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Event
Celebrate the 35th Sacramento Poetry Day with The Sacramento Poetry Center at The California Stage
Celebrate Sacramento Poetry Day with Viola Spencer, Patrick Grizzell and Andru Defeye
Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 7pm, Free admission.
The Sacramento Poetry Center presents a Celebration of the 35th Anniversary of Sacramento Poetry Day, Tuesday, October 26, 2021, in a rare in-person event at 7pm at the California Stage in the The Wilkerson Theater at 2509 R St, Sacramento, CA.
It will also be available via Zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462
Meeting ID: 763 873 3462
Passcode: r3trnofsdv
Additional Zoom information appears at the end of this notice.
Sacramento Poetry Day was named in perpetuity in 1986 by Mayor Anne Rudin in celebration of the landmark Sacramento Poetry Center publication of Landing Signals, the brainchild of poet B.L. Kennedy, and the first major anthology of Sacramento poets ever published, as well as to recognize the contributions of SPC to the literary arts community.
Featured will be Viola Spencer, first Poet Laureate of Sacramento (an honor shared with the late Dennis Schmitz), and Patrick Grizzell, former director of the Sacramento Poetry Center. Hosting and bringing his own spin on the day will be Andru Defeye, the current Poet Laureate of Sacramento, who will also bring, as he excitedly describes them, "some of the up and coming voices from the next generation of Sacramento Poetry." There will be other special guests and featured presentations at the event as well.
To comply with Covid protocol standards (and to help protect immuno-compromised participants and audience), admission will require presentation of Covid Vaccine card, no-contact temperature taken at door, masks worn inside, and as much distance as possible kept in the theater.
VIOLA SPENCER was Poet Laureate of Sacramento for 2000-2002 with Dennis Schmitz. Previously, she and Schmitz were awarded the highest financial award given to artists in the Sacramento region, the Mayors and Supervisors Award for the Arts. Her projects included Poetry in the Workplace, and Poems for NPR.
She has published nine books of poetry and a text on child abuse, and is widely anthologized, including in two collections by Farrer, Straus & Giroux. She has been published in Poetic Diversity, Art House America, Boog City Review, The English Review, among others. Viola has been nominated for several Pushcart awards, and Al-Khemia Poetica, and the Sundress Awards. She has been awarded two fellowships at Hedgebrook Colony on Puget Sound.
She founded the Tough Old Broads, a poetry group that included herself, Kathryn Hohlwein, Victoria Dalkey and Annie Menebroker. They performed a memorable reading at Verge Gallery in 2015. Through Cold River Press, the Tough Old Broads issued Tough Enough, a collection of their poetry. (All of them were included in the Landing Signals collection; Menebroker was one of the editors of the project.)
In 1979, Viola was named Woman of the Year by the California State Commission on the Status of Women, in part for her work contributing to the establishment of the Womens Studies program at CSU, Sacramento and a weekly commercial radio program on womens issues. She has also worked in media news and public affairs, serving in the California State Press Corps, including a long stay at the legendary KZAP FM, five years at KTIM FM, and as the inaugural Director of the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography (now housed in the Leica Foundation).
During her days in the Bay Area, Viola was the Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Poetry Showcase, the precursor to LitQuake.
PATRICK GRIZZELL is a poet, songwriter and visual artist. His books include Dark Music, Chicken Months (about which Robert Bly wrote, "... the poems have a sweet spontaneity and tenderness."), Minotaure Into Night (with sumi paintings by Jimi Suzuki), 13 Poems, It's Like That, and the eternally forthcoming The Vignettes.
He was instrumental in the development and publishing of the Landing Signals project, and with B.L. Kennedy edited the audio portion of the anthology.
He was a founding member and previous director of, as well as an editor for, the Sacramento Poetry Center. He founded or co-founder most the SPC publications. He is currently a member of an advisory committee for SPC.
He has published many interviews with internationally noted writers and artists, and writes reviews and essays about literature and art. He was editor-in-chief of On The Wing, an arts magazine, and has written for many other publications.
He has performed poetry and music with, among others, Allen Ginsberg, Leon Redbone, Ed Sanders, Shizumi Shigeto Manale, and Anne Waldman. He studied art and literature at CSUS with Dennis Schmitz, Kathryn Hohlwein, Quincy Troupe, Mary Mackey, Leon Golub, Eugene Redmond, Maya Angelou, John Fitzgibbon, Jimi Suzuki and others.
His band, Proxy Moon, released its premiere CD in 2016. A second is in the works, or so the story goes. John Lee Hooker once said he "sound pretty good" on the dobro.
ANDRU DEFEYE is the current Poet Laureate of Sacramento. His high-energy creativity includes poetry, music, and multimedia performances. Defeye has risen rapidly as a force in the Sacramento arts community, though his reach stretches far beyond. His unorthodox writing and performance style and his infectious positivity have made him a welcome fixture behind microphones around the country. He has received acclaim, awards and recognition from Sacramento to Ghana. Alan Kaufman, editor of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, said that he is carrying on the outlaw tradition.
Defeye served as the Director of Communications for Sacramento cultural institution Sol Collective from 2009-2020. In 2014, Defeye founded Zero Forbidden Goals, a support system for creatives dedicated to innovating arts equity, experiences, and education. ZFGs guerrilla art activations, including National Guerrilla Poetry Month, Chainlink Poetry, and The Intersection have been covered and recreated around the globe. His inventive nature also led to the creation of a floating crap-game of Hip Hop infused Spoken Word called #TheMostOpenMicInTheCity.
In 2020 he released his critically acclaimed Frequency album which was followed shortly after by being named the youngest Poet Laureate in Californias capitol city history, bringing to it a fresh viewpoint and seemingly boundless energy.
SPC CONTACT: admin@sacpoetrycenter.org
ZOOM INFO:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462
Meeting ID: 763 873 3462
Passcode: r3trnofsdv
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Meeting ID: 763 873 3462
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LocationThe Wilkerson Theatre inside the California Stage Complex (View)
1721 25th Street (25th and Rst), Downtown Sacramento
Sacramento, CA 95816
United States
Timezone: America/Los_Angeles Online Access Information https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462
Meeting ID: 763 873 3462
Passcode: r3trnofsdv
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,7638733462#,,,,*4801436901# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,7638733462#,,,,*4801436901# US (Tacoma)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 763 873 3462
Passcode: 4801436901
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdeYu2E1x7
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| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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