Dear Friends of Poetry,
The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Brad Buchanan with Chris Erickson at 7 PM on Thursday, January 19th, 2023, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.
Brad Buchanan’s writings have appeared in more than 200 journals, and he has published four book-length collections of poetry: The Miracle Shirker; Swimming the Mirror: Poems for My Daughter; The Scars, Aligned: A Cancer Narrative; and Chimera. His medical memoir, Living with Graft-Versus-Host Disease: How I Stopped Fighting Cancer and Started Healing, was published in 2021 by Armin Lear Press. He has also published two academic books, and a third, a monograph on Hamlet, is forthcoming from McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Now Professor Emeritus of English at Sacramento State University, Buchanan retired in 2017 for medical reasons: he was diagnosed with a rare form of T-cell lymphoma in February 2015, and after chemotherapy and radiation, he underwent a stem cell transplant in early 2016. The transplant, though successful, brought on temporary vision loss and disability, a compromised immune system, and an ongoing illness: first acute and then chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease. In late 2016, he underwent an experimental treatment through a clinical trial for malignant B-cell lymphoma (caused by the Epstein-Barr virus); he is currently in remission.
Chris Erickson is originally from Decatur, Illinois. His writing has appeared in The American Reader, Gigantic, Capilano Review, benmarcus.com (http://benmarcus.com/), and The Hobo-Tramp Voice. Buzzfeed.com says of Erickson’s novella Henrytown: “It would not be out of place on a Princeton syllabus.” Jonathon Sturgeon of Flavorwire.com says, “…after reading Henrytown, I’ve come to appreciate that a younger crop of writers gets rural America, even if big publishing appears not to.” Rob Alexander of Brock University wrote these remarks in the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies: “There is much fresh experimentation in these pages… Chris Erickson’s serialized Henrytown is strange enough that it warrants laudatory explication in the “Editor’s Epilogue” which conclude the issue in which it appears.”
He is a graduate of the UC Davis creative writing program, and still lives in Davis. He is the director of Peregrine Elementary School. His debut novella Henrytown is forthcoming on Graver Goods Press.
This event will take place on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, January 19th, 2023. 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. As the Bard says, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” The open mic list typically fills by 7 PM, so please arrive early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour.
Please reread Brad Buchanan’s bio to understand why we ask you to wear a mask to Poetry Night. According to a Yolo County December 6 press release, “This winter is the first in several years where we are seeing significant flu and RSV activity, in addition to COVID-19, so we are now making masking recommendations based on all circulating respiratory viruses, not just on COVID,” said Yolo County Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Wearing a high-quality mask indoors is a great way to protect yourself and others from respiratory viruses like flu, RSV, and COVID-19.”
The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on 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. This event is supported by Katerina Hanks, producer, Poetry Night Reading Series.
Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting https://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, check out his weekly podcast at https://poetrytechnology.buzzsprout.com/ and his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com. The January 19 podcast of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour will feature interviews with both Brad Buchanan and Frank Dixon Graham.
Upcoming Poetry Night Events:
February 2nd: Rooja Mohassey with Teresa Pham-Carsillo
February 16: Robert Thomas and Beverly Burch
March 2: Andy Jones with Siri Ackerman
March 16: Dana Gioia
Upcoming readers (2023) at the Poetry Night Reading Series will include, among others, Mary Mackey, Dana Gioia, Pamela Houston, Lois Jones, Beverly Burch, Robert Thomas, Brad Henderson, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, Julia Levine, and Rooja Mohassessy.
The Poetry Night Reading Series has been committed to serving the literary and arts community in the city of Davis since 2011. Happening every 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at the Natsoulas Gallery, each reading contains two featured poets followed by an open mic. Poetry in Davis was voted “Best Open Mic” in The California Aggie’s “Best of Davis″ edition and has been featured in Davis Life Magazine. Readers have included UC Davis faculty Francisco X. Alarcón, John Boe, Joshua Clover, Jack Forbes, Clarence Major, Sandra McPherson, Katie Peterson, Margaret Ronda, Joe Wenderoth, and Alan Williamson, as well as many regional and traveling poets, including Molly Peacock, Dana Gioia, and James Ragan.
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