Well-RED features Veterans of Life Write authors G. Craige Edgerton, Jaime Lee Johnson, Bill Noyes & Nick Butterfield!
Co-sponsored by Works/San José art and performance center!
38 South Second Street, downtown San José.
Open mic to start the show!
If you are unable to attend in person, we welcome you to join via Zoom! Register in advance for this event via Zoom.
Link: https://bit.ly/Well-REDseptember2025
Our featured poets:
G. Craige Edgerton
Craige started his writing practice at age 75, as suggested by his Vet Center counselor to help him deal with his negative issues regarding his time in Vietnam as a combat Marine. He fought it for many months and finally decided to try it just once. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life and he hasn’t stopped writing since. In college, he admired those who could write creatively and tell compelling stories. But being from rural South Texas, he lacked confidence. And who would want to hear his story of a very ordinary life anyway? The counseling sessions at the Vet Center that dealt with his, and many others, PTSD made him realize that being in combat was not an ordinary experience. Very few individuals have such experiences. He realized that the stories of the mostly Vietnam veterans were unique, not in actual combat stories, but in how they had recovered fifty-plus years later. For reasons that are still unclear, he decided to write some of those stories and enroll others willing to tell their stories too. This book is the result of that decision.
Jaime Lee Johnson
Born in San Jose, California, Jaime Lee Johnson was raised by his aunt after an adoption at a very early age. Jaime knew he wanted to serve, given how every generation in his family had in one way or another, but he also knew it was a commitment. He served 7 years in the US Army as an infantryman and in a military intelligence unit, including a deployment to Baghdad in 2005. After his discharge, he experienced trouble, like most vets with PTSD, and had to find help for it. A friend recommended he go to the Vet Center in San Jose, and everything changed. Jaime knew that the lessons he learned through the group could help others, which is why he became part of the project for this book. To pass on his experiences with PTSD and how he found ways to deal with the side effects of war, both physically and mentally. He hopes that with this book, he can help at least one veteran reconnect with their family or their friends, or show them the way to get help for problems they feel no one else can understand.
Bill Noyes
Born in San Francisco, Bill was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then again in San Francisco. He graduated in 1965 from Andrew Hill High in San Jose and then attended San Jose State College. In 1967, Bill was drafted into the Vietnam War, B 2/22, earning a Silver Star and a Combat Infantry Badge north of Saigon. He finally earned his BA degree from San Jose State University in Philosophy in 1978. Bill married in 1976 and raised two daughters at their Campbell home. He retired from welding after 30 years. During this time, he worked on various home additions, sculpted statues, and persisted with writing projects and books. War experiences have taken much of his attention throughout his life and, accordingly, resulted in many valuable lessons learned.
Nick Butterfield
Nick AKA Nektarios Butterfield served in the USNR as a Hospital Corpsman HM1 from 1983 to 1993. Active during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield in 1990-1991 “Grief is the source of many of my writings.” “PTSD, I saw in my dad who was a Pearl Harbor Survivor and many of my current writing collaborators.” They are not just veterans of war but of life.” Nick was one of the few who gathered in Willow Glen Bookstore in the mid-90s. The Willow Glen Poetry Project went on to publish 3 anthologies in which Nektarios participated in. He has contributed to 3 Caesura editions in the past and contributed to Veterans of Life Write book that came out in 2020. He co-facilitates Veterans of Life Zoom meetings, the first Friday of every month, which is sponsored by the Psychology Dept. at SJSU and Martin Luther King Library and Poetry San Jose. The group has participated in seven Poetry San Jose Festivals and has been meeting regularly since 2015. This group started with Amy Meier’s recognition of a need for Veterans to write and heal.
TO SUBMIT EVENT FEEDBACK, visit: https://bit.ly/4dBnxR2
Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.
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 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