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Andrena Zawinski

Andrena Zawinski and Jerry Ratch

18 FEBRUARY 2024 — sunday

Poetry Flash presents a reading by poet and flash fiction writer Andrena Zawinski, Born Under the Influence, and novelist and poet Jerry Ratch, A Body Divided, memoir, who will read some of his poems accompanied by live music, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PST (poetryflash.org).


Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event and at bookshop.org/shop/poetryflash.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS

Jerry Ratch's most recent poetry books are Follow Your Heart, or Your Dreams, Abundance: Selected Poems, and A Few Guilty Pleasures: New Poems. The author of eighteen book of poetry, he is also the author of seven books of prose, including Wild Dreams of Reality, a novel, and A Body Divided, a memoir, the story of a one-armed boy growing up in a two-fisted world, in the time of polio. Lawrence Ferlinghetti said of it, "A gritty and valiant story…I would be glad to recommend it." Richard Ford wrote about Wild Dreams of Reality, "The almost, but not quite innocent directness of Ratch's savvy little novel is irresistible to me. I read it in a sitting. I'm glad real writers still want to write books this way." Jerry Ratch's poems have been published in Antioch Review, Beatitude, Carolina Quarterly, Ironwood, Louisville Review, Maryland Literary Review, Milvia Street Journal, Negative Capability, Slant, and elsewhere. Most of his titles are available as Kindle Books from Amazon, or through his website: www.jerryratch.com. He lives in Oakland.
Andrena Zawinski's new poetry collection is Born Under the Influence; her recent flash fiction collection is Plumes and Other Flights of Fancy. Born Under the Influence, through a wide range of craft from narrative free verse through European and Asian forms, grapples with the trials, anger, rebellion, survival, and joys influenced by gender, class, nature, pop culture, and contemporary history. Mary Mackey says of her work, "Andrena Zawinski is a poet of rare talent and radical empathy who combines the straightforward, take-no-prisoners, blue collar directness of a steelworker's daughter in her narratives, along with the rules of formal verse, creating lines which blossom into poems of memory, rebellion, longing, righteous anger, and—above all—survival. These poems are tough, smart, and beautifully crafted." Andrena Zawinski has also published three previous full-length poetry collections, four chapbooks, and edited two anthologies. Her work has received accolades for lyricism, form, and social concern including a Kenneth Patchen Poetry Prize and PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she makes her home in Alameda, California.




Daily Listings

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13 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday

14 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday

15 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday

16 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday

17 SEPTEMBER 2026 — thursday

18 SEPTEMBER 2026 — friday

19 SEPTEMBER 2026 — saturday

  • Beyond Baroque presents "What Remains: Erasure as Resistance and Reclamation," a generative writing workshop with Elina Katrin, recipient of scholarships and fellowships from Lambda Literary, the Vermont Studio Center, and Periplus, at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, Los Angeles, $95.49 general admission, $84.99 for members, 11:00 am (Tickets available: www.eventbrite.com/e/what-remains-erasure-as-resistance-and-reclamation-tickets-1996286048309?aff=ebdsoporgprofile)
  • 45th annual NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS, honoring the books and authors of Northern California, as well as California translators state-wide; presentation of the Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service, the NCBA Groundbreaker Award, and the NCBA Recognition Award, presentation of awards in Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Translation In Poetry and Prose by California translators, and Children's Literature: Younger Readers, Middle Grade, Young Adult; bookselling and a reception open to all in the SFPL's Latino/Hispanic Community Room follows, nominated books are selected by the Northern California Book Reviewers, event presented by Poetry Flash and the San Francisco Public Library, with our community partners Women's National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter and Mechanics' Institute Library, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, free and open to the public, 2:00 pm (Check back for updates and nominee announcements, poetryflash.org/programs/?p=ncba_2026 or sfpl.org)

20 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday

  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Award-Winning Poets," with readings by Farnaz Fatemi, Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Emerita; Ellen Kombiyil, Raleigh Review's Geri Digiorno Multi-Genre Prize-winner, and Claire Drucker, 2026-2028 Sonoma County Poet Laureate, with event host Kary Hess, Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, free, 2:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Found Poets in The Round," with readings by Lorrie Chang, Mahrs Emerson Schoppman, mOody bLaCk, with event host Original Giotis, The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street, Petaluma, free, 1:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • The Freight presents Rumi's Caravan, an evening of spoken word with musical accompaniment in an improvised poetic conversation that meanders through moods of prayer and grief to humor and celebration, with words by poets from Rumi and Hafiz to Yeats, Rilke, Neruda, and Mary Oliver, benefitting the Middle East Children's Alliance, The Freight, 2020 Addison Street Berkeley, $30 advance, $35 at the door, 7:30 pm, doors open 7:00 pm (Tickets available: secure.thefreight.org/16039/16041-rumis-caravan-260920)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Sixteen Rivers Press Poets," with poetry readings by Dane Cervine, Lenore Myers, and Carolyn Miller, with event host Terry Ehret, Hotel Petaluma, Ballroom, 205 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, free, 11:00 am (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Taurean Horn and Friends," with readings by Donna Emerson, Jack Crimmins, and Dr. Jeanne Powell, with event host Bill Vartnaw, founder of Taurean Horn Press and Petaluma Poetry Walk director emeritus, Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, free, 4:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Tender Hearts Poets," with poetry readings by Maw Shein Win, Lourdes Figueroa, and Luisa Giulianetti, with event host Ingrid Keir, Jess Brown Design, 144 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, free, 5:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk and the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum present "Translator Poets," with readings by Pat Nolan, Adrian Arias, and Francesca Bell, with event host Jennifer Barone, The Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, 20 Fourth Street, Petaluma, free, 3:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Word Flights," with readings by Deyci Carrillo López, Wendy M. Thompson, and Cintia Santana, with event host Daedalus Howell, The Big Easy, 128 American Alley, Petaluma, free, 6:00 pm (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)
  • Petaluma Poetry Walk presents "Youth Poets," with readings by Elizabeth Foster, Nika Grajqevci, and Juno Phipps, with event host Maxine Flasher-Düzgünes, Keller Street CoWork, 140 Keller Street, Petaluma, free, Noon (petalumapoetrywalk.org/2026-schedule)

21 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday

22 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday

23 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday

24 SEPTEMBER 2026 — thursday

25 SEPTEMBER 2026 — friday

26 SEPTEMBER 2026 — saturday

27 SEPTEMBER 2026 — sunday

28 SEPTEMBER 2026 — monday

29 SEPTEMBER 2026 — tuesday

30 SEPTEMBER 2026 — wednesday


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