The event starts at 4 p.m. with a meet-and-greet, followed by a poetry reading at 4:15 with Paul Tayyar, Mifanwy Kaiser, Barua and an open mic. At 6 is a vegetarian supper provided by Rupa and Dibakar Barua, then a musical concert at 7 by two enormously gifted young musicians from India — violinist Indradeep Ghosh and percussionist Mrinal Bhattacharya.

Please come, enjoy, and bring a friend or loved one. To express our appreciation to the musicians for their generous and joyful gift of music, we suggest a voluntary donation of whatever amount is comfortable for you.

RSVP please to Rupa and Dibakar Barua at (949) 361-8761 or dibakarbarua@gmail.com.

May 16, 2013  :  Posted by Mifanwy Kaiser

At least, that's how they're billing the show. Knowing Lee, I'm sure he'll be back again, maybe multiple times. But it's true that he has stepped down as a reading host, and anybody who has taken part in his shows over the years (well, how many Orange County poets haven't at some point?) ought to at least show up Tuesday to pay their respects.

In the meantime, the OC Weekly has done just that, courtesy of a fine piece by Victor Infante in the latest issue. As Victor writes at one point:

While OC was at its most soulless in the late '80s, as the corporate Reagan Youth movement all but obliterated the county's counterculture, Mallory—the author of eight poetry collections—helped to found the Factory Readings in Santa Ana and, later, Poetry At Alta in Newport Beach, readings that long remained part of the county's intellectual fabric.

Click here to read the full story. And Lee, thanks for everything.

May 4, 2013  :  Posted by Michael Miller

The MAVEN spacecraft is leaving for Mars in November. Along with scientific gear and advanced communication technologies, it will be bringing along some poetry. It could be yours.

NASA launched — or, rather, opened — the poetry contest on Wednesday. Anyone 18 or over can enter — or, as the entry form puts it, "Anybody on planet Earth." No Martians allowed.

To enter, write a haiku that is a message to Mars. Haikus, of course, are three-line poems with a specific syllable count — five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five again in the third. Entries must be submitted by July 1.

Read the rest of the story here. Of course, if you want to enter the contest, there is the question of what language Martians speak. But assuming that they're familiar with our tongue, go ahead and submit! You're just representing the entire human race and possibly discouraging an intergalactic attack, that's all.

May 2, 2013  :  Posted by Michael Miller

Two of Gabriella's recent works, "Homage to Watts Towers" and "Prayer for Twelfth Night," can be viewed by clicking here. There's more excitement to come in May, so keep checking our blog for the latest news.

May 1, 2013  :  Posted by Michael Miller

Gabriella Miotto

Gabriella Miotto is a first-generation Italian-American, born in California, and blessed with the good fortune to have known both sets of grandparents. Her life as a family physician has focused on community medicine in California and Alaska, as well as humanitarian relief and development work in Latin America and the Balkans with such groups as PROSECO, the UNHCR and Doctors of the World. Her current interests lie in the realm of the imagination and medicine, how body and psyche can partner with each other for healing through imagery, multicultural wellness body practices, dream-tending and poetry. She is the on the staff at the Children's Clinic in Long Beach. Most recently, she has presented on the topic of the use of poetic imagery in medicine at various U.S. and Canadian universities, and at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Homage to Watts Towers

I hear you shift toward the sun on warm afternoons
and settle back in the chill of evening,
a spiraled labyrinth on a California street.
Do you miss the solitary touch of Sabato Rodia's hands
on your steel core, your mortared antlers,
your mosaicked heart of Malibu tiles and broken glass?
You know, they say you were the muse
that seduced him from alcohol's despair.
And on days when you dance with the wind,
you shed bits of color in his memory.
 

Prayer for Twelfth Night

Call for cardamom,
and with this queen of spices
and milk and honey
steep my heart
that its sound may then
become a murmuration,
one with the songbirds,
moving on and on
into unknown territories,
seasoned and simmered
under winter moon.
Call also for red currants,
and with this berried juice
henna my regrown hands
that they may hold again
whom and what I love.

This is just a friendly reach out to all of you poetry loving folks that if you know of any teens who also love writing and reading their own poetry to let them know there is a fantastic opportunity for them to share their work on stage at the Muckenthaler's Teen Festival next Thursday, April 25th.

The festival starts at 5:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM and is free to the public.  There will be many teen events and activities throughout the festival; the poetry slam will probably start at 6:00 PM.

While it's being called a "slam," participants do not have to feel they need prepare a typical "slam" poem.  Poems do not have to be memorized.  This is a fun and friendly contest.  All types of poems are encouraged to be presented.  There very well could be prizes!!!  Last year there were iTunes gift cards given to winners!!!

Our section reads:

Moon Tide Press is based in Orange County and has quietly been publishing several top shelf poetry books over the last five years, including Tide Pools: An Anthology of Orange County Poetry, Sleepyhead Assassins by Mindy Nettifee, and What We Ache For by Eric Morago. They also host a popular reading series in Fullerton at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center. Their newest book is The Silence of Doorways by Sharon Venezio. Known for her central role in the Valley Contemporary Poets series, this is her first full-length work. Serenading Picasso, Descartes, Sartre and the Grateful Dead, she writes, "A good way to fall in love / is to drive ten miles over the limit / with no seatbelt." Travelling back to the geography of her childhood, she says, "my father is a ghost in my camera lens / collecting variations of light." Venezio constructs a kaleidoscope of daring lyrical images.

Thanks to reporter Mike Sonksen for the mention. Click here to read the entire story!

April 20, 2013  :  Posted by Michael Miller

At 10 a.m., Spillway editor Susan Terris will be reading from Ghost of Yesterday: New and Selected Poems.

Spillway reviews editor Lynne Thompson (pictured) will read from Start with a Small Guitar and Beg No Pardon.

At 10:30 a.m., Gabriel Meyer will be reading from his new Tebot Bach collection A Map of Shadows.

At 4 p.m., Jim Natal will be reading from his just-published Tebot Bach collection 52 Years: The Haibun Variations.

All three readings will take place at the Poetry Stage. We look forward to seeing you there.

April 15, 2013  :  Posted by Mifanwy Kaiser

I had a similar experience yesterday at UCI, where John Gardiner launched his new collection of poetry and prose, Coyote Blues. By the time I got off work at 5 (the same time the reading started), made my way to UCI and found a parking space, John had already wrapped up his performance. Knowing what a dynamic performer John is, I have no doubt that it was a great (and often funny) reading. Too bad I couldn't see it.

But I did get to buy a copy of the book, which John kindly autographed for me. Thanks to Penny Lee at for the photo above. As for Coyote Blues, I haven't finished it yet, but the first few poems, at least, are gorgeous. I look forward to more riches to come.

April 11, 2013  :  Posted by Michael Miller