Dear Friends of Poetry,
Our September 18, Poetry Night will feature the poets Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas and John Bell. We meet at 7 PM inside the air-conditioned John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street in Davis, and we hope you can join us!
Our first reader of the evening will be John Bell.
John Bell, a graduate of the Wichita State University MFA program, is a retired English professor at American River College. His poetry has appeared in Thorny Locust, Tule Review, Sacramento Voices, Burning the Little Candle, and Teaching English in the Two-Year College. In an earlier life he earned a BA in Spanish from the University of New Mexico. He lives in Sacramento with a demanding tomcat and sings bass in a local choir.
Our second reader on September 18 will be Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas.
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas is a recent graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing. In 2012, her chapbook, Before I Go to Sleep, won the Red Ochre Press Chapbook contest. In 2018, her book In the Making of Goodbyes was nominated for the CLMP Firecracker Award in Poetry, and her poem “A Mall in California” took 2nd place for the Jack Kerouac Poetry Contest. In 2019, her chapbook An Ode to Hope in the Midst of Pandemonium was a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Award. In 2020, her sonnet “Water Goddess” won first place in the Literary Nest poetry contest. In 2021, her collection Alice in Ruby Slippers was short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize, receiving an honorable mention in the poetry category.
Grellas has served as editor-in-chief for both The Orchards Poetry Journal and Tule Review. A thirteen-time Pushcart Prize nominee and seven-time Best of the Net nominee, Grellas has published her work and has work forthcoming in several notable journals, including The Comstock Review, Redactions, and Verse Daily. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for The Sacramento Poetry Center and Women’s Wisdom Art, an organization dedicated to supporting women’s wellness through creativity in all forms.
Grellas will be the featured poet at the California Writers Club, Sacramento branch, for the upcoming Centennial celebration on the anniversary of one hundred years of writing excellence. Her two latest poetry collections, Handful of Stallions at Twilight and A Shared and Sacred Space, were both released in the summer of 2024.
The open mic starts at 8. Performers will be asked to limit their sharings to two items or four minutes, whichever is shorter. The open mic list is typically full by 6:45. People who show up early to help set up chairs will always earn a spot on the open mic list.
Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting https://www.poetryindavis.com. Encourage 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/. Also, see some of his recent essays on Substack: https://andyjones.substack.com/. One recent post lists the almost 400 poets who have ever featured at the Poetry Night Reading Series.
Later in 2025, we will feature the poets Chris Erickson, Greg Miller, Diane Frank, Brad Buchanan, Julia Levine, and more.
Please plan to join us on every first and third Thursday of the month at 7 PM at the John Natsoulas Gallery for the Poetry Night Reading Series.
