PCSJ Programs & Events
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.
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.
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.
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.
Poets@Play Creative Writing Workshop with José Jiménez
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.
This month, spoken word artist extraordinaire, Jose Jimenez leads his workshop “Light It Up!”
“Light It Up!” is a workshop that invites us to revisit our memories and shine light on the details we’ve forgotten. In the process of tuning into our own memories, we can find a deeper understanding of the lessons we can learn from ourselves. Through a series of examples, Jose will showcase how he has turned his own memories into poems that inspire his readers and audience members into action!
José Jiménez is a California poet with proud Mexican roots, driven by a passion for truth, resistance, and reflection. His poetry explores justice, resilience, and social change, drawing from personal and collective experiences to challenge, heal, and inspire. With a commanding presence, José blends raw emotion with sharp wordplay, turning poetry into both a mirror and a megaphone. Jose is a 2x Grand Slam Champion and a finalist at multiple regional & national competitions in the Bay Area and around the country.
No RSVP required. Just show up at 1pm
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.