PCSJ Programs & Events
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!
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
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
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.
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.
Poetry Lounge featuring Kim Johnson (Zoom)
POETRY LOUNGE featuring Kim Johnson!
Saturday, April 12th, 1:00 p.m. (PST)
via Zoom
Hosted by Lesa Medley!
Contact Lesa Medley to receive your Zoom link: lcmedley016@gmail.com
Kim Johnson has been a member of several Bay Area slam teams and toured the US many times over, performing at slam venues, clubs, colleges, festivals and performing arts centers. In 2009 she was an Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, and in 2010 completed her first European poetry tour with performances in Germany, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands. She was the co-coach of the 2009 San Francisco slam team ranked third in the nation, and has been a poet mentor for Youth Speaks San Francisco and Lyrical Minded / Project Able.