Cæsura 2018 CALL opens April 1 and closes July 1 (July 15 for PCSJ members)
Go to the Cæsura CALL page.
Events:
Nature Speaks: Creating Powerful Ecophrastic Poetry
Workshop with Deborah Kennedy
A Workshop in two classes:
Saturday, April 28 and Saturday, May 5, both 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Edwin Markham House in History Park
1650 Senter Road, San José, CA 95112
Free parking in the Staff/Volunteer lot on Phelan Avenue.
Paid parking is available at the end of Phelan Avenue for $6.
Please enter History Park from the Phelan Avenue side.
Workshop fee: Members $75, General $85, Students $30
In this workshop, Deborah Kennedy, author of Nature Speaks: Art and Poetry for the Earth, will invite workshop participants to write poetry reflecting on our relationship with the natural world. This stimulating two-day workshop will open your heart and mind to the complexity and vitality of the larger environment that sustains and delights us. First, Deborah will share a scientific and artistic model to help you visualize your deep connection to the natural world. Then, she will introduce her own creative process by briefly sharing her art and poetry. Next, participants will be guided to experience the natural environment of Kelley Park with fresh eyes and--guided by a series of inventive prompts--to create rich, raw material for their work by observing, sketching and writing brief responses to their explorations. Through a series of workshop exercises, your senses will come alive, and you will find ways to surprise yourself in a playful flow of creativity--to energize and inform your poetry writing long after the class.Note: All participants will receive a complimentary copy of Deborah's book.
A writer and artist, Deborah Kennedy's work has been presented in the United States and Europe. Her recent book, Nature Speaks: Art and Poetry for the Earth (2016, White Cloud Press), combines thoughtful poetry and intriguing illustrations to capture the bond between ourselves and the larger natural world. Nature Speaks won national awards including the 2017 Eric Hoffer Poetry Book Award and a Silver Nautilus Poetry Book Award. Her art exhibitions include numerous solo and group shows featuring objects and conceptually-based installations focusing on ecological and social themes. Her work has been widely reviewed and she has received grants and awards from art councils and museums in California. Kennedy lives in San Jose, California where she teaches college classes and poetry workshops. She presents poetry readings with multimedia slide lectures at bookstores, schools, and to poetry, ecology and spiritual groups. Deborah can often be found hiking in an urban riparian corridor where she spots osprey, hawks and herons and in the evening she watches for moon bows, earthshine and other modern miracles. For more information about Deborah Kennedy visit: Website: deborahkennedyart.com.
Video: Nature Speaks: Listening Together, San Jose City College Art Gallery: Youtube link
San Jose Poetry Slam
First Monday of each month with host Scorpiana Xlent
Monday, May 7, 2018
doors open and sign-ups 7:30, show starts 8pm
Follow the Slam on Facebook!
Gordon Biersch
33 E. San Fernando St. downtown San José
Back room next to the patio
Admission $5-10 sliding scale
Cash prizes for Slam winners!
Well-RED
Reading Series
Tuesday, May 8, 7:00pm
features: Deborah Kennedy and Ken Weisner
open mic follows
at Works/San José
365 South Market Street
in downtown San José
doors open 6:30pm
$2 admission, no one turned away
Works is on the Market Street edge of the San Jose Convention Center,
just to the right of the parking garage entrance
Bios to come.
Upcoming at Well-RED:
June 12: ASHA and Joseph Jason Santiago LaCour
Poetry Readings @ Willow Glen Library
Third Thursday of Every Month
Thursday, May 17, 7:00pm
Feature: Mighty Mike McGee
open mic follows
Willow Glen Library
1157 Minnesota Avenue, San José, CA, 95125
(408) 808-3045 or (408) 266-1361
Free and open to the public
upcoming features:
June 21: Lisa Rosenberg
September 20: David Eisenbach
October 18:
David Denny
Poets @ Play
Sunday, May date to come, 1pm-4pm
watch for details
Edwin Markham House in History Park
1650 Senter Road, San José, CA 95112
Admission FREE
Free parking in the Staff/Volunteer lot on Phelan Avenue.
Please enter History Park from the Phelan Avenue side.
Questions? Call 408-368-0353
RSVP recommended but not required: poetsatplay@pcsj.org
The Markham House and map:
Live Lit Writers Open Mic
every Thursday with Mighty Mike McGee!
see Facebook for lineup, new features weekly!
open mic follows
Follow Live Lit on Facebook!
Caffe Frascati
315 South First Street, Downtown San Jose
Free and open to the public
Live Lit is a weekly open mic for words. Join us for a night of literature and voice. Bring your stories and poetry. Give us your rants, raves and missives. Sign up begins at 7:00 pm, open mic begins at 7:30, and our special guest goes on around 8:15. Hosted by Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Mighty Mike McGee.
VeteransWrite meetings
led by Nick Butterfield, Jeffrey Leonard, and Amy Meier
First Friday of each Month, 1pm-4pm
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, room 390
Downtown San Jose/SJSU
Admission FREE
Poetry Center San Jose is offering a monthly writing group to veterans of any age, any military experience and to family members of veterans. All levels of writing experience from beginner to experienced are welcome.
Small group setting to a maximum of 12 participants. Emphasis on poetry including prose poems. Format includes examples, prompts and guidance given by facilitators, time provided to write individually, and for participants to read to group and receive group feedback if desired. Goal is to give voice to the experiences of veterans and family members. Subject matter is unrestricted.
Advanced Registration Requested: Email to veteranswrite@yahoo.com, with your name, branch of service and dates of service, email address or phone number. Registration and questions left at this email address will receive a reply within a week.
Nick Butterfield served for 10 years in USN-R as a Hospital Corpsman. He was activated during Operation Desert Storm, and has worked in Family Practice as a Nurse Practitioner in a FQHC Community Clinic and with the Health Care for the Homeless Project for last 17 years. Nick has been writing poetry since he was 13 years old and has participated in the Willow Glen Poetry Project and other local venues since 1996. His poems have been in 4 anthologies and 2014 issue of Ceasura with poem entitled "PTSD."
Jeffrey Leonard served in the U.S. Army between 1966-1968. Drafted out of San Jose State, he trained as a 11C40, leaving the service as an E-5. He is a 12th generation descendant of men who have served in every major conflict dating back to pre-Revolutionary America. A survivor of the Vietnam Era, he is drawn to the stories of the returning soldiers and how their lives unfold after they remove the uniform. Writing--especially poetry--is a powerful tool that Jeffrey uses to express conflicting, mysterious, dark, and difficult thoughts and emotions. He has spent the last 30 years as an Elementary Educator.
Amy Meier was born in New York City and has lived in the San Jose, CA area for over 30 years. Amy's poems have been published in Porter Gulch Review, Caesura, Portside, and Remembering, An Anthology of Poems Read at Willow Glen Books. She has been a featured reader at Flash Fiction Forum in San Jose, California, Stone Griffen Gallery and TEN10 Gallery in Campbell, CA. In 2015 Amy founded VeteransWrite, a writing group for veterans and their family members, currently meeting once a month on the San Jose State University campus, and performed with this group at the 2016 San Jose Poetry Festival.
San José Poetry Festival 2017 was a great success.
Join us again in late summer 2018!
Caesura 2017 is available for pick-up or purchase at PCSJ events!
Caesura 2017 Online Selections are here!
Caesura 2016: Bronze Edition is online here.
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