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| 2012 DATE |
FEATURED WRITER |
| January 15 |
DAVID BECKMAN
David Beckman, poet, playwright, and novelist, will read from his new collection of poems, Language of the Mind. His play Becoming Walt Whitman, was produced at Powerhouse Theater, in Santa Monica, CA, in 1993, and a novel, Under Pegasus, came out in 1996. His 2009 chapbook, Times Three, with poems from New York and California, appeared in 2009, and Becoming Walt Whitman was produced at 6th Street Playhouse in 2010. In addition, his poems have appeared in Present at the Creation, From the Hills, Kickass Review, Blue Jew Yorker, Western Friend, Continent of Light, The Green Door, What Redwoods Know, and the Marin Poetry Center Anthology. He’s been nominated for the 2012 Pushcart Poetry Prize, honoring the best poetry published by small presses. |
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| February 12 |
GUILD'S POETRY VALENTINE
The Guild's Annual Poetry Valentine will be held at Healdsburg's Bean Affair Coffee Shop on Sunday, February 12th from 2 to 4 p.m. Unlike previous years, this year we are issuing an open call for Love Poems. All are invited to submit a poem that will fit on one page of a chapbook. A committe made up of individuals not submitting poems will select the fourteen poems to be read on Feb. 12 and to be published in the chapbook. Submission deadline os January 15, 1012. Click here for a brochure with all entry rules. Free and open to the public, this is the Guild's love-gift to the community. |
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| February 19 |
JYM MARKS
As a public speaker, jazz drummer, writer, and poet, Jym Marks personifies the principles of personal empowerment and delivers a stirring message in his lecture series: “Seeing What You’re Looking At”. A long time resident of the Bay Area, father of four, and Army veteran, Jym offers a poetic view of life and the lessons it teaches us. His own life experiences include service in the United States Army where he overcame a reading deficit. As a result of his efforts, he discovered a love for reading and became an avid reader. In addition, Jym developed a keen interest in music. Jym has published eleven books of poetry and three CDs of his music and poetry. |
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| March 18 |
REBECCA FOUST
Rebecca Foust has published a number of books of poetry including Dark Card and Mom’s Canoe, which were published in 2008 and 2009 and won the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prizes in consecutive year, and two full length poetry collections followed in 2010: All That Gorgeous, Pitiless Song (Many Mountains Moving Poetry Book Award), and God Seed, a book of environmental poetry with art by Lorna Stevens. Her recent poems are in journals and magazines including Atlanta Review, Cincinnati Review, Hudson Review, Journal of the American Medical Association, North American Review, and Poetry Daily. She also writes essays and book reviews, published or forthcoming in American Book Review, American Poetry Journal, Cider Press Review, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. |
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| April 15 |
JOHN KOETZNER & OTHER LITERARY LAUREATES
John Koetzner, the new Healdsburg Literary Laureate for 2012–2013, will be the Featured Writer for April. He will be joined by past Healdsburg Literary Laureates including Armando Garcia-Dávila, Vilma Ginzberg, and Stefanie Freele. Other laureates are being asked to join us on this day and will be announced as they become available.
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| May 20 |
WAIGHTS TAYLOR JR.
Waights Taylor Jr. will read from his second published non-fiction book, Our Southern Home: Scottsboro to Montgomery to Birmingham—The Transformation of the South in the Twentieth Century. This searing look at Alabama's segregated past and the passage through the Civil Rights period to today is a sobering reminder of our nation's continuing ability to mistreat and disenfranchise minority groups in our midst. His first book was Alfons Mucha's Slav Epic—An Artist's History of the Slavic People. |
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| May 27 |
GUILD'S GRAVESIDE READINGS
Now in its 13th year, the Guild's Graveside Readings continues at Oak Mound Cemetery. Each year, gathered on the bumpy, weed-thick ground, we manage to drape it with two hours of dignity and gentle laughter. In past years, we have heard songs performed by local musicians, and moving poems penned by previous Healdsburg literary laureates. Join us at the fountain on the hillside, Oak Mound Cemetery, First and Piper Streets, Healdsburg, May 27 (the Sunday preceding Memorial Day), 2 PM – 4 PM. Bottled water provided. For more information, contact Jeane Slone 431-8276. |
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| June 17 |
MARIAM STEPHENS
Mariam Stephens will read from her newest book Safe Passage Notebooks: Chronicles of Love and War. Mariam was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has lived in England, Ireland, Java, Indonesia, California, and Hawaii. She currently resides in Sonoma County. Author Chester Aaron wrote for the back cover of the book, “A combination of prose poetry and poetic prose in Mariam Stephens’ the Safe Passage Notebooks brings alive the words Ireland and the Irish and helps us appreciate the term The Troubles...her natural talent for poetic prose, brings us face to face with our own sense of reconciliation with hatred and anger." In the Introduction, Mariam writes, "War and violence: the twins who bring a brutal intimacy to everyone involved. Victims caught between the poles of love and war, wherever it may be, and whatever name or cause it claims. The ongoing struggle of living life and working for peace – while the polar opposites rage all around.
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| July 16 |
JODI L. HOTTEL
Jodi Hottel will read from her first chapbook Heart Mountain. These powerful poems are best described by Terry Ehret on the chapbook's back cover: "The poems of Heart Mountain, Jodi Hottel’s stunning debut collection, look back more than half a century to the lives of those uprooted by the relocation and internment of Japanese-Americans...With tender, unflinching detail, Hottel evokes the essence of Japanese gaman: enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity. These are courageous poems, written to acknowledge and honor what it would shame us to forget." Jodi is a Sansei, third generation Japanese American. Her mother’s family was interned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Nimrod International, Naugatuck Review, Spillway, Touch, English Journal, Frogpond and anthologies from the University of Iowa Press, Tebot Bach, Wising Up Press and the Healdsburg Arts Council. Jodi lives in Sonoma County. |
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| August 19 |
BILL VARTNAW
Bill Vartnaw was recently selected as Sonoma County's Poet Laureate for 2012-12. He was born and raised in Petaluma and has dedicated his life to writing. He established Taurean Horn Press in San Francisco in 1974. He is the author of two poetry books, In Concern: for Angels (Taurean Horn Press, 1984) and Suburbs of my Childhood (Beatitude Press, 2009) and three chapbooks. He has also edited or co-edited two anthologies, Honeydew: an Anthology (1974, Taurean Horn Press) & Petaluma Poetry Walk, 10-Year Anthology, 1996 to 2005 (with Geri Digiorno, 2007, PPW Press). |
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| September 16 |
RICHARD PERCE
Dr. Richard Perce will discuss and read from his novel, The High Country. The story features Clay Williams, a racetrack veterinarian until the harsh realities of life on the track ends his career and sends him to the high country of Colorado.
Clay's education continues among the colorful characters of Steamboat Springs in the 1970’s: ranchers and realtors, plumbers and police. Richard was raised in New Mexico and attended the University of Arizona before graduating from Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. He practiced in Colorado's ‘high country’ for almost twenty years before moving to Northern California. He now resides with his wife, Chari, in the wine country where he maintains a full time equine practice. He is currently working on his second novel: Above Timberline. |
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| October 21 |
JONAH RASKIN
Jonah Raskin will read from his latest book of poetry, Rock 'n' Roll Women: Portraits of a Generation. He will be accompanied by his friend Timothy Williams on kettle drums. Jonah has been writing poetry since the 1950s, when he went to high school, played football, and listened to rock ‘n’ roll – like the Beat Generation writers, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg whom he admired and aimed to imitate. He is the author of American Scream, a biography of Ginsberg’s poem Howl. He has also published six poetry chapbooks: More Poems, Better Poems; Bone Love; Public Spaces, Private Faces; Auras; Jonah Raskins' Greatest Hits; and Letters to a Lover. He lives in Santa Rosa, California. |
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| November 18 |
TO BE ANNOUNCED
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| December 16 |
OPEN MIC SALON
Continuing the Healdsburg Literary Salon's long tradition, the December Salon is entirely dedicated to open mic readers. So bring your favorite piece of poetry or prose, sign-up on the open mic list and tantalize the audience with your work. Each reader will be limited to three minutes to accomodate as many readers as possible. |
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