Dear Friends of Poetry,
The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Julia Levine and Susan Cohen at 7 PM on Thursday, April 20th, 2023, on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.
Julia Levine is the author of five poetry collections, including Ordinary Psalms, published in 2022, and Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight, winner of the Northern California Book Award for Poetry. She is also a recipient of the Discovery/The Nation Award and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry from Nimrod. Her work has been widely published in journals such as Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and the Southern Review. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and lives in Davis, California where she serves us all as Davis poet laureate. In 2022, Julia was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow and her poem “The Extra Angels” won the 2022 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize.
Susan Cohen is the author of a new book, Democracy of Fire from Broadstone Books, as well as Throat Singing and A Different Wakeful Animal, which received the 2015 David Martinson-Meadowhawk Prize from Red Dragonfly Press. Her individual poems have won significant recognition, including the Rita Dove Poetry Award from the Center for Women Writers, Harpur Palate’s Milton Kessler Memorial Poetry Prize, the Red Wheelbarrow Prize, and the Annual Poetry Prize from Terrain.org, among other honors. An award-winning science writer and former contributing writer for the Washington Post Magazine before earning an MFA from Pacific University, Cohen has had poems appear in the American Journal of Poetry, Atlanta Review 25th Anniversary Anthology, PANK, Prairie Schooner, Southern Humanities Review, The Southern Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Berkeley, California.
This event will take place on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, April 20th, 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. Attendees who request to be added to the list after 7 PM will be invited to try again at a subsequent event.
Because this National Poetry Month event will take place on the gallery roof, please plan to dress in layers. The typical high temperature for April 20th in Davis is 75 degrees, with the average low being 50 degrees. Please wear a mask when indoors at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
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. Please plan to support KDVS during its fundraiser week – help out by making a pledge during the 5 PM hour on Wednesday so Dr. Andy can reach his $1000 fundraising goal!
Upcoming Poetry Night Events:
May 4th: Pam Houston
May 18th: Lois Jones with William O’Daly
June 1st: Mary Mackey
June 15th: Richard Robbins and Thomas Mitchell
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, Sandra Gilbert, Brad Henderson, Clarence Major, Sandra McPherson, Katie Peterson, Margaret Ronda, Joe Wenderoth, and Alan Williamson, as well as many regional and traveling poets, including Molly Peacock, Jane Hirshfield, Dana Gioia, and James Ragan.
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