Join me as I help celebrate poet (and friend) Amy Miller on the release of her Chad Walsh Prize-winning chapbook Astronauts.

Praise for Astronauts:

"In the imagistically taut and heartbreakingly compelling poems of Astronauts, Amy Miller chronicles the relationship of two sisters: the older sister who does pills and drinks too much, and the younger sister, the speaker of these poems, whose heroes were all drunks, along for the ride until she’s not, having left for another life beyond her sister’s addictions. In ‘Cop’ the speaker says of her sister, ‘You should have seen her. She was so beautiful,’ and after her sister’s death she asks,‘Will she argue with me in my dreams?’ The answer is yes, and we do see her in the bittersweet trouble and love of poem after extraordinary poem."

—Maxine Scates, author of My Wilderness

“We enter these poems at our own risk, plunging into the author’s deepest inner and outer spaces, her absolute zero of memory, love and loss. Miller’s writing is ferocious and fiercely original. It is rare to feel oneself being changed in the course of reading poems. These will leave you changed.”

—John Witte, author of Disquiet

Reading hosted by Beloit Poetry Journal. Would love to see you there. Link to be posted soon.

Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center presents Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Linda Scheller and Zubair Ahmed.

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Time: 7:00 pm PST

RSVP for Zoom link

Join us for this BOOK LAUNCH for Linda’s new collection! This is her first reading from the just-published Wind & Children, published by Main Street Rag. 

LINDA SCHELLER

Linda Scheller is a poet, playwright, and essayist whose work has recently been published in Colorado Review, On the Seawall, Arkana, Sugar House Review, Terrain, The Museum of Americana, and The Wild Word. Her first book of poetry, Fierce Light, was published by FutureCycle Press in 2017. Recent honors include finalist for the Barrow Street Press Poetry Book Prize and The Word Works Washington Prize as well as Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominations. She is a founding board member of MoSt Poetry, serves on the Stanislaus County Arts Council, programs for KCBP Community Radio, and belongs to the Modesto Chapter of the National League of American Pen Women. Wind & Children, her new poetry book, was published by Main Street Rag on June 8, 2022.

 “Linda Scheller’s Wind and Children is a tragic and beautiful exposition of a teacher’s heart. Tinged with the uncertain fates of her children, California climate chaos, and bright birdsong, these poems sing as a poignant “flute for the wind” in a broken “system that fosters indifference.” Through exquisite metaphor and gripping imagery, this “mother of thousands” pens 36 years of service with grace and wonder, regret and hope. And like a true teacher—with love. ~Kai Coggin, educator and author of Mining for Stardust

“In Linda Scheller’s Wind and Children, fifth graders sit “hunched and silent/like a cloud of butterflies/forced to earth.” We worry over them, their parents, their homes, the violence that surrounds them. Scheller refuses to turn away from difficult realities, yet seeks understanding, looking to the natural world. Reader, you’ll travel far before you’ll find a more thoughtful guide than the one you meet and learn to love in the pages of this moving, care-filled book.” ~Christopher Citro, author of If We Had a Lemon We’d Throw It and Call That the Sun

“Scheller brings the focus of her lens to the world, showcasing a lifetime of literary lessons, poetic remembrances, and artistic manifestations. This volume is a beautiful addition to her work.” ~Indigo Moor, Everybody’s Jonesin’ for Something

For more information and links to publications, please go to lindascheller.com.

Zubair Ahmed

Zubair Ahmed was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He works as an engineer in Oakland. He also writes poetry, having been named by Poets & Writers magazine as one of the top debut poets of 2012. His collection City of Rivers (McSweeney’s, 2012) was nominated for the California Book Award. Zubair’s works have appeared in Poetry Magazine and The Believer, among others, and have been translated into Swedish and French.

Welcome Back!  Sixteen Rivers Presents is pleased to announce its return to live readings on Sunday, August 29, 2021, with two of our own—Stella Beratlis and Dane Cervine.  Both poets have new books out from Sixteen Rivers Press:  Stella’s Dust Bowl Venus, which captures the spirit of the industrious, beautiful Central Valley and Dane’s The World Is God’s Language, which reflects the mythic, intensely spiritual Central Coast.  The voices are honest, elevated, full of history and a sense of place.  Please join us on Sunday, August 29th, 3 PM in person, at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda in Berkeley.

Re: Covid precautions, we will follow the guidelines current from the City of Berkeley on the day of the event.

With Dane Cervine for Poetry on Sundays, Carnegie Arts Center, 2 pm PDT, with open mic following featured readers.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83375142037

Meeting ID: 833 7514 2037
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The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center features authors Nicca Ray and Michelle Cernuto for the August installment of Second Tuesday Poetry. Join us for a great mix of poetry, ghost fiction, and punk rock memoir on Tuesday, August 10 at 7 pm on Zooom. Hosted by Stella Beratlis with open mic following the featured readers.

Zoom: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/91909197367
Open mic signup: https://form.jotform.com/berattle/secondtuesday

NICCA RAY

Nicca Ray's poetry collection, BACK SEAT BABY, was recently published by Chris D.'s Poison Fang Books. In the forward, Ann Magnusun writes, “Plumbing the depths of uncertainty and loneliness, Ray finds gold in the collective swamplands of our souls.” The poet, Charles Plymell, calls Back Seat Baby the "High Noon of poetry.”

Nicca Ray's memoir RAY BY RAY: A DAUGHTER'S TAKE ON THE LEGEND OF NICHOLAS RAY (Three Rooms Press, 2020) has been called “harrowing, beautifully written and near-impossible to put down” by Shelf Awareness and “a daring revelation of strength and survival, told unflinchingly, bravely, with empathy, sympathy and ultimately an understanding of a great artist who is almost impossible to fathom," by Ronee Blakely, actress, singer and Academy Award nominee.

Nicca is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a 2020 Acker Award recipient.

MICHELLE CERNUTO

Michelle Cernuto is the author of the recently published YOU USED TO KNOW ME, a fictional coming-of-age account of growing up in Las Vegas in the 80s.

"A mash note from beyond the grave to a lost Vegas. 1980s punk teen dysfunction… a melancholic travelogue through a spiritual wasteland. The self-effacing murder victim gives us a matter-of-fact, blow-by-blow commentary as she haunts both her friends and her predator in a suburban, desert dystopia…. We see ominous harbingers of Death rushing headlong towards us, much like an out-of-control carnival ride...locked into one final, endlessly accelerating rollercoaster to oblivion. There's no getting off, and the effect is harrowing and masterful.– Chris D. (author of No Evil Star, Dragon Wheel Splendor and Other Love Stories of Violence and Dread, Mother's Worry, et.al.; singer/songwriter of the bands The Flesh Eaters and Divine Horsemen)

"A vivid recollection of a crazy time in the crazy place of the American Southwest...a transitional time before entire cities were turned into theme parks. Magically real, her story echoes the truth of the women I grew up with, who fought an oppression they could feel empirically but not always articulate with street smarts and sheer guts. And then there are the ghosts...” – Victor Krummenacher (of bands Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom and The Third Mind)

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/91909197367

Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll): +16699006833,91909197367# or +13462487799,91909197367#

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The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and host Stella Beratlis are pleased to feature poets Indigo Moor and Jennifer K. Sweeney for Second Tuesday Poetry on Tuesday June 8, 2021.

Join the reading via Zoom at 7 pm (https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/94454258218). Open mic (3 mins each poet, maximum 10 poets) following the featured poets. Sign up for open mic at https://form.jotform.com/berattle/secondtuesday.

For more info, visit mostpoetry.org.

Hey, I just met you and this is crazy

but I took over hosting duties from the legendary Gillian Wegener for the Second Tuesday Poetry Series at the Barkin’ Dog Grill in Modesto.

This coming Tuesday, November 12, we feature a team of powerhouse poets from the Bay Area: Rosa Lane and Francesca Bell, both of whom come to Modesto trailing impressive ribbons of poetry success behind them.

Francesca Bell was born in Spokane, Washington, into a family with deep, hardscrabble roots in the Northwest. Her poems and translations appear in many magazines including ELLE, Mid-American Review, New Ohio Review, North American Review, and Prairie Schooner. She’s also appeared in many issues of Rattle, was the featured conversation in issue #56, and won the 2014 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. She is the co-translator of Palestinian poet Shatha Abu Hnaish’s collection, A Love That Hovers Like a Bedeviling Mosquito (Dar Fadaat, 2017), and the author of Bright Stain (Red Hen Press, 2019). For more information, visit Francesca Bell Poet.

Rosa Lane is the author of three poetry collections: Chouteau's Chalk--winner of the 2017 Georgia Poetry Prize—which was published earlier this year by University of Georgia Press; Tiller North (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2016), winner of a 2017 National Indie Excellence Award and 2017 Maine Literary Award for Short Works, 5-poem excerpt; and a chapbook, Roots and Reckonings (Granite Press, East). Lane earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College where she studied with Jean Valentine, Jane Cooper, Grace Paley, and Tom Lux. Lane's work most recently won first place for the 2018 William Matthews Poetry Prize and was named finalist for the 2018 Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Prize. Her recent poems are forthcoming or have appeared in the Asheville Poetry Review, Chattahoochee Review, Crab Orchard Review, Cutthroat, FOLIO, Massachusetts Review, Ploughshares, Verse Daily, and elsewhere. For more information, please visit Rosa Lane.

The evening will be kicked off by singer/songwriter Eva Cluff, a senior at Pitman High who is very involved in the drama department there. She has loved musical theater all her life, and began puttering around with writing her own songs when she got her first ukulele in 8th grade.

Open mic following our featured readers. Come prepared to write your name on the famous clipboard.

Featuring poets Aideed Medina; Esther Lin; and Soul Vang, Pos Moua, Yu-Han Chao, and poets of the Hmong-American Writers Circle. Open mic if time after the reading; also featuring opportunity for attendees/open mic participants to contribute to library poetry zine by submitting poems (30 lines or less) to beratliss@mjc.edu before or during event.

MJC Library & Learning Center, East Campus (North Campus Way)

Contact: beratliss@mjc.edu
Twitter @mjclibrary

This event made possible by a grant from the MJC Foundation (http://www.mjcfoundation.com)

Cosponsored by MJC Library & Learning Center, MJC Counseling, UndocuAlly DREAM Network, and the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center.

I’m writing a special poem about feminist politics, intersectionality, and capitalism to read at the Modesto Women’s March this Saturday. I’ll be reading the poem at the rally in Graceada Park, at the terminus of the march route, around 12:30 or so.

Join me for Words Have No Borders, featuring poets whose work negotiates the territory in and around borders, boundaries, and personal identities. Theresa Rojas, Evan Wright, Soul Vang and poets from the Hmong American Writers Circle, Lillian Vallee, and more. Opens with land acknowledgment by Manny Moreno in the labyrinth (in front of church, on College Ave side).

On the portico: visit with local organizations who support, empower, and honor community. Refreshments available for purchase from the church’s Cafe Esperanza.

Join me as I lead a workshop on Blackout and Erasure Poetry, open to all. In the workshop, we'll look at examples of the form and see why blackout/erasure is often referred to a "poetry of absence." Using existing text provided to attendees, we'll explore ways we can frame words and create new work. For examples of blackout poetry, see http://newspaperblackout.com/ or http://erasures.wavepoetry.com/. Bring your own source text if you'd like. Newpapers will be provided as source material. 

At the Modesto Library, in the downstairs auditorium. Take elevator or stairs down. Refreshments provided. See you there! 

I am doing this talk on this day. Hope to see you! 

Hey, time to write you a poem. Come visit me at the Modesto Library. I'll be there with a typewriter and some words for you to choose from. Let's build a poem together.