Dear Friends of Poetry,
On Thursday, March 5, 2026 Poetry Night will feature the poets Connie Johnstone and Bob Stanley. We meet at 7 p.m. inside the spacious John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street in Davis, and we hope you can join us!
Our featured poet for March 5 will be Connie Johnstone.
Connie Johnstone recently published her first book of poetry, The River of Perpetual Departure. Her poems have appeared in many journals, including Amethyst Review; The Brussels Review; The Calendula Review; Comstock Review; Ginosko Literary Journal; Gyroscope; The Orchards Poetry Journal; Ravenous: le Terroir de Montolieu; Spoon Knife Anthology: Numbers; and Tule Review.
Author of the novel The Legend of Olivia Cosmos Montevideo (Atlantic Monthly Press), Johnstone was a professor of English as well as chair of creative writing at American River College; Hospice chaplain, Kaiser Permanente, specializing in Narrative Therapy. Her degrees include an MFA from Bennington and a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) from Harvard Divinity School. She is at work on a second book of poems, Black Snake in a Bamboo Pole.
Opening for Johnstone will be Bob Stanley.
Bob Stanley studied poetry at Caltech and UCLA, and taught English and Creative Writing at Solano College, Sac City College, and Sacramento State University before retiring in 2021. President of Sacramento Poetry Center for a record 12 years, Bob has organized hundreds of poetry events, and he served as Sacramento Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2012. He has edited two anthologies: Late Peaches (2013), and Sometimes in the Open (2009). Bob’s poetry collections include Walt Whitman Orders a Cheeseburger (Rattlesnake Press, 2009), Eleven Blue Strings (little m press, 2012), Miracle Shine (CW Books, 2013) and the e-chapbook November Sun (Random Lane Press, 2022). Bob lives in Sacramento with his wife, Joyce Hsiao, and they run online poetry seminars that help support small nonprofits. Bob’s newest collection of poems, Language Barrier, was published by CW Books in June 2024.
You are invited to visit the Facebook page for this event.
Doors and open-mic signups open at 6:30 p.m.; the first featured reader begins at 7 p.m.; open mic starts at 8 p.m. Open mic performers will be asked to limit what they share to two items or four minutes, whichever is shorter. The open mic list is typically full by 6:45 p.m. People who show up early to help set up chairs will always earn a spot on the open mic list. We expect open mic favorites Michael Gallowglas, Mercedes Ibañez, Joe Bacchus, and Allegra Silberstein to perform.
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, see some of his recent essays on Substack: https://andyjones.substack.com/. One post lists the almost 400 poets who have ever featured at the Poetry Night Reading Series.
In 2026, Poetry Night will welcome the poets listed below as well as Kelli Russell Agodon, Katie Peterson, Wendy Silk, Dianna Henning, Lara Gularte, Terry Moore, Julia Levine, and others.
Please plan to join us on every first and third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the John Natsoulas Gallery for the Poetry Night Reading Series.
Our Poetry Night Schedule for 2026:
March 19 — Spring break
April 2 — Mercedes Ibanez, the Poet Laureate of Davis
April 16 — Escritores del Nuevo Sol or Writers of the New Sun
May 21 — Molly Fisk and Kirsten Casey
June 4 — Bill O’Daly and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
