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Poetry Flash Reading Series
Linda Ravenswood and Yiskah Rosenfeld
9/19, Berkeley
more info


Bert Meyers Tribute: Eric Gudas, David Shaddock, Anat Silvera

22 JUNE 2023 — thursday

Poetry Flash presents a reading celebrating the publication of Bert Meyers: On the Life and Work of an American Master, readers include poets Eric Gudas, David Shaddock, and Anat Silvera, the poet's daughter, in person, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Bert Meyers: On the Life and Work of an American Master will be available at the event and online at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash(a portion of the proceeds support Poetry Flash).

Bert Meyers: On the Life and Work of an American Master, the latest volume in The Unsung Masters Series, offers a large selection of his very best poetry alongside essays and appreciations from José Angel Araguz, Jim Bogen, Victoria Chang, Amy Gerstler, Garrett Hongo, Daniel Meyers, Barry Sanders, Ari Sherman, Maurya Simon, and Sean Singer, among others. The Unsung Masters Series exists to bring great but largely overlooked writers to new readers. This volume is edited by Dana Levin and Adele Williams.

"Bert Meyers is an American original—a brilliant poet whose use of tone and figurative language was so emotive, intelligent and nuanced, it became inimitable, became its own unique perspective on our world. I wouldn't be surprised if mid-twenty-first century scholars announce that in Bert Meyers we have overlooked the best poet of his generation." —Ilya Kaminsky
MORE ABOUT THE READERS

Eric Gudas is the author of Best Western and Other Poems, winner of the Gerald Cable Book Award, and Beautiful Monster, a chapbook. His work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry Flash, Los Angeles Review of Books, Raritan, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles.

David Shaddock is a poet and psychotherapist. His most recent poetry book is A Book of Splendor: New and Selected Poems on Spiritual Themes. He has a regular column in Poetry Flash, "Poetry and Healing," and is the author of Poetry and Psychoanalysis: The Opening of the Field (Routledge), and two books on relationships and couples therapy. He lectures widely on those topics, and maintains a private practice in Berkeley.

Anat Silvera, Bert Meyers's daughter, is one of the founders of Silvera Jewelry School in Berkeley. Before and after college she studied with artists and craftsmen, apprenticing as a metalsmith and learning how to create fine beadwork. She is the author of a book on her craft, and has exhibited her work all over the U.S., including as featured artist at the Oakland Museum of Art Collector's Gallery.

The son of Romanian and Polish Jewish immigrants, Bert Meyers (1928-1979) was born in Los Angeles. Always rebellious and a questioner of authority, he dropped out of high school and became a poet. For many years he worked at manual labor jobs, including printer's apprentice, until he became a master picture framer and gilder. Here he found satisfaction in craftsmanship and attention to detail, the same approach he used in composing his poetry. Throughout those years he continued to write, feeling that a poet should be immersed in the world, and should have real world things to write about. Meyers wanted to be self-taught. He read everything he could get his hands on and had a prodigious literary memory. He frequented the vibrant circles of LA poets at the time, with Thomas McGrath and others. His fellow poet and friend Robert Mezey said, "Bert Meyers belonged to no school or coterie and had no use for fashion. He was that rarest of creatures, a pure lyric poet. His poems are very much what he was—gentle, cantankerous, reflective, passionate and wise." Although he had never taken undergraduate classes, and had no high school diploma, in 1964 he was admitted to the Claremont Graduate School on the basis of his poetic achievements. By 1967 he had a Ph.D in English Literature and was hired to teach poetry and literature at Pitzer College in Claremont, where he taught until 1978. During his life as a professor, Meyers finally had the time to focus on his writing; he also had an important and lasting influence on his students, a new generation of poets and writers, including Dennis Cooper, Amy Gerstler, Garrett Hongo, and Mauyra Simon among others.

He published at least eight collections of poetry, including Early Rain (1960), The Dark Birds (1968), Sunlight on the Wall (1976), Windowsills (1979), The Wild Olive Trees (1979). Before he died, he selected the core poems of In a Dybbuk's Raincoat: Collected Poems (2007). His widow, Odette Meyers, son Daniel Meyers, and poet Morton Marcus shepherded the book into posthumous publication. Meyers's precisely framed poems are image driven and often quite short. Noting that "the image is unequivocally at the center of his work" in her introduction to In a Dybbuk's Raincoat, Denise Levertov lamented that "Bert Meyers death has deprived us of one of the best poets of our time." (Information from bertmeyers.com)




Daily Listings

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13 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

  • Society of Young Inklings presents their annual two-day (September 13 to September 14, 2024) writing conference "The Way Words Move Us," celebrating the launch of the annual Inklings Book, featuring a keynote event with children's book author Joanna Ho, creative writing breakout sessions, workshops on using movement to bring words to life, experiments in word play, a storytelling workshop, reflective writing, a silent auction with literary-themed baskets and a pop-up bookstore; Reception and autograph session with all the conference authors, including youth published in the Inklings Book 2024; Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley, $50-$300, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-way-words-move-us-tickets-893677833457?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)

14 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

  • THIS EVENT IS CANCELED - Point Reyes Books welcomes poet Ellery Akers in celebration of her new collection, A Door Into the Wild: Poetry and Art, joined by Jane Hirshfield and others; Point Reyes Presbyterian Church, 11445 CA-1, Point Reyes Station, free, 3:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/ellery-akers-jane-hirshfield-and-more)
  • The Garlicky Group of Poets welcomes all for their monthly poetry reading and open mic; Come perform and listen to poetry in a relaxed, judgment free environment, Gilroy Library, 350 West Sixth Street, Gilroy, free, 3:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: sccl.bibliocommons.com/events/65691a42067df23e0029839b)
  • California State Parks and Quiet Lightning, in partnership with Friends of China Camp, present Poetry in Parks 2024, a daylong literary arts festival, featuring a set from Better Ancestors with Karla Myn Khine, Alex Feliciano Mejia, Kato Bisase, Zouhair Mussa and Sarah O'Neal, China Camp Village, 100 China Camp Village Road, San Rafael, free, Noon PDT (For more information, visit: friendsofchinacamp.org/event/poetry-in-parks-2024)
  • Point Reyes Books welcomes Laura Marris in celebration of her debut essay collection, The Age of Loneliness, Dance Palace Church Space, 503 B Street, Point Reyes Station, free, 4:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.ptreyesbooks.com/event/laura-marris)

15 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • The Petaluma Poetry Walk is an annual poetry festival founded in 1996 by the late poet Geri Digiorno, this year features over two dozen poets at eight venues: 11:00 am, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street: Sixteen Rivers Press kicks off the Walk with Christina Lloyd, Alice Templeton, and Murray Silverstein, with event presenter Terry Ehret; Noon, The Petaluma Cheese Shop, 112 Washington Street: Raleigh Review Geri Digiorno Prize Winner Emily Schulten, Lynn Watson, Gene Berson, with event presenter Bill Vartnaw; 1:00 pm, Keller Street CoWork, Main Lounge, 140 Keller Street: Jonah Raskin, Lisa Summers, Stacey Tuel, and Steve Shain on Standup Bass, with event presenter Daedalus Howell; 2:00 pm, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street: Avotcja, Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş, Nancy Miller Gomez, with event presenter Elizabeth Herron; 3:00 pm, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street: California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick and former San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate Genny Lim, with event presenter Iris Jamahl Dunkle; 4:00 pm, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd. North: Marin Poetry Center Poets, Ellery Akers and Lee Rossi, with event presenter Francesca Bell; 5:00 pm, Petaluma Historical Museum, 20 4th Street: Georgina Marie Guardado, Jodi Hottel, Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, with event presenters Sabine Wolpert and John Johnson; 6:00-8:00 pm, Aqus Café, 189 H Street (this location is the farthest, you might want a ride for this venue): The Grande Finale with Emilie Lygren, Kirk Lumpkin, Chris Olander, Lin Marie DeVincent, Fran Carbonaro, and Sonoma County Poet Laureate Dave Seter, with event presenter Gwynn O'Gara; all in walking distance across Petaluma, all free, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.petalumapoetrywalk.org)
  • Rumi's Caravan returns to Berkeley for recitations of world poetry, featuring an improvised poetic conversation with music, the presentation quotes from the works Rumi, Hafiz, Mary Oliver, Kabir, Wendell Berry, Neruda, Rilke, Robert Bly, Yeats, Naomi Shihab Nye, William Stafford, Maya Angelou, Leonard Cohen, Seamus Heaney, Denise Levertov, Antonio Machado, May Sarton and others, ticket sales support the work of the Middle East Children's Alliance; The Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, $29 Advance or $39 Door, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: secure.thefreight.org/14235/rumi-caravan-0915, or www.RumisCaravan.com)

16 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday

  • Warwick's welcomes Brenda Novak, Summer on the Island, author of more than sixty novels, to discuss and read from her latest, The Banned Books Club, Warwick's, 7812 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, free, 7:30 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.warwicks.com/event/novak-2024)
  • The Booksmith welcomes Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room, to read from and discuss her most recent novel, Creation Lake, The Booksmith, 1727 Haight Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.booksmith.com/event/rachel-kushner)

17 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday

  • KQED Live welcomes San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, Blood in the Fog, for "Rhymes for Reform," a reading and discussion about how poetry can ignite action, The Commons, 2601 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, free, 7:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.kqed.org/event/4431)

18 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday

19 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday

  • Marin Poetry Center welcomes Joan Baranow, Reading Szymborska in a Time of Plague, and Matthew Gellman, Beforelight, for a poetry reading and discussion, Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, free, 6:15 pm PDT (For more information, visit: marinpoetrycenter.org/mec-events/joan-baranow-matthew-gellman-poetry-reading)
  • Poetry Flash presents a poetry reading by Yiskah Rosenfeld, reading from her two new collections, Tasting Flight and Naked Beside Fish, and LA poet and performance poet Linda Ravenswood, A poem is a house, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 7:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).

20 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

21 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

22 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • Marcus Books welcomes Code Tenderloin founder Del Seymour and author Alison Owings, Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich, for a discussion and reading from their book, The Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco, followed by a book signing, Marcus Books, 3900 Martin L King Jr Way, Oakland, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.instagram.com/marcus.books/?hl=en)

23 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday

24 SEPTEMBER 2024 — tuesday

25 SEPTEMBER 2024 — wednesday

26 SEPTEMBER 2024 — thursday

27 SEPTEMBER 2024 — friday

28 SEPTEMBER 2024 — saturday

  • Fourth Saturdays Poetry at the Claremont Library monthly poetry reading presents featured poets Tiffany K. Elliott, Bones Awaiting the Blaze, and Scott Noon Creley, Digging a Hole to the Moon, Helen Renwick Library, 208 North Harvard Avenue, Claremont, free, 2:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/events/1797746840635833/?ref=newsfeed)
  • Left Margin Lit welcomes writers of all experience levels for their workshop, "Speaking from Experience: Writing Personal Narrative," runs over four Saturdays (September 28 to October 19, 2024), the workshop explores elements of craft pertinent to personal writing: voice, narrative distance, detail, characterization, using writers's personal lives and experiences to generate new writing, work toward a draft of one personal essay by the end of the month, hosted by Jaclyn Moyer, On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family from Punjab to California, virtual on Zoom, $275, 10:00 am PDT (For more information, visit: www.leftmarginlit.org/speaking-from-experience-moyer)

29 SEPTEMBER 2024 — sunday

  • In this "line break" poetry workshop, "Poetry of the Sixth Sense," participants will use dreams, tarot, the powers of sensory and textual associations, and several generative prompts to help them unblock and access new images and narrative, hosted by poet Alex Mattraw, Raw Anyone, private garden location, South Berkeley, $90-$180, 1:00 pm PDT (For more information, visit: www.alexmattraw.com/linebreakworkshops)

30 SEPTEMBER 2024 — monday


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