On the 6/5/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Joe Mills states his perspective on generative AI in poetry and his upcoming summer class called “Living Poetry.” Mills explains his writing methods, the importance of giving yourself time as a writer, and the relative effectiveness of morning pages. He then reads a poem about democracy. Connie Post reads a poem from her chapbook Broken Metronome. Post discusses the influence of poetry on younger generations and expresses her feelings about climate change. She then reads a poem about wildfires. Dr. Andy concludes the episode with a touching poem in honor of Davis Breaux.

A faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Joseph Mills holds the Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities and was honored with a 2017 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. His work includes poetry, fiction, drama, and criticism. He has published seven volumes of poetry with Press 53: Bodies in Motion; Exit, pursued by a bear; This Miraculous Turning, Sending Christmas Cards to Huck and Hamlet; Love and Other Collisions; Angels, Thieves, and Winemakers, and Somewhere During the Spin Cycle. His current project is titled The Holiday Cycle.

Connie Post’s work has appeared in Calyx, Slipstream, Comstock Review, 2 River, American Journal of Poetry, River Styx, Spoon River Poetry Review, Slippery Elm, and Verse Daily. Her poetry awards include the Liakoura Award and Crab Creek Poetry Award. Her full-length collections include Floodwater, Prime Meridian and Between Twilight. Between Twilight was a finalist in the 2023 Best Book Awards. Her 2023 chapbook, Broken Metronome has been nominated for 5 book awards and won the American Fiction award for a chapbook.

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, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of 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 made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series, with support from Helaina Flores and Cami Rothmuller.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 5/29/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Maria Breaux discusses her recent grant to write a book in honor of her brother, Davis Breaux. She intends to write about his time as a student and dancer, his spiritual awakening, and his time in Davis. She will be holding an event at Davis community church in the fellowship hall at 5:30 pm on June 3rd to remember David. Katy Brown explains the importance of finding community and listening to other voices. Dr. Andy and Brown discuss their favorite places to write, and Brown reads a poem titled “By the Stone Steps.” Sandré Henriquez Nelson shares the many exciting community events organized for Davis Pride and Pride Month.

Maria Breaux is a San Francisco-based filmmaker and writer. Recently grappling with an unimaginable loss—the tragic murder of her brother, known locally in Davis, California, as "the Compassion Guy"—Maria wants to continue candidly sharing her journey in cultivating compassion amid grief, drawing from her brother's profound legacy of collecting definitions of compassion to navigate through the most challenging phase of her life.

Katy Brown, a resident of Davis, California, was a Supervisor of Social Workers at Adult Protective Services in Sacramento. She has won awards in The Ina Coolbrith Circle, The Berkeley Poets Dinner, and California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. competitions. She has had poems in Glass Art Magazine, Wee Wisdom, Daily Word, Harpstrings, Song of the San Joaquin, and Rattlesnake Review. Her workbook, Poetry Potions, was used in schools for nearly twenty years and has been released digitally. Her other writing credits include automobile humor, greeting cards, a multiple-ending book, and short mysteries for young readers. She wrote a regular “Snake Eyes” column for Rattlesnake Review.

Sandré Henriquez Nelson is a native Californian born and raised in Oakland. Sandre has served as the Davis Pride Director since it was rebranded in 2015. He has worked alongside a great team to build the event from about 500 attendees to an estimated 6500 attendees at the 2023 festival. Along with his pride work, he is excited to volunteer with various community groups both here in Davis and his former home town of Fairfield. Sandré and his husband of three years are proud Davis residents.

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, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of 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 made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series, with support from Helaina Flores and Cami Rothmuller.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 5/22/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Jared Stanley explains his decision to use a common phrase with many meanings to title his most recent book of poetry, So Tough. Stanley mentions the theme of air in his poems, which were written in 2021 during the pandemic, rampant wildfires, and the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. He then reads a few poems from his book and shares the importance of ongoing writing and notebooks that he implements as an educator. Cami Rothmuller discusses her interest in geology and her upcoming poetry reading at the Self Design Art gallery in Sacramento, before reading a beautiful geological sonnet. After being offered an academic and athletic scholarship, Silas Wanje made the move from Kenya to California. During his time in academia, he met a professor that encouraged his writing, and his love of freeform poetry grew from there. Wanje closes out the podcast by reading a poem about loss and anticoagulants.

Jared Stanley is a poet and writer who often collaborates with artists. He is the author of four collections of poetry, So Tough, EARS, The Weeds, and Book Made of Forest. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Bennington Review, Harvard Review, VOLT, Folder Magazine, and many others. Originally from Northern California, he teaches in the MFA Program in creative writing at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Cami Rothmuller is finishing up her bachelor's in English at UC Davis, and will be beginning her creative writing MFA studies this fall at the Michener Center for Writers at University of Texas, Austin. She writes often about nature, madness, intimacy, and secular worship.

Silas Wanje was born and raised under the unforgiving Kenyan skies. He fell in love with words as a teen, and has not stopped writing since. He moved from Africa to California about ten years ago and now, he calls Sacramento home. Wanje is a transplant nurse by day, but you can find him wandering around midtown with a pen in hand or playing soccer at a nearby field.

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, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of 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 made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series, with support from Helaina Flores and Cami Rothmuller.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 5/15/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Local columnist Bob Dunning discusses starting a Substack, where he has found overwhelming support from the loyal readership he garnered during his many years writing for the Davis Enterprise. Anthony Robles explains his mission to share publication opportunities with others and develop a supportive community through GTFO poetry and as an open mic host at Silver Lining Piano Bar. He then reads a haiku. Al Cortez explains how responsibilities are delegated amongst the GTFO poetry group, his style rooted in rap and observation, and an upcoming BBQ potluck in Sacramento’s McKinley Park on May 25th. He shares a poem titled “April 21st.” Anthony Xavier Jackson mentions his engagement with the arts and then reads a poem titled “Liquid Diamonds” inspired by Tori Amos. Dr. Andymentions his upcoming hosting position at the Summer Institute on Teaching and Technology to be held in September. Keith Miller, the final member of GTFO poetry, discusses his formative poetry experiences in academia; their perspective really flourished after finding community in Sacramento. Miller reads a poem called “Yellow House on 14th.” The episode concludes with a snippet of CBC news in memory of Alice Munro.

Bob Dunning has written a daily column for the Davis Enterprise for the last 54 years. Starting his time with the Enterprise in 1970 as a sports editor, he has now written about a myriad of topics, producing an estimated 28,000 pieces. At his Substack, titled The Wary One, you can read the articles and columns by the opinionated columnist, as he addresses topics with insight, humor, and irony.

Anthony Robles is a minimalist poet who specializes in the haiku and cinquain forms. He is a contributor to the Sacramento Poetry Day Curriculum and the host of the Silver Lining Open Mic.

Alexander Antonio Cortez is a Chicano spoken word poet and mosh pit enthusiast from Sacramento, California. His work has appeared in Fleas On The Dog Magazine, and Tule Review.

Anthony Xavier Jackson is a poet, performer and musician who has been writing for years about life as a queer Black man in America, recovery from substance use, and family and romantic relationships. Most recently published in the 2023 Tule Review of the Sacramento Poetry Center, Anthony is collecting works for his first full-length book of poetry.

Keith Miller, a narrative poet from Sacramento, has been captivating audiences with their poetry for decades. Keith navigates the urban landscape, shedding light on both its struggles and moments of beauty. Keith's art serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of LGBTQA+ perspectives in poetry.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature poets from the GTFO Collective at 7 PM on Thursday, May 16th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 5/8/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Sharani Ramesh, Lee Brunkhardt, and Yuetong Lin join the podcast to discuss their upcoming Bike Scavenger Hunt.​​ This is a project for their design class that incorporates the field of paleobotany, community involvement, and creativity through the thematic storyline and hint booklets. Sinéad Rushe explains her unique reimagining of Hamlet that is being shown at the Wyatt Pavilion Theater. Rushde portrays her rendition of the classic play with a six-person cast, three of which play Hamlet and his split consciousness. Jake Johnson shares how their connections in undergrad encouraged them to continue their graduate studies at UC Davis, as well as their style that departs from traditional worldbuilding and adopts satirical and speculative fiction characteristics. Johnson then reads an essay titled, “My Friend, Me, and Dragon Ball Z.” Alex Ikuma closes out the episode by sharing information about the Whole Earth Festival and its new location at Russell Field.

Sharani Ramesh, Lee Brunkhardt, and Yuetong Lin are a part of Professor Tim McNeil's Narrative Environments Course here at UC Davis. They are all Design majors, each with a different emphasis. Sharani is interested in Exhibition Design, and Lee and Yuetong are interested in UI/UX design. This Spring they are putting on the fifth annual Bike Scavenger Hunt, The Great Botanic Panic, in collaboration with the City of Davis.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-great-botanic-panic-bike-scavenger-hunt-2024-tickets-891878902807

Sinéad Rushe returns to UC Davis to collaborate with Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, chair of theater and dance. Rushe and Kemp’s previous project AntigoneNOW, produced online at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, was screened worldwide including an invited presentation at the Egypt International Experimental Theatre Festival. Rushe is the author of Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique: A Practitioner’s Guide, co-translator into French of four plays by Howard Barker and was senior lecturer in acting and movement at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In fall 2023 she became lead acting tutor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

https://arts.ucdavis.edu/seasonal-event/whos-there-0

Jake Johnson is a graduate student in the creative writing MFA program at UC Davis. They are working on a novel, and they have an adorable dog named Bandit.

Alex is a third year physics major and Chaos Control Coordinator for the Whole Earth Festival. She has been involved with the festival through her entire time at UC Davis and is very excited for the weekend.

https://wef.ucdavis.edu/

The Poetry Night Reading Series occurs on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 First Street), beginning at 8pm. An open mic follows the featured performer. Come early to find a seat or a spot on the open mic signup sheet. The Poetry Night Reading Series is hosted by Dr. Andy Jones, the former Poet Laureate of Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 5/1/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Mario Ellis Hill shares his love of advocacy work and how this guides his writing as a poet. Dr. Andy and Hill share their love of jazz and how the protean and improvisational music genre can inspire, inform, and shape poetry. Hill reads a poem about becoming a poet and comments upon the balance between memorization and improvisation that he utilizes in live performances. Michael French joins the episode and shares his preference for the cinema industry over interactive gaming. French then informs listeners about the many upcoming events coordinated by the Arts Department, like an art talk with Maria Maea, exhibits, noon concerts, and a cultural exhibit about contemporary design in China. Dr. Andy then reads a poem to commemorate Karim Abou Najm's life.

Mario Ellis Hill began writing & performing poetry in the early 1990’s, and has since made an impact as a featured poet/spoken word artist throughout the Sacramento region, California & beyond. He is the founder & leader of the Poetry Machine - a performance group of rotating artists that fuses spoken word, live music, movement & song. Mario served as a co-host of Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged! Open Mic Series in Sacramento, CA, and host of Open Stage Open Mic Series in Davis, CA. Besides featuring at poetry venues & open mics, Mario also delved into the world of slam poetry. He was crowned the 1994 San Francisco ‘Aloud’ Anthology Poetry Slam Champion, and 1998 KALX FM Poetry Slam Champion. He also served as a slam team member representing San Francisco (1995) & Chico/North Valley (1997) in the National Poetry Slam. Events & venues that Mario has performed at include the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (NYC), The Knitting Factory (NYC), University of the Philippines - Diliman, California State Fair, Yoshi’s (Oakland), San Francisco Jazz Festival, Sacramento Music Festival, Floricanto Poetry Festival, UC Davis Whole Earth Festival, Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, and California State Summer School for the Arts. Published works can be found in Sacramento Anthology: One Hundred Poems, Jive’s In The Jug, Poetry Now, Paleoanthology, Sex In Public, The Flatlander, New Poets Revolution, and Nevada County Poetry Series: Year 2001 Anthology.

Michael G. French is an arts and theatre events marketing specialist for the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. He promotes performances and events for the departments of Art and Art History, Cinema and Digital Media, Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. French previously held similar positions at Southern Utah University’s College of Performing and Visual Arts, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Pacific Conservatory Theatre and the Walnut Street Theatre. He earned his bachelor’s degree at New Jersey City University.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Sacramento poets Mario Ellis Hill and Bill Carr at 7 PM on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 4/17/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Jeri Howitt begins the podcast episode by sharing her love of reading, which inspired her to found the reading series Stories on Stage Davis. This recurring event showcases the stories of emerging and established authors to make the art of storytelling more accessible through visual means. The storytelling frequently intersects with the art in the Pence Gallery, where this event takes place. Nooneh Gyurjyan is the next guest and she discusses her role as Editor in Chief for the creative writing and art journal Open Ceilings. She explains their strategy of compiling two publications a year, each given a thoughtful theme selected by members of the team to aid in the curation process. Robi Castaneda, a second-year music and political science major, closes out the podcast by sharing information about his upcoming piano recital at the Ann E. Pitzer Center on May 3rd at 5 pm.

Many Davis, California parents and their children will fondly remember the author, Jeri Howitt, as the Founder/Director of Partners in Learning for over twenty years. Others know her for her work as the founding director of Stories on Stage Davis, the successful event that presents established and emerging authors, with selections of their work performed by professional actors at the Pence Gallery.

Nooneh Gyurjyan is a third-year student studying English and Professional Writing at UC Davis. She is an editor by trade, a writer by passion, and a baker by necessity. She is currently working as the Editor in Chief of Content for Open Ceilings, a local literary magazine run by UC Davis undergraduates. Nooneh also works on campus at the ASUCD Coffee House bakery.

The Poetry Night Reading Series occurs on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 First Street), beginning at 8pm. An open mic follows the featured performer. Come early to find a seat or a spot on the open mic signup sheet. The Poetry Night Reading Series is hosted by Dr. Andy Jones, The Poet Laureate Emeritus of Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 4/3/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Dr. Andy is joined by the Poet Laureate of Davis, Julia B. Levine, and shares the intersectionality between the natural environment and the difficulties of her grandson’s experience with leukemia that she has recently been exploring through her writing. She then reads a poem that captured her time at a lavender farm, and another poem, inspired by her husband, about the relationships between wasps and figs. Rebecca Foust is the next guest, and she shares her deep love for reading to live audiences. She shares a poem about marriage and slow erosion. She raises points about awareness and intuition, and their incredible value in the world of writing. Foust refers to this collection of details as fodder for future poems as “gestation.”

Julia B. Levine’s poetry has won many awards, including a 2021 Nautilus Award for her fifth poetry collection, Ordinary Psalms, (LSU press, 2021), as well as the 2015 Northern California Book Award in Poetry for her fourth collection, Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight, (LSU, 2014). Recently she has won the 2024 Hippocrates International Prize for Poetry and Medicine, the 2023 Oran Perry Burke Award from The Southern Review, the 2022 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, the 2020 Bellevue Literary Review Poetry Award, as well as a 2022 American Academy of Poetry Poet Laureate Fellowship for her work in building resilience in teenagers related to climate change through poetry, science and technology. She received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA in poetry from Pacific University. Currently, she serves as Poet Laureate of Davis.

Rebecca Foust's fourth book, Only (Four Way Books 2022), earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was recently reviewed by Mark Jarmon in The Hudson Review. Her poems appear in journals including Narrative, POETRY, Ploughshares, and Southern Review, and in 2023 won the New Ohio Review prize and were runner-up for the Missouri Review Editors’ Prize. Past recognitions include the James Hearst, Pablo Neruda, and Poetry International prizes, fellowships at Hedgebrook, MacDowell, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and a Marin County Poet Laureateship where Rebecca’s program, “Poetry as Sanctuary,” featured readings by local immigrant poets.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Davis Poet Laureate Julia B. Levine and Rebecca Foust at 7 PM on Thursday, April 4th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.