On the 9/4/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Yolo County poet Joseph Finkleman calls in to discuss two-voice poems. He describes the process behind these poems, stating that he utilizes the tension between different speakers as a tool in his art making. Finkleman states that he uses dialogic traits, such as the ways couples finish each other's sentences, to inspire his poetic practices. He then shares a poem, “The Sacred Plans of Small Spaces” which was a fan favorite at the Natsoulas Gallery. Laura Renee Frautso is the next guest, and discusses her experience as a returning fellow at Creature Conserve. She describes the interdisciplinary work she does at Creature Conserve, which entails developing the organization's writing community. Frautso also describes the peer-review process that the magazine goes through, which synthesizes what one would expect from a poetry workshop and the scientific referring process. She then describes her participation in the Ohio Chapter of ArtsVote, where she tries to create networks that encourage individuals to vote.

Joseph Finkleman was born in Hollywood California. He graduated with a BFA and a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He has studied literature in German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. He has been a Spoken Word Poet for 30+ years. He and his wife Susan Finkleman have one chapbook of their two-voice poetry Picture Cloud Quilt/ Torn Silk by Rattlesnake Press. They have two CDs of professionally recorded poems. Finkleman is a visual artist, having been in 117 exhibitions spanning the last fifty-six years. In 2023 he finished his first graphic novel Happy Tooth. He has written librettos for chamber opera, A Blank Page and You Who Know.

Lauren Renee Frausto is a poet, editor, educator, and project manager. Her professional background is in motion graphics and publishing, and her academic background is in science literature and science writing. Her current research and creative writing focus on the use of metaphor in wildlife conservation science communication. You can find her writing in Cola Literary Review, Consilience Art and Science Journal, New Plains Review, and Raw Art Review.

The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 9/4/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:
Joshua McKinney phones in to express his gratitude for having won Gunpowder Press’s John Ridland Poetry Prize. He describes the vision and meaning behind the artwork on the cover of his new book Sad Animal. McKinney then shares a sonnet titled “American Idiom” before discussing his schedule as a retired professor. Susan Kelly-DeWitt joins next and shares her praise for Gunpowder Press’s recent publications. She speaks about her longstanding involvement in the Sacramento Poetry Scene. Kelly-DeWitt also talks about the craft of her new release Frangible Operas. She then shares a poem about her upbringing in Oahu, “After the War.” before sharing the intricacies of her writing processes.

Joshua McKinney’s fifth book of poetry, Sad Animal (Gunpowder Press, 2024), was the recipient of the John Ridland Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in such journals as Boulevard, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, New American Writing, and many others. He is co-editor of the online ecopoetics journal, Clade Song.

Susan Kelly-DeWitt is the author of The Fortunate Islands (Marick Press, 2008), Spider Season (Cold River Press, 2016), Gravitational Tug (Main Street Rag Publishers, 2020), Gatherers’ Alphabet (Gunpowder Press, 2022), and, most recently, Frangible Operas (Gunpowder Press, 2024). Earlier collections include A Camellia for Judy (Frith Press, 1998), Feather’s Hand (Swan Scythe Press, 2000), To A Small Moth (Poet’s Corner Press, 2001), Susan Kelly-DeWitt’s Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2003), The Land (Rattlesnake Press, 2005), The Book of Insects (Spruce Street Press, 2003) and Cassiopeia Above the Banyan Tree (Rattlesnake Press, 2007) and an illustrated short story The Audience (Uptown Books, 2007). Her work has been included in many national and regional anthologies including The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (Autumn House Press), When She Named Fire: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by American Women (Autumn House Press), In Whatever Houses We May Visit: An Anthology of Poems That Have Inspired Physicians (American College of Physicians) and Claiming the Spirit Within: A Sourcebook of Women’s Poetry (Beacon Press). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, North American Review and many others. Susan has been the recipient of a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, The Chicago Literary Award from Another Chicago Magazine, the Bazzanella Award for Short Fiction and a number of Pushcart nominations.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Joshua McKinney and Susan Kelly-DeWitt at 7 PM on Thursday, September 5th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/28/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Poet Gabrielle Meyers joins Dr. Andy to discuss her incremental writing habits along with the release of her new release Break Self: Feed. She shares a poem from the collection titled “Spring Agrodolce” and describes the pastoral origins of her collection. She then shares a poem titled “Everything We’ve Ever Loved Must and End Die and Reverse.” The next guest on the show is Carl Whithaus. He joins Dr. Andy in a discussion of the life and career of late UC Davis Lecturer John Boe. They recall John bringing joy and curiosity to the classroom and everyday life of academia through his comedic nature. Dr. Jane Beal is the last guest of the episode. Dr. Jane recounts an early memory of her first interaction with John Boe in London. She and Dr. Andy also recall John Boe’s work as an editor for Writing on the Edge, and describe John as a forebear of the UC Davis University Writing Program. She concludes by sharing a poem called “Perspective” that reminds her of John Boe.

Gabrielle Meyers is a writer, professor, and chef. Her memoir, Hive-Mind, published in 2015, details her time of love, awakening, and tragic loss on an organic farm in the Sacramento Valley. Her first poetry book, Too Many Seeds, was published in 2021 by Finishing Line Press. Break Self: Feed is her second poetry book. Her third poetry book, Points in the Network, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2025. Her poetry has been published in the many acclaimed journals. Meyers is the Farm-to-Fork columnist for Inside Sacramento magazine. Access links to her many endeavors are through her website: www.gabriellemyers.com

Carl Whithaus is a Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of California, Davis. He has served as principal investigator for the journal Splash! milk science update since 2017 and as editor for the Journal of Writing Assessment since 2015. Carl earned his Ph.D. at the City University of New York (CUNY); he has taught at Stevens Institute of Technology, Old Dominion University, and the University of California, Davis

Dr. Jane Beal is Professor of English Literature and recent past Chair of the English Department at the University of La Verne in southern California. She is also a Lecturer in the University Writing Program at UC Davis. She received her BA, MA, and PhD in English with specializations in medieval and early modern literature. She also received a Certificate in Midwifery from Mercy in Action College of Midwifery. She has taught at Wheaton College, Colorado Christian University, and the University of La Verne, as well as UC Davis, and served as a midwife in the U.S., Uganda, and the Philippines. She regularly publishes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Mary B. Moore discusses the conceptual framework of her forthcoming poetry book Amanda Chimera. The collection is about a twin who passed in utero and spends her posthumous life haunting her living twin. Moore shares the title poem “Amanda Chimera” from her next publication. She then pays respect to the recently passed Sandra McPherson and recounts some UC Davis memories from her time in grad school. Cody Duncan is the next guest, and he shares some of his experience working in law, opening his own law firm, and moving back to California to work in tech law. He discusses how his background in music production and coding has shaped his hot takes on Gen AI, IP, and sampling. He raises a point that the legislative protection of intellectual property may restrict potential production and further creative innovations. He also describes the dystopian novel he is working on, The Pane Constant. The episode concludes with Davis artist Thea Johnson sharing some details from her upcoming showcase at the John Natsoulas Gallery.

Mary B. Moore’s forthcoming poetry collection Amanda Chimera, the Arthur Smith Poetry Prize winner, will be out in 2025 from Madville Publishing. Her latest poetry book is Dear If, published by Orison Books in 2022. Poems are forthcoming in POETRY, Artemis and Cider Press Review, and appear lately in Catamaran, Birmingham Poetry Review (BPR), NELLE, Nimrod, Poetic Viva, and South Dakota Review. She received BPR’s 2023 Collins Prize; NELLE’s 2019 Three Sisters Award; several Finalist Awards from Terrain, and the Second Place award in Nimrod’s 2017 Pablo Neruda Prize. Moore is a native Californian who moved to West Virginia to teach at Marshall University. She has a Ph.D. from the University of California Davis in Renaissance literature.

A UC Davis Alumni and former KDVS DJ, Cody Duncan studied at Duke Law where he helped launch a nonprofit privacy research organization, the Triangle Privacy Research Hub, in Durham, North Carolina, before going on to spend eight years working in-house at tech companies, including Lyft, and a global health nonprofit. Most recently, he launched his own law practice, C. Duncan Law, and began writing a dystopian detective novel.

Thea Hudson, an oil painter and multimedia artist, voraciously invents new folkloric narratives populated with fantastical figures. In her two-person exhibition with Genevieve Ryan, Friends are Everywhere, they explore themes of connectedness and platonic love, venturing hand in hand through interactive video art, stained glass, and more with whimsical intensity. Thea and Genevieve both graduated from UC Davis, in 2022 and 2021 respectively

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@andyojones.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Poet Mercedes Ibáñez shares her fondness for the Davis poetry community. She shares how her early life in Peru spawned her poetic aspirations, and how Poetry Nights In Davis have inspired her new work. Mercedes then shares two poems, “The Wolf” and “Celia and Sam,” both from her new book, Poems from the Roof. Jean Biegun then joins to discuss the publication of her new book Edge Effects. Jean describes what an Edge Effect is, the negative effects a plant or animal suffers when a human encroaches on their space. She then shares poems titled “Showdown” and “Limbo.”

Mercedes Ibáñez is a poet and retired psychologist who was born in Perú and who has lived in Davis, California since 1976. The author of five books of poetry, Ibáñez won the National Award in Literature (Perú) in 1971. Ibáñez’s translation of Ezra Pound’s Hugh Selwyn Mauberley was published in 1973. Her 1977 book Caterpillars/Collective was introduced by Kate Millett. 2024 saw the publication of her new book, Poems from the Roof. The mother of two daughters, and a grandmother of four, Ibáñez is a crowd-favorite at the Poetry Night Reading Series at the Natsoulas Gallery in Davis.

Jean Biegun’s poems have appeared in over 40 different journals, anthologies, and art exhibits, even in a state DNR annual calendar and a gumball machine at a poetry convention. Her chapbook Hitchhikers to Eden was published in 2022 and recently Edge Effects in 2024, both by Kelsay Books. The title poem “Edge Effects” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Gyroscope Review in 2022. Work this year has appeared in Ekstasis, Right Hand Pointing, Third Wednesday, Mad Swirl, Unbroken, Davis arts and culture newspaper The Dirt, and is forthcoming in Amethyst Review’s anthology Thin Places and Sacred Spaces.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Mercedes Ibáñez and Jean Biegun at 7 PM on Thursday, August 15th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. If the weather is nice, we may meet on the roof.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@andyojones.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Rhony Bhopla joins in to discuss her feelings after winning the 2024 Pacific University Alumni Association’s Emerging Leader Award. She describes the gratitude she holds for her community that has recognized her for her hard work. Rhony then shares her thoughts on the important intersection of poetry and politics, and delineates ways to approach such rhetoric through the arts. Dr. Andy and Rhony then have a conversation about the many roles an instructor takes on and activism on college campuses. Dr. Andy delivers a brief story about spontaneous guest lectures from when he would teach his students outside before Rhony reads a two-part ecopoetic poem title she had previously read at Poetry Night at the Natsoulas Gallery. Rhony then describes balancing her creative interests, outlets, inspirations and profession.

Rhony Bhopla is a British-Indo American poet, book critic, and visual artist. She is a Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Scholar and a recipient of a fellowship in the Anaphora Arts Emerging Critics Program. She will receive the 2024 Pacific University Alumni Association's Emerging Leader Award. Rhony serves as the Pacific University Vice President of the Alumni Association Board of Representatives, as the Board Chair of Women's Wisdom Art, and volunteers for the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps. She works as a science educator for Sierra Nevada Journeys. She holds a Bachelor in Science in Biological Sciences with a minor in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA in Writing from Pacific University in Oregon.

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Mercedes Ibáñez and Jean Biegun at 7 PM on Thursday, August 15th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. If the weather is nice, we may meet on the roof.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on X at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/31 of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Italian poet Laura Bertolini makes her return to Davis and discusses publishing her book in which she describes the people and experiences from her life in Davis. She then reads a poem titled “Breaths of The Night” in Italian and its English translation. Dave Boles joins to discuss the publication of this year's VOICES anthology. He describes the process of collecting poems for this specific issue to commemorate the late DR Wagner. Tim Kahl dials in to share how he went about deciding to submit a poem to this year's VOICES Anthology. He gives praise for the independent publisher Cold River Press, the Dave Boles press. Vicki Carroll describes how she went about crafting a poem to honor her late friend DR Wagner. She then shares her approaches to her various poetic projects and a poem titled “Nothing Is Perfect.”

Laura Bertolini was born in Cecina, Tuscany, Italy. She lived in Davis from 2009 to 2020. She dedicated a collection to her life in California, published by Mds Editore in 2019. Today, she lives in Italy; she first lived in Tuscany and then moved to Turin. She has won poetry awards both in Italy and abroad. She has published with Italian publishers as well as through self-publishing. Today, she is working on her new poetry book E i sassi e i fiori (And the Stones and the Flowers).

Dave Boles is a Publisher, Writer and Designer. Founder of the magazine Primal Urge, he also created the anthology Voices, which he publishes through his press, Cold River Press. He has published, designed, edited and written numerous books, articles, and periodicals, both nationally and internationally.

Tim Kahl is the author of six books of poems, most recently Omnishambles (Bald Trickster, 2019), California Sijo (Bald Trickster, 2022) and Drips, Spills, Bursts, Tangles, and Washes (Cold River Press, 2024). He is also an editor of Clade Song [http://www.cladesong.com]. He builds flutes, plays them and plays guitars, ukuleles, charangos and cavaquinhos as well. He currently teaches at California State University, Sacramento, where he sings lieder while walking on campus between classes.

Vicki Carroll, a Sacramento native enjoys poetry and the spoken word. She has been involved in workshops at Laguna Creek Valley High Library, and James Lee Jobe’s workshop in Davis, Tuesday night at Ethel Hart Senior Center, Nick La Force Friday afternoon workshop. Vicki has also been featured at Sac Poetry Center and published in Medusa’s Kitchen, Sacramento Voices 2018, and Sacramento Voices 2020-2024. She wrote a chapbook, Half a Chap, Vicki Carroll’s Bakers Dozen, and also joined The Sacramento Storytelling Guild in 2021.

Authors from journal VOICES will be reading on August 1st at the John Natsoulas Gallery to honor and celebrate the life of D.R. Wagner. The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Kater-ina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/24/24 edition of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:

Leanne Schwartz describes how she crafts her emotional, complex, and visceral young adult novels while still hitting her assigned deadlines. She shares a sample from her book A Darker Shore.. Stella Beratlis discusses how her career as a librarian informs her poetic verse, detailing how she often reads obscure reference books to inspire poetic ideas. She argues that poets can use their toolkits to write unique historical fictions, and shares a poem about a founding father of California’s central valley visiting current day Modesto, California. Dave Nachmanoff gives the scoop about his upcoming event at Watermelon Music where he will be playing his first album Candy Shower all the way though, and then reads a sequence of short James Joyce poems.

Leanne Schwartz is the author of the young adult fantasies A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore and the adult contemporary romcom My Kind of Trouble, writing as L.A. Schwartz. When she’s not teaching English and poetry, she can be found baking pizzelle, directing scenes for the student Shakespeare festival, and singing along to showtunes. She lives in San Diego with her family.

Stella Beratlis is the author of Dust Bowl Venus (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2021). Her first collection, Alkali Sink, was shortlisted for the 2016 Northern California Book Awards. Beratlis served as Modesto’s poet laureate from 2016-2020, co-curates a long-running reading series for the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center, and works as a community college librarian.

Dave Nachmanoff is a guitar virtuoso with a doctorate in philosophy, who performed with Libba Cotten as a child, and went on to tour for years with singer-songwriter Al Stewart. After playing thousands of shows from house concerts to the Royal Albert Hall, Nachmanoff has built a loyal fan base and a unique niche as a performing songwriter. SingOut! has praised his “heartfelt, inspired songwriting … with a delivery both biting and assured.” Just Plain Folks honored him with the 2001 Songwriter of the Year award, and his songs have been recognized by many regional and national songwriting competitions. In 2023, Dave began to work with a couple of wonderful musicians called The Usual Culprits from Davis, CA.

The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host is Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on X at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.