Dear Friends of Poetry,
Please join us on Thursday, October 1, 2026, Poetry Night will feature the poets Brad Buchanan and Norelyn Parker. We meet at 7 p.m. inside the John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street in Davis, and we hope you can join us!
Our featured poet for our October 1 Poetry Night is Brad Buchanan.
Brad Buchanan taught British and Postcolonial Literature, as well as Creative Writing, at Sacramento State University until his retirement in 2016. His writings have appeared in more than 200 journals, and he has published four book-length collections of poetry, among them The Scars, Aligned: A Cancer Narrative (Finishing Line Press, 2019) and Chimera (Finishing Line Press, 2022). He has also published three academic books, a medical memoir, and a novel: Spy’s Mate. He was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma in February 2015, and underwent a stem cell transplant in 2016. He is currently Northern California chapter leader of Man Up to Cancer, a support group for men coping with cancer. He also facilitates recurring online Writing As Healing workshops through the UC Davis Cancer Center, Cancer Bridges, and NMBTlink.
His recent collection of poems, The Birds of Poverty Ridge, observes seasonal rituals, mourns the loss of love, traces the tenuous renewal of desire, and celebrates our ongoing transformations.
Opening the evening of October 1 will be Norelyn Parker.
Norelyn is a poet, dancer, bodyworker, and sexologist who lives in Sacramento with her partner and dogs, Scribble and Desdemona. Her poetry explores intimacy, the woo, queerness, her Filipino and Puerto Rican roots, and more recently, tango. Norelyn is a poetry night and after party regular of more than 10 years.
You are invited to visit the Facebook page for this event.
Doors and open-mic signups open at around 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 performances from open mic favorites, including Michael Gallowglas, Davis poet laureate Mercedes Ibañez, Joe Bacchus, Bob Bugg, and Allegra Silberstein.
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 recounts his thoughts on the many Poetry Night after party locations that have closed in recent years.
Stay tuned! On October 15th, the Poetry Night Reading Series will return with Juan Luzuriaga and Brenda Ray. 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.
