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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250708T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250708T190000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20250627T172145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250627T175952Z
UID:3760-1752001200-1752001200@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Sherre Vernon and Paula Sheil
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Sherre Vernon (Merced) and Paula Sheil (Stockton) \nDate: Tuesday\, July 8\, 2025\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Orangeburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \nPaula Sheil  \nPaula Sheil is a Professor of English at San Joaquin Delta College. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Raymond College and a Master of Arts in Writing from New College of California. She founded\, with friends\, Tuleburg Press in 2012 and The Write Place in 2017. \nShe taught elementary education\, moved on to arts administration\, and then journalism before joining the faculty at Delta. In the 1990s\, she ran an open mic that prompted her interest in publishing. She and the late Julia Holzer published ¡ZamBomba!\, a poetry quarterly that was read from Seattle to San Diego\, until 2000. At Delta\, Sheil started the Writer’s Guild and Artifact\, the college literary magazine.  \nHer work has been published in too many small journals\, magazines\, and newspapers to mention. She’s prouder yet of the poets and writers she has published and remains committed to empowering and amplifying the voices of Stockton and San Joaquin.  \nSherre Vernon \nSherre Vernon (she/her/hers) is the award-winning author of Green Ink Wings\, The Name is Perilous\, and Flame Nebula\, Bright Nova. Sherre has been published in journals such as Tahoma Literary Review and The Chestnut Review\, nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes\, and anthologized in several collections including Fat & Queer and Best Small Fictions. \nWe welcome these poets\, both new to the Second Tuesday series!
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2025july/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
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ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250812T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250812T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20250729T152238Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250729T152238Z
UID:3818-1755025200-1755030600@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry: Modesto Poet Laureate Angela Drew + Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Modesto Poet Laureate Angela Drew with special guest Valentina Zeff\, Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate \nDate: Tuesday\, August 12\,  2025\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Orangeburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \nANGELA DREW  \nAngela Drew is a mother\, dancer\, author\, poet\, and self-proclaimed linguistic artist who has loved the rhythm of words for as long as she can remember. Born in Berkeley\, California\, she began writing at age eight\, and has always understood that words have the power to soothe\, stir\, or solidify connection. She has played with the magic of storytelling ever since.  Angela is the winner and first-place slam champion of Modesto’s 2021 ILL List 16 Poetry Slam. She has performed her spoken word poetry at an array of venues\, just to name a few: Yoshi’s Jazz Club\, Oakland\, California; Gallo Center for the Arts and the State Theater\, Modesto\, California; Brickhouse Art Gallery\, Sacramento\, California\, and Apache Cafe\, Atlanta\, Georgia–a landmark poetry lounge that is home to some of Atlanta’s finest creatives.   \nShe is the author of ElderBerry Wine\, a children’s book written in poetic verse that celebrates the beauty and majesty of our elders\, and the richness they bring by  simply being a part of our lives. Join Angela on her poetic journey on all social media platforms. Her book is available on Amazon\, Barnes & Noble\, and other booksellers.   \n  \nVALENTINA ZEFF \nValentina Zeff is a sixteen-year-old poet from Modesto\, California who is currently enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at Modesto High School. Zeff has been writing free verse and ballad poetry since her freshman year of high school. \nZeff is active within her community and school through social and environmental activism\, extracurricular projects\, and volunteering. She was selected to be a member of the Park’s Youth Committee (April 2024-current)\, Modesto Youth Commission (October 2024-current)\, and student representative for Modesto High School’s Student Senate for both ninth and tenth grade. During the 2023-2024 Speech and Debate season\, she was a top finalist for Original Spoken Word Poetry at State Qualifications. She is also the founder and Co-President of Modesto High School’s Book Club where she leads discussions on novels and poems of interest. Additionally\, she is the Secretary and head layout editor/designer of the Panther Press\, Modesto High School’s monthly newspaper. \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2025aug12/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Aug2025-Second-Tues-1-e1753802491401.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250909T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250909T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20250828T222503Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T224348Z
UID:3835-1757444400-1757449800@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Samantha Tetangco Ocena and Moira Magneson
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Samantha Tetangco Ocena and Moira Magneson\, El Dorado County’s newest poet laureate \nDate: Tuesday\, Sep 9\, 2025\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Orangeburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \nSamantha Tetangco Ocena\nSamantha Tetangco Ocena is a Filipino-American writer and teacher. Her poetry collection\, Hope You Blend In: Studies In Color & Light (Broadstone Books\, 2024)\, was a finalist for the 2023 National Poetry Series. A multi-genre writer\, her poetry\, short stories\, and creative nonfiction have appeared in dozens of literary magazines\, most notably\, The Sun\, Tri-Quarterly\, Puerto del Sol\, Zone 3\, Gertrude\, Foglifter\, and Cimarron Review\, among others. Sam has served as editor-in-chief for Blue Mesa Review\, president of the AWP LGBTQ Writer’s Caucus\, and was co-director of Plume: A Writer’s Companion\, where she co-hosted Plume: A Writer’s Podcast. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico and is an Associate Teaching Professor at the University of California Merced. \nABOUT HOPE YOU BLEND IN: STUDIES IN COLOR & LIGHT\nIn this fierce debut\, poet Samantha Tetangco wields “words like flint” to reveal the world we live in\, from the apocalyptic world of California wildfires where “our backyards became / this hell / we have created” to the real world in which the queer brown body becomes “an open wound.” But these poems also remind us of the ordinary magic left to us: breathing in a lover’s scent\, planting tulips\, and even the beauty of weeds blossoming “so small & sweet / they always go unnamed.” Meticulously crafted and political in the best ways\, this book brims with sharp beauty and reminds us what it is to be human. \n–Lisa D. Chavez\, author of In an Angry Season \n​Samantha Tetangco’s gaze is so sharp in this collection of poems\, that a single shift in tense can pierce a hole in the wall of contemporary rhetoric. We who “taught the matches / how to strike” are given an aperture to view our own participation in history. Beyond holding witness\, these poems provoke action. Are we—sharing a home\, a country\, a planet (on fire!)—actually in this together or are we just pretending? You will be known by what you choose: will you be a bearer or a borer of fruit? \n–Benjamin Garcia\, author of Thrown in the Throat \n  \nMoira Magneson\n \nOver the years\, Moira Magneson has worked as a river guide\, artist’s model\, truck driver\, television writer\, editor\, and community college writing instructor. A Northern California native\, she lives in the Sierra foothills where she has spearheaded many art actions and initiatives\, including El Dorado County’s Poetry Out Loud Competition\, Veterans’ Voices\, Barbaric Yawp\, and Black Lives: An American Overture. In 2024\, she was the resident poet for ForestSong\, a community arts project exploring solastalgia\, biophilia\, and resilience in the face of wildfire devastation. And just recently\, she was named El Dorado County’s Poet Laureate 25-27. Magneson is the author of A River Called Home: A River Fable\, an illustrated novella (Toad Road Press\, 2024). In the Eye of the Elephant is her first full-length collection of poems.  \n\nABOUT IN THE EYE OF THE ELEPHANT\nMoira Magneson’s In the Eye of the Elephant is an extraordinary collection of poems. I’ve rarely seen a book so exquisite in its centering of the natural world or in its honoring of the animal within us as well as those animals alongside us. Yet these poems are also dazzling and explosive in their reckonings with personal family wreckage\, and so deeply moving\, so deeply consoling in both their private and public grieving. Magneson writes\, “I praise Earth as it is\, its holy cup my heaven.” What a timely balm this book will be to its readers\, and what a treasure of visionary human compassion they will find. \n—David St. John\, author of Prayer for My Daughter \nI am drawn to Moira Magneson’s poems for the grime and gristle of their language—“elisions and plosives swept / piecemeal and stained // off the slaughterhouse floor”—for storytelling that stares pain in the face and delivers a hard-earned\, unexpected beauty that is possible because of a clear-eyed placement in the natural world. This world is not romanticized but instead made wondrous through images that invite readers to consider their own station in the wild. In the Eye of the Elephant is rewarding on numerous levels; I’ll come back to it again and again. \n—Albert Garcia\, author of A Meal Like That
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2025sept/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/September2025_Second-Tues_Ocena-and-Magneson-2-e1756420823380.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251014T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251014T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20250920T010612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250920T010626Z
UID:3885-1760468400-1760473800@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry presents FIVE FOR TEN: Five Central Valley Poets
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry: Five for Ten\, featuring five Central Valley poets:  \n  \nCasey Giffen\nDaley Perry\nCynthia Barstad\nPaloma Contreras\nMelchor Sahagun III\n \nDate: Tuesday\, October 14\, 2025\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \nCASEY GIFFEN:  \nA retired teacher of 40 years\, Casey enjoys creating on-demand poems on his manual\, Smith-Corona typewriter. His poetry has been published in Modesto Poets’ Corner Contests\, Penumbra\, and the Hughson Chronicle. Acts of Becoming is his second poetry collection.  \nPALOMA CONTRERAS:  \nPaloma Contreras is a Mexican\, bilingual poet and educator. Most of her writing is autobiographical and deals with themes of loss. \nMELCHOR SAHAGUN III: \nMelchor Sahagun III is a poet and corny romantic who lives in Stockton. His collection\, Sorry I’m Late\, was published by Tuleberg Press.  \nDALEY PERRY:  \nDaley Perry is a Central Valley native who lived in Tennessee for 15 years before (very happily) returning home in 2019. She loves writing angsty poetry that explores themes of spirituality\, smashing the patriarchy\, pop culture\, and loving our bodies.  \nCYNTHIA BARSTAD: Cynthia Barstad\, an early childhood educator for 30 years before she retired\, has shared her words with her family\, friends\, and strangers for years. She has been published in Stanislaus Connections along with her granddaughter Jenissa\, who shares Cynthia’s passion for words.  \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2025oct/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/October2025_FiveforFive-1-e1758330320233.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251111T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251111T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20251023T024613Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251031T215834Z
UID:3921-1762887600-1762893000@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Reading featuring Marisol Baca & Gillian Wegener at Bookish
DESCRIPTION:Please join us at Bookish Modesto as we feature two tremendous Central Valley poets: Gillian Wegener and Marisol Baca. \nMarisol Baca teaches English\, Literature\, and Creative Writing at Fresno City College. She teaches Honors in the Leon S. Peters Honors Program\, and she also teaches as a part of the RAIN program (Resources for American Indian Needs). Baca is the author of a book of poems called Tremor\, and she was named Fresno’s first woman and first Chicana/Latinx Poet Laureate (2019-2021). Marisol’s poem about the naming of Fresno has been designated the city’s official poem. \nGillian Wegener is the author of one chapbook and two full-length collections of poetry: Lifting One Foot\, Lifting the Other (In the Grove Press\, 2001)\, The Opposite of Clairvoyance (2008)\, and This Sweet Haphazard (2017)\, both from Sixteen Rivers Press. She is also the founding president of Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center\, a previous Poet Laureate for the City of Modesto (2012-2016)\, and a two-time recipient of the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. She is a long-time educator in Oakdale and has lived in Modesto longer than she’s lived anywhere else. \nThe reading starts at 7:00 at Bookish Modesto. With open mic following featured poets. \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2025nov11/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Nov-2025-Second-Tues-Baca-Wegener-e1761947750945.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251209T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20251209T200000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20251112T001258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251130T184503Z
UID:3947-1765303200-1765310400@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday - MoSt Member Potluck/Open Mic
DESCRIPTION:Join us for our December reading at The Dragonfly- Art for Life for a joyful open mic and potluck for members of Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. \nWe’d love to have you there! It’s not too late to join MoSt–you can join at the door\, even.
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/second-tuesday-most-members-potluck-open-mic/
LOCATION:The Dragonfly Art for Life\, 1210 J Street\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Other Events,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Most-SecondTues-Dec2025-e1764528296926.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260113T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260113T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20251217T203706Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251217T203706Z
UID:3975-1768330800-1768336200@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Tara Rico & Juan Luzuriaga
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Inaugural Poet Laureate of Manteca Tara Rico and San Luis Obispo poet Juan Luzuriaga \nDate: Tuesday\, January 13\, 2026\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nThe reading is free; drinks\, snacks\, and books are available for purchase at Bookish. Open mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \nTara Rico \nTara Rico (she/her/ella) is a local writer\, advocate\, performer\, and educator. She is the City of Manteca’s first Poet Laureate; her work can be found in collections such as the Tuleberg Press anthology The Fire Within: Labor\, Art\, and the Human Spirit.  \nTara is also the founder of MAS Improv 209 and POETICAS Institute\, a new nonprofit committed to bringing written\, performing\, and other creative art to the Central Valley and under-resourced communities.  \nTara is an actor and comedian who has performed recently at the Pam Kitto Black Box Theater of Stockton\, Modesto’s Prospect Theater\, and at the Central Valley Gender Health and Wellness Center’s “Kings\, Queens\, and Comedians” drag show of 2024.  \n  \nJuan Luzuriaga \nJuan Luzuriaga was born in Guayaquil\, Ecuador\, and immigrated to the U.S. at 16 in 2000. He studied Neuroscience at Rutgers University and English at UC Merced. He teaches poetry in prisons\, at Cuesta College\, and California Poets in the Schools. He has been a featured panelist at UC Merced\, Cuesta College Central Coast Writers’ Conference\, Litfest and more\, and he is a featured panelist at the 2026 San Francisco Writers Conference Poetry Summit.   \nHe has been published in Acentos Review\, San Diego Poetry Annual\, Monterey Poetry Review\, Cholla Needles\, Poetry Breakfast\, Matchbox Magazine\, and in the anthologies Silence Is Consent\, To Be Completely Honest\, and Method Writers Speak. His collection\, Chimborazo Whispers\, is forthcoming from Blue Light Press.  \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2026jan/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SecondTues_Jan2026-960x540-1-e1766003818477.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260210T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260210T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20260123T211216Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260201T042959Z
UID:4024-1770750000-1770755400@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Feb. 10 - William O'Daly and Linda Marie Prather
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Linda Marie Prather and William O’Daly \nDate: Tuesday\, February 10\, 2026\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nThe reading is free; drinks\, snacks\, and books are available for purchase at Bookish. Open mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener!  \nWILLIAM O’DALY\nWilliam O’Daly\, co-founder of Copper Canyon Press\, is a poet and translator whose published works include eight books of translation of the late-career and posthumous poetry of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda and Neruda’s first volume\, Book of Twilight — all published by Copper Canyon Press. Book of Twilight was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in Translation of Poetry for 2018. His most recent book of poems\, The New Gods\, was published by Beltway Editions in September 2022.  \nIn addition to The New Gods\, he is the author of four books of poems. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow\, recipient of the American Literary Award from the bilingual Korean American journal Miju Poetry and Poetics\, and four-time Pushcart Prize nominee\, his poems\, translations\, essays\, and reviews have been published in numerous journals and as part of multimedia exhibits and performances. \nAbout The New Gods\n“We need to sit on the rim/ of the well of darkness/\,” Pablo Neruda wrote\, “and fish for fallen light/ with patience.” In the poems of The New Gods\, William O’Daly sits with us beside this well\, each stunning metaphor shaping world after world of possibility. Here the dark currents of bitterness and grief\, arrogance and war give way to the sweetness of a daughter’s questions or the shiver of a Sierra lake. From the charred rubble of Iraq to the snowy Andes of Neruda’s exile\, O’Daly’s deep music guides us beyond the “machinery of destruction” into a new Parnassus where “every word blossoms erotic\,” where heron\, waterfall\, moonlit pools\, and sea all burn with the “inexhaustible light” of beauty and desire\, and we “recognize this burning as our own.” \n~ Terry Ehret\, author of Lost Body and Night Sky Journey \nLINDA MARIE PRATHER\nLinda Marie Prather has been widely recognized\, winning honors in both\, poetry\, and visual art. She has been featured in More Than Soil\, More Than Sky/The Modesto Poets\, Stanislaus Connections\, and KCBP\, and KQBM radio\, Two Roads/A program of Art & Science\, Poets Corner\, A Circle of Voices\, Penumbra\, Poetry of the Sacred\, The Story Teller\, and others. She is a two-time nominee for a Pushcart Prize and was the recipient of the Pegasus Award from California Federation of Chaparral Poets. Linda co-edits the poetry quarterly\, Song of the San Joaquin\, and is an Arts and Letters member of the National League of American Pen Women. \nHer latest and ninth book of poetry Everyday Mercies was released in 2025 and is available on Amazon.` \nAbout Everyday Mercies\nEveryday Mercies is a contemplative collection of poems that finds meaning in the often overlooked ordinary. From the quiet glory of morning light to the surprising resilience found in seasons of uncertainty\, these poems invite us to pause and ponder the mercies granted us anew every morning. \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2026febsecondtues/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Second-Tuesday-Feb-10_Prather-ODaly-e1769919786629.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260221T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260221T150000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20260112T145239Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T193012Z
UID:3998-1771682400-1771686000@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:UPDATED: Poetry at the Carnegie featuring Jesse Wolfe and Stella Beratlis
DESCRIPTION:PLEASE NOTE: Due to a necessary scheduling change\, Jesse Wolfe will read with Stella Beratlis on 2/21/26. Cleo Griffith will be a featured reader at a future date to be determined. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. \nPlease join host Gary Thomas at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday\, February 21\, 2026 at Carnegie Arts Center (250 North Broadway Ave.\, Turlock\, California) for a poetry reading featuring Jesse Wolfe and Stella Beratlis. There will be light refreshments and an open mic time following the featured poets. This event is free and open to the public. \nJesse Wolfe is a poet\, scholar\, and English Professor at CSU Stanislaus\, where he has taught since 2006. His debut poetry chapbook\, En Route\, was published in 2020 by Cathexis Northwest Press\, who will also publish his new volume\, Breathe Again: A Polyphony\, in 2026. He is the author of two scholarly books about modernist literature and the history of intimacy. He is currently working on a third scholarly book about African American modernism and ideas of progress. \n \nStella Beratlis is the author of Dust Bowl Venus. Her first collection Alkali Sink was a nominee for the 2016 Northern California Book Award in Poetry. Her poems have appeared in Harbor Review\, California Quarterly\, and In Posse Review. among others\, and in the anthologies The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed and California Fire and Water: A Climate Crisis Anthology. She was Modesto’s poet laureate from 2016-2020 and works as a librarian at Modesto Junior College.
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/poetry-at-the-carnegie-featuring-cleo-griffith-and-jesse-wolfe/
LOCATION:Carnegie Arts Center\, 250 N. Broadway\, Turlock\, CA\, 95380\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Poetry on Saturday,Readings
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MoSt-Poetry-Saturday-at-the-Carnegie-2-e1771615307968.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260310T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260310T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20260217T003457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T003457Z
UID:4047-1773169200-1773174600@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday with Eliot Schain & Salvatore Salerno
DESCRIPTION:Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Modesto Poet Laureate Emeritus Salvatore Salerno with Sixteen Rivers Press poet Eliot Schain  \nDate: Tuesday\, March 10\, 2026\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener \n  \nELIOT SCHAIN\nEliot Schain’s poetry has appeared in Ploughshares\, American Poetry Review\, Santa Monica Review\, and Miramar\, among others\, as well as in a number of anthologies\, including Bear Flag Republic: Prose Poems and Poetics from California and The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems of the San Francisco Bay Watershed.  His book\, The Distant Sound\, was published by Sixteen Rivers Press in 2020.  Earlier books include American Romance and Westering Angels\, both from Zeitgeist Press.  \nSelections from The Distant Sound have been recorded and released as a digital album in collaboration with guitarist Harrison Flynn\, available on Apple Music and Spotify.  A newer collaboration Drive\, They Said\, also with Harrison Flynn\, is available as well.  Schain has served as program director for The Poetry Society of America\, taught high school\, and currently works as a psychotherapist in Berkeley\, California\, where he lives with his wife\, Mary D’Elia.  \nABOUT THE DISTANT SOUND\nThe Distant Sound is a prismatic meditation on what it means to be human\, especially when the body and mind seek their own paths to heaven. The poems employ the long Whitmanian breath and are often narrative\, but with mysterious syntax whose goal is to bypass reason and activate the heart. \n  \nSALVATORE SALERNO \n  \nSalvatore Salerno has an M.F.A. from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro\, where he was awarded The Academy of American Poets University Prize. He has worked as a playwright and poet in the North Carolina Visiting Artist Program. After retiring from teaching English at Davis High School\, Salvatore became a founding member of Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. He was the Poet Laureate of Modesto from 2020-24. His sixth book of poetry is After Thoughts. \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2026mar10/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Second-Tues-_Mar2026_Salerno-Schain-e1771288458398.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260414T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260414T203000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20260316T005822Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260328T205312Z
UID:4082-1776193200-1776198600@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry featuring Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun
DESCRIPTION:THE ANTIDOTE IS POETRY. COME TO POETRY. \nModesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is pleased to present Second Tuesday Poetry featuring members of Sacramento-based writing group Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun:  Zheyla Henriksen\, Paul Aponte\, Janet Rodriguez\, JoAnn Anglin\, Marco Contreras\, and Lorena Rodriguez. \nDate: Tuesday\, April 14\, 2026\nTime: 7:00 pm PST\nWhere: Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, in the Roseburg Square shopping center \nOpen mic following featured poets (3 min per poet); sign up at the event. Hosted by Gillian Wegener.  \nZheyla Henriksen is an Ecuadorian poet\, researcher\, artist\, and retired college & university teacher including at UC Davis where she received her PHD in Latin American and Spanish Literature.  She has been awarded several times including in 2004 when she received La Medalla de Oro al Merito Cultural in Cuenca Ecuador.  Zheyla was included in the Who’s Who of Distinguished Professionals\, and in History & Anthology of Ecuadorian Literature (2023). \nPaul Aponte is a Chicano Poet\,co-coordinator of Escritores Del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun\, and member of Círculo De Poetas & Writers. He has been published in the Tecolote Press anthology Poetry In Flight\, Tule Review 2024\, in the anthology Soñadores – We Came To Dream\, in the Los Angeles Review Volume 20 – Fall 2016\, and in Cold River Press Voices 2022-2025.  His colorful book of poetry DEL CACTUS is available through Prickly Pear Press and other sources. \nJanet Rodriguez is an author\, teacher\, editor\, and the author of Making an American Family: A Recipe in Five Generations (Prickly Pear Publishing\, 2022)\, a family memoir. Her short story\, “The Key in the Tignanello Bag” was recently published in the regional anthology\, Sacramento Noir\, edited by John Freeman. Her work has also been featured in Hobart\, Pangyrus\, Eclectica\, The Rumpus\, Cloud Women’s Quarterly\, American River Review\, and Calaveras Station. Her short stories\, essays\, and poetry usually deal with themes involving morality in faith communities and the mixed-race experience in a culturally binary world.  \nJoAnn Anglin is a leading member of Escritores Del Nuevo Sol and has been a teaching poet in the schools\, including at Shriners Children’s Hospital\, and at New Folsom Prison. Her chapbooks include Words Like Knives\, Like Feathers and Heat\, and her poems have been published in Tule Review\, Sable & Quill\, Sacramento Voices\, Rattlesnake Review\, The Pagan Muse\, 100 Poems about Sacramento\, Acorn\, and Cosumnes River Journal. In 2012\, JoAnn received an Arts Program Award from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and the Sacramento City Council and in 2024 she was honored by the California Senate for her contributions as a poet and leader to the community. \nMarco Contreras is from Stockton and currently resides in Sacramento. He has been published in UCLA’s Daily Bruin and La Gente De Aztlan magazine. He also has contributions in several anthologies\, including his latest about his trip to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. \nLorena Rodriguez has roots in the Andes\, born and raised in a land where the cultivation of potatoes and corn is a way of life. A multidisciplinary artist\, Lorena uses performance and theater as a tool for activism\, community building\, and healing. She is a writer\, performer\, fermenter\, dancer\, and textile artist\, and through her work\, she shares practical actions for health and well-being while inspiring the reimagining of systems that address collective needs and foster healing.  \n  \nHISTORY OF LOS ESCRITORES DEL NUEVO SOL  \n \nLos Escritores del Nuevo Sol emerged from a literary program of La Raza Galería Posada (LRGP)\, the Sacramento Chicano/Native American arts center founded in 1972. Our roots can be followed to an initial poetry event organized by the Royal Chicano Air Force and other groups. That event in 1978 was called “One More Canto”. It was held at the Reno Club\, a downtown neighborhood bar and dance club. This idea of poetry for the community grew and future poetry\, song and performance art events continued. LRGP took sponsorship of the Canto Series well into the 1980’s and 1990’s with those events occurring at La Raza Galería Posada\, Luna’s Café\, the Benny Barrios Studio and the Odd Fellows Hall. \nIn the 1990’s LRGP board members Arturo Mantecón and Francisco X. Alarcón organized a Floricanto series featuring Latino poets. Seeing favorable community interest\, they started a writers’ workshop\, Taller Literario. The Taller philosophy was to foster\, preserve\, and present the best of Chicano/Latino and native American writing. The first meetings attracted about a dozen local writers. Alarcón and Mantecón drew on their experience in publishing and working with writing groups to guide this group to be given recognition and to be established in October of 1993. \nThe Taller became an essential part of La Raza Galería Posada readings and became connected with other significant cultural events – Day of the Dead\, Cinco de Mayo\, exhibition openings\, etc.In time\, events were added such as the Valentine’s Day and the all-Spanish readings. \nEventually the group adopted a new name suggested by Graciela Brauer Ramírez: Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun. This recognized the 2012 coming of El Sexto Sol\, the dawning of a new world consciousness based on the Mesoamerican worldview. \nAs the years passed\, Los Escritores became a known part of the Sacramento literary community. In 2002\, José Montoya\, a member of Los Escritores\, was appointed Sacramento’s Poet Laureate. Los Escritores participated in his activities resulting in more visibility. In 2020’s\, two additional members were named Poet Laureate – Lara Gularte (El Dorado County) and Nancy González St. Clair (Lodi\, CA) also contributing to more recognition and visibility for Escritores del Nuevo Sol. \nWith the publication of our 2004 anthology\, Voices of the new Sun\, Poems and Stories / Voces del Nuevo Sol\, Cantos y Cuentos\, the group’s written work took tangible form. The 25th Anniversary anthology was published in 2017\, and in 2025 the anthology Then and Now came to cheer the past and present.  \nWhile the circle has grown\, it also acknowledges the loss of loved ones who were a part of its start: Phil Goldvarg\, José Montoya\, Helen and Esteban Villa\, Luz María Gama\, Max Schwartz\, Sam Ríos\, Jean y Winn Starr\, and Escritores co-founder Francisco X. Alarcón. We remember them well.
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2026aprilescritores/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026_April_Escritores-1-e1774731178112.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260512T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260512T190000
DTSTAMP:20260425T054501
CREATED:20260329T032026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260329T032109Z
UID:4108-1778612400-1778612400@www.mostpoetry.org
SUMMARY:Second Tuesday Poetry with featured poets Kathy Pon and Chris Olander
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, May 12\, as we present Gustine-based poet Kathy Pon and Nevada City poet  Chris Olander\, poet laureate emeritus of Nevada County. \nAt Bookish Modesto\, 7 pm. Doors at 6:30 pm. \n  \n 
URL:https://www.mostpoetry.org/event/2026may_st/
LOCATION:Bookish Modesto\, 811 W. Roseburg Ave\, Modesto\, CA\, 95350\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic,Readings,Second Tuesday
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mostpoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MoSt-Gala-2017-0001.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Stella Beratlis":MAILTO:stellab@mostpoetry.org
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