Dear Friends of Poetry,
Please join us at 7 PM on Thursday, October 21st, 2021 on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. You may want to arrive by 6:45 to behold the new sculpture exhibit by some of California’s best ceramic artists, for, as Lucille Clifton says, “Poems come out of wonder, not out of knowing.”
For this reading, we will be joined by two poets who will be reading together for the first time: Nyeree Boyadjian and Jennifer O’Neill Pickering.
Nyeree Boyadjian is an Armenian-American, LGBTQ+, poet, fiction writer and multimedia artist from Queens, New York. She completed her undergraduate degree at The University of the Arts having completed theses in both poetry and fiction. She is also a graduate of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program’s Summer Institute.
Boyadjian’s work has been featured in publications such as The Underground Pool, Red Cedar Review, Brine Literary Journal, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and the Space galleries Icebox Project Space. She has served as poetry editor for The Underground Pool, and has won various awards for her writing, such as the first place Liberal Arts Prize in Fiction in 2021, as well as the 2018 Stephen Berg Memorial Scholarship in poetry. Currently, she is a fellow at UC Davis where she studies poetry.
Jennifer O’Neill Pickering has authored two books of poetry: Blooming In Winter, and, in the last year, Fruit Box Castles: Poems From a Peach Rancher’s Daughter. A 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee, she was a finalist in the New Women’s Voices Competition established by Finishing Line Press. Her poetry and prose have appeared in a great number of notable journals, including The Arlington Literary Journal, The Dog with the Old Soul, Raven’s Perch, Restore and Restory: A Peoples History of the Cache Creek Nature Preserve, Poydras Review, Voices Project and others.
Pickering had a poem selected for a site specific sculpture, “Open Circle,” which was created as a means of healing from the bombing of the B’nai Israel Synagogue. An artist whose poetry is permanently presented on a signal box near the Central Branch of the Sacramento Public Library, Jennifer O’Neill Pickering continues to delight us with her poetry and her performances.
The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, and by John Natsoulas and the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. See Dr. Andy’s new (free) weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com – Please subscribe!
This event will take place at the Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM (note the time) on Thursday, October 21st. There will be an open mic after the featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to four minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. Please mask your vaccinated selves before entering the Gallery.
Please join us on Thursday, October 21st, at 7 PM at 521 1st Street in Davis. Dr. Andy
Find the Facebook site for this event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/431746891713426/
