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 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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with Renée M. Schell
Renée Schell leads our May P@P with a workshop on sestinas!
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.
How to Do Things with Six Words: The Sestina
Embraced by modern writers from Elizabeth Bishop and John Ashbery to Patricia Smith and Sherman Alexie, the sestina, a poem that plays with a set of six words, is a challenging yet supple and playful form. In this workshop, we’ll read and briefly discuss several sestinas, then choose our own six words to explore the form. We’ll remember that there’s no right or wrong way to write a poem, only different paths, different endings.
About Our This Month’s Facilitator
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. 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.
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.
Beautiful Black Books featuring Mona Webb (Zoom)
Join Tshaka Campbell for the next installment of Beautiful Black Books with guest Mona Webb!
BBB is a recurring program featuring black writers in conversation followed by a Q&A. It is a vessel of exchange as we bring black writers to our communities and our communities to these writers to learn about their sources of inspiration.
Register for your Zoom link at: https://bit.ly/3DZiJZD
Ramona Laughing Webb is a Poet-in-Residence at the CoE working at the intersections of performance art, culture change and improved communications around gender and racial/ethnic disparities and health disparities. She has been the MC at the Young Women’s Health & Leadership Summit for the past 8 years and a regular workshop leader for the Youth Steering Committee teaching the youth how to amplify their authentic voice. Scholar practitioner, teaching performance artist and Afro-Creek queer activist Ramona “Mona” Webb serves as the Assistant Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Queer Cultural Center which is the producer of the National Queer Arts Festival. Mona formerly served as Artistic Director of Project ABLE and Lyrical Minded415, which is an Art Based Learning for Equity seasonal course implemented in SFUSD’s Title I Neglected school sites. For 10 years Mona served as poetry Slammaster of San Francisco. Mona is a conservatory trained artist who writes and performs in “docu-ritual- drama theater” and attended the dual Theater Performance Making MFA program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and Chichester University in Chichester, England. "How to Catch a Rapist in 12 Parts", is her current one person show and it chronicles her journey to seeking justice for a rape committed 20 years ago. Ramona’s pronouns are she, her, them and they.
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
Third Thursday Open Mic featuring Raggedy Andey!
Raggedy Andey is an abandoned house-obsessed poet and mentor from Santa Cruz. In addition to her written works, she was grand-slam champion of Santa Cruz in 2015, joining her team at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland where they placed in the top 5 overall. She went on to sweep the Southwest Shootout in 2018, winning the individual competition and the group competition alongside her fellow Santa Cruz teammates. Today, she organizes an exclusive poetry series celebrating the craft of writing, and spends her days basking in the sun with her little dog Frank. Her favorite word is avid.
Well-RED feat. Joseph Jason Santiago LaCour & Sophia Rodriguez
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/3RAYc0I
Joseph Jason Santiago LaCour is a Filipino/French Creole Spoken Word Poet and Hip-Hop Artist from the Midwest now living in Santa Cruz. You can find him most weekends at Sacred Mud Henna and Tattoo Studio at The Tannery Arts Center offering workshops, coaching and henna & jagua hand art by appointment.
In Partnership with Rica Smith De La Luz, @sacredpoets, he hopes to inspire a creative message of peace and empowerment. A part of Mic Drop!, the monthly open mic at 418 Project, and a member of Writers of Color Santa Cruz County, he works to contribute to a strong community of Artists and Supporters locally and globally. Currently, he is developing a grant project in collaboration with CityArts and Arts Council Santa Cruz County called Poets on the Path - in efforts to revitalize our San Lorenzo Riverwalk.
Sophia Rodriquez is a published author of Healing My Hurts, available on Amazon, and a writer whose work highlights themes of self-love, identity, and the exploration of social and developmental issues. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Health Psychology at Santa Clara University.
Sophia's writing has been featured in De Anza's Red Wheelbarrow (2019) and East Side Magazine (January 2023). An active participant in the Bay Area's poetry community, she has performed at open mics and poetry slams across the region. Notably, Sophia featured at the 2023 San Jose Museum of Art and Poetry Center San Jose Poetry Invitational and is looking forward to participating in the 2025 Poetry Invitational. You can follow Sophia on Instagram at @sr_poetry_, where she shares her latest poems, upcoming events, and more.
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
PCSJ Open Community Meeting via Zoom
Let your ideas be heard at our first ever Open Community Meeting to be held on Zoom!
PCSJ Open Community Meeting
Monday, May 12, 2025 at 6:30pm–7:30pm via Zoom
A chance for the public to share feedback on programming, suggestions, and constructive criticism to be considered by board members of PCSJ.
Poetry Lounge featuring David Perez (Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE featuring David Perez!
Saturday, May 10th, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
David Perez served as the 2014-2016 Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. He’s a recipient of the Arts Council Silicon Valley Fellowship for Literary Art and the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Achievement Award. He’s also a repeat guest on the NPR storytelling series, Snap Judgment and author of the poetry collection, "Love in a Time of Robot Apocalypse" from Write Bloody Publishing. Most recently, his work has appeared in Cæsura, The Wild Word, and the DMQ Review. He has taught literature and creative writing at San Jose State University and Ohlone College in Fremont, CA.