Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

As most of you know, my co-editor and technical genius of the Literary Update has been recovering from pneumonia these past few weeks, and consequently we were unable to provide a March edition. Jo-Anne and I will get this April post to you just as soon as we can.

Dana Gioia at Santa Rosa Junior College
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending SRJC’s presentation of Sonoma County poet Dana Gioia at Burbank Auditorium. Among Dana’s many accomplishments, in addition to his writing, editing, and translating, are his eleven years as chair if the NEA, two years as California State Poet Laureate, and lead administrator for community literary arts programs The Big Read and Poetry Out Loud. In fact, Dana had invited two high school student participants in Sonoma County’s Poetry Out Loud program: Lily Morgan from Santa Rosa High, and Sophia Cortez Torres from Roseland University Preparatory. Each recited two poems they had prepared for this year’s county-wide competition.

Dana was introduced by Steve Trenam, who teaches through SRJC’s Older Adults Program, and also leads Poetic License, which hosts quarterly online readings through Sebastopol Center for the Arts. (Some of you might remember that Steve invited and hosted U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon in the fall of 2022). Dana read and recited poems from his new collection Meet Me at the Lighthouse, as well as poems from his previous books, then took questions from the audience in conversation.

Sometimes while attending one of our many literary events in Sonoma County, I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and good fortune to be living in such a literary community. Dana and I have known each other for almost 50 years, having met at Stanford in the 70s. Certainly neither of us could have known how poetry would guide our lives, nor how our paths would eventually cross. It’s part of the serendipity and synchronicity of life.

The First Sonoma Community Writers Festival April 4
On Thursday, April 4, 2024, Sonoma State University will host the first Sonoma Community Writers Festival from 4 to 9 PM.

The Sonoma Community Writers Festival is a collaboration between English and Creative Writing faculty and students at Sonoma State University, the Zaum literary magazine staff, and various local independent literary organizations. The mission of the festival is to offer more opportunities for the Bay Area literary community to assemble, network and celebrate diverse voices. The festival programming will occur in the Student Center and other locations on the SSU campus, with scheduled readings and panels in both ballroom and classroom environments, as well as workshop spaces devoted to collaborative writing. There will also be a table bazaar for organizations and publishers to promote their services and products.

No registration is required. The festival is free and open to the public.

Sonoma State University is located at 1801 E. Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park. General Parking is $5.00, Reserved Parking in Lot D is $8.00. The passes can be purchased in the lots or at the Parking & Information Center at the entry to campus.

Use this link to see a list of panels, speakers, and readings: https://english.sonoma.edu/community-writers-festival

LitCrawl Sebastopol on April 13th
You’ve heard of pub crawls, both musical and literary. Well, something like that will be happening in downtown Sebastopol on Saturday, April 13, 2024: this year’s LitCrawl Sebastopol, a project of SebArts and the Litquake Foundation. For this one Saturday afternoon, over 119 authors from around the Bay Area will be reading at various locations. Join the fun! Hundreds of readers, writers, and revelers will “crawl” through downtown Sebastopol, listening to readings and celebrating Sonoma County’s spirited and diverse literary community.

LitCrawl is FREE to all.

To check the lineup of readers and schedule of times and venues, use this link: https://litcrawlsebastopol2024.sched.com/

Lit Crawl will conclude with An Evening with Alka Joshi
“10 Years to Overnight Success!”, a benefit for SebArts
6:30pm, 282 S. HIGH ST, SEBASTOPOL, Tickets $25

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, was a New York Times/ LA Times/Publishers Weekly/Toronto Star Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Pick, an Indigo 10 Best books of 2020, and was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Congratulations to Poetry Out Loud State Winner!
Riley O’Hara of Sonoma County is this year’s California Poetry Out Loud state champion. A high-school sophomore from Sonoma Valley High School, the 16-year-old O’Hara took first place in the statewide recitation competition held March 17 and 18 in Sacramento. He will go on to represent the state of California at the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest beginning April 29 in Washington, D.C.

The 2024 State Finals marked the 19th year of California Poetry Out Loud, which encourages youth to learn about poetry through memorization and performance. This year also marked the first time in four years that the program returned from its modified virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic to a live, in-person, two-day event. Students representing 51 counties competed for the state title. A program listing of all 2024 county champions is available here.

O’Hara recited “We Are Not Responsible” by Harryette Mullen, “Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” by William Shakespeare and “1969” by Alex Dimitrov. His English teacher is Travis Beall.

Nominations for Sonoma County Poet Laureate Close on April 29, 2024
Hard to believe, but it’s been almost two years since Elizabeth Herron was selected as our Sonoma County Poet Laureate. In that time, her Being Brave workshops have tapped the power of poetry to open the heart. And she continues to offer these unique workshops—one is coming up at Sebastopol Center for the Arts on April 14, 1-3 PM.

Now it’s time to think about who might be our next Poet Laureate. Nominations will be opening soon for Sonoma County’s 13th Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate is a Sonoma County resident who has demonstrated a commitment to the literary arts in the County. The Poet Laureate often participates in official ceremonies and readings and receives a $2,000 stipend payable in yearly $1,000 increments.

Nominations for Poet Laureate require that the poet be a resident of Sonoma County whose poetry manifests a high degree of excellence and who has produced a critically acclaimed body of work. The nominee must also have demonstrated an active commitment to the literary arts in Sonoma County, must propose and perform a project of their own creation, and must agree to participate in official ceremonies and poetry events.

The public is invited to nominate qualified poets. Information about requirements and application instructions can be found on the Sebastopol Center for the Arts website at www.sebarts.org/poet-laureate.

Napa Valley Writers’ Conference Sign Ups are open until April 22
The deadline to sign up to apply to the 2024 Napa Valley Writers’ Conference Sunday, (July 21 to Friday, July 26, 2024) is April 22, 2024!  Don’t miss your opportunity to study with our amazing 2024 faculty:

Poetry:
Jan Beatty – Jane Hirshfield – Bruce Snider – C. Dale Young

Fiction:
Lan Samantha Chang – Peter Ho Davies – Jamil Jan Kochai – Lysley Tenorio

Poetry & Prose Translation:
Emily Wilson

To apply visit: http://www.napawritersconference.org/attend-the-conference/apply/

Send Us Your Poetry/Short Prose Selections for 2024
In last December’s Literary Update, I announced that starting in January, I wanted to feature more Sonoma County writers in my choice of Poem for the Month. The theme can be anything you feel is appropriate to the season. I’ll repeat the guidelines here for those who missed the previous posts. I’ve adjusted the subject line so you won’t feel limited to sending lineated verse. In fact, prose poems, flash fiction, creative nonfiction are all welcome, as long as the piece you send is no more than a page in length.

Send your submission to me at tehret99@comcast.net, with “SCLU Poem/Prose of the Month” in the subject heading.

Send me just one submission, no more than a page (or less).

These can be previously published, provided you identify the publishing source. If the piece is not your own, provide the author’s name and source. The author should be a Sonoma County voice, and if contemporary, please ask the author’s permission to submit.

Deadline: You can send the submission any time during the month, but I’ll need to receive your submission a few days before the month’s end to give me time to read, make my choice, and contact the author of the piece selected.

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The Poem for April,
in honor of the glorious and plentiful rain we have recently enjoyed, is “Pantoum for Rain Dog.”

Pantoum* for Rain Dog
by Susan Rose Pareto

Dog is bored and restless.
Rain is pouring down.
I’m loath to leave this comfy bed,
but walk we must, says she.

Rain is pouring down,
the road is sodden and feckless.
But walk we must, says she,
up to the woods we go.

The road is sodden and feckless.
The hills are wet and slick.
Up to the woods we go,
Dog barks in great delight.

The hills are wet and slick,
rain drips from leaf and stick.
Dog barks in great delight,
“Water slithering, sliding everywhere!”

Rain drips from leaf and stick.
The gullies run fast and wild,
water slithering, sliding everywhere,
it’s like the earth has burst.

The gullies run fast and wild,
Dog nips at water’s tumble.
It’s like the earth has burst,
she frolics and romps quite madly.

Dog nips at water’s tumble,
gamboling down the hill.
She frolics and romps quite madly,
there’s never been a better day.

Gamboling down the hill,
a whirling dervish made of mud,
there’s never been a better day.
As rain keeps pouring down.

A whirling dervish made of mud.
It’s time to end our walk,
as rain keeps pouring down
my soles and hat are sogged.

It’s time to end our walk.
I whistle loud and firm.
My soles and hat are sogged,
but never has my heart
felt so lithe and light.

*A pantoum is a poetic form derived from a Malaysian verse form in which the 2nd and 4th line of every verse becomes the 1st and 3rd line of the following verse creating interwoven quatrains.

Susan Rose:
Susan Rose writes and lives in rural Sonoma Country after decades of living abroad. She has published in Creative Nonfiction, Geneva Writers Offshoots, Bern Writers Anthologies, Sparks blog, The Persimmon Tree and others. Her upcoming chapbook looks at themes of aging in society. She worked as a professional translator for many years, has two wonderful dogs and a cat that thinks she’s half-dog, and loves her gardening.

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Terry Ehret
Sonoma County Literary Update Co-editor