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Ralph Dranow

Ralph Dranow and Judy Wells

6 MARCH 2022 — sunday

Poetry Flash presents a reading by Ralph Dranow, presenting At Work on the Garments of Refuge, his own poems with poems and art by the late Daniel Marlin, reading with poet Judy Wells, Dear Phebe: The Dickinson Sisters Go West, online via Zoom, free, 3:00 pm PST (Register to attend: please click here; you will receive an email with a link to join the reading)


Please join us for a Poetry Flash virtual launch reading on Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 pm PST! We are excited to bring you this event via Zoom. To register for this reading, please click on the link in the calendar listing above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.

This reading is co-sponsored by Moe's Books in Berkeley; Ralph Dranow's At Work on the Garments of Refuge is available at bookshop.org/lists/poetry-flash-readings. Judy Well's Dear Phebe: The Dickinson Sisters Go West is available at: sugartownpublishing.com/titles_and_ordering/back_list.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS
Ralph Dranow is co-author, with the late poet and artist Daniel Marlin, of At Work on the Garments of Refuge. Gary Turchin says, "This is an exquisite book of poetry crafted by two fine poets who were best friends. Daniel Marlin, now deceased, wrote soul-stirring poems, simple, elegant, thoughtful and inspired. They're filled with dharma and the drama of real life. No subject is taboo, but each subject is handled with the deftest of touches. This is a man who had a gift for language but never over did it…always stayed grounded and real. He let his experience guide him and not his ideas.…Marlin and Dranow matured together as writers and this is the culmination of their mutual admiration." In 1978, Ralph Dranow and Daniel Marlin met while working at the Oakland, California main post office. They hit it off immediately, finding a common passion for writing and concern for social justice. Their nascent friendship took root on the level of deep mutual caring as well as support for each other's writing. They formed a writing group that lasted thirty-eight years, and continues today with new members.
Ralph Dranow is an editor, ghostwriter, and writing coach as well as a poet specializing in people's stories. He has published eight poetry books including A New Life, one short-story collection, and numerous poems and articles in magazines and newspapers: www.ralphdranow.net.
Daniel Marlin (1945-2017) was a poet, artist, translator, and peace activist. He traveled extensively, spending much time in Japan, where his wife, Toshiko, was born. His book Heart of Ardor contains over three-hundred-images of his vibrant paintings and drawings, along with commentary about his artwork. His other books include Jerusalem and the Boardwalk, Amagasaki Sketchbook, and Isaiah at the Wall: Palestine Poems.

Judy Wells newest poetry book is Dear Phebe: The Dickinson Sisters Go West. Lucille Lang Day says, "Go West, young man,' is the famous command, but many young women also heeded this advice. Among them were Judy Wells' great-grandmother Phebe Marsh Dickinson and her two sisters, distant cousins of Emily Dickinson, who came to California from Massachusetts in the late 19th century. In Dear Phebe, Wells chronicles their stories in poetry and prose." Dear Phebe is neither traditional autobiography nor strict genealogy. Letters and historical facts are turned into poems, and anecdotes become grist for the mill. As historian Lauren Coodley says, "This book is a wholly new form, fusing history and poetry, inspiring both disciplines." Bridget Connelly comments, "I loved every twist and turn of this mind-tripping story and laughed with glee when the author ends up returning her great-grandmother Phebe's one-hundred-year-overdue book to the San Francisco Public Library." Judy Wells is the author of eleven previous collections of poetry, including Everything Irish, Call Home, and The Glass Ship. She lives with her husband, avant-garde poet Dale Jensen, in Berkeley.




Daily Listings

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5 JULY 2025 — saturday

6 JULY 2025 — sunday

7 JULY 2025 — monday

8 JULY 2025 — tuesday

  • Award-winning author and paramedic Joanna Sokol reads from her new book, A Real Emergency: Stories From the Ambulance, joined in conversation by Kevin Fagan, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

9 JULY 2025 — wednesday

10 JULY 2025 — thursday

  • Poem Jam: Kim Shuck, San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita presents contributing poets reading from their new anthology, Colossus: Water, Poem Jam takes place on the second Thursday of each month unless otherwise noted, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-10-25)

11 JULY 2025 — friday

12 JULY 2025 — saturday

13 JULY 2025 — sunday

14 JULY 2025 — monday

15 JULY 2025 — tuesday

  • Jackie Thomas-Kennedy reads from her new novel, The Other Wife, joined in conversation by Carol Edgarian, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

16 JULY 2025 — wednesday

  • Crystal Haryanto presents her new book, The Glory of Giving Everything: The Taylor Swift Business Model, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

17 JULY 2025 — thursday

  • Poetry Night Reading Series presents Dane Cervine, Nine Volt Nirvana, and Adela Najarro, with host Dr. Andy Jones, air-conditioned venue, John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street, Davis, 7:00 (www.poetryindavis.com)
  • Poets Molly Fisk and Kim Shuck present poems from varied perspectives about wildfire, flooding and related catastrophes in California from the California Fire & Water anthology; they will be joined by six other contributors to the anthology, Gene Berson, Heather Bourbeau, Aileen Cassinetto, Susan Cohen, Alison Luterman, and Maw Shein Win, California Fire & Water anthology, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-17-25)
  • Miranda S. Spivack reads from her new book, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards, a groundbreaking look at how ordinary people are fighting back against local governments to keep their communities safe, joined in conversation by Victoria Baranetsky, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

18 JULY 2025 — friday

19 JULY 2025 — saturday

20 JULY 2025 — sunday

  • Roberto Tejada, Why the Assembly Disbanded, celebrates the release of his new poetry collection, Carbonate of Copper: Poems, with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Forrest Gander, Mojave Ghost, limited seating, Kerouac Alley, between City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe, 257 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: citylights.com/events/forrest-gander-with-roberto-tejada)
  • Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading featuring Rachel Richardson, Smother, and Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Mothersalt, 2727 California Street, a Cooperative Art Gallery, Berkeley, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

21 JULY 2025 — monday

22 JULY 2025 — tuesday

23 JULY 2025 — wednesday

  • Bridget A. Lyons reads from and presents her new book, Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species, joined in conversation by Leigh Marz, Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, free admission, 7:00 (510/704-8222, www.mrsdalloways.com)

24 JULY 2025 — thursday

25 JULY 2025 — friday

26 JULY 2025 — saturday

  • Fourth Saturdays: Poetry at the Claremont Library presents Karen Greenbaum-Maya and Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl, Claremont Helen Renwick Library, 208 N. Harvard Avenue, in the Claremont Village, Claremont, free, 2:00 (909/621-4902, www.claremontlibrary.org/monthly-poetry-readings.html)
  • Sacramento Poetry Alliance presents the VOICES reading with Cold River Press, 1169 Perkins Way, Sacramento, refreshments, 4:00 (see Sacramento Poetry Alliance on Facebook)
  • Marin Poetry Center Traveling Show presents a poetry reading by Judy Wells, Dale Jensen, Carol Dorf, LeeAnn Pickrell, and Judy Bertelsen, with host Kathryn Jordan, North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library,1170 The Alameda (at Hopkins), Berkeley, free, 2:00 (marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events-category/traveling-show)

27 JULY 2025 — sunday

28 JULY 2025 — monday

29 JULY 2025 — tuesday

30 JULY 2025 — wednesday

31 JULY 2025 — thursday

  • "The Jingwei Bird" is a program that explores the complexity of climate change and our relationship to the planet through multi-disciplinary performances with Del Sol Quartet and San Francisco poet laureate Genny Lim, weaving newly composed music by Asian-American composers with powerful bilingual poetry, using storytelling and mythology to deepen our understanding and awareness of the environment, San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free, 6:00 (415/557-4400, on.sfpl.org/07-31-25)

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