Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

Last week, my husband and I spend a couple of days in Yosemite Valley. I have been there several times, but always in drought years, so I especially wanted to see the waterfalls after this epic winter snowfall. They were amazing! Such beauty and power are as humbling as the granite splendor of Half Dome and El Capitan.

In a few days, we’ll be off for another high mountain adventure: touring the Canadian Rockies, then south to Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Tetons, recreating a road trip from 45 years ago. Back then, the backpack up into the Tetons and the drive up the Glacial Parkway to Jasper introduced us to glaciers on a grand scale. Now we want to see these majestic ice-beings before they’re gone. Here’s a photo of one of the many glaciers from July 1978. I’ll try to recreate this image on this year’s drive up the Parkway and report back next month.

Sonoma County Voices of Summer
Shout out to Ed Coletti for bringing together a terrific collection of poets, along with Steve (with two e’s) Shane on bass, at Café Frida last Sunday. It was such a lovely way to spend a summer afternoon!

Ed has a poem “Depriving the Vultures,” just out in the Summer 2023 issue of 2RiverReview.

Sonoma County poet laureate emerita Gwynn O’Gara has a new book, called We Who Dream, just released from Finishing Line Press. I’ve selected the title poem from this collection as the Poem for July, which you’ll find at the end of the post.

Other local authors with new books out include current poet laureate Elizabeth Herron (In the Cities of Sleep), Raphael Block (The Dreams We Share), Rachel Zemach (The Butterfly Cage: A Memoir), Karen Pierce Gonzalez (Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs), Nancy Bourne (Somewhere a Phone is Ringing), and Sande Anfang (Finishing School).

Petaluma writer Donna Emerson’s poem “Sarah Mae” has been awarded an Editors’ Choice Award from the Poetry Center in Paterson, NJ. It will be published in the Paterson Literary Review this summer, and Donna has been invited to read her poem, along with other winners at the awards ceremony in February 2024. Closer to home, Donna will be reading her poetry on Saturday July 22, 2:30-4;00 p.m., along with six other poets from the Marin Poetry Center at the Larkspur Library, 400 Main Street, Larkspur.

You can see the full list of authors with new book or journal publications on the Sonoma County in Print page.

Don’t see your work there? If you are a Sonoma County writer with a poem, story, essay, creative nonfiction, or review newly published in a literary journal, print or online, let’s help you celebrate! Likewise, if you have a book or chapbook coming out this year, send your announcement to editor@socolitupdate.com. 

Upcoming July Events
Alas, I won’t be in Sonoma County to enjoy many of the literary events coming up in July, but I have sampled the calendar, and here are a few that are not to be missed if you’re lucky enough to be home in the weeks ahead.

On Saturday, July 15, at 8:00 pm, J.L. Henker will be a guest on Outbeat Collage, a KRCB (104.9) radio show about LGBTQ arts and entertainment in the Bay Area. She will discuss her short story published in Written with Pride: Stories from Queer Authors, as well as the importance of visibility for artists from marginalized communities. Hosted by Gary Carnivele. Listen to the live stream at www.outbeatradio.org.

On that same day, July 15, 11 am-2:00 pm, the Soroptimists International of Oakmont is hosting Local Authors’ Book Faire. You’ll have the opportunity to meet 20 published authors from Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Sonoma, Healdsburg, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, who will be on site to talk about and sell their books (historical fiction, romance novels, memoir, short stories, poetry, cook books and more). Admission is free. You’ll find this all happening at the Berger Center, 6633 Oakmont Drive, Santa Rosa.

Who are the Soroptimists?
I admit, as I typed the above announcement, I began to puzzle who or what a Soromptimist is. Just for fun, I looked them up online (www.soroptimist.org) and discovered this: They are “a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment.” How cool is that?! Even better, the international organization was founded right here in the Bay Area, (Oakland) about a hundred years ago. How did I not know this? So I did a little more sleuthing online, and gleaned a few interesting facts. For example, the name “Soroptimist” was coined by combining the Latin words soror “sister” and optima “best.” In the years leading up to World War II, Soroptimists worked to assist refugees fleeing unrest in central Europe. I love the fact that our local Soroptimist chapter (Oakmont Wine Country) is supporting the writers of Sonoma County with this free local authors book fair. They seem like a very worthy organization to support.

Napa Valley Writers’ Conference
This year’s conference runs from July 30 through August 4. While applications for the conference workshops are closed, the conference schedule also includes talks by faculty writers, special panels, and readings by the faculty at Napa Valley wineries and these readings, panels and lectures are open to the general public (for a fee). Each daytime event takes place on the Napa Valley College main campus, at 2277 Napa Vallejo Hwy, Napa, CA 94558. Tuesday’s evening event will be held at Silverado Winery.

EVENING READINGS
(McCarthy Library Courtyard, Napa Campus, Napa Valley College)
Sunday, July 30, 6:30 pm – Ilya Kaminsky, Katie Farris & Peter Orner
Monday, July 31, 6:30 pm – Carl Phillips & Katie Crouch
Tuesday, August 1, 6:30 pm – Victoria Chang & Crystal Wilkinson
Wednesday, August 2, 5:30 pm – Brenda Hillman & Lan Samantha Chang
Thursday, August 3, 6:30 pm – Robert Hass & featured participants

DAILY CRAFT TALKS
(Performing Arts Center, Napa Campus, Napa Valley College)
Monday, July 31: 9 am, Brenda Hillman; 1:30 pm Lan Samantha Chang; 3 pm Robert Hass
Tuesday, August 1, 9 am, Ilya Kaminsk; 1:30 pm, Peter Orner
Wednesday August 2, 9 am, Carl Phillips; 1:30 pm, Katie Crouch
Thursday, August 3, 9 am, Victoria Chan; 1:30 pm, Crystal Wilkinson

FREE DROP-IN COMMUNITY CLASSES
(Community room, McCarthy Library, Napa Campus, Napa Valley College)
Monday, July 31 – Friday, August 4: Poetry Encounter with Katie Farris 10:30 am
Monday, July 31 – Thursday, August 3: Guided Reading Class with Caroline Goodwin 4:30 pm

2023 PRICING for public admission
(tickets sold on-site prior to each Reading and Craft Talk)
Individual reading: $20
Individual craft talk: $25
Full week pass (all craft talks and readings): $275
Lectures-only pass (all 9 craft talks): $200
Readings-only pass (all 5 readings): $90
Single-day pass (two lectures and one reading): $65

Wordrunner Press Call for Prose Mini-Collections
The Literary Update’s co-editor Jo-Anne Rosen has put out a call for Wordrunner eChapbooks open submissions. Wordrunner will select one fiction and one nonfiction (memoir) mini-collection for their 2023 e-chapbook series to be published in August and December online and as ebooks. They are looking for emotional complexity and nuanced characters. The submission deadline has been extended to July 15, 2023. For details, see www.echapbook.com/submissions.html.
________

Poem for July

We Who Dream
by Gwynn O’Gara

            my cells, which are my stars. . .
            —Frida Kahlo

Haloed by redwoods, a vulture sky
and plump, comical geese,
the soul-body of Guadalupe shimmers.

North on our backs, around our necks,
in our skin, snuggled in suitcases,
constant in cages, flowing underground.

September’s feathered heat and
bountiful barbeques. Tunneling cold trickles
our legs through the water’s massage.

Girls and boys play-fight for swan, burger
and unicorn floats. Reborn in dream-water,
lovers cradle one another. Kids scream.

Late afternoons a breeze from the Pacific.
Geese gabble in, splash down with cartoon faces.
Without wings we made it. Lost a few. Lost a lot.

Among thorns children, friends, work,
hoodies unzipped with sweat and song,
we who dream know there are no borders.

From We Who Dream, Finishing Line Press, 2023.
Available from Copperfield’s Montgomery Village and Sebastopol and Finishing Line Press
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/we-who-dream-by-gwynn-ogara
________

Terry Ehret, Co-editor
Sonoma County Literary Update