation. In 2023 she wrote and directed two one-act plays which premiered in Berlin, Germany. Her poetry has been featured in numerous publications, always offering emotionally resonant, visually charged storytelling and which are known for their surreal, image-rich worlds and hybrid narrative structures. Her poetry serves as the source material for her experimental performances and cinepoetic work. Her poem, “When I Write by Hand,” was set to music in the audio drama, “Waking Up.” www.poetrepublik.com

Downtown SJ provides free parking on the street after 6:00 p.m. Available street parking is difficult to find after 6:30 p.m.
If you are unable to find parking on the street, there are two parking garages of note:
1.) 25 S. 3rd Street PARKSJ Garage (located underground, under The Globe Apartments), about 300 meters from Works/San Jose;
2.) 2nd & San Carlos PARKSJ Garage (first 90 minutes are free). This is a 5-10 minute walk to Works/San Jose

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

POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, December 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.


Posted In: poetry lounge, open mic, featured poet
Tagged: poetry lounge, zoom, open mic, san jose, lesa Medley

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 RSVP on Zoom here.

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.

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: Sally Ashton!

Former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Sally Ashton is the author of five books of poetry including most recently Listening to Mars. She specializes in brief forms across genres. Her poem “4.6 Billion Years” is now archived with the Lunar Codex on the Moon. Going to the Moon, a book of personal essays exploring her personal experiences and the race to space, is forthcoming from Duke University Press. www.sallyashton.com

Workshop Description

Writing an Ode

Celebration is an act of resistance, a dear friend recently reminded me. It’s also fun. Let’s take a break from any worries and write an ode: that is, a poem of praise and celebration. This too will be fun and appropriate for the beginning of Thanksgiving week. So come on down to Markham house, pencil and paper in hand, where we shall make some joyful noises together.

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 ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, November 16, 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.

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.

12:30: 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.

Here is a map of History Park’s parking options:

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-RED_November2025

Kristina Robertson is a confessional spoken word performer, writer, and producer here in the South Bay. She has competed in 2 national poetry slam competitions. Her work has appeared in Overachiever Magazine and was published in Chopsticks Alley Art’s Asian American Healing: A Nature Walk Guide. She just released her first full length book of confessional poems titled Getting Out of My Head … with Poems from My Heart in October. She currently co-produces Chopsticks Alley Art’s CreativiTEA Open Mic. Through her work with Chopsticks Alley Art, she helps to provide opportunities for AAPI artists to showcase their work while also sharing her love for art and poetry with her community.


Downtown SJ provides free parking on the street after 6:00 p.m. Available street parking is difficult to find after 6:30 p.m.

If you are unable to find parking on the street, there are two parking garages of note:
1.) 25 S. 3rd Street PARKSJ Garage (located underground, under The Globe Apartments), about 300 meters from Works/San José;
2.) 2nd & San Carlos PARKSJ Garage (first 90 minutes are free). This is a 5-10 minute walk to Works/San José.

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

We are delighted to partner with Salt & Poetry for this Zoom presentation celebrating the 1st birthday of books authored by Jessica Cohn, Hilary King, Veronica Kornberg, Nancy L. Meyer, and Stephanie Pressman.

Brief readings and discussion emceed by Kaecey McCormick on the surprises, joys, pitfalls, and bruises from poetry book promotion experiences. Tell us about your book birthdays.
We'll celebrate your book birthdays too!

Register for link at saltandpoetry@gmail.com

Tiny Room Poetry Series | Special Edition

Join us for an intimate evening of poetry and music featuring some of the Bay Area’s and LA’s premier artists. This special edition offers a rare chance to connect with poets and musicians up close, meet fellow lovers of the art, and experience a vibrant local space in a fresh new way.

Reserve your seat here!

With performances by Arlene Biala, Tureeda Mikell, Destiny Muhammad, and Dr. Donny Jackson, the night also celebrates the release of Tshaka Campbell’s newest collection, BLOOD AT THE ROOT”: An nkisi (El Martillo Press). The book is a lyrical meditation on fatherhood, ancestry, and identity—blending memory and history to confront trauma and resilience while affirming love as the force that carries us forward.

🎥 Watch the deep dive podcast: Blood at the Root Discussion

Tiny Room Poetry Series is supported by SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tiny Room Poetry Series features an inspiring lineup:

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.

Tureeda ‘Ture Ade’ Mikell

Tureeda 'Ture Ade' Mikell is a UCB Bay Area Writing Project Fellow 1996, an award winning poet, Black Panther Party Alum, she has either performed, or her work has traveled to South Africa, to Egypt, UK, China, Turkey, Mexico, and Switzerland.

Mikell served or has read as Poet in Residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora, Oakland Museum, Randall Museum, San Jose Museum of Art Invitational, DeYoung Museum, and Goldengate Academy of Sciences.  Anthologized in Poetry is Bread, (2025 Nirala Publications, India, Tina Cane, Editor) Mikell is author of Synchronicity: The Oracle of Sun Medicine (2020, Nomadic Press) nominated for the California Book Award, and The Body: Oracle of Memory (2024, Black Lawrence Press, NY.)

Mikell received Berkeley Poetry Festival's 2024 LifeTime Achievement Award, as a story medicine woman, nature’s child, an activist for holism hell bent on asserting life. Mikell can be found on, LinkIn, Instagram, or tureedamikell.com

Destiny Muhammad

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

Dr Donny Jackson

Dr. Donny Jackson 

A staple of the poetry community, Donny Jackson also holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, and is a director and multiple Emmy-winning documentary television producer. As a spoken word artist, Donny has performed and featured throughout North America, including at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, and venues in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, California, and Toronto. Donny has released four poetry albums: boy, girl, he / him, and fatherly. His debut volume of poetry, boy, was published by Silver Star Laboratory in February 2020, and his most recent book, toward the sun: love haiku, was released in February 2024.

Blood at the Root cover

Tshaka Campbell is the first black, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate and has authored four books of poetry entitled “TARMAN”, “MUTED WHISPERS”, “STUFF, I will write more”, “TUNNEL VISION'' and is latest book published by El Martilo press entitled “BLOOD AT THE ROOT. ” His words have been featured in Bridges Review, BBC UK, Content magazine, Speakeasy vol 1, Liminal Animals, Rigorous magazine, among others. A city of Milpitas and city of Sunnyvale commendation in the arts award recipient, Tshaka has also collaborated on projects with the World Health Organization (WHO), the De young museum in San Francisco, the NUMU and Triton museums, as well sits on the Board of Directors for Silicon Valley Creates arts council and Poetry Center San Jose. He has partnered with the Silicon Valley Transit Authority and community members to deliver youth programs centered around expanding poetry and literature. He has 4 spoken word albums entitled "ONE", “BLOODLINES”, "SKIN vol.1"; and his most recent release "NKISI" is currently available on all streaming platforms.

POETRY LOUNGE ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, November 2, 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.


Posted In: poetry lounge, open mic, featured poet
Tagged: poetry lounge, zoom, open mic, san jose, lesa Medley

Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam – Live In Person!

Come join us for poetry and some of the most delicious pizza in San José at our new venue in Little Italy, Bibo’s Pizza! (Across from Henry’s Hi-Life.

Sunday, October 26, 2025
Room opens at 6:00p.m. (PST)
Sign up list will be open until 6:30p.m.
Slam starts at 6:30p.m.

Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.

Our October Feature is Papi Grande!

Papi Grande (He/Him/Prince) is a dynamic multidisciplinary artist and 22x Berkeley Slam Winner.
He was the Chief Strategist for Loudmouth at the 2025 Central Valley Regional Festival,
a Gold Beams Champ, and part of the 2025 Loudmouth Slam Team.
He placed 3rd at Bigfoot Poetry Festival with the Berkeley Slam Team and is the author of Theme of Identity.

Give it up for… Papi Grande!

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.

This is a two-round slam, poets with the highest scores will move up to round two.
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 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: Olga Rosales Salinas!

From olgars.com/about

I'm Olga, an editor and freelance writer who produces poetry, short stories, and essays. I am the Managing Editor for San Francisco Bay Area Moms, where I also host a podcast called Hella MomVersations. My bylines have appeared in palabra, by National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Voices of Monterey Bay (VOMB), Jumble & Flow, and others. My debut collection of poetry and prose, La Llorona, was published by Birch Bench Press. 

In October of 2022, THINK/NPR and host Krys Boyd, interviewed me about How Latino culture can make it hard to talk about mental health. We discussed my article, Los Curiosos, published by palabra.

My philanthropy and activism started in 2019 with a non-profit benefiting first-generation and immigrant students, The Rosales Sisters' Scholarship. Since then, the Rosales Sisters' Scholarship has raised $50,000. As the President and Co-Founder of this organization, I am proud of what we've accomplished so far, and I'm excited about our future.

I am passionate about all my creative endeavors, including motherhood, mental health, fitness, writing, and wife life.

Workshop Description

Description to come.

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 ONLINE OPEN MIC!
Sunday, October 5, 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.

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.

Here is a map of History Park’s parking options: