Dear Friends of Poetry,
The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Robert Thomas and Beverly Burch at 7 PM on Thursday, February 16th, 2023, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.
Robert Thomas’s latest book, Sonnets with Two Torches and a Cliff, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. His first book, Door to Door, was selected by Yusef Komunyakaa for the Poets Out Loud Prize and published by Fordham University, and his collection Dragging the Lake was also published by Carnegie Mellon. His novella Bridge, an experimental novel in prose poems, was published by BOA and received the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction. He has received an NEA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. Thomas lives with his wife and their three cats in Oakland.
Beverly Burch is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Leave Me a Little Want (Terrapin Books), and two nonfiction books. Her work has won the John Ciardi Prize, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Gival Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Audre Lorde Award. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in New England Review, Gulf Coast, Southern Review, Denver Quarterly, and Los Angeles Review. She is just completing her first novel. Find out more about her at www.beverlyburch.com.
This event will take place on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, February 16th, 2023. An open mic will follow the featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to five minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. As Robert Southey says, “Be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams – the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.” The open mic list typically fills by 6:50 PM, so please arrive early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour.
We recommend that you 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 of The 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. For example, in his most recent podcast, Dr. Andy interviewed the poets Jesse Lee Kercheval and local hero Indigo Moor, as well as the SF Writers Conference presenter and storyteller Kate Farrell.
Upcoming Poetry Night Events:
March 2: Dr. Andy Jones with Piri Ackerman-Barger
March 16: Former California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia
April 6th: Maya Khosla and Lisa Dominguez Abraham
April 20th: Julia Levine and Susan Cohen
May 4th: Pam Houston with Talia Lakshmi Kolluri
May 18th: Lois Jones with William O’Daly
June 1st: Mary Mackey
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, Zinzi Clemmons, 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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Twitter- @poetryindavis
Instagram- @davispoetrynight
Facebook: Poetry in Davis
