Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by Trina Drotar

‘Listen to Your Mother’ arrives in Sacramento

2013-05-08T15:26:38Z

On Sunday, May 12, at 7 p.m., 15 local women writers will perform in the Sacramento premiere of “Listen to Your Mother” at the Crest Theatre. A portion of all proceeds will benefit 916 Ink, a local nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing the literacy rate of youth in Sacramento. Bring your mother, sister, daughter or friend and spend a Sunday evening listening to stories of motherhood.

It’s certain that one of the stories presented by these women, who are professional writers or bloggers, artists, homemakers, teachers or office workers, is sure to tickle your funny bone and perhaps moisten your eyes, while each will certainly celebrate the complexities of motherhood.

Since its inception in 2010, “Listen to Your Mother” has expanded from one city to 24 in 2013, and is under the leadership of Ann Imig, the organization’s national director. Each city features local readers. The Sacramento show is being produced and directed by Margaret Andrews and Nichole Beaudry.

Andrews has worked as a software developer and technical writer, and is now the writer behind the award-winning humor blog, “Nanny Goats in Panties.” She is also the author of “Sticky Readers: How to Attract a Loyal Blog Audience by Writing More Better.”

Beaudry performed last year in the San Francisco production of “Listen to Your Mother,” is a former English professor, co-founder of Sacramento Bloggers, columnist for “SheKnows” and the writer of the blog, “in these small moments.”

The cast is diverse and includes KCRA’s Emmy Award-winning journalist, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, who also writes the online Olympic blog, “Deirdre’s Diary.” In addition to Fitzpatrick, Andrews and Beaudry, readings will be presented by Tresa Edmunds, Janelle Hanchett, Jill Mansfield, Penny Manson, Laura Meehan, Stephanie Huang Porter, Kim Prior, Lisa Smiley, Roxanne Stellmacher, Emma Wall, Tonya Wertman and Bridgette White.

Tickets are $20 if purchased in advance or $25 if purchased on May 12.

Book Talk: Akashic, local writers and notable events

2013-05-03T15:58:26Z

Small press focus: Akashic Books

Akashic Books is this edgy press that you may or may not have heard of. Akashic published one of my favorite books of all time, “Ruins,” by Achy Obejas. Their noir series is sure to please fans of noir, and I recommend picking up one of the many titles, perhaps beginning with “Boston Noir 2: The Classics” or delving even deeper into the drug noir series, perhaps with “The Heroin Chronicles.”

You might be asking just how good these books are. Well, with contributors like David Foster Wallace, Joyce Carol Oates and Andre Dubus, how can you go wrong with “Boston Noir 2: The Classics?” This collection is divided into three sections: Broken Families where you’ll find “Night-Side” by Joyce Carol Oates and “Surrogate” by Robert B. Parker; Criminal Minds where Dennis Lehane’s “Mushrooms” and Linda Barnes’ “Lucky Penny” can be found; and Voyeurs and Outsiders with offerings like “Townies” by Andre Dubus, an excerpt from “Infinite Jest,” by David Foster Wallace and “At Night” by David Ryan.

Akashic's series of noir anthologies began with “Brooklyn Noir” in 2004. The series includes anthologies covering Wall Street, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore, Barcelona, Cape Cod, Copenhagen, Delhi, Los Angeles, Miami, Mexico City and even Moscow. No Sacramento on the list. Yet.

In addition to the more traditional noir anthologies featuring works by Joyce Carol Oates, Andre Dubus, David Foster Wallace and many other recognized names, Akashic also publishes its drug chronicles series. Titles include “The Cocaine Chronicles,” “The Speed Chronicles,” “The Heroin Chronicles” and the forthcoming “The Marijuana Chronicles.” These are short literary fiction works that focus on people and place and feature some of the most well-respected and well-known writers, including Sherman Alexie, Beth Lisick and William T. Vollmann.

My copy of "The Heroin Chronicles" was inadvertently borrowed by someone, and I had to borrow another copy from the library. Yep, these books are good.

“American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men” by David McConnell is a true crime book that explores various cases, including one featuring an episode of Jenny Jones and one that includes the arson of three Sacramento synagogues in 1999. Congregation B’nai Israel’s library contents were destroyed. Congregation Beth Shalom and Knesset Israel Torah Center were the other targets of the brothers McConnell interviewed for “Matson, Mowder, and the Williams Brothers, 1999,” one of several pieces included. Each story re-creates the events surrounding the cases.

* * *

On the local front

Local writer and historical archaeologist Glenn J. Farris is the editor of “So Far From Home: Russians in Early California,” published under Heyday’s California legacy imprint in collaboration with Santa Clara University. In this fascinating book, Farris brings together documents dating back to 1768 and extending to 1951 and Fort Ross’s place in the Cold War.

A wonderful read for those interested in California’s history, this book is sure to find a place on any history buff’s bookshelf. Through letters like the one written to Ivan Aleksandrovich, dated Oct. 14, 1808, readers learn that Alexander Baranov, the chief manager of the Russian American Company, plans to “dispatch a hunting party to the coast of the American New Albion with the Company vessels Mirt Kadiak and Nikolai.”

With chapters like “Russian and Kodiak Deserters, Captives, and Martyrs: Bolcoff, Egorov, and St. Peter the Aleut,” “The Transformation of Fort Ross’s Primary Function from Fur Hunting to Agriculture and Light Industry” and “Botanists on Russian Expeditions to California,” Farris opens a part of history that many may not be aware of. Several animal species were named by or for Russians, including the tiger beetle; the Monterey salamander; the Steller sea cow, sea lion and sea jay; the live oak cluster beetle and the bombardier beetle.

Much of the material included in this 368-page book has not been previously published. Farris received assistance from the Fort Ross Conservancy and drew material - including letters, journal entries and reports - from California, United States and Russian archives, providing readers with a different look into California history.

* * *

The last time we met Sacramento writer Norm Schriever, he’d sold all of his possessions and had moved to the tropics to write. Well, he moved, lived, laughed and wrote. The result is his second book, “South of Normal: My Year in Paradise,” published by Sacramento-area Authority Publishing.

The release party for "South of Normal" is scheduled for May 11 from 5 - 9 p.m. at LowBrau, 1050 20th Street.

* * *

The first book has rolled off the new small press at American River College, Ad Lumen Press. The anthology, "Burning the Little Candle" features works by Lois Ann Abraham, Christian Kiefer, Michael Spurgeon, Traci Gourdine and an introduction by Anthony Swofford. The next book, "Let the Water Hold Me Down," by Michael Spurgeon is scheduled to release on July 1. Books by Jason Sinclair Long and Daniel Rounds are forthcoming.

Cold River Press, the sponsor of the ever-popular twice-monthly poetry series, Poetry With Legs at Shine Cafe, has been quite busy at the press. This local small press recently released books by Davis poets D.R. Wagner and Phillip Larrea. Ask for these books, and other small press books, at your independent book store.

* * *

On the event front

Conference time has begun. Actually, it never really ends, but summer's warmer temperatures seem to equate with the cooler indoor temperatures of writing conferences. As you know, the Sacramento Poetry Center held its annual poetry conference in April.

"Our Life Stories" is another local conference that is scheduled for Saturday, May 4 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at Cosumnes River College. This conference is a wonderful opportunity to take workshops from notable writers and poets. Jeff Knorr, the poet laureate of Sacramento, will present "Crafting Your Poems." Satsuki Ina will present "From A Silk Cocoon: Working with Letters, Diaries, Poetry to Tell the Story through Narrative and Film," and V.S. Chochezi will present "For a Live Audience." A full day of workshops, meeting other writers, lunch and materials runs $35 - $40. This is one of the best conferences in town and welcomes writers of all ages and levels.

SummerWords returns this year on May 30 and runs through June 2. T.C. Boyle is the keynote speaker this year, and a host of workshops and readings are available for $95.

The Community of Writers at Squaw Valley has presented workshops in poetry, prose and screenwriting for more than 40 years. This program begins June 22 and runs through July 15. While registration for this event has closed, you can attend several of the public events held in Squaw Valley. Additionally, you can help raise funds for this event by attending the annual benefit reading at Crocker Art Museum on June 21.

* * *

A reminder that May is short story month. Read many short stories this month. You might want to begin with some from Akashic's anthologies or from other anthologies you might have found. Do you have a favorite short story? A favorite short story author?

* * *

If you have book news (new books; author readings, signings, events; or any other book-related items), please email SacramentoBookTalk@gmail.com.

Women working on the railroad presentation

2013-04-20T05:21:26Z

At 1 p.m., Saturday, April 20, Shirley Burman will speak about the history of women in the railroad industry. This event is sponsored and hosted by the SCC Railroad Club and will be held in the Sacramento City College Student Center.

Burman is a documentary photographer and historian who received the Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photograph Award for her “‘accomplishments as a railroad photographer, especially the documentation of women’s contributions to railroading’” in 2012.

In 2013, she received the Hall of Fame Award at Winterail. She is the first woman to receive this award in the organization’s 35 years.

About the award, she said that she hadn’t been thinking about the award because she was busy thinking about her lecture and slide presentation, “Donner’s Journey,” documenting trips to Donner Pass after the 1983 blizzards with her future husband, Richard Steinheimer.

Since 1991, Burman has presented talks and programs at the Smithsonian, the California State Railroad Museum and the Oakland Museum. Her work has been published in “Journal of the West,” “Diesels over Donner,” “Mountain Soul of the Southern Pacific,” “Whistles Across the Land” and in the “Encyclopedia of North American Railroading.” Additionally, she co-wrote a children’s book, “She’s Been Working on the Railroad.”

This event is free and open to the public.

Book Talk: D. A. Powell and the Northern California Book Awards

2013-04-10T03:48:38Z

The Northern California Book Reviewers have shortlisted the books for the 32nd Annual Northern California Book Awards, and D.A. Powell, a Sacramento area favorite, is on the list.

Why does that matter?

Well, he’s also going to be featured in this year’s Festival of the Arts at California State University, Sacramento. On Friday, April 12, from 3 to 4 p.m., Powell will read and hold a book signing at the University Library Gallery.

Powell’s newest book, the one being considered for the poetry award, is “Useless Landscape: A Guide for Boys,” and was published by Graywolf Press in early 2012.

With poems like “Head Out on the Highway,” “The Price of Funk in Funkytown” and “Riverfront Park, Marysville, CA,” Powell presents the between. His ear and attention to language is always careful and appropriate to the poem. There’s also always a little twist.

About Powell, Dr. Joshua McKinney, the event’s host, said:

“To my mind, D.A. Powell has with his last two books assumed his rightful place in the pantheon of California poets—I mean those poets for whom the California landscape (in Powell’s case the Central Valley) and the landscapes of the poet’s psyche, blood, and bone become one and the same. No one captures this terrain—its beauty, futility, and sadness—better than D.A. Powell. He’s a poet whose work draws me back to it often, and I am always humbled and instructed and amazed.”

Other Sacramento area favorites being considered include Lucille Lang Day and her book, “Married at Fourteen: A True Story,” published by Heyday; Art Beck and his translation from the Latin of “Opera Omnia” by Luxorious, published by Otis Books, Seismicity Editions; and Robert Hass and his book, “What Light Can Do: Essays on Art, Imagination, and the Natural World.”

Lang Day’s reading at The Avid Reader a few months ago is still being talked about. If you see her, be sure to ask about the hair. Beck has read several times at the Sacramento Poetry Center, and Hass is the director of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and will return to Sacramento in June to read at a benefit to be held at the Crocker Art Museum.

In the meantime, mark your calendar and make your way out to the University Library Gallery Friday, April 12 at 3 p.m. to hear Powell read from his new, and perhaps older, works.

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

Book Talk: National Poetry Month in Sacramento

2013-04-03T16:04:32Z

If you thought last year’s National Poetry Month celebrations were hot in Sacramento, you haven’t heard about the happenings this month.

Carlos Alcalá kicked the month off at the Sacramento Poetry Center on Monday, April 1, with some light verse.

The Book Collector is offering a generous discount on all poetry books until April 30. Did you know that they have the largest collection of chapbooks by local area poets? Stop by and ask Debbie to show you the collection.

Look at these highlights for the rest of the month. How many events will you attend?

Head to Folsom on Wednesday, April 3, when Verse on the Vine features Indigo Moor.

The Sacramento Poetry Center’s Literary Lectures series continues Thursday, April 4, with William O’Daly and “The Silence That is Great Within Us: The Many Voices of Our Poetry.” If you find yourself in Davis, you might want to stop by the Natsoulas Gallery to hear Joe Wenderoth and Oliver Jones.

On April 8, the SPC 4th Annual Autism Benefit Reading: Poetry and Art at the MIND Institute will kick off with a viewing of art from the MIND Institute (UC Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute), followed by a reading by poets who have a personal connection to autism.

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, April 10, when several area poets, led by Allegra Silberstein, will honor the memory of Patricia Hickerson over at the Shine, part of the Poetry with Legs series hosted by Bill Gainer. This series features readers and open mic opportunities on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Head back on the 24th for another exciting evening.

Bicycling enthusiasts might want to hear Phillip Baron speak at the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame's "tireside chat" on Wednesday, April 10, from 6 - 7 p.m.

On Thursday, April 11, make your way to Folsom Lake College for a 12:15 p.m. reading by Dana Gioia, then grab a bite to eat and make your way to the Crocker Art Museum for U-Nite, two half hour poetry readings by CSUS faculty, students and alumni. This is the kickoff for the California State University, Sacramento’s Festival of the Arts. This event is led by Dr. Joshua McKinney and begins at 7 p.m.

The Festival of the Arts features the winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, D.A. Powell, from 3–4 p.m. on Friday, April 12; Kristen Iversen on Saturday, April 13, from 6:30–7:30 p.m.; and CSUS Professor Emeritus Edythe Haendel Schwartz will read from her new collection, “A Palette of Leaves,” on Monday, April 15, from 3–4 p.m.

The 13 x 13 show featuring artists, poets and musicians associated with the Rattlesnake Press publication, “WTF,” will perform at Vox Sacramento on Saturday, April 13, which is also the date of the Sacramento Poetry Center’s annual poetry conference. Attend that during the day and head to the Vox in the evening.

On April 18, don't forget to stuff your pockets with poems for Poem-In-Your-Pocket Day. You might want to get one of those traveler's jackets or a gardening smock so you have lots of room for small and large poems.

Lee Herrick returns to Sacramento on Monday, April 22, where he’ll share the featured spot with Sacramento favorite, Alice Anderson.

Head to Luna’s Café any Thursday in April for featured poets and open mic opportunities. The Poetry Unplugged series features Sacramento's longest-running spoken word open mic. Rotating hosts provide the opportunity to hear many voices.

Check one of these calendars for additional events in and around Sacramento.

Medusa's Kitchen

SPAM

Poetry in Davis

How will you celebrate National Poetry Month? Who’s your favorite poet? Will you challenge yourself to write a poem a day? How about attend a poetry reading for the first time? Maybe you'll even curb your fear and read one of your creations at any of the open mic opportunities in the area.

If you don't see your favorite National Poetry Month event listed here (remember, these are only some highlights), please add the event in the comments section below.

Most of all, enjoy the month and enjoy and share poetry.

If you're looking for poetry books, please visit our many local, independent booksellers.

Disclosure: I am a Sacramento poet, writer and visual artist who can't possibly know about everything happening in and around Sacramento.

Book Talk: Allegra Silberstein shines 'Through Sun-glinting Particles"

2013-03-27T15:40:49Z

People in the poetry community from here to there are likely familiar with the name, Allegra Jostad Silberstein. She was the first poet laureate in Davis, and she’s been seen and heard at nearly every poetry venue in Davis, Sacramento and points in the four directions.

Through Sun-glinting Particles by Allegra Jostad Silberstein
Parallel Press
ISBN 978-1-934795-38-5
2012, 36 pp.
Poetry – Local Author

This latest chapbook, “Through Sun-glinting Particles,” is one of the best, and dare I say most meditative, collections I’ve read in quite some time. The collection opens, appropriately with “In this moment,” which is where Silberstein keeps the reader through poems about life, about time and about memory. Her poet’s ear for sound finds its way to the page so that readers can enjoy lines like “nautical miles and knots ago / a call comes across an ocean of space / delivered like a sudden rush of hail. . . / now, now, who are you.” This from “Over and beyond the hills I left behind, is only a sample of the way Silberstein creates with language. She incorporates sound in other ways, too, as in “Old Woman With Springtime Eyes,” one of this reviewer’s favorites. This is not a collection to read silently. Silberstein is a dancer, who “pause[s] in hieroglyphics of night, / in the alphabet of dawn.” You’ll find poems about Aunt Delia and Aunt Lil, and for those of you who’ve crossed the causeway and have looked outside, you’ll recall a “Sunday afternoon near the causeway.” If you’ve never crossed the causeway, you’ll surely find meaning in this poem, as well as the twenty-five additional collected poems.

To read this collection is a pleasure, but if you’re like me and want to hear the poet read, make your way to Shine Café at 1400 E Street on Wednesday, March 27 at 8:00 p.m. where Allegra Silberstein will read from her new collection.
* * *

Book Talk: Book sales for your calendar

2013-03-07T23:11:37Z

If you're like me, you enjoy books. You enjoy holding them, thumbing through the pages and, I hope, reading them. Possibly, you also enjoy searching through shelves of used books for those treasures you didn't even know you needed.

Have you been wondering when a really great book sale would come along? Well, now's the time. Check out the listings below and mark your calendars.

Head to South Natomas Sat., March 9 for the Friends of the Library book sale, the first of 2013. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friends may attend the preview sale from 8 a.m. - 9 a.m.

This is a popular sale that offers books in all categories. Bring some bags or boxes for those books you find that you need to add to your collection. This sale usually has a large offering of children's books. Funds raised support library programming and the Lucky Day collections.

Once you've finished there, head up Truxel to Almost New Used Books. Although some of their books are not almost new and might be closer to almost ready for the boneyard, there are some real finds there. This location is closing its doors and is currently offering 50 - 75% off of all books, CDs, and DVDs in the store.

Make sure you leave enough time to head up Truxel and out to Rio Linda to see how that Friends of the Library bookstore has expanded. It is located in a shopping center and has been recently upgraded with new shelving. Lon Lee is the volunteer manager and man behind the freestanding store. The volunteers at this store (open only Friday and Saturday) will make you feel welcome. Children's books, fiction, classics, history and much more can be found at reasonable prices.

When you head back to Sacramento, don't forget to stop by Beers Books and pick up some books. Every Second Saturday, this store offers a discount on their quality books.

You'll want to mark your calendars for Sat., March 16 when you can return to the South Natomas library between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. for the $5-A-Bag Book Sale. This special sale is one day only. Fill a brown grocery bag with as many books as you can fit. Bags are provided.

There are, certainly, many other fine places to locate gently used books, so keep your eyes open and consider a bumper sticker warning other drivers that you stop for books.

If you have book news, books for review, readings or any book-related events, please email sacramentobooktalk@gmail.com with the details.

Book Talk: Cheryl Anne Stapp to visit Time Tested Books

2013-02-26T04:28:30Z

There are so many exciting books being released, especially if you look to the smaller presses, which is what we’re doing today.

“Sacramento Chronicles” by Cheryl Anne Stapp
The History Press
ISBN 978-1-60949-579-4
2012, 144 pp., $19.99
History – Local Author

This newest offering of Sacramento history by Cheryl Anne Stapp is certainly one that those interested in Sacramento’s history (even if you think you already know all there is) will want to add to their history shelf. Sure, you already know about gold discovery, and if you’ve been to Old Sacramento, you’ve likely seen the statue dedicated to the Pony Express, but it’s likely you’ve never read about it the way Stapp tells it.

“Anyone awake in Sacramento at 2:00 a.m. on the dark, rain-drenched morning of April 4, 1860, might have heard the clatter of hooves galloping down J Street as a young, superb horseman named William (Sam) Hamilton sped east.”

If you want to know his connection to the Pony Express and Sacramento, check out “The Pony Express.”

In addition to those fascinating Sacramento tidbits we might already know, Stapp includes a chapter dedicated to agriculture. Yes, the tomatoes are there, but did you know that Sacramento was also a hop producer? Until the mid-1960s? Stapp discusses John Sutter’s role in Sacramento’s agricultural history, and discusses the California State Agricultural Society, which “evolved into the current California State Fair” (after moving through various successor agencies).

The Folsom Powerhouse and all-too-brief overviews of areas such as “The Fabulous Forties,” “Boulevard Park,” “East Park” and “Oak Park” are included. Until reading Stapp’s book, I’d never heard of “The Great Electric Carnival,” and chances are some of you may not have, either.

Stapp covers events like the cholera outbreak, floods and fires, all of which helped to shape the Sacramento we know today. She includes pieces about squatter riots, cemeteries and the Sacramento Valley Railroad.

While she doesn’t begin with John Sutter, he shows up in the first couple of pages, and he is mentioned at various times throughout the book, and closes the book. Stapp includes a bibliography for those of you who, like me, want to know more about some of the topics included.

This is a fun book that doesn’t set out to present a full history of Sacramento. Rather, Stapp offers pieces of history, small glimpses into a Sacramento that many call home and that many may not be familiar with. I wanted to know more about many of the topics Stapp covered, but that’s what the bibliography is for.

* * *
Stapp will discuss her book at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, at Time Tested Books. This event is free and open to everyone.

* * *

Other notable author events this week include poet and novelist Mary Mackey, the winner of the PEN Oakland award. She will read at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, at Luna’s Cafe. This event is free and open to everyone.

* * *
The History Press is a wonderful press that has, since 2004, published over one thousand titles from the East to the West Coast in areas such as American chronicles, heritage, legends and palate; forgotten tales; hidden history; and even true crime.

Each book is written by local history enthusiasts; each book brings history to life through stories. “Sacramento Chronicles” is the third book so far about Sacramento.

Coming soon: a look at Akashic Books, City Lights and many local authors!

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

Book Talk: read local, read small, read more

2013-01-30T07:42:59Z

Did you remember to make your 2013 resolution to read more? It’s not too late, even as January comes to a close. If you did make your list, I have to ask if you added books that aren’t just on the bestseller lists or shelves. And, I really must ask if you included some Sacramento area authors on your list. Like I said, there’s still time.

Did I hear you say that you need some help adding books that aren’t on those top ten or twenty or one hundred lists? You’re in the right place, then. There is certainly nothing wrong with those lists, but there are some mighty fine books in the world that you probably won’t find on those lists or in the big stores. You might find them online, but how will you know what to look for? You also might find them in the many local, independent, area bookstores.

Let’s begin with local authors and how to find them. Check with your local, independent bookstore for local author readings and signings. Beers Books, Time-Tested Books, The Avid Reader (Sacramento and Davis), Logos, Underground Books and The Book Collector have books by local authors. Just ask one of the booksellers. And don’t forget the library. The Sacramento Public Library is home to thousands of books, including books from local authors.

Did you know that your local bookseller and library can assist in obtaining a copy of a book that might not be in their shop? Ask at the front desk. The Sacramento Public Library is a member of the LINK Plus program, and you can obtain many small press books from other member libraries.

Don’t forget to check the websites of these shops, and other locations like The Sacramento Poetry Center, Luna’s Café, Shine Café, Sol Collective, and “Poetry in Davis” for poet and author readings.

The Sacramento Poetry Center is not home only to poetry. For the past several years, Stories on Stage (a fiction reading event featuring the work of area writers and performed by area actors) has presented work on the last Friday of each month.

Live readings and signings provide an opportunity to meet the writers, ask questions and discover new books. These events may also be found on the campus of any number of local colleges and universities. American River College hosted a colloquium last year and presented several readings and the opportunity to study with several writers and poets.

The Sacramento area is home to many writers in all areas of interest. There are poets, historians, and fiction and creative nonfiction writers, not to mention many small presses and literary journals. Each of the colleges and universities has its own literary journal, and these publications are wonderful places to find local (and sometimes not-so-local) writers.

As for finding books that aren’t on those lists, check with your local bookseller and ask about small press publications like Akashic, Heyday, City Lights, Press 53, Zone 3 or Marsh Hawk Press (this is definitely not a complete list) or check with Small Press Distribution. And don’t forget the wonderful university presses.

Need more help? Check this column regularly, ask friends and teachers and discover wonderful new writers and books outside of your usual area of interest.

Look for reviews soon of "So Far From Home: Russians in Early California," edited by Glenn J. Farris (Heyday, 2012), "Boston Noir 2," edited by Dennis lehane, Mary Cotton and Jaime Clarke (Akashic, 2012) and "The Meaning of Freedom and Other Difficult Dialogues," by Angela Y. Davis (City Lights, 2012). .

Additionally, check the local shops for new poetry collections by Frank Dixon Graham (Sacramento) and Allegra Silberstein (Davis) and ask about fiction by Christian Kiefer (American River College) and Valerie Fioravanti (Stories on Stage).

What local authors or small press titles have you read lately?

Rockwell special events at the Crocker

2013-01-09T17:31:27Z

The Norman Rockwell exhibit opened at the Crocker Nov. 10 and will close in less than one month. During its run, several special events have taken place. Perhaps you met Rockwell’s models, enjoyed some concerts, watched the film, “Stagecoach,” or participated in several studio art classes.

The final special events take place this month and begin this weekend with the world premiere of “Big Dreams, Small Shoulders,” a multi-media performance piece based on Rockwell’s painting, “The Problem We All Live With.” Deborah Pittman composed the music and collaborated with other artists to create this piece.

Pittman, a musician and professor of clarinet at California State University, Sacramento who specializes in American musical theatre, was one of the panel members who spoke on Nov. 29 about the creative process and the challenges she and her collaborators faced as they worked to create a piece that combined music, dance, puppetry, narration and projected imagery.

Laura Cook, a local poet, is one of the performers in “Big Dreams, Small Shoulders,” which will be presented on Sunday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. Space is limited for this special performance, so arrive early. Admission runs between $6 and $12.

Also this weekend, the Crocker hosts “The Art of Parenting: Tell Me a Story” where participants will learn the art of storytelling beginning with classic folktales. Mary McGrath taught storytelling at Sacramento City College and currently hosts a local monthly storytelling series. She will teach how to tell stories that are meaningful to children, stories based on visual images or on your own life. This event takes place on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. Space is limited and the cost is $10 to $15.

If you are interested in creating visual art and learning more about Rockwell’s ability to capture the commonplaces of America, then you might want to consider “The Power of Place: Capturing the Commonplaces of America.” This two-day workshop will examine the Rockwell exhibit, teach sketching and painting techniques and give participants studio time to create their visions of commonplace America. This two-day workshop is taught by Kristine Bybee and Jill Pease and costs between $85 and $100.

Check the Crocker website to discover other Rockwell-related events and to confirm dates, times and costs.

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

Book Talk: Haendel Schwartz and "A Palette of Leaves"

2013-01-05T04:42:13Z

A Palette of Leaves by Edythe Haendel Schwartz
Mayapple Press
ISBN 978-1-936419-14-2
2012, 70 pp., $14.95
Poetry – Local Author

This latest book by Davis poet Edythe Haendel Schwartz is a must for artists and poets alike, and is one of the best poetry collections I read in 2012. Beginning with the cover featuring the poet’s art, "A Palette of Leaves" surprised and delighted me. Several ekphrastic poems, beginning and ending the collection with Alice Neel, are spread throughout the three sections. Haendel Schwartz examines subjects like aging, stroke, biopsy and familial relationships, without sentimentality. Don’t confuse sentiment with emotion, and expect these poems to evoke a range of emotions. And, expect to think about each poem. Although the topics may be difficult and sometimes dark, there is always hope. You might, as I did, laugh just a bit at “Help Wanted: Bra Fitter,” but you’ll also recognize its ties to the current economic situation. Haendel Schwartz’s poems are accessible and intelligent, and they never remain in the private realm. These are personal poems, told by many characters, which speak to me as Neel does in “Alice Neel Speaks.” One of my favorite poems, although I’ll admit that it’s difficult to choose only one favorite, is “Suspension,” a poem that addresses how little we know about our parents. Haendel Schwartz’s words here, as in each poem, are carefully chosen and carefully placed, as are her brushstrokes on the other canvas she paints.

Edythe Haendel Schwartz will read from this new collection at the Sacramento Poetry Center at 1719 25th St., on Monday, Jan. 7, at 7:30 p.m.

* * *

Other recent books by local poets include “Three Weeks Before Summer,” by Alexa Mergen and “Window: Selected Poetry,” by James M. Moose.

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

Sacramento self-defense workshops for women Saturday

2013-01-04T19:39:20Z

On Saturday, Jan. 5, Sandy Thomas will teach three separate introductory self-defense workshops for women. In each two-hour workshop, women will learn basic defense techniques that may be used against an unarmed assailant, and each attendee will learn the five weapons every woman possesses and the four offensive target areas on the would-be assailant. Each workshop is appropriate for women of all ages.

The workshops are affordable at $25.00 for each session (only one session is required), and Thomas donates 20% of each fee to the Sacramento Poetry Center, which is where the workshops are held.

Bring a friend, sister, mother, daughter or co-worker and learn some important defense techniques in a fun-filled two-hour workshop.

"Introduction to Women's Self-Defense" will be held at the Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th Street at the following times. Pre-registration is not required.

10 a.m. - noon

1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Please contact wsdstaystrong@gmail.com for additional information.

Editor’s note: Every Thursday we deliver a local event guide straight to your inbox, right on time to make your weekend plans. Sign me up.

Book Talk: Books make great gifts

2012-12-20T20:11:54Z

If you're like many people, you may have forgotten one or two gifts, but never fear. With several shopping days left before Christmas, Book Talk can guide your car to some interesting stops. Maybe you'll even find a gift for yourself.

Books make wonderful gifts, but you don't have to buy the titles listed on the top ten or bestselling lists, and you really don't have to buy those gift books that weigh more than an old-school laptop. In fact, you don't even have to buy new books. Consider shopping at one of the many used book stores in the Sacramento area.

Several are affiliated with various Friends of the Library, including the newest storefront in Rio Linda at 440 Elkhorn Blvd. This store has a special buy-one, get-one free sale through the month of December, and it is open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. There are thousands of new and collectible books from which to choose, with many books priced less than $1 each. Proceeds benefit children's programs at the Rio Linda library.

The Friends of North Natomas Library and the Friends of Belle Cooledge Library also sponsor freestanding book stores, and these are inside each library so hours are based on library hours. They each offer a wide selection of gently used books and other gift items like book bags.

The Book Den is the main friends of the library store for the Sacramento Public Library. In addition to its wide selection of books, The Book Den offers a room with hard-to-find treasures. Located off the grid at 8250 Belvedere Avenue, it's worth the drive. The store is open Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Stop by your local library branch and check its selection of sale books. You never know what you'll find.

Other stores that benefit causes include Sacramento's SPCA store where you might find a selection of mysteries, literary journals, fine art books or that special book you've been searching for. If you're in Davis, you'll want to stop by the Yolo County SPCA store where you're likely to find classics, fiction and a large selection of children's books. Logos Books, a not-for-profit used book store, in Davis carries a wide range of topics from local history to art and mythology to philosophy.

Sacramento is home to several used book stores. Among them are The Book Collector, which has a 50% off sale this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21, 22 and 23, on most used books. If you're looking for regional poetry, history or art, then this might be the first of three stops. From here, you can walk to Time Tested Books where you'll find a turn-of-the century buiilding housing a wide range of books plus vinyl records. Your final stop should be Beers Books on S Street.

Beers Books is the oldest Sacramento book store, having opened in the mid 1930s. Some of the highlights include books on cd and old radio shows; California history; philosophy, including Eastern philosophy; comic books and graphic novels; Native American literature, culture and history; and Western Americana. You'll also find the classics and new titles. Beers is open Thursday through Saturday until 8 p.m.. If you shop between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday evening, you can save 10% off your purchase. If you stop there any open weekday between noon and 1 p.m., you can also save 10% off your purchase.

Happy shopping!

Book Talk: Lucille Lang Day at Avid Reader

2012-11-30T05:44:35Z

On Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m., Lucille Lang Day will read from her new book, “Married at Fourteen: A True Story,” (Heyday 2012) at The Avid Reader, Sacramento. Poet, author, recipient of several awards, including the Joseph Henry Jackson Award for her first book of poetry, Lang Day also holds degrees in English, creative writing, zoology and science and mathematics education. Her work has been widely published, most recently in “Tule Review,” a publication of the Sacramento Poetry Center. Joining her will be Sacramento poet and artist, Susan Kelly-DeWitt.

* * *

“Married at Fourteen: A True Story” by Lucille Lang Day
Heyday
ISBN 978-1-59714-198-7
2012, 333 pp., $16.95
Local interest, memoir, poetry

Let me begin by saying that I am not a fan of memoir. Now let me say that this is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time, memoir or otherwise. Being a fan of the first line, I was engaged from the start. “I own a switchblade knife. It has a black plastic handle with two brass buttons.” And I remained with the book until the end, which, by the way, is a poem.

Not only did I remain with the book until the end, I brought the book with me to appointments, to class, on the bus, to the store. A bit large for my pocket, but it fit snugly under my arm. It's smart, serious, witty and complex. Photos are woven throughout the text, adding another layer of complexity to the many stories contained within.

While the title might conjure the idea that we are to embark on a journey of woe, this is certainly not the case. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It is the story of one woman’s determination during a time when there were different expectations of women. It is the story of love, loss and much joy. And a lot of escapades along the way.

You might cry, and I dare you not to laugh. If you’re like me, you’ll encourage her when she decides to go to college. And you'll get angry when obstacles arise, and you'll cheer the way she maneuvers around each potential block. You might remember Chicken Delight, having to dial the operator in case of emergency (she reminds us that 911 had not yet been invented) and motorcycle gangs. Then again, you might not.

Within each finely crafted page, you’ll discover how one young woman went from searching for a husband at the tender age of twelve to spending time with bikers, and you’ll discover how she went from high school dropout to holding several advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. in science and mathematics education.

Meet the many men who entered and left her life. There was Mark whose response to her telling him she’d reenrolled at the Oakland Adult Day School was “‘I feel betrayed. Before we got married, you said you wouldn’t go back.’” Instead of taking care of their daughter, he’d call her a bad mother and bad wife. When she told him she wanted to be a scientist, he said, “‘That’s ridiculous! Women aren’t scientists.’” Fortunately, she paid him no attention.

There's Gil. John. And there's Bob who took her to the biker party, even though he didn't think it was a good idea. And there's Birdman who asked her to be his woman, to be an Angelette. And there's the way she handled Birdman when he showed up at her house. We can't forget Pierre, the tour guide.

This is not a simple story, nor is it a singular story. While the narrator's quest for a husband drives the story forward, it is her determination to finish her education and her desire to write that parallel that quest. The narrator’s voice is strong and sure, and it is clear that Lang Day respects her audience, and as a reader, I respect her.

* * *

The Avid Reader is located at 1600 Broadway, Sacramento, and the event is free and open to the public.

Deborah Pittman to speak about 'Big Dreams, Small Shoulders'

2012-11-29T03:50:36Z

On Thursday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 pm.Crocker artist-in-resident and musician Deborarh Pittman will discuss the original performance piece, "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders," based on Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With." Pittman composed and collaborated with other artists on this project that will have its world premiere at the Crocker Art Museum on January 13, 2013.

Thursday's discussion will be an interactive panel discussion where Pittman and the other artists will discuss their creative process and challenges. They will also present scenes from "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders," and they will answer audience questions.

Space for this Thursday's 'til 9 event is limited, so arrive early.

Pittman is Professor of Clarinet, specializing in American Musical Theatre, at Sacramento State. She has spent the past year as an artist-in-residence to create "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders," which includes music, dance, puppetry, narration and projected imagery.

This is one of several events connected to the special exhibit, "American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell," which opened Nov. 10 and closes Feb. 3, 2013.

Book Talk: Sacramento Room welcomes 'Weinstock's' author Annette Kassis

2012-11-27T03:57:57Z

On Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 6 p.m., Annette Kassis will discuss her book, “Weinstock’s: Sacramento’s Finest Department Store,” (The History Press, 2012) in the Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library at 828 I St.

“Weinstock’s: Sacramento’s Finest Department Store” is the second book from The History Press, based in Charleston, S.C., about Sacramento history. The first, released earlier this year, was “Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born” by Sacramento author and historian William Burg.

Unlike other history-based books, the History Press does not focus primarily on visuals. While photos certainly enrich the text, the focus is on the text, the writing, and that is what sets the History Press apart from other books in this genre. While there are many books about Sacramento, and there are books about different areas within Sacramento, there hasn’t been, to my knowledge, books as locally focused as Kassis’ “Weinstock’s: Sacramento’s Finest Department Store” and Burg’s “Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born.”

Although I did not have the opportunity to shop at Weinstock’s, the name is familiar to me, and my interest was piqued. Below, I’ve reviewed both books, and I highly recommend these as gifts for people interested in local history.

* * *

“Weinstock’s: Sacramento’s Finest Department Store” by Annette Kassis
The History Press
ISBN 978-1-60949-444-5
2012, 142 pp., $19.99
Local interest, history

Annette Kassis’ book “Weinstock’s: Sacramento’s Finest Department Store” is sure to be a hit with people interested in Sacramento, California and department store history. While Weinstock’s was familiar to me, it was only in relation to the Emporium name in the San Francisco area, and since San Francisco has often been the place for the big-name stores, I was fascinated by the impact Sacramento had in this area. As Kassis points out in her introduction, while the name was familiar to many, few knew “how Weinstock’s came to be, and most did not realize the department store was a homegrown business with its roots deep in post-gold rush Sacramento.”

If you don’t know the history of this magnificent store and the players involved, this is the book to read. The story opens with “David Lubin’s first store expansion began with his arrest,” in the first chapter, “D. Lubin, One Price, 1874-1891.” Of course, I had to read further to find out why he was arrested (no, I’m not telling). Throughout the book, Kassis provides short narratives about the people who built Weinstock’s, the struggles and “the beautiful 1891 department store” that suffered through flood and was burned to the ground in a matter of hours in 1903. Some of the most interesting tidbits are the small fire company that tried to battle the fire and that The New York Times ran the story. Today, with the Internet, that might not seem like such a big deal, but in 1903, it was. Another thing that Sacramentans will notice is that fire may destroy structures like playgrounds, or in this case, Weinstock’s, and Sacramentans rebuild.

Indeed, you’ll learn in Kassis’ book that this department store had several lives, and the construction is fascinating, but don’t forget the story of Lubin, who left the day-to-day operations of the store, but continues throughout the book in another capacity. He is a fascinating person. Who would have thought to connect Sacramento with Paris fashions? Kassis covers WWII and a protest ad against a lynching photo on the front page of the Sacramento Bee. Discover when “a new era in retailing had begun in Sacramento” and how elegant this department store had become, and it’s possible that you might recall the store’s Youth Center and its milk bar. Some will recall Weinstock’s at Arden Fair Mall, and many will recall the consolidations and the loss of the name that had been part of Sacramento’s history for more than one hundred years. This book has it all – history, intrigue, interesting characters, and you’re sure to laugh, wonder and even shed a tear.

* * *

“Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born” by William Burg
The History Press
ISBN 978-1-60949-425-4
2012, 142 pp., $19.99
Local author, local interest, history

William Burg is a local author and historian who does a wonderful job of covering the history of K Street. He brings history to life through his writing and the narratives, biographies, quotes and essays about people and businesses that have populated K Street in some form. Love it or hate it, K Street, as Burg writes, “reflects their opinion of Sacramento as a whole.”

Burg, in his introduction, reminds us that “K Street begins at the Sacramento River and ends at Thirty-First Street, Sacramento’s original city limit,” something that many, in 2012, may not realize. “K Street,” he continues “is a street that functions solely within Sacramento’s urban core.” Burg also notes that K Street is “divided into segments,” and provides their descriptions. Beginning with “Embarcadero,” Burg reminds us that this land “was inhabited by the Nisenan (or Southern Maidu),” and about early businesses, the Sacramento Valley Railroad and fighting slavery. Yes, a fight against slavery on K Street.

Throughout each chapter, you’ll find biographies, history and snippets from people like Lincoln Steffens, who recalled Sacramento as a “center for ranches and mines.” In “Raising K,” Burg reminds us that flooding has long been a concern for Sacramento, and you’ll find information about Sacramento’s Chinatown and the Central Pacific Railroad. Similarly, through each remaining chapter, “Progress and Prosperity,” “K Street Jazz,” “The Sacramento Scramble” and “The Shadow of the Alhambra,” you’ll find treasures about this city that nearly half a million people call home, a city that draws people from other parts of California or the country, and a city from which people leave and return to. You’ll discover Japanese jazz, moviemaking, elegant hotels along K Street, Santa’s arrival by helicopter and many businesses that no longer exist. You’ll learn about Sacramento history through the history of K Street. Burg’s writing is clear and interesting, and his passion for Sacramento history and K Street shines.

* * *

Both books will make a wonderful addition to any personal library, and will make wonderful gifts. Since much of Weinstock’s history takes place on or near K Street, these books are likely to be great companions.

Book Talk: Mary Mackey wins the Pen Oakland award and reads at the Sacramento Poetry Center

2012-11-24T16:21:06Z

Mary Mackey will receive the PE N Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature for her 2011 book, "Sugar Zone," on Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Oakland Public Library, Rockridge branch. The public is welcome at the event which runs from 2 – 5 p.m. and includes a reception and book signing.

Mackey will be closer to home in Sacramento on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. for a reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center. She’ll likely speak about the upcoming award that she says is “one of the best things that can happen to a writer in terms of being acknowledged as a serious writer, as a contributor to American literary culture.” And she'll read from her collection, "Sugar Zone."

Mackey released her book, “Sugar Zone,” (Marsh Hawk Press) in 2011, and it was short-listed for the Northern California Book Awards earlier this year. It is this book, which blends Portuguese and English into a collection of poems that can be enjoyed on several levels, that won her the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award.

She has travelled to Latin America every year since she was twenty-one, and for six years, she lived on and off in the rain forest, and she has travelled to Brazil, about which she spoke.

“Brazil is becoming a major player in the world, economically,” she said. They produce ethanol in very large quantities. They are fuel and food efficient, and in last eight years they cut the desperate poverty rate from 38 to 16 percent.”

Brazil is the setting of the poems in “Sugar Zone,” and Mackey is the guide for her readers. Her ear for language, and her ability to place Portuguese and English side by side add a richness that make this collection one to return to. The poems should be read aloud, to hear the beauty of the sound, and Mackey will certainly read from this book at her appearance at the Sacramento Poetry Center on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

The Sacramento Poetry Center is located at 1719 25th Street., Sacramento, CA, and the event is free.

Rockwell chronicles America at the Crocker

2012-11-13T18:21:18Z

The long-awaited exhibit, “American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell,” has opened for a nearly three-month run at the Crocker Art Museum. Four years of planning have resulted in a fabulous exhibit, organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachuset, that includes many familiar pieces, such as “Girl at Mirror” and “Problem We All Live With,” and also many pieces that show Rockwell beyond the familiar role of illustrator.

“Murder in Mississippi” is one of those pieces. At the preview event, this writer noticed several moist eyes from attendees who were moved by the painting that depicts three men in a barren, sepia-colored landscape littered with rocks. To the right, shadows stretch into the painting, and the standing man looks toward those shadowy figures. The red on the dying man’s clothing draws attention to the figure and draws the eye into the painting.

Rockwell created this painting in response to the 1964 disappearance of Michael Schwermer, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. Rockwell spent considerable time on this piece, as he did with his illustrations, and his typed and handwritten notes that accompany this painting speak about the accuracy he desired to achieve in his portrayal of what might have happened to these three young men. Also accompanying this part of the exhibit are preliminary sketches, drawings and letters reacting to the publication of the image.

Throughout the exhibit, people will find many pieces that they will connect with. Family gatherings, Boy Scouts rescuing little girls, family trees, young girls considering womanhood and the WWII war bond posters reflecting the four freedoms: freedom of speech, of religion, from want and from fear. In these paintings, Rockwell illustrated abstract concepts and told visual stories.

Many paintings in this exhibit are from Rockwell's personal collection and chronicle both America and the artist's life and art. Spanning fifty-six years, the paintings begin with the 1914 Daniel Boone interpretation and end with the 1970 Christmas Eve in Bethlehem portrayal witnessed by American tourists and armed Israeli soldiers.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the accompanying family guide that includes a short biograpjhy, some ways of looking at art, activities to encourage you to try your hand at illustrating difficult concepts and more.

The exhibit officially opened on Saturday, Nov. 10, but Crocker Art Museum members were invited to a special preview on Friday, Nov. 9. During that preview, members received special guided tours of the exhibit, which includes 321 of Rockwell’s original "Saturday Evening Post" magazine covers. Some heard Laurie Norton Moffatt, the director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and noted Rockwell expert, speak about several of the exhibition pieces and provided attendees with a Rockwell many might not have been familiar with. Additionally, those in the museum in the afternoon were able to hear members of the Straight Out Storytellers participate in an ekphrastic storytelling event.

Several events are scheduled to accompany this exhibit that closes on Rockwell’s birthday, Feb. 3, 2013, including concerts, discussions, films (Did you know that Rockwell appeared in the film “Stagecoach” and painted 20 oil portraits of the starring actors and the movie poster?) and the world premiere of “Big Dreams, Small Shoulders” by musician and Sacramento State professor Deborah Pittman, a Crocker artist-in-residence. There are events for all ages scheduled, and this exhibit is one not to be missed.

Visit the exhibit and see Rockwell’s work for the first time, consider the stories he told, revisit his work, ask how far we’ve come and see if you can locate his art influences and mentors. As both illustrator and fine artist, Rockwell’s works will surely bring a smile or a tear and they'll always present topics for discussion.

Upcoming related events:

Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. - concert with Joe Gilman

Thursday, Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. - panel discussion on "Big Dreams, Small Shoulders"

Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. - backstory: meet Rockwell's models

The Crocker Art Museum is located at 216 O Street, Sacramento, CA and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information, visit crockerartmuseum.org.

Book Talk: Let’s have a Heyday with Masha’allah and Other Stories, California Glaciers and find ourselves Wherever There's a Fight

2012-10-23T03:59:46Z

Heyday is local. If you haven’t heard of this press, now’s your chance. Several books and book events are taking place in Sacramento, Davis and Oakland, the latter being the setting of Mariah K. Young’s debut story collection, “Masha’allah and Other Stories.”

* * *

“California Glaciers” by Tim Palmer
Heyday
ISBN - 978-1597141741
2012, 128 pp., $29.95
Local interest

There are several local events tied to the release of this book of photographs and words that capture the beauty and power of California’s last glaciers. Palmer spent spring, summer and autumn of 2010 among his subjects, and this book is a tribute to these disappearing glaciers.

On Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. both days at Sierra College, Tim Palmer will unveil his book, “California Glaciers.” Sierra College professor Dick Hilton will present “How the Sierra Obtained its Beauty” on Friday evening, using a lecture, graphic illustration and photographs. Palmer will be on hand Saturday to lecture. A reception and book signing will follow.

Palmer will visit The Avid Reader in Davis on Monday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m., where he will present a slideshow and sign copies of his book. On Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m., Palmer will visit The Avid Reader in Sacramento, present a slideshow and sign books.

* * *

“Wherever There’s a Fight” by Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi
Heyday
ISBN - 978-1597141147
2009, 498 pp., $24.95
Local interest

“Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California,” by Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi, is just as fresh today as when it was first released by Heyday. It is the perfect book for people interested in history, especially the history of fighting for rights. This book begins with a look at early California law, then moves to the rights of immigrants and workers, racial equality, women’s rights, dissent and free expression. Included are chapters on religious freedom; the rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people; and the rights of people with disabilities. Chapters on criminal justice and the removal and incarceration of people during World War II round out this fine book that should be given space on any shelf. Listen to the voices of those telling their stories, see the photos of those within the struggle, and consider how their fights have impacted your life.

Meet the authors at two Sacramento events this week. On Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m., Elinson and Yogi will discuss the book at the Sacramento Public Library, 915 I St., Sacramento, CA. On Oct. 27, at 2 p.m., Elinson will present a discussion on the suffrage campaign at the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library, 7400 Imagination Way, Sacramento, CA.

* * *

“Masha’allah and Other Stories” by Mariah K. Young
Heyday
ISBN – 978-1-59714-203-8
2012, 216 pp., $15
Local interest

Mariah K. Young’s collection of stories set in Oakland, “Masha’allah and Other Stories,” is easily one of the best collections I’ve read from a contemporary writer in quite some time. Young’s first book takes the reader into places where many have not wandered: a marijuana grow room, empty houses where a woman sets up temporary styling salons and a spot beside someone waiting for work with other day laborers. In Young’s finely crafted stories, the reader has the opportunity to care about the many characters. Meet Mr. Felix, Dylan, Enzo, and Londell in "Mr. Felix." And stand beside Felipe, Nestor, and the narrator who collects identities like someone in the suburbs might collect porcelain or bells or little dogs. In "One Space," Young uses the second person, placing the reader squarely in the middle of the story, so the reader can feel the texture and temperature of the concrete.

"You stand against a concrete building, close enough to the corner that should a work truck come along, you won't have to sprint to wave the driver down, only jog."

Young writes with the language economy of a poet. Read each story slowly. Read each word. Young clearly trusts her readers, and it is equally clear that she respects her readers, as in this passage from "Studies in Entropic Beauty."

"There was a bag lady that stayed in one spot in the park that I could see from my bedroom window . . .Edina and Brittany had come over to my house, and I showed them that sweet old lady. They laughed and pointed to a little dirt path into the bushes, just beyond where the bag lady was camped. I heard voices and saw a lighter flash beyond the wall of leaves."

While each story takes place in East Oakland, the stories are all different, and the characters are different. And their experiences are different. They all desire something better. And they deserve better. These are stories about the characters, about their lives on the edge of the dominant culture; an excellent book for short-fiction writers in any area to read, to read again, to study. Buy a second copy to mark the way Young uses language, the way she says so much in so few words. She’s captured the speech patterns, knows the terminology, and this reader never failed to believe. Buy copies for friends and relatives. If you’re looking for the happy ending, the happily ever after, you’ll not find it in this collection. What you will find, however, are tightly crafted stories about people who exist in East Oakland (and maybe here in Sacramento). These are not stories without hope.

Mariah K. Young is the recipient of the first James D. Houston Award, and she will be reading from her collection at Diesel Books in Oakland on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, at 3 p.m., at the official launch party for this fine collection.

Coming Soon: Mary Mackey on electronic publishing, local poets Alexa Mergen and James Moose, and more books from Heyday.

CLA to present "Fundamentals of Fundraising for Arts Organizations"

2012-10-23T02:14:43Z

“Fundamentals of Fundraising for Arts Organizations” will be held Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, in two different sessions. The first focuses on people new to fundraising, and runs 9-10:45 a.m. The second focuses on more in-depth tools for established organizations, and runs 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Both sessions will be held at United Way, 10389 Old Placerville Road, Sacramento, CA.

Allison Cagley, a 25-year veteran in the nonprofit sector, will lead each session in helping arts organizations learn various methods and sources for fund development. The sessions will help arts organizations begin to create a stable funding base so that they are not dependent on only a few types of support.

Members of local arts organizations may attend one or both sessions, and may register online at www.calawyersforthearts.org or by phone at 916-442-6210.

“Fundamentals of Fundraising for Arts Organizations” is presented by the California Lawyers for the Arts, hosted by United Way and made possible in part by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Cultural Arts Award, the County of Sacramento, the National Endowment for the Arts and sponsors and members of California Lawyers for the Arts.

Book Talk about bookstores and author events

2012-10-09T22:45:47Z

There is almost nothing better than looking over the shelves of books on topics as far-ranging as a memoir about a former doctor who saved a cat by climbing atop a fire truck in the middle of a busy parking lot and nearly getting arrested to books on how to finish your deck, with or without the hot tub, to novels with shirtless guys on the front or those wonderful classic shorts that Murakami never writes.

I love bookstores. I love small bookstores and large bookstores and those in-between. I look for bookstores in every city I visit. I’m not alone. There are people, and you know who you are, that plan their vacations around the opening of bookstores.

Speaking of new bookstores, there’s a new one opening soon in Rio Linda. Yes, Rio Linda will have an official bookstore, and what better type of bookstore than a Friends of the Library store.

The new store will be housed at 440 Elkhorn Blvd., Suite #7, Rio Linda and will open with hours on Friday and Saturday, 1-6 p.m.

Lon Lee has been working on this project for about 10 months, and is excited about the Oct. 13 grand opening. The store will be open that day 1-8 p.m., and will offer patrons door prizes, refreshments and “thousands of books, movies and music for sale,” said Lee.

When asked in an interview for the Friends of the Library newsletter about what will make this a great place to shop, Lee said that there will be “great prices on books, a wide selection to choose from and more books added weekly. Most of our books will be less than a dollar each. We will have monthly door prizes and special sales (and) offers. Anyone that purchases $20 or more of items will receive a one-year membership to the Friends of the Rio Linda library, and anyone with a current FOL membership card will receive a 10 percent discount on purchases at our store. Also, proceeds from the nonprofit store will be used to support the children’s and adult programs, and to purchase books and materials at the Rio Linda Library.”

Lee has also set up a Facebook page for the store, where more information and updates can be found.

As a frequent shopper at both library book sales and stores, I can say that you never know what treasure you might find.

Lee says that the store is still accepting donations as well, and will consider any gently used books except Reader’s Digest condensed books and encyclopedia sets.

I look forward to seeing you at the new Rio Linda Friends of the Library bookstore during its grand opening on Oct. 13 from 1 - 8 p.m..

* * *

Local author events of note:

Time-Tested Books is presenting several book releases beginning this Thursday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m., with Bruce Holbert.

Holbert's debut novel, Lonesome Animals, has received praise from the Seattle Times and Publisher's Weekly, and is included on reading lists throughout the country. Holbert grew up at the foot of the Okanogan Mountains just east of the Cascade Range, the same country found in his novel.

Holbert graduated from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop and the University of Eastern Washington. His work has been widely published, and he'll read, answer questions and sign copies for attendees at the 7:00 p.m. event.

Other upcoming author events at Time-Tested Books include Oct. 18 with Steve Roby who will discuss his book, Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix, and the Oct. 25 launch of Garbage Night at the Opera, a collection of stories by Stories on Stage host, local writer and teacher, Valerie Fioravanti.

* * *

New anthologies are out from the Sacramento Poetry Center and include the Fall 2012 edition of Tule Review, featuring works by local poets JoAnn Anglin, Lytton Bell, Frances H. Kakugawa, and local favorites Connie Post, Gillian Wegener, and J.P. Dancing Bear. Check their site for the release and reading party.

The much-anticipated anthology, Late Peaches: Poems by Sacramento Poets, will celebrate releases on Oct. 18 at the Rancho Cordova Library, on Oct. 20 at Antiquite Maison Privee, and on Nov. 8 at the CSUS Library Gallery. This collection features the work of 117 local poets including Sandy Thomas, Geoff Neill and Anna Marie Sprowl.

One weekend and a world of dance

2012-10-02T05:16:49Z

As part of the Sacramento World Music and Dance Festival, Three Stages’ Executive Director Dave Pier said that he wants “to provide three distinct looks at the diverse dance talent of California,” and said that dance events provide an “excellent opportunity for families to experience a wide range of dance over one exciting weekend.” And what a weekend it will be.

Begin Friday evening, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. by attending the Lula Washington Dance Theatre program, which includes Global Village, We Wore the Mask and The Healers. Global Village premiered in China in 2011, and features the Afro-beat of Nigeria’s Fela Kuti and pulls from African, Chinese, Native America, Brazilian, Russian and African-American movement idioms for a 16-minute celebration of cultural diversity.

The Lula Washington Dance Theatre was founded in 1980 in South Los Angeles, and is composed of athletic young dancers in the tradition of Alvin Ailey and African-rooted dance. The company is committed to reflecting the African-American experience through movement. Lula Washington is both founder and principal choreographer, but others, including current and former dancers, also choreograph some dances. Blending modern dance with hip-hop, jazz, African influences, ballet, performance art, acting and singing, this company is sure to excite. If you’ve never experienced dance as a language, begin with Lula Washington Dance Theatre’s event Friday evening.

Also Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. is the first of four performances by Danza Floricanto/USA presenting “Alma Llanera — Spirit of the Plains,” a 90-minute dance work inspired by Rudolfo Anaya’s classic novel, “Bless Me, Ultima.” Gema Sandoval and the 14-member company explore a young boy’s rite of passage into manhood, the straddling of two cultures and the importance of the values that span our cultural divide. Sandoval blends traditional Mexican folk dance, indigenous, African-influenced movement and contemporary movement, and tries to expand world dance by imbuing it with a social and political conscience.

In an earlier statement, Sandoval said, “This program is Floricanto's evolution into a more personal vision of dance, informed by over three decades of exploring folklórico and my sensibility as a woman of color living in Los Angeles at this critical point in time.”

In existence since 1975, this company is the oldest existing professional Mexican folk dance troupe in Southern California. The troupe has recreated the movement, costume and song of 17 different regions of Mexico, including Aztec ritual and fiestas of contemporary Jalisco, and over half a dozen works on the Chicano experience, which celebrate cultural identity for the Mexican-American community and the immigrant experience for the rest of America.

Save Saturday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m., for the Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company’s “Dynasties & Beyond,” a program that will meld ancient Chinese forms with modern dance. Audience members will view spectacular court dances of Chinese dynasties and contemporary works fusing classical Chinese movement, modern dance and ballet. Unique costumes and original music have been designed to complement the dance.

Lily Cai is the choreographer, artistic director and founder of the 24-year-old company. She is a Shanghai native, and is considered a major authority and resource in Chinese dance. Her strengths include her ability to combine and integrate Chinese traditional, folk and classical dance with Western ballet and American modern dance.

Each of the three dance troupes has received many awards and has much to say through the language of dance. With regular tickets at $19-29, students' and children’s tickets at $12 and premium tickets at $39, it is certainly affordable to attend all three dance events.

See below for schedule, location and ticket information:

What: Lula Washington Dance Company
When: Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.

What: Danza Floricanto/USA
When: Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012 at 2 p.m.

What: Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company
When: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Three Stages at Folsom Lake College
10 College Parkway
Folsom, CA 95630

Tickets: $19-29, Premium $39; Students and Children: $12

Tickets are available online at www.threestages.net or from Three Stages Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 (Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and two hours before show time).

Book Talk: Eagles and Publishing

2012-09-26T02:56:42Z

“Sherman’s Eagle” by Devin Blankenship
916 Publishing
ISBN – 978-0-9856016-0-7
2012, 292 pp., $12.99
Local Author

Sacramento residents will certainly recognize some of the locations mentioned by Devin Blankenship in his first novel, “Sherman’s Eagle,” a plot-driven mystery that moves across the U.S. with a stop in Atlanta and the finale in Sacramento just as Gold Rush Days begins. Old Sacramento, the Tower Bridge, Sutter’s Fort and the historic I Street Bridge are some of the above-ground locations, but Blankenship’s characters also venture underground in their search for “a mythical Civil War antiquity.” The good guys are Kal Boyce, his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, and Boyce’s professor.

***

“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published” by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander
Alpha
ISBN – 978-1-61564-127-7
2011, 378 pp., $19.95
Local Author

While not a fan of any book with idiot or dummies in the title, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published,” now in its fifth edition was a surprise. This book, with its orange spine will be easy to locate on any shelf and may be just the one to reach for when you are thinking about sending a box of truffles with that book proposal about cats. Do you have to write the entire book before submitting a query? Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander will let you know when and why. What I like most about this book is that that it reminds you, repeatedly, to read and study what has already been written. The authors encourage would-be writers to peruse the physical shelves in brick and mortar stores, not just turning pages online. They offer suggestions for publications to read and where you might find them at a lower cost. They tell you that you have to write the book and that you have to write the book again. They encourage writers to seek other writers and form groups. The book begins quite simply by asking the writer to consider why he or she wants to write. It proceeds to a very short list of categories for fiction and nonfiction. Other chapters include information about submitting work, book contracts, agents, and the pros and cons of independent publishing. An excellent book that is certainly not for idiots.

See “Red” before it goes black

2012-09-10T01:06:25Z

“Red,” the first show of B Street Theatre’s 2012-2013 B3 Series and the regional premiere of this 2010 Tony Award winner, played to a full house Friday evening in an intimate theatre that allowed the audience to be inside the art studio of Abstract Expressionist master Mark Rothko.

The relationship between the master artist and his art is powerfully portrayed through the interactions between Rothko, performed by Brian Dykstra, and Rothko’s assistant Ken, performed by David McElwee. Rothko’s struggle between wanting to create a masterpiece that will define him as an artist, one that people will reflect upon, and his pride, vulnerability and relationship with his assistant, propel this play.

The role of Rothko is complex, and Dykstra portrays the artist’s pride, anger, beliefs about art, vulnerability and sensitive side with authenticity. The audience never doubts the anger and the fear, and believes the artist’s passion for his art and the art that came before him. Through Dykstra’s portrayal of Rothko, an understanding of art as commodity is also gained.

One cannot overlook McElwee’s role as Ken, however. The assistant who pushes Rothko, sometimes torments him and always cleans up after him is crucial to this play. Early in the play, Rothko asks Ken who his favorite artist is, and when the response is proved undesirable, Ken asks for a second chance, unwittingly offering up another unacceptable response.

Plenty of credit must given to the set designer Elizabeth Hadden, the lighting designer Ron Madonia and costume designer Tracy Prybla, as their important components add to the believability of the time period and sense of being inside the artist’s studio. Directed by Jerry Montoya, who spoke in an earlier article about the play, the characters and the actors, managed by Lynnae Vana and written by John Logan, “Red” is a sure hit. The B Street sound design team should also be credited for their work. The sound was always just right, particularly important for this intimate venue.

Be prepared for no late admittance to this single-act performance, which runs through Sept. 23, 2012. Be prepared, also, to exit the theatre with a new respect for Rothko, his work and the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Check the theatre website for dates and times. Ticket prices run between $23 and $35.

The power of Eric Bibb's music

2012-09-07T06:21:04Z

On Saturday night, the 24th Street Theatre sold out the single night performance by the Eric Bibb String Band. Longtime fans, like Abe Sass, who listened to Bibb and Bibb’s father, were there. First-time Bibb concert attendees like Bob and Joyce Stanley were also present.

Bibb and his stagemates gave the audience what it came for — and more, as in the case of young Nate and his mother, who travelled from outside Yuba City to the 24th Street Theatre, hoping to secure tickets. Young Nate first saw Bibb in Grass Valley. The last ticket Saturday evening was sold to a person two people ahead of Nate.

Audience members who had already been seated might have missed seeing the man in the orange shirt and Panama hat rush up the aisle, and they might have missed his return several minutes later with a boy and a woman (I later learned he was young Nate and she was his mother) close behind.

Throughout the concert, Nate was nearly as active as Bibb, who not only played the guitar and the bass, and sang, but put his entire body into each song, as though the music entered, moved about and finally left him for the audience, who was soon clapping and stomping to the delight of the four musicians. Young Nate danced and often stood in order to see over the head of the adult in the row ahead.

The four musicians remained seated throughout most of the extended set. Left to right were Grant Dermody on harmonica, Eric Bibb on guitar and bass, Cedric Watson on fiddle and Dirk Powell on banjo, fiddle and accordion. While Bibb was the primary vocalist, each of the others shared the lead vocal duties on particular songs throughout the evening.

Bibb opened with “Going Down Slow,” and immediately feet were tapping the blues rhythms. Cedric Watson followed with the Cajun-flavored “Bayou Belle.” The third song, “Dig a Little Deeper in the Well,” from Bibb’s new album, was a huge hit with the audience.

Bibb showed his humor several times, and offered stories to accompany many of the songs, which varied between fast and slow, and always featured one or more of the talented musicians sharing the stage.

The passion of Bibb, Dermody, Watson and Powell was evident in the power of their performance. They encouraged each other, and they encouraged the audience to participate. The set included “Walkin’ Blues Again,” about the great Mississippi flood of 1927, which Bibb related to current events, and the more upbeat “Music,” written in response to those who wanted Bibb to define his musical style.

“If I feel it, that’s good enough for me,” sang Bibb.

The lyrics spoke about soul and passion, both evident in the evening’s performance. The range of music included traditional blues, Irish harmonica solos and the sounds of zydeco.

A standing ovation brought the musicians back for “Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down,” the only song during which Bibb stood, and the song that seemed to be performed for young Nate and his mom.

After the show, the audience filled the tiny entry and waited for Bibb, Dermody, Watson and Powell. Available for purchase were CDs, which were snapped up by long-term and newly converted fans.

One young but long-term fan, Nate, offered a special handmade gift to Bibb, which was graciously accepted.

Trade your lawn for California natives and bring nature home

2012-09-06T04:06:53Z

On Saturday, Sept. 8, the Sacramento Chapter of the California Native Plant Society will host a daylong workshop on planting a native garden. Held at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, the event will provide information on changing water-needy lawns to less thirsty California native plants.

“Our workshop will educate and assist you in transitioning a water-thirsty landscape into a beautiful, water-wise garden that is uniquely Californian and filled with a diversity of habitats for wildlife and beneficial insects,” says Betsy Weiland, one of the workshop organizers.

The workshop will be led by local water-wise landscape and native plant experts, and will include an organic lunch and a nature walk. Cooler fall weather is right around the corner, and this workshop is just in time for fall planting.

Topics will include how to tear out the old lawn, planning ways to simplify your gardening life, a show of California native plants and their care and maintenance, a pruning demonstration and the title topic, bringing nature home.

Poet Laureate news, poets for change, Cousineau’s word painting

2012-09-05T04:44:12Z

What could be better than a long weekend of reading some excellent new works of fiction, poetry and history? Look for reviews of several new books later this month.

Today, however, I’d like you to join me in welcoming Jeff Knorr as the new Sacramento Poet Laureate.

If you’d like to hear some of his poetry, please make your way to Time Tested Books this Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. Knorr will be one of five featured poets for the first of four 100 Thousand Poets for Change events in Sacramento. Joining Knorr will be poet and educator Traci Gourdine, poet Emily Wright, little m press publisher Geoffrey Neill and poet and Neruda translator William O’Daly.

Other author events this week include a reading and book signing at The Avid Reader in Davis this Friday, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Phil Cousineau, author of “Word Catcher: An Odyssey Into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words,” (2010 Viva Editions) will present from his latest book, “The Painted Word: A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins” (2012 Viva Editions).

These two books are required for any word lover’s bookshelf. Words like “autologophagist” are defined, but not as one would find in a traditional dictionary. In “The Painted Word,” Cousineau writes that autologophagist is a figure of speech. It gets interesting, however, when he writes “it became an actuality after a Danish writer, Theodore Reinking, wrote a scathing indictment of his country’s defeat at the hands of the perfidious Swedes and was jailed in 1644.”

Cousineau doesn’t stop there, however, as he moves forward to 1980 and writes about German filmmaker Werner Herzog and his shoe eating. You’ll just have to read the book to find out more. Included are average words like “average” that turn out to be anything but average. At $16.95, "The Painted Word" will offer many hours of entertainment, conversation material (tell someone about an autologophagist to start a conversation or perhaps to revive one that’s become a bit tired).

How many snollygosters can you name?

Cousineau is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, educator, editor and storyteller. He currently hosts PBS’s “Global Spirit” series and has published 26 nonfiction books and has 15 scriptwriting credits. His books have been translated into nine languages.

He writes “I grew up in a house filled with books and dictionaries with prints of the world’s great art on every wall in the house.”

Saturday, Sept. 8 is the 7th Annual Macy’s Spelling Bee at the Macy’s in Roseville. The event will begin at 2 p.m. on Level 2 in the children’s department.

What are you reading this week?

Disclosure: I am the official organizer of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change event in Sacramento this year.

Four generations of women to perform at Fairytale Town

2012-08-30T01:10:23Z

On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Fairytale Town will open its gates at 5:30 p.m. for a late summer evening concert by four local female musicians who represent not only the talent found in our area, but four generations of that talent.

Parie Wood, Autumn Sky, Larisa Bryski and Valerie V will perform on the Mother Goose stage, and attendees are invited to bring chairs and blankets. The all-ages concert begins at 6 p.m.

The idea for this concert began last year with Marty DeAnda of Dig Music LLC when he presented three generations of local male performers. Because of the event’s success, DeAnda “immediately began working on a female version,” and said that he’d like to make the event semi-annual with a goal of seven generations for the next event, mixing male and female performers.

“We want to show people how deep and long lived our talent pool is in Sacramento,” added DeAnda.

The talent of these four women, attendees will discover, covers a spectrum of musical styles, including Valerie V and her jazz influence and Autumn Sky’s indie-folk style.

Parie Wood and Larisa Bryski, who have worked as student and teacher for three years, shared their thoughts on their work and the upcoming concert.

Wood said, “I think the idea of combining four generations of music is genius because we all come from unique backgrounds, and from those backgrounds we get unique perspectives that affect us greatly as people, and then of course as musicians. I'm honored to represent the youngest generation of music.”

About performing with her vocal coach, Wood said “It’s a full-circle thing.”

Wood recently released her first EP, and she spoke briefly about that experience, which included utilizing Kickstarter.

“Releasing an album is something I've wanted to do since I was 10 years old, and it's been such a learning experience for me. It's made up of a compilation of songs I've written since I was 12. Getting it recorded, produced and released was a very grass-roots thing which I find really fitting for my first album.”

DeAnda, the show’s organizer, offered much guidance to Wood for this project, which included raising funds through a grass-roots effort using crowd-source funding. Kickstarter helps creative people fund creative projects, and Wood’s campaign raised $3,700 dollars.

“A thousand of which came from a grant from my school, The Met Sacramento. So I've received a lot of help and am totally thankful and humbled,” Wood said.

Although she’s never performed with the others, she has seen Autumn Sky and Larisa Bryski perform.

Bryski spoke about the concert, Marty DeAnda and her music.

“The multi-generational aspect of this particular show really makes it feel more about celebrating the legacy of female singer/songwriters in Sacramento. Marty at DIG Music cares deeply about the artists that he works with, and really appreciates the passion we put into creating our art. I think this show will allow us to convey that passion in a simple, honest way. I'm really honored to be a part of it!”

About Wood, Bryski said, “I am hoping to get Parie Wood on stage with me during my set. I've always wanted to duet with her.”

Although she’s never heard Autumn Sky or Valerie V, Bryski is looking forward to hearing both women perform.

Also regarding Wood, Bryski said, “As for Parie, I can't say enough good things. She's a former protege of mine, although that's probably not fair to say, because her talent and wisdom at only 16 years old surpasses anything that I could possibly teach her. She's a good friend and a beautiful young artist.”

About her own music and influences, she said “I'm a classically trained vocal coach and mommy to a three-year-old daughter by day, and a rock and roll musician by night. My music stems from my childhood, listening to the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin. I love what I do and am proud to say I've been making music with my band in the Central Valley for over a decade. And, I'll never stop.”

Both Wood and Bryski offered their thoughts on the diverse group of musicians.

“The four of us are different stylistically, sure. But I think our love of music is universal,” Wood said.

Bryski added, “I do think that our styles, although very different, will complement each other at this show. I believe that each of us represents a certain cross section of the music culture in Sacramento. So, there will be a little something for everyone.”

Everyone includes adults and children, as Kathy Fleming, Fairytale Town’s executive director, is quick to point out.

“Fairytale Town is a great venue, especially for concerts,” Fleming said.

During regular hours, adults without accompanying children are not permitted in Fairytale Town, but concerts like Wednesday’s give all adults the opportunity to “experience Fairytale Town and an event that is meaningful to them.”

About children, Fleming continued, “it is important that children be introduced to music at an early age.”

Fleming spoke of the many programs offered at Fairytale Town and the importance of play, pointing to the fast pace of today’s society allowing for “less time for children to do free, imaginative play.”

Fairytale Town “provides a safe place to do that, and when we add events like this concert, it’s a win-win for the adults, too.”

Gates open at 5:30 for this ticketed event, and the music begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are a bargain at $10. Membership at Fairytale Town means two for one admission. Children 12 and under are free. This family-friendly event is sure to please fans of local music and open musical windows for the next generation.

Book Talk: Horstman, Hume and lots of news

2012-08-29T02:24:00Z

Lots of news this week from local literary agency Andrea Hurst, local small press publishers Swan Scythe, Rattlesnake and SPC, as well as reviews of books by Judith Horstman and Ulrica Hume, so we'd better get started.

Agent News – Andrea Hurst Literary Agency

“A Real Emotional Girl,” by Tanya Chernov, is subtitled, “a memoir of grief, depression, and recovery” that deals with family, pain, growing up, love and loss. This book is forthcoming from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. and was in the hands of local literary agent, Gordon Warnock of the Andrea Hurst literary agency. Warnock is an oft-requested speaker at writing conferences and is currently working with San Francisco writer, Mari Naomi, who performed in Sacramento in 2011 with Sister Spit: Next Generation. Look for Chernov’s book in 2012 and Naomi’s at a later date. Keep an eye out, too, for Andrea Hurst’s book, “The Guestbook,” (CreateSpace) released in July, 2012

Publishing News

Swan Scythe Press

Local publisher Swan Scythe Press, headed up by James DenBoer, has announced the winner of the 2012 Swan Scythe Press Poetry Chapbook Contest. “Paradise Hunger,” the winning manuscript, will be published in fall 2012. Poet Henry W. Leung will also receive a $200 award for his work.

DenBoer said of Leung’s work “This collection of poems, ordered by geography and geomancy, displays a depth of emotional understanding and a graceful craftsmanship.”

I am excited to report more on this book as soon as copies are available.

Rattlesnake Press

Local publisher Rattlesnake Press still puts to press the quarterly “WTF. . .,” which is edited by local writers, Frank Andrick and Rachel Leibrock. Many are familiar with Andrick through his appearances on “Good Day Sacramento” and his third Thursday hosting of Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café on 16th Street. Leibrock recently assumed the role of co-editor of “Sacramento News and Review” and is working on a young adult novel. Pick up your free copy of “WTF. . .” at The Book Collector on 24th Street.

SPC Press

The Sacramento Poetry Center’s press, SPC Press, is working on several projects, and it recently released the two winning chapbooks from the Quinton Duval Chapbook Competition. “Carlos’ Café” by Janet McCann and “Crystal Gods” by Denise Platt Lichtig are both available at the Sacramento Poetry Center at 25th and R. Keep your eyes open for the new “Tule Review” and the “Sacramento Anthology,” which have expected release dates this fall.

* * *

“The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain” by Judith Horstman
Jossey-Bass
ISBN – 978-0-470-64773-8
2012, 254 pp., $25.95
Local Author

Judith Horstman’s fourth book in the “Scientific American” brain series, “The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain: The Neuroscience of Making the Most of Your Mature Mind,” is certain to find a home alongside other heath-related books. Better yet, share this book with others. Read this from front to back, or better yet, skip around. Start, perhaps, by learning how physical exercise can help your brain before moving on to chapter 11, “Creativity, Spirit, and Attitude: Enrich Thyself.” Horstman’s introduction, “Welcome to the New Old Age” greets us with these words: “In all of history, there has never been a better time to grow old.” If you don’t believe it, this book may change your mind. In response to her own question of what old is, she writes, “Today in developed countries, it seems to be accepted that young old age begins in the late 60s and that old old age comes after the age of 80.” This is not a how to live longer book. It offers practical advice, humor and hope for those both young, and not as young as before.

“An Uncertain Age” by Ulrica Hume
Blue Circle Press
ISBN – 978-0-9669193-5-6
2012, 370 pp., $17.95
Local Interest

Ulrica Hume’s debut novel, “An Uncertain Age,” is a hefty, yet delightful surprise. She blends the mystery and love genres and sprinkles spirituality throughout to create a story to be enjoyed on several levels. Clearly, Hume cares about the characters she’s created. Readers will also care. What happened to Miles Peabody? It is his disappearance, and the subsequent questioning of Justine, that sets the story into motion. A pilgrimage, a hero’s journey, a mystery, and a love story all describe “An Uncertain Age.” Hume’s care with character, story and at the sentence level shows that she cares about her readers. The many references to people, events, locations and spirituality might seem overwhelming at times, but it offers the reader who is unfamiliar with bees or the True Cross or Guernica, for example, the opportunity to discover something new. Readers learn about the missing Mr. Peabody through the interaction of Justine with others, especially with Dara and Gwynneth. Well-crafted, intriguing, witty, poignant and full of literary and historical references, this book is lovely in its paper version or less weighty in its electronic version.

During September, look for more reviews and an interview with Mary Mackey about electronic publishing.

From Finland to the 24th Street Theatre: 2012 BMA Winner Eric Bibb and his string band to perform one night only

2012-08-29T00:56:52Z

On Saturday, Sept. 1, award-winning singer-songwriter Eric Bibb will perform one show at the 24th Street Theatre. Joining Bibb will be preeminent Appalachian fiddler/mandolinist/banjoist Dirk Powell, Grammy-nominated Cajun fiddler/accordionist Cedric Watson, and virtuoso harmonica player Grant Dermody.

Bibb was awarded the 2012 BMA for Best Acoustic Artist from the Blues Foundation. His album, “Blues, Ballads & Work Songs” (Opus 3 Records) has also been nominated for a Swedish Grammy in the folk music category. Additionally, “Troubadour Live,” released by Telarc in 2011, has been nominated for a Blues Foundation award in the best acoustic album category.

Bibb’s music crosses and blends the genres of blues, folk and gospel. His four-decade career likely began with his father’s gift of a guitar when young Bibb was seven. By sixteen, he was a professional musician, performing with the house band of his father’s television talent show. Bibb moved from the U.S. to France, and eventually settled in Sweden. He currently lives in Finland.

Bibb’s breakthrough album came in 1997 with the appropriate title, “Good Stuff,” and led to him signing with a British record label. “Me to You” was released and featured appearances from a few of his personal musical heroes – Pops and Mavis Staples and Taj Mahal. Bibb’s international reputation grew and included tours throughout the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Germany, Canada and the U.S.

Rounding the corner from the twentieth to the twenty-first century has not slowed Bibb, who collaborated with Taj Mahal, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Odetta, Charlie Musselwhite, Guy Davis and with the elder Bibb on projects including albums for children and tributes to other heroes like Paul Robeson.

On Saturday evening, Bibb will again collaborate with fine musicians in a not-to-be-missed performance of the Eric Bibb String Band featuring Dirk Powell and Cedric Watson.

Powell is considered an expert on traditional Appalachian fiddle and banjo style. Watson is a Creole artist playing fiddle and accordion who, like Powell and Bibb, has collaborated with many musicians, and who headlined the Sacramento Alliance Française annual Fête de la Francophonie in 2010. Watson has been nominated for several Grammies, both as a solo and group artist.

Thank local Swell Productions for bringing Bibb, Powell, Watson and Dermody to Sacramento. The stop is part of Bibb’s 2012 world premiere tour in support of his new album, “Deeper in the Well,” from Stony Plain Records. This latest release offers traditional and contemporary folk blues and Americana roots overlaid with Louisiana heritage.

Tickets are $27.50 in advance. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the 24th Street Theatre at The Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, 2791 24th Street, Sacramento.

B Street Theatre director Jerry Montoya talks about ‘Red’

2012-08-22T02:48:29Z

The regional premiere of John Logan’s “Red,” 2010 Tony Award winner for best new play, opens Saturday, Aug. 25 at B Street Theatre. “Red” is also the first production of B Street Theatre’s B3 Series 2012-2013 season. This newest series "features new contemporary plays for the sophisticated theatregoer," according to the theatre's website.

Described by B Street Theatre as “a raw and provocative portrait of Mark Rothko, master abstract expressionist, whose artistic ambition and vulnerability clash as he tries to create a definitive work for a historical mural commission in the extraordinary setting of the Four Seasons in New York,” this play is sure to please both those interested in theatre and those interested in Rothko.

Brian Dykstra and David McElwee will reprise their roles as Rothko and Ken in this play that requires no more than these two characters. Jerry Montoya is the director and spoke about the play, the subject and the actors.

"'Red' is in production all over the country, and Mark Rothko, as a character, is a role that every actor wants to play,” said Montoya.

“Not much has been done on Rothko,” he continued, “who is a contemporary of Pollock. Less media is available of the art movement of Abstract Expressionism of the 50s... There isn't film of Rothko or his contemporaries, or much of it."

Montoya said that Rothko “is brought to life in his studios where audiences see him work,” and that this aspect is what is unique about the play. “The audience sees him at work, how he works, his process, his grappling with issues of painting in a very visceral way as he struggles to put paint to canvas.”

“The artist alive doing his work is the strength of the show,” Montoya said.

He also credits the “rare combination of a great play, two really strong actors who are charming and having a great time. These actors bring so much, are invested, and very committed… They capture and respect Rothko but are not afraid to show him in all his complexities.”

"Come see this play. It will change not only what you see in Rothko, but what you think and see of art and artists," added Montoya.

“Red” is produced by B Street Theatre and runs from Aug. 25 through Sept. 22, with a preview on Friday, Aug. 24, at the B Street Theatre B3 Stage, 2727 B Street. Tickets run from $25 - $35.

On Tuesday, Aug. 28, Dr. Elaine O'Brien, professor of modern and contemporary art history and criticism at California State University, Sacramento, and Liv Moe, executive director of Verge Center for the Arts, will lead a post-show talk about the life and work of Mark Rothko. This special talk will be hosted by Verge Center for the Arts and will follow the evening's presentation of "Red."

Book Talk: Electronic, paper, events

2012-08-21T15:04:25Z

I love libraries, book stores, book sales, yard sales with books and my overflowing bookshelves. For me, the feel of a book is akin to that of a record album. I'm not a fan of the compact disc. I may be drawn to a book because of the author or the title. Other times, the cover art pulls me in. I’ve even been known to buy books that I will likely never read only because I liked the cover.

I tried a Nook once. The Sacramento Public Library has them available to borrow, and I thought I should give one a try. I like to talk with the Nook sellers at the local Barnes & Noble. I enjoy when they load a new book and show me all of the features. I even enjoy when they tell me about the accessories, but I have yet to buy one.

I’ve considered buying one several times. Amazon has the Kindle, and many other companies have their own versions of electronic book readers. Electronic books are being published every day and are offered free of charge or for just a couple of dollars. Some electronic books, however, are only a slightly lower price than their paper version. Some, sadly, lack quality editing (more on that in a special column about electronic publishing).

I love to hold a physical book in my hand, flip the pages, make margin notes (or not), and carry my book with me on errands. Or to school. Sure, I know that the thousands of books I have here could be stored on an electronic book reader, and I also know that if I had the electronic versions, I’d have a lot more free space, but what would I do with that space? With the bookcases? With the books? With my bookmarks?

Electronic books do have benefits. Carry hundreds of titles. Enlarge the font size. Obtain free classics. Read newly released titles that have been out of print for years (more on that in a future column).

But can you really curl up on the sofa with a comfy blanket in front of a fire on a winter day with an electronic book reader? I should also mention that formatting can be an issue for graphic novels and poetry. And can you wander the shelves of the shops and libraries for these electronic titles?

So, this week’s question is, “Electronic or paper?”

* * *

Author events

Aug. 25 - Face in a Book - 5:30 -7:30 p.m. - Local author Owen Sullivan will read from his debut novel, "The House's Money," from local nonfiction press Authority Publishing. About publishing a piece of fiction, publisher Stephanie Chandler said, "Owen Sullivan’s book has an interesting relationship to the current economy so it seemed like a good fit for us."

Aug. 25 - Franklin Community Library - 10:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Local authors participate in a Read-In, reading from their own short stories.

Contract workshop for artists

2012-08-21T02:08:36Z

On Tuesday, Aug. 28, California Lawyers for the Arts will present “Contract Basics for Creative Artists” at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento. Grace J. Bergen, Esq. will lead artists, musicians and members of arts organizations through this important workshop that will cover the basics of contract negotiation.

Learn contract terms and the most important clauses necessary to any contract. More important, learn how to protect yourself from contract litigation.

Bergen is a musician and business attorney with Berry & Block, LLP, and former general counsel for Tower Records.

The workshop begins at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. Cost runs from $10 to $25. California Lawyers for the Arts members receive discounted pricing as do those registering online. Street parking is available near 1519 19th Street.

Book Talk: Connie Post to read in Davis and Woodland

2012-08-14T02:09:56Z

Connie Post’s latest poetry collection, “And When the Sun Drops,” is also her third about autism from a mother’s point of view. Her first collection, “Seasons of Love, Seasons of Loss,” is “about discovering and accepting that her son has autism,” writes Post. Her second, “Letting Go,” is “about the difficult journey of placing her son with autism in a residential group home.” It is, Post continues, “a book about coming apart, and coming together.”

About this third collection, Post writes, “I didn’t think I would write another book about autism. I had written individual poems about our continuing lives with autism. Mostly to serve as a catharsis for me to express the inexpressible. As Thomas neared his twenties, the flavor of my poems changed and I kept writing, and then began sending them to friends, and various journals.”

Poet Lynn Knight encouraged Post to put those poems into a manuscript, but Post hesitated, unsure whether she wanted to do “another book of poems on autism.” After much thought, however, and the knowledge that “many people write about the early experiences of parenting/autism but not much about later in life,” she asked herself about “what happens to these kids with autism who become grown ups with autism and how does it affect our lives.”

For the next year, Post wrote about a dozen more poems about daily life with her autistic son. “It was easy to write them, choosing subjects I deal with all the time that most people don’t think about or take for granted like getting dressed.

“Sequencing of the poems was very key for me in order to truly tell our story about Thomas.”

Post is no stranger to the Sacramento area where she has been one of the featured poets in the annual Sacramento Poetry Center’s Autism Reading Benefit. Other benefit readers include Davis poet and reading host Andy Jones, Becky Foust and Michelle Bitting, winner of the Sacramento Poetry Center’s 2011 book manuscript competition. This annual fundraiser is organized and hosted by SPC board member Frank Graham.

About her upcoming visits to the Sacramento area, Post writes that “it is somewhat ironic for me to have readings in the Sacramento/Davis area. Thomas lived in a group home in Orangevale for 15 years so the Sacramento area feels like somewhat of an old stomping ground for me in regards to Thomas and the surrounding sorrow of his absence.” Poems about her commute and the group homes are included in “And When the Sun Drops.”

About the Sacramento and Davis community of poets, she says that she has enjoyed being a part of this vibrant community and that she’s enjoyed getting to know people in the area.

Post will speak with Dr. Andy on “The Poetry and Technology Poetry Hour” program on Aug. 16 at 5 p.m., then will read at the Natsoulas Gallery on Aug. 16 as the featured poet, along with CJ Morello, for the monthly Poetry Night Reading Series, hosted by Andy Jones. The event begins at 8 p.m. and is always free. If you miss her in Davis, she’ll be back on Aug. 29 to read as the featured poet for Jessica Kristie’s Inspiring Words series at the Woodland Public Library. The event begins at 7 p.m. and is also always free. Books will be available, and there’s never a charge to ask for a signature.

Post also hosts the popular monthly Valona Deli Poetry Series in Crockett.

* * *

“And When the Sun Drops” by Connie Post
Finishing Line Press
ISBN — 978-1-62229-058-1
2012, 28 pp., $14

Post’s latest collection, “And When the Sun Drops,” will touch the hearts of families living with autism and reach into the hearts of those not living with autism. Keep a box of tissues at hand for poems like “Autistic Son, Almost 19,” in which she writes, “A Sunday in October is over / You won’t be home again until Thanksgiving.” In the same poem, you’ll understand a mother’s love when you read, “your shirt is on inside out / I leave it that way.” Post’s focus on everyday living is what brings this collection together, what makes readers become involved, and what makes them angry when she writes, “how do I tell you / that there is bigotry in the world / hidden in neighborhoods / with white doors / and narrow streets” in “A Letter in the Newspaper.” The poem “To a Hero Twelve Miles Away” introduces readers to the group home care provider who “let me call / as many times as I needed,” and even though the mother “didn’t know what pajamas / you would choose,” she knew she "could trust you / to see the complexities of its shadows.” Don’t worry about crying over each page. There is much to celebrate in this collection. Post’s writing is clear, her images strong and always just right, as they must be.

* * *

Other area reading events include:

Sacramento historian William Burg at Time Tested Books on Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. Burg will read from his new book “Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Began,” (The History Press, 2012).

Motivational writer and speaker Jewel Diamond Taylor will present a discussion and book signing at Underground Books on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 2 p.m.

The Order Sons of Italy in America Milano Lodge members will host a book release party at The Club at Natomas Park on Sunday, Aug. 19, 6-9 p.m., for “Flavors of Milano” (N Magazine Press, 2012). Proceeds will benefit the victims of the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquakes.

Local writer Michael Panush will be at The Avid Reader on Friday, Aug. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Panush will read from his new book, “Dinosaur Jazz.” (Curiosity Quills Press, 2012).

Several local writers will appear at Face in a Book on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 6-8 p.m., to celebrate the release of “The Dog with the Old Soul,” compiled and edited by Jennifer Bayse Sander.

Lee Ritenour to perform at Sunrise Mall

2012-08-14T01:14:41Z

On Saturday, Aug. 18, Grammy award winner Lee Ritenour will perform in the second scheduled Sunrise at Night concert at the Sunrise Mall.

Ritenour’s new album, “Rhythm Sessions,” will be released on Sept. 25. The new album, featuring the rhythm section, provided Ritenour the opportunity to play with many talented musicians and to explore the music more deeply, running the gamut, as Ritenour said, “from funky to classical.”

Among the musicians on the new album are Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Dave Grusin and Tal Wakefield. Additionally, Ritenour’s new album features the winners of the 2012 6 String Theory International Rhythm Section Competition performing Dave Grusin’s “Punta Del Sol.”

Ritenour shares the bill with Spyro Gyra, a jazz fusion band originally from Buffalo, N.Y. Tickets run from $25.50 for general admission bleacher seats to $46.50 for floor seats. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Outreach for a Cause conference

2012-08-13T02:44:35Z

Learn the importance of the mobile web, partnering with churches, and reaching out to Sacramento’s diverse population at the first Outreach for a Cause conference on Friday, Aug. 17 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento.

This conference, with its theme of engage, connect, inspire, is geared toward non-profit and cause organization outreach staff and volunteers, and provides a forum for attendees to discuss, collaborate and improve their outreach efforts in Sacramento. The conference is unique in that it is the only one in this area that focuses “solely on non-profit public relations or outreach,” according to sponsor and host, Blank Notebook Creative.

The featured keynote speaker will be Scott Eggert, owner of Clickspring and vice president of the Sacramento Social Media Club, who will speak about the use of the mobile web as it pertains to non-profit organizations. The conference will also host individual presentations and panel discussions. Abby Fox, communication manager for Church Volunteer Network, will present on collaborations between churches and non-profits in the community, and Jennifer Armitage, owner of Blank Notebook Creative, will discuss effective online tools for non-profit outreach.

Included in the $65 price is a catered lunch, a binder with outreach resources, a 2-1-1 Sacramento directory, a free copy of Client Tickler software and the opportunity to engage with speakers and area non-profits.

The full-day conference is hosted by Blank Notebook Creative, a consulting firm specializing in public relations for small non-profits, and My Sister’s House, the Central Valley non-profit that addresses domestic violence within the Asian/Pacific Islander community.

Playland and Sutro remembered

2012-08-08T05:02:29Z

On Sunday, Aug. 5, a special screening of two of writer/director Tom Wyrsch’s documentaries at the Crest Theatre offered history, laughter and memories for those who had spent time in the Fun House, sampled enchiladas at the Hot House or had experienced indoor saltwater swimming. Both “Remembering Playland at the Beach” and “Sutro’s: the Palace at Land’s End” were shown.

Wyrsch was on hand before and after each film to answer questions from the audience that ranged from whether the Hot House ever reopened to why he shot the film in 4:3 instead of widescreen.

He was also asked whether he used film or digital. Digital was used for the shooting of both films, he explained, and he then spoke about a great loss.

“Most film from the 1960s and 1970s was tossed out or given away because there was no way to support the libraries,” Wyrsch said.

There was also a question about Ernie Fosselius, an actor who kept the audience laughing throughout the film about Playland and returned for a cameo in the second film. He makes parody films and has been in all four of Wyrsch’s documentaries. Many said they hope that he'll appear in Wyrsch's fifth documentary, "The Cliff House Story," which began production in July.

Many in the audience recalled childhood fun at Playland through the documentary that included still shots; film; and interviews with historians, former employees and visitors, and representatives from The Playland-Not-at-the-Beach Museum in El Cerrito.

The either non-frightening or very frightening Laffing Sal whose laugh could be heard for blocks, the Fun House platter that would spin kids off from the middle out and the giant slide were also discussed.

The longer documentary, “Sutro’s,” was also a great hit as many in the audience said they never realized the scope of what is now protected ruins waiting to be explored. Many said that they had seen the ruins but did not know what was there, that they believed that it must have been big. The film opened with a history of Adolph Sutro, moved into the famous baths and ended where it should, with the fire on June 26, 1966.

The audience was clearly engaged with both films, and no matter their reason for attending – memories, history, curiosity – left after the double-feature with no complaints.

Some audience members voiced that they had never been to either location. Another had lived in San Francisco for many years but had also never been to either location. Each echoed the sentiment that they wished they had been able to visit Playland or Sutro’s.

One audience member had visited both as a young girl, and she recalled the feeling of being in the saltwater pool and of making her way through the Fun House barrel.

These films, whether viewed individually or together, provide a look into San Francisco’s past, offer the chance to experience a type of sideshow museum history and a peek at a simpler time when spending the day in the Fun House was all a kid really needed.

The next stop for Wyrsch's films will be the San Francisco Public Library on August 22.

Book Talk: events, news and a question

2012-08-08T04:48:47Z

Let’s start off this week with a question.

What are you reading now? What book(s) do you recommend others read, and why?

Okay, three questions.

I’m currently reading Lorrie Moore’s “A Gate at The Stairs,” and a book I’ll be reviewing in a few weeks, “An Uncertain Age,” by Ulrica Hume. Also, I’m reading “The Collected Stories” by Amy Hempel and “Landscapes with Figures” by Robert Root.

The books I recommend include any of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories and any of Hemingway’s short stories. I’ll toss in Raymond Carver’s short stories and “Black Tickets” by Jayne Anne Phillips. Poetry books include anything by Robert Hass and Kazim Ali, as well as Connie Post’s newest book, which I’ll review here next week.

Why do I recommend those books? I love short stories and poetry, and these are great books to enjoy or to study. The sentences and lines are tight and perfect. Nothing overwritten. That’s my selection today, at this moment. Another moment might bring another selection.

Let’s move on to events and news.

Ruthie Bolton will read from her book, “The Ride of a Lifetime: The Making of Mighty Ruthie,” at the Avid Reader at the Tower on Sunday, Aug. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. For those of you who aren’t aware, Bolton is a former WNBA Sacramento Monarchs basketball star and two-time Olympic gold medal winner. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Laura Lippman will appear at the Sacramento Central Public Library on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. Lippman is a mystery and psychological suspense writer. She has won many mystery awards for her books, which include “What the Dead Know,” and her latest thriller, “And When She Was Good.”

Two California State University, Sacramento professors have new books.

Joshua McKinney just released his latest book of poetry, “Mad Cursive.” Look for a review of his book right here in the next few weeks. He’ll be reading and signing copies at the Sacramento Poetry Center in September. Details to follow.

Kim Zarins will read from her latest book, “The Helpful Puppy,” at the Avid Reader in Davis in September. Book review and event details to follow.

Remember, we focus our attention on local authors, local presses and books of local interest. We include outsiders from time to time. If you have a book to be reviewed, query first at SacramentoBookTalk@gmail.com with information about the book and a sample of the writing.

Enjoy reading and attending events until next time.

Big Kenny showed up and had fun

2012-08-07T06:30:21Z

On Friday, Aug. 3, Big Kenny from the country music duo Big & Rich spoke to an intimate gathering at the Woodland Polytechnic campus, a year-old charter school that focuses on "rigorous academic and career-oriented classes in a safe, small-class-size environment," encompassed in the five academies of agriculture and science, arts and media, business and trades, public service, and sports and health.

Woodland Polytechnic Academy founder and executive director Steve Marks Jr. spoke briefly about the school, thanking board members, teachers and “most important, the more than fifty volunteers who care so much about our children.” About the school, he said, “We have to be different,” and said that he knew they could make it happen.

Since the school's opening, several high-profile guests have visited the campus, but Marks Jr. said “the one guy I hoped to get on campus was Big Kenny. Not for what he has done with Big & Rich, but what he has done as an individual for humankind.”

One attendee who echoed that sentiment is Cassidie Bates, who attended her first Big & Rich concert for her 8th birthday. Her mom, Kellie Reddish, took her to the concert. Mom and daughter posed for photos with Big Kenny Friday evening. Bates said that her favorite songs are "Wild West Show" and "Lost in this Moment."

"The music Big & Rich has put out has always been so fun to listen to and put us in a good mood yet also helped my mom and I throughout hard times," wrote Bates.

Big Kenny didn't come to play music that night, but he was definitely fun to listen to, lifted the crowd up and spoke about difficult times during his hour-long talk with David Marks, who called the man with the top hat and dark glasses "a real inspiration to me." The two men met in Nashville and Big Kenny, upon learning that Marks was a doctor, invited him to travel to Sudan. They were to leave in two weeks.

"He bought his own ticket," Big Kenny said after thanking everyone for being there and telling the audience that he was excited.

Big Kenny spoke about his work in Sudan and reminded the audience that "there is so much good to do. . . Why tear each other down if we can build each other up?" This concept was reflected throughout the evening as he urged attendees to contribute to their community.

About Woodland Polytechnic Academy, he said, "To start a school. Man, that’s a huge undertaking. It’s working. You’re all here.”

Big Kenny is no stranger to building schools, having funded the building of the Kunyuk School for Girls in Akon, Sudan and arranging for education, medical and building supplies, and clothing and musical instruments to be airlifted in. He talked of other schools and the struggles children had in attending and what happened when those schools were destroyed and rebuilt.

Marks asked about the song, “Last Dollar,” that Big Kenny wrote and Tim McGraw later recorded.

"It was a lesson in patience," he said. One year after being asked to cut the song, McGraw recorded it. One year later, “Last Dollar” came out. One year later, the song hit number one.

When asked for advice he could offer young adults, the key to making it, to being at the top, he spoke about not being scared to try. He also talked about choice, about making decisions and about happiness.

“If you possess the tools to be happy, you possess the tools to be a leader. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor.” He said that each of us controls our own happiness. “If you make a difference to yourself, you make a difference to others... We can never get complacent.”

He thanked the school for inviting him, thanked the audience for joining together, and said, “I celebrate your school.”

“This is how greatness starts. When you don’t know what to do, pick up a broom,” he said, as a reminder to be involved.

A short Q & A followed, and Big Kenny spoke about his arrival in Nashville, about putting the time and hours into practice, and he told a Native American tale of two wolves that fight within each of us. One is filled with worry, anxiety and jealousy, the other with joy, love and knowledge. "Choose which one to listen to. Focus on what you want to achieve," he said.

He spoke about meaningful songs, and pointed to "Born Again," "Last Dollar" and "8th of November."

The final question was from Jim Longen, a full-time Woodland Polytechnic Academy volunteer who asked if Big Kenny could sing a song. He began singing “The Bob Song,” then said, “I wrote that about myself, Jim.”

“Always end it with a little fun,” said Big Kenny.

Marks Jr. said that Big Kenny offered the first monetary donation for Woodland Polytechnic Academy and that there’s no concert like a Big & Rich concert because “there’s so much joy, so much passion,” then thanked the audience for attending and reminded them that “we’re in this together.”

About the event, Bates wrote, "I thought the event was great and very inspirational. Big Kenny seems to have such a kind heart and wants to really makes a difference. He inspires me to live life to the fullest and LOVE EVERYBODY! I really appreciate how someone as busy as he is, takes the time to come visit Woodland and support Woodland Poly. It was so awesome getting to meet him, so I thank the Marks family and Woodland Poly for that."

Family-friendly show teaches “How to Defend Against a Creature of the Night”

2012-08-06T20:21:55Z

If you want to learn how to defend yourself against night creatures, then mark your calendar for Aug. 11 at 2 p.m. “How to Defend Against a Creature of the Night” will be presented at Your Space Studio, 4120 Franklin Blvd.

Written by Sacramento actor and playwright, Michael Pollock, produced by Generation Next Media LLC and well-received by audiences at the Sacramento Public Library, the hour-long production blends comedy, song, dance and supernatural lore. The event is suitable for all ages, but be warned: this is a participatory production.

Tickets are a bargain at only $4 for children and $6 for adults. Parking is available behind the building.

Sunrise Marketplace moves from tennis to music

2012-08-06T20:20:44Z

Sunrise Marketplace is hosting its first Sunrise at Night Concert Series at their 2500 seat outdoor pavilion. The 2012 Friday night series kicks off Aug. 10 with Lonestar and The Charlie Daniels Band and closes Sept. 14 with Blondie and Devo.

In between, audiences can enjoy a range of musical opportunities with Spyro Gyra and Lee Ritenour on Aug. 18, Three Dog Night and America on Aug. 25 and Kool & The Gang and The Commodores on Sept. 8.

For the really young generation, Doodlebops and Caillou will perform two days, Sept. 1 and 2 at 11 a.m.

Gates open one hour before showtime, and tickets run from $19.50 to $82.50. Parking is free.

The pavilion, during the month of July, is a stadium where the Sacramento Capitals play tennis. Some of the bleachers have been removed and both floor seating and a stage have been installed to accommodate this season’s musical guests.

According to Jamie McDaniels, Director of Marketing, all seating is “comfortable, up close and personal.” She also said that they are hoping to increase event offerings in future years.

Playland and Sutro at the Crest

2012-08-03T05:13:25Z

On Sunday, Aug. 5, the Crest Theatre will present “Remembering Playland at the Beach” (2010) and “Sutro’s: The Palace at Land’s End,” (2011) at 1 p.m., featuring a special Q-and-A with director Tom Wyrsch. Tickets are $8-10.

If you ever visited Playland at the Beach, which was closed in 1972, then you’re likely to remember Laffing Sal, the funhouse, the roller coaster and much more. If you never visited, then you’ll be exposed to what has been called one of San Francisco’s “lost treasures,” a 10-acre seaside amusement park that was torn down and replaced with condominiums.

Sutro’s privately owned swimming, ice skating and museum complex was built in the late 1800s, and “Sutro’s: The Palace at Land’s End” tells the story of what was once the world’s largest swimming pool establishment, which burned down in 1966, six years before the demise of Playland at the Beach.

“Remembering Playland at the Beach,” Wyrsch’s second documentary, premiered in March 2010 to a sold-out house at San Francisco’s Balboa Theater, where it maintained a near six-month run. The follow-up project, his fourth documentary, is “Sutro’s: The Palace at Land’s End,” which premiered at the Balboa Theater to another sold-out house in November 2011 and, according to Garfield Lane Productions, “earned honors as the highest grossing non-studio movies in San Francisco during that week.”

History, popular culture and memories are only a few of the reasons to attend this special Sunday screening at the Crest.

A brief look at trademarks

2012-08-03T04:45:41Z

A standing-room-only audience attended a workshop on trademarks, hosted by the California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA), Tuesday, July 31, at the Sacramento Business Journal office. The workshop was presented by Mark R. Leonard of the law firm Davis & Leonard. He specializes in trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and intellectual property.

Leonard defined trademarks and said that they can include words, phrases, symbols and even colors. He pointed to the use of pink in Owens Corning insulation. Additionally, the shape of a product or even sounds can be a trademark. Trademarks differ from copyrights but can overlap with copyrights, as some logos may be protected by both. Trademarks, however, cannot be isolated from the goods or services offered in connection with the mark, while copyright law does not have a similar requirement.

Not all trademarks can be protected. Some, like “thermos,” “escalator” or “aspirin” were originally trademarks, but have become generic through public use. Others like “cranapple” for a cranberry apple juice drink or “apple valley juice” for apple juice from Apple Valley, Calif., are deemed highly descriptive because they describe the product the mark is used with.

Leonard outlined the importance of conducting searches, and noted that the secretary of state’s approval of a business name does not mean that a person has clearance to use the name as a trademark. “Conflicts,” he said, “may not be readily apparent,” and discussed how to assess potential conflicts. For example, a similar mark that is used on related goods or services may produce a conflict. He also noted that phonetic similarities can create conflicts, so a phonetic search is very important, but often not performed unless a trademark attorney is doing the search.

The reasons for registering the trademark, even though rights to the name are acquired at the time of use, were provided, and included the use of the ® symbol, and the right to use the mark nationwide and for all-important defensive benefits. Use of a mark in interstate commerce, Leonard told the group, is required for federal registration.

Fair use of another’s trademark was illustrated through commercials that compare one product to another, like Coke versus Pepsi, or when using another’s mark descriptively. Additionally, under the First Amendment, artists and writers may use trademarks in certain ways. Parody is often confused with satire, according to Leonard, and only parody is considered a fair use.

“Just because it’s funny doesn’t mean it’s a parody,” he said. “To be a parody, it must poke fun at the original.”

He described a situation where “The Cat in the Hat” was used to poke fun at the O.J. Simpson trial, rather than at Dr. Seuss. That, Leonard explained, is satire, and does not qualify as a fair use. A collage of photos of a famous person is considered artistic, not trademark infringement. There might, however, be copyright issues with the use of the images.

Attendees included microbrewers, musicians, lawyers, law students and visual artists. Their questions led to definitions for even more terms that most will still need to look up.

Perhaps the most amusing moment, even funnier than the Victor’s Little Secret story, was that of Koala Tea. The filer of the trademark was asked if the product was made from koalas or intended for use by koalas.

Throughout the two-hour program, Leonard recommended several websites and strongly urged people to seek legal advice at some point before attempting to register their trademark. Several people nodded their agreement with his suggestion.

Mr. Leonard volunteers his time to present programs in these areas to artists and authors through nonprofit organizations like CLA.

CLA is a nonprofit organization that offers three core programs, according to Lisa Camhi, the organization’s program coordinator. Educational programs, including workshops, seminars and webinars, are offered in several California locations and via webinars. The lawyer referral service can locate an attorney specializing in an area of need. The mediation program is available to assist in disputes with gallerists or illustrators, for example.

Additional resources include community development programs, arts advocacy and resource libraries in San Francisco and Santa Monica. Membership is reasonable, and provides many discounts and additional benefits.

The next Sacramento workshop is Contract Basics for Creative Artists, and will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 28 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, 1519 19th St., Sacramento.

Each attendee left with more information, and probably more questions, about trademarks, and a complimentary copy of the Sacramento Business Journal.

Self-portrait contest in Locke

2012-08-02T01:53:11Z

The fifth annual self-portrait contest will be held at The Shack in Locke on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 12-5 p.m. The public is invited to vote for the winners in the following categories: humorous, symbolic, originality, realism and technique/skill. Ribbons will be presented, and the best of show will be awarded $100 in cash.

Portraits are due to The Shack before noon Saturday, and votes will be tallied at 4 p.m. Artists must be no younger than 18 and no older than 102. However, the rules indicate that exceptions might be made for 103-year-olds. The entry fee is $8, and the portraits will return home with the artists at the end of the day.

Editor's note: This event has been postponed to October 6, 2012.

Take the right steps for your new business

2012-08-02T01:46:34Z

SCORE and the Sacramento Public Library are teaming up to present Formula for Starting a Well-Run Business. This free class will be held Saturday, Aug. 4, from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Central Library branch, 915 I St., in the East Meeting Room.

This class is a prerequisite for other classes in SCORE’s offerings, and is well-suited to people who are thinking of starting a business or are already drafting their business plan. Learn to take the right steps in the right order and discover the formula that successful companies follow.

SCORE is a nonprofit association that has been helping small businesses for nearly 50 years. The volunteers of SCORE provide education and mentorship, often free of charge. SCORE is supported by the Small Business Administration and a network of more than 13,000 volunteers.

Parking is free on Saturdays in the Jury Parking lot at 8th and G Streets, and entrance to the library is only available from the Old Library building entrance on I Street.

Big Kenny to visit Woodland Poly

2012-08-02T01:42:20Z

Kenny Alphin, part of the music duo Big & Rich, will visit Woodland Polytechnic Academy, a tuition-free California public charter school and the home of the Buffaloes, on Friday, Aug. 3, 6-8 p.m.

In addition to being a country music star, Alphin is a worldwide humanitarian who helped airlift medical supplies to Haiti, then performed 12 shows in 72 hours for members of the armed forces in Port-au-Prince, who assisted with humanitarian relief after the 2010 earthquake.

He joined other musicians to create the Instant Karma CD for Amnesty International after hearing about the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. Alphin funded the building of the Kunyuk School for Girls in Akon, Sudan, and arranged for educational, medical and building supplies, as well as clothing and musical instruments, to be airlifted in. He documented his journey and debuted his film, "Bearing Light: A Journey to Sudan," at the Nashville Film Festival in 2008. The Save Darfur Coalition also named Alphin “Darfur Hero of 2008.”

The Appalachians caught his attention because of mountaintop coal removal, and he became involved with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Along with Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris and Allison Krauss, he performed a benefit concert, “Music Saves Mountains,” in 2010.

From 6 to 7 p.m., Big Kenny will hold a meet-and-greet, and from 7 to 8 p.m. he will deliver an inspirational speech. Admission is free. Food and drinks are available from Maria’s Cantina, Pizza Guys and Carrousel Cobblers. Woodland Polytechnic is located at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 E. Gum Ave.

Book Talk: Hershey and March

2012-07-31T05:40:56Z

This month's books are Sibilla Hershey's "The Bleeding Tree" and Ray A. March's "River in Ruin." Excellent books about two different topics. Hershey's book took a lifetime to write, and March's book ten years to research. Each filled with exquisite language, and each to be kept in sight to be read and shared and discussed.

“The Bleeding Tree” by Sibilla Hershey
Primula Press
ISBN – 978-0-61559363-0
2012, 35 pp., $12.50
Poetry – Local Author-Local Publisher

Davis poet Sibilla Hershey presents a collection of poems that weave history, family, society, war and love together. In four sections, Hershey introduces the reader to the ancestors who “grew potatoes, rye and oats / in the sandy soil of the Baltic coast.” She offers a glimpse of “the land where in springtime / yellow buttercups bloomed in vernal pools / and bluebells on higher ground.” Personal, yes, as when the narrator tells how the family “fled to safer lands” in 1944, leaving behind the grandmother “where in winter wet snow fell,” yet never so private as to exclude the reader. In Latvia, the father had been a lawyer. In Brooklyn, he was a super who “made a pot full of asparagus / because it was on sale.” The narrator asks “and now, after fifty years in exile, / with grown children of my own, / please tell me in what language / should I address my parents?” In “Grief,” we join the narrator in her search “for the / purpose of our lives / in the landscapes / of your past,” and know that many of us have done, or will do, the same. Hershey permits us to join her on camping trips and train rides, ending with “The Knock on the Door.”

***

“River in Ruin” by Ray A. March
Bison Books
ISBN – 978-0-8032-3834-3
2012, 174 pp., $24.95
Nonfiction – California Author-Local Interest

“River in Ruin: the story of the Carmel River” is Ray A. March’s latest book, and it is a history of a river that is trying to heal after having been exploited to the extent that it nearly died. And it is a history of California that is not often told. March’s prose is elegant, his word choice always careful, as illustrated by this passage:

“Once a refuge, the river was becoming a waste disposal site, as if whatever thrown there would be sucked down into infinity by the slow-moving current and disappear, forever out of sight and mind.”

The Carmel River is tiny — only 36 miles long, yet it has a long history. Reaching back to 1603 and the words of Sebastian Vizcaino, the man who discovered the Carmel River, March traces the history of the river through the arrival of Father Serra, Crocker and tourism, the building of several dams, two women from Oakland, the demise of the sardines, the arrival of golf courses, an environmental awakening, the fate of the Steelhead, and the fire that was “the final insult.”

About the fire, March writes:

“The fire was calm, burning far longer than the hot, fast-traveling Marble-Cone Fire of 1977. This one was consciously taking its time, burning out brush, little trees, some big ones, sparing others along its path. It was as if the fire was gradually, methodically cleaning house, working its way over the forest floor and the river’s watershed at its own controlled pace; clearing rubbish the only way it knows how, free of good conscience, ethics, moral principles, and political persuasions. All firefighting apparatus placed in its mosaic path was a minor inconvenience to this fire.”

This slim volume could certainly join Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” as a cautionary tale of what could happen, what has happened. Human intervention caused the Carmel River to change its course, and it "no longer merely empties into Carmel Bay as it did when Sebastian Vizcaino discovered it in 1603." Today it empties into a special area "within the federally protected Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary." March has presented both warning and hope.

While not a local author, March is well-known in Sacramento’s literary circles, as he is the co-founder of the Surprise Valley Writers’ Conference, held each year in beautiful Cedarville. The conference will be held this year in mid-September, and applications are due Aug. 1. March is also the co-founder of Modoc Forum, “a nonprofit perpetuating an awareness of rural life through literature and the arts.” Sadly, a local speaking engagement this month has been cancelled.

Open Reel submissions close in 12 days

2012-07-26T03:46:11Z

The deadline for submissions to the 2012 Open Reel competition is Aug. 4, so it’s time to get working on your short films. The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento is sponsoring the second annual three-minute film competition in conjunction with the seventh annual Capital Artists’ Studio Tour (CAST). Selected films will be shown during CAST.

Films are limited to three minutes, and must have been completed within 30 days. If you want to know what can be accomplished in three minutes, ask some of last year’s participants, who created films about place and time, films that were funny and sad, and films that were abstract and filled with color.

Full submission details may be found at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento.

“Creating Freedom” fundraiser

2012-07-24T02:31:18Z

On Saturday, July 28, a fundraiser for Every Fourth Woman will be held at the Brickhouse Gallery, 2837 36th St., from 7-10 p.m. Enjoy jazz by the Darrell Stanley Band, tacos, assorted desserts, and bid on fabulous items in a silent auction.

The nonprofit organization, Every Fourth Woman, is “a survivor-generated and survivor-run union dedicated to public domestic violence education focused on the goal of reducing domestic violence,” according to its spokesperson.

Every Fourth Woman has created and distributed nearly 1,000 posters that illustrate the specifics of domestic violence, and asks women to “Say ‘NO!’ to abusive and controlling relationships.” Each of the six categories — “mind games,” “verbal abuse,” “controlling,” “intimidating,” “economic abuse” and “physical abuse” — lists specifics such as “denials of personal criticism,” “name calling,” “constant phoning/texting,” “raging while driving,” “taking partner’s resources” and “grabbing/pushing/yanking.”

About one year ago, Every Fourth Woman began organizing an art and poetry exhibit in which domestic violence survivors would teach the public about what happens when they walk out the door. In this exhibit, poetry and art will be shown at the California Museum beginning Oct. 3, and will illustrate what a woman does after losing her home, her savings, her friends and “nearly everything that provided her with a life and identity in the world.”

The exhibit, “Creating Freedom: The Art and Poetry of Domestic Violence Survivors,” is accepting submissions of visual art and poetry from domestic violence survivors who wish to tell their stories of “the largely unaddressed aftermath of leaving domestic violence.” The deadline for submissions is July 30, 2012.

Women are often counseled on how to leave an abusive relationship, but they rarely learn how to “navigate the hell that follows,” says a domestic violence survivor.

“Our post-domestic violence experiences affect all of society through increased homelessness, medical care and children and mothers who forever fail to live up to their full potential.”

To help fund this educational exhibit, Every Fourth Woman is holding its first fundraiser this Saturday evening. The $15 donation is tax deductible, and all proceeds will support the “Creating Freedom” exhibit.

Art a go-go - mid-century style

2012-07-19T02:10:55Z

This Saturday, July 21, the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento (CCAS) will team up with SacMod to host the first annual Art a Go-Go.

Twenty regional artists, including Micah Crandall-Bear, Ning Hou, Gregory Kondos, David Lobenberg, Gayle Rappaport-Weiland and Gerry Goss Simpson, have donated art to be auctioned.

“Much of the artwork is inspired by the period — including several pieces created for the event,” said Mike Azevedo, CCAS director.

Renee Carter, a CCAS board member, is opening her Mid-Century Modern home for this event. Carter’s home, completed in 1963 for Robert and Jeanette Powell, was featured in SacMod’s “2010 Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour.” The home has retained the original pool and includes a floating staircase and an open floor plan.

Mama Kim Cooks is creating the ‘60s-inspired food and beverage, and Gardenia Azul will perform early ‘60s music from the Ventures and Beach Boys.

A “Blast from the Past” bag including a SacMod membership, “Atomic Ranch” Summer 2012 issue, Etch-a-Sketch keychain, X-ray Spex, Silly Putty, Vintage Finger Monsters, Wind-up Robot, Vintage Scary Scooters, and retro candy is being donated by SacMod for a silent auction.

If food, art, drink, fashion, and fun aren’t enough, you’ll want to take a look at the Mustang convertible show car that will be on display, courtesy of the California Automobile Museum.

So pull out your coolest ‘60s wear and enjoy an evening of cocktails, art, food and music from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Valet parking will be available at the event location, 1891 11th Avenue ~~Street~~ .

Tickets are $65 per person or $95 per couple and are available at www.ccasac.org or by phone at 916-498-9811. Limited tickets may be available the day of the event.

Editor's note: Edits have been made to the address of the event location.

Tractors should be red

2012-07-17T04:26:32Z

On Sunday afternoon, several dozen people came to Sacramento’s The Avid Reader to hear Anthony Barcellos read from his novel, “Land of Milk and Money” (Tagus 2012).

Barcellos, dressed in white shirt, black tie, black pants and black-and-white tennis shoes, presented a professional yet casual appearance, that of an approachable author. He welcomed people and said, “It is bad luck to go into a bookstore and leave without buying a book.”

He opened by talking about how the novel came to exist, how at family gatherings someone would say, “Hey, tell the story about … ,” and how he was a storyteller and said that anything can be true in fiction.

Barcellos proved his mettle as an oral storyteller as he read several passages from the book, beginning with the first chapter, "The Gambit," which he referred to as the setup. It is a passage that sets the tone for the book that several have called funny or hilarious.

One of the most enjoyable parts was when he showed the alternative book covers. Beginning with the current cover, he provided commentary that had the audience laughing, and at least one of us thinking a bit differently about cows.

The current cover shows a cow “that has not been bred and lactated.” The second cover, the one coveted by the author’s mother, gained the most return commentary from the audience, who agreed that it showed a “non-Central Valley landscape,” and that it was certainly “not a California dairy farm.”

Barcellos should know, since he spent his early years on a farm, or as he later said, trying to get as far away as possible, which led him to become a math professor and department chair at American River College.

The third cover, the author’s favorite, features a cow about which Barcellos proclaimed, “Big, bad Bossy has been bred, has been lactated,” and “Yes, that is manure on her haunches.” Barcellos felt that this cover best depicted the spirit of the novel, and admits to still pining over it.

Throughout the reading, Barcellos had the audience engaged and laughing at stories like “Boys Meet Girls,” and lines like “It was also a meat market.” Laughter continued with “A Son Back Home,” and the awkward interchange between the boss and his hired hand.

“Tractors are to be red, not blue from Ford or green from John Deere or yellow,” Barcellos said before closing.

The author graciously signed books for friends, colleagues and strangers, and posed for photos with audience members, including representatives from the Portuguese Historical and Cultural Society.

Anthony Barcellos at Avid Reader this weekend

2012-07-12T15:08:02Z

Local author Anthony Barcellos will read from his first novel, “Land of Milk and Money,” at the Avid Reader in Davis on Saturday, July 14, at 7:30 p.m., and at the Avid Reader in Sacramento on Sunday, July 15, at 2 p.m.

Barcellos’ book has been praised by Gerald Haslam, John Lescroart and others. “Land of Milk and Money” (2012, Tagus Press) follows the Francisco family, Portuguese immigrants who build a prosperous dairy farm in California's Central Valley, and the legal battle over the inheritance of cattle and land.

About the book, Barcellos said, “There are many oft-told tales in my family history, dragged out on special occasions for the edification of new additions to the family or the entertainment of guests. My sister would sometimes tell me that they needed to be written down – but as fiction, ‘because no one would believe these things really happened.’”

Tagus Press published “Land of Milk and Money” under the “Portuguese in the Americas” series, which is a good fit, since Portuguese-Americans are under-represented in American literature. Barcellos said that “a natural component of the novel is the loss of an immigrant family’s original language and culture,” something too often seen in other cultures in America.

“Land of Milk and Money” is at once interesting, entertaining and thought-provoking. The number of characters sometimes reminds us of the quantity found in Russian novels, but we never get lost. We come to know each character and his or her positive and negative aspects through the stories of attending school, dating, marriage and work. Readers will find the cast of characters and glossary of Portuguese words and phrases at the book's end useful. The story revolves around the trial over the farm’s legacy, which drives wedges further into the family. At times, it may be difficult to tell who is on which side. Even the lawyers have to keep scorecards. The court setting holds the book together, as Barcellos explores the history of the Francisco family, intergenerational struggles, changing times and the death of the matriarch. Barcellos moves to and fro through time, through the novel's 10 parts, dating and titling each chapter. The nonlinear format suits this novel, and the story is sure to please anyone with an interest in history, Portuguese-Americans, dairy farms, intergenerational struggles within immigrant families or California history.

Local NCBA finalists

2012-07-10T05:29:28Z

The Sacramento area was well-represented by local writers and presses last month at the 31st Annual Northern California Book Awards held in San Francisco on June 10.

Each year since 1981, a volunteer group of people who love books – including book reviewers and book review editors – have met and presented awards to Northern California writers in the areas of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, general nonfiction, translation (fiction and poetry) and children’s literature (young adult and younger readers).

Poet, screenwriter, novelist and professor emeritus of the California State University, Sacramento, English department, Mary Mackey, faced tough competition with her recent poetry book “Sugar Zone” (2011, Marsh Hawk Press). Mackey’s book has received considerable praise and attention, all well deserved, and her ability to blend the Portuguese language with English in “Sugar Zone” makes this book one to return to again and again. This is a book to read aloud “in the hot lands nas terres tórridas” where “ the Milky Way hovers / over us like a great white osprey.”

Other finalists in the poetry category (Jane Hirschfield, Lorna Dee Cervantes and David Meltzer) are favorites in the Sacramento area.

Hirschfield’s latest book, “Come, Thief” (2011, Alfred A. Knopf), is filled with poems that ask us to reflect and listen to “the mandarin silence of windows before their view, / like guards who nod to every visitor.”

Cervantes keeps her poems to one hundred words in “Ciento: 100 100-Word Love Poems” (2011, Wingspress). Cervantes has visited Sacramento several times to share her poetry, often hosted by Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol – Writers of the New Sun. In this book, we join the poet and “wonder at the synchronicity / of you, at the planetary shift that shot your face / into view.” Each poem is a story about love – its silence, noise, passion and tenderness.

Meltzer’s book “When I was a Poet” (2011, City Lights) reflects his beat background. Sound is important, and these are poems that need to be taken from the page to understand what he means when he writes “When I was a Poet / Passion was a Wire / plugged into Nerve Ends.”

These books are winners in any competition, as is “My Naked Brain,” from the local Swan Scythe Press. This bilingual edition features the poetry of Leopoldo María Panero in his native Spanish, and the English translations by local favorite Arturo Mantecón. A finalist in the translation category, this book deserves to be read in both languages “on the sea sands of the night, / en la playa de la noche.”

Book Talk - Chandler, Corbett, Halebsky, Raban, and books in the news

2012-06-26T02:58:39Z

This month we feature local writer Stephanie Chandler, local press Folded Word, Judy Halebsky's award-winning chapbook, and essays by Jonathan Raban.

Books in the news include Peter Grandbois' award-winning novel "Nahoonkara" (Etruscan Press 2011), which was recently nominated for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award and which received the prestigious Gold Medal Award in literary fiction in Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Awards for 2011. Peter Grandbois, a popular professor at California State University at Sacramento, now lives in Ohio. Several Sacramento authors and small presses were finalists for the Northern California Book Awards including Mary Mackey for her book of poems "Sugar Zone" (Marsh Hawk Press 2011) and Leopoldo Maria Panero's book of poems "My Naked Brain" (Swan Scythe Press 2011), translated and edited by Arturo Manecon. More on the nominees and winners next week..

“Own Your Niche” by Stephanie Chandler
Authority Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-935953-28-9
2012, 234 pp., $19.99
Business-Marketing — Local Author-Local Publisher

Stephanie Chandler’s latest book, “Own Your Niche,” is a reference book for any service-based business owner that wants to join the world of Internet marketing. Each of the 13 chapters is packed with useful information written in everyday language. Each chapter ends with an entrepreneurial interview, proving as valuable as the information contained within each section. Chapters cover choosing and researching niches; establishing authority in your field; building audience and engaging community; increasing website traffic; blogs; e-newsletters; and social media. In the chapter “Social Media Simplified,” Chandler discusses the basics of social media — how it can be beneficial, what to share and not share, and she presents the basics of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus. Perhaps the most important section in this chapter, though, is “Social Media Time Management,” something everyone can use. This well-written reference book concludes with a “Directory of Resources.” Chandler’s book is for artists, writers, musicians, speakers, small business owners and anyone else needing to own their niche. The lime-green cover will make "Own Your Niche" stand out among the other reference books on your shelf, and the text is likely to be often used.

***

“On the Humber” by Julie L. Corbett
Folded Word
ISBN: 978-1-61019-209-5
2012, 18 pp., $6
Poetry — Local Press

“On the Humber” by Julie L. Corbett, a UK poet, is a delightful read from local publisher Folded Word. Sixteen poems comprise this collection that “explores the River Humber and its surroundings as only a native can.” Corbett’s language is fresh, and Sacramentans will relate to the opening poem, “Mapmaker,” in which Corbett writes, “and don’t be fooled / by the empty plots / of abandoned land / or sprawling suburbia / my home town river.” Corbett’s remembrance of a bridge across the Humber might make us think of bridges spanning the Delta or the American River. Each poem is crafted with exacting language, and Corbett is skilled in building image upon image to fill our senses, as in “Shore Leave Weekend,” in which she writes about the four smells of “steak and kidney pie, stale breathy / beer, shoe polish and the kit bag.” These scents may be unfamiliar to us, yet they reach across the ocean and become universal in their final form. “By Monday the flat was ready — ripe enough for the purging / with mop bucket, bleach and boil wash,” concludes the poem. A wonderful addition to any library.

***

“Space/Gap/Interval/Distance” by Judy Halebsky
Sixteen Rivers Press
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2309-3
2012, 35 pp., $10
Poetry — Local Author-Local Publisher

Judy Halebsky’s latest book, “Space/Gap/Interval/Distance,” won the Poets-Under-Forty Chapbook Contest sponsored by Sixteen Rivers Press, and was a finalist for the California Book Award. Halebsky, who studied art and literature in Japan for five years, translates her experience in this latest offering. From the first poem, “Transmission,” through the last, “The Ohno Studio,” Halebsky skillfully crafts each poem, line and word. Clearly, she understands the nuances of language and of the importance of word sound and line rhythm. She opens with “From the darkness and the fireflies, he calls me / mapless, unguided, night walker,” but Halebsky proves a skilled mapmaker, guiding us through each poem. In “A Thread for a Nest, a Word for a Vein,” she incorporates kanji characters and references Frida and Emily, names familiar to those in both the visual and literary arts worlds, and she places Aunt Nina between these two women. Not every poem is set in Japan, as Halebsky recalls “the day we drove from the coast back to Sacramento,” where she spent several years. This small collection is large in scope and a pleasure to read again.

***

“Driving Home: An American Journey” by Jonathan Raban
Pantheon
ISBN: 978-0-307-37991-7
2011, 512 pp., $29.95
Essays — Local Interest

Each of the 43 essays in Jonathan Raban’s “Driving Home” should be “read at the level of the word, the phrase, the line,” and each essay asks the reader “to listen, savor, question, ponder, think.” Whether Raban is writing about homesteading, Philip Larkin, President Obama or any number of other topics in the collection, he is witty, and his language is precise, as when he writes that “there are parts of the Mississippi so deathly and cloacal that they get censored even in bad dreams.” He brings an outsider’s view to America, Americans, and our mobility that is neither sentimental nor nostalgic. Many essays are set in Seattle, a “city of newcomers,” in which “having no ancestors of [his] own, [he] bought some at a Queen Anne yard sale.” As with any collection, readers will find their favorites, whether the 2010 piece “At the Tea Party” or 1993’s “Mississippi Water.”

Coming soon: "River in Ruin" by Ray March, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published" by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander, "The Bleeding Tree" by Sibilla Hershey, "Land of Milk and Money" by Anthony Barcellos, and "The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain" by Judith Horstman

"Book Talk" welcomes comments and queries from local authors and publishers. SacramentoBookTalk@gmail.com.

Prominent U.S. poets visit Crocker

2012-06-25T03:38:46Z

For the third time in as many weeks, prominent U.S. poets have visited Sacramento. Philip Levine, U.S. Poet Laureate emeritus, read at SummerWords, the first annual American River Colloquium. Next came Dana Gioia. The poet and former National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) director, who developed the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition, read at the Northminster Presbyterian Church. This past Friday evening Kazim Ali, Robert Hass and Sharon Olds read their poetry to a near-capacity crowd in the Crocker Art Museum’s Setzer Auditorium.

Claudia Rankine and C.D. Wright, also scheduled to read Friday, were unable to attend the event, but Ali and Hass recognized both poets with short biographies and by reading from their work.

Friday night’s reading was the 21st annual Squaw Valley Community of Writers’ Benefit Poetry Reading. This was the second benefit reading to be held in Sacramento after a move from San Francisco. The event was co-sponsored by the Sacramento Poetry Center and the El Dorado Arts Council.

Friday’s event could not have happened without the efforts of Moira Magneson, the event coordinator who mobilized a network of volunteers, including the Red Fox Underground, a poetry collective. Volunteers also included Shawn Pittard, Paco Marquez, Alice Anderson, Marcelo Hernandez and numerous people from northern California. The El Dorado Arts Council and an anonymous donor sponsored hotel lodging for the poets.

Magneson is also the coordinator for all Poetry Out Loud events in El Dorado County, and Shawn Pittard, who opened the evening’s events, is a past participant of the Community of Writers, one of Magneson’s assistants and a Poetry Out Loud coach for El Dorado County.

Pittard talked about his experience with Poetry Out Loud.

“For three years now, I've served as El Dorado County's Poetry Out Loud Poetry Coach. I have had the pleasure of working with students in nine high schools, including juvenile hall. I work with students in groups… and then individually with each of the school winners to prepare them for the county-level contest. After we have a county winner, I'm joined by actress Heather Brooks Freer and we team-coach the county winner,” Pittard said.

“This year, Heather and I helped El Dorado County champion, Corbin Gomez, prepare for the state contest and we were thrilled when he won, and eager to continue coaching him in preparation for the National Finals. He was a pleasure to work with and we are so proud of his efforts and achievements. Hands down, this is the best job I've ever had.”

Pittard introduced Gomez, the California Poetry Out Loud champion who placed 12th in the national competition in Washington D.C., the highest for a California finalist.

Gomez recited “The Pomegranate and the Big Crowd” by Alberto Rios to an engaged crowd.

“He’s very good,” Hass said.

Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize winner, U.S. Poet Laureate emeritus, director of the poetry program of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, poet, translator and essayist – opened by thanking everyone, “especially Moira.” Hass read from Claudia Rankine’s “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” before speaking about his poems that were influenced by a month-long stay in Rome.

The “city poems” became a theme throughout the evening. Hass read poems of San Francisco, New York and of Leiden, where “even the junk was neatly stacked.” Hass concluded his reading with a poem translated from Basho and the reminder that “inside that mystery is poetry.”

Hass introduced Kazim Ali, a poet, essayist, fiction writer and translator who opened by reading C.D. Wright’s poem, “And It Came to Pass.” Ali spoke about his translation work of the Iranian poet, Sohrab Sepehri, before reading in a voice that captured the attention of the audience and showed this poet’s love for poetry. Ali read “Fairytale,” “Bright Felon-Deleted Scene #3,” and spoke at great length on topics from Oscar Wilde’s tomb to the death of Federico Garcia Lorca. Ali concluded his reading with “Laramie Journal,” in which he spoke of the “sapphire sky.”

Ali, a former attendee at the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, introduced Sharon Olds.

“She’s one of the bravest women in the world,” he said, and spoke about her way of making “everything in the world” at stake in her poems. He spoke about her ability to make us read and experience the world she presents to help us understand more about our own world.

Olds expressed her gratitude to the audience and those who brought the event together, and then read her own work including, “Sitting on Stage,” a poem written, she said, “the morning after the last benefit reading.” The poem explored what might be going on in a poet’s mind as he or she sits on stage awaiting the chance to step up to the microphone.

Olds spoke about her forthcoming book and how she had lost “a banker’s box of poems,” then found them, but that one poem was missing. She spoke briefly about part of her revision process, then read “Ode to the Condom,” “Telling My Mother” and “Tahoe City, Softball Ode, January 2010,” as well as pieces from her just-filled notebook and new manuscript.

Gomez, Hass, Ali and Olds returned to the microphone for a group reading of “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost, each taking turns reading a line or two. They tried to engage the audience, but there was more interest in hearing the poets onstage read than in participating.

After the reading, attendees had the chance to purchase books, all donated by publishers, to help raise scholarship funds for Community of Writers attendees, and to meet and speak briefly with Hass, Ali and Olds.

An epic reading of Homer’s “The Odyssey” at Fairytale Town

2012-06-22T05:19:42Z

Kathryn Hohlwein will host an all-night, community-participation reading of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” beginning at 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 22, and concluding at 7 a.m., Saturday, June 23. The reading, the first in Sacramento in more than 10 years, will take place on the Mother Goose stage at Fairytale Town.

About the event, Hohlwein said, “I did the first one at Gibson Ranch in 1998, the second in 1999. Then I moved to New York City, and we did several there. Since then, it has been more abroad than in the States.” Hohlwein cited readings in Alexandria, Egypt; on the Greek Islands of Chios and Kos; on a cruise entitled “The Journey of Odysseus;” in Montevideo, Uruguay; at the 92nd Street Y in New York; and at the Getty Villa in Malibu, Calif.

“We have had readers reading in practically every language imaginable. This works because we have the PowerPoint presentation in the host language so people can follow,” Hohlwein said, and cited Flemish, Danish, Portuguese, Turkish, ancient Greek, French, Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic and Finnish as some of the languages. “And tomorrow in a Sengalese dialect.”

“There are still slots available to read between 1:30 and 6 a.m.,” Hohlwein added.

Gates will open at 6:30 p.m. Friday for the long-awaited return of this epic, community- participation reading, which is presented in partnership with T he Readers of Homer, an organization that produces this type of reading of Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” throughout the world, and Fairytale Town, a non-profit children’s park and educational center in Land Park.

Children, veterans, poets, teachers and others from the greater Sacramento community will comprise the 200 or so participants who will read aloud pre-assigned passages from the Robert Fagles’ translation of “The Odyssey.”

Attendees are encouraged to bring jackets, lawn chairs, tents, snacks and beverages to enjoy during this 12-hour reading of Odysseus’ 10-year struggle to reach home after the end of the Trojan War.

Advance tickets are $20 for adults. Event-day tickets are $25 for adults. Veterans, active military, students with valid ID and children 12 and younger are free. To reserve your tickets please email your full name to mail@fairytaletown.org.

Brendan Constantine brings Calamity Joe to Time-Tested Books

2012-06-19T05:01:38Z

Calamity Joe by Brendan Constantine
Red Hen Press
ISBN – 978-1-59709-176-3
2012, 112 pp., $17.95
local reading

Brendan Constantine’s latest poetry collection, “Calamity Joe,” appears to be a series of linked poems, but each poem relies on no other for its meaning. Constantine is a skilled writer who guides readers through three main sections: “Once,” “Twice,” and “The Charm.” The book opens with “The Cast (in order of disappearance),” in which we meet “The Cancer,” “The Mother,” and “The Nine-fingered Girl,” among others. Constantine shows his skill in poetic form and the nuance of meter and rhyme in poems like “The shape of my name” and “Swear.” These are poems, like many others, that must be read aloud to hear the music of lines like “looks like Carnation blue. It is Good / to see you, and even Damned if I do.” The characters are ones we root for as we follow their stories through landscapes that are often familiar and unfamiliar like the street where “a flock of pink flamingoes move in / across the street, and set up plastic people / on the lawn” from “Difficult Listening Time.” This is a book to read once, twice, and thrice.

What better way to enjoy this collection than to hear the poet read?

Brendan Constantine is a poet whose work has appeared in numerous journals, “The Underground Guide To Los Angeles,” and whose first book, “Letters to Guns,” was released by Red Hen Press in 2009. He conducts workshop classes at foster care centers, hospitals, and with the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, and is currently poet-in-residence at both Loyola Marymount University Extension and the Windward School in West Los Angeles.

Brendan Constantine will make one stop in Sacramento at Time-Tested Books (1114 21st Street) this Thursday (June 21) at 7 p.m. for a reading and book signing. This event is free and open to the public.

Anthony Swofford at Time Tested June 8

2012-06-05T18:37:59Z

Anthony Swofford’s newest book, “Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails,” (Twelve 2012) returns to the memoir form that brought America “Jarhead” and catapulted Swofford into a life of flying to Paris, Madrid, Istanbul, or Ho Chi Minh City for a meal; flying women to London, Tokyo, or Oakland for dinner or sex; buying and losing a home and sports car; and led to him and his father traveling the country together in a Winnebago.

While Swofford’s book is not for everyone, it is solidly written about sex, loss, and his understanding of what being a father means. There are some difficult passages, some eloquently written ones, and writing that is always direct.

“If I lied to a lover about what neighborhood or city or country I’d slept in the night before, it didn’t really matter: the relationship might sour but she would never kill me.” This passage is written from an older, perhaps wiser, Anthony Swofford.

About the title, Swofford says that the hotels refer to those he has stayed in and where he “occasionally behaved badly.” Swofford once spent a night in a New York jail after wrecking his BMW sports car. The hospitals, though, are the one at Travis AFB where he was born and where he picked up his father after he had collapsed; hospitals where he watched his older brother die from cancer; and the hospital where his daughter was born.

“There are also the hotels, hospitals, and jails in my mind, where I spent a lot of time in my thirties while I tried to figure my life out. Sometimes I escaped, sometimes I was sick, and sometimes I was incarcerated, but eventually I found a way out,” Swofford said in an earlier interview.

Anthony Swofford attended American River College, graduated with a BA in English from UC Davis in 1999, and completed his graduate studies at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His first memoir, “Jarhead,” was released in 2003 and the film adaptation released in 2005.

Swofford will speak about his experiences, read from “Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails,” and sign books 7:00 p.m. Friday at Time Tested Books, 1114 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95811. This event is free and open to the public.

Book Talk - Linville, Palmares Meadows, Miranda and Notley

2012-05-29T04:53:58Z

Welcome to the premiere of "Book Talk," a column where you will find reviews of books written by local poets and authors, books published by local presses, and books of particular interest to this area.

This week we feature local writers, Cynthia Linville and Jen Palmares Meadows, as well as Megan Miranda and Alice Notley.

“The Lost Thing” by Cynthia Linville
Cold River Press
ISBN 978-0-9846403-3-1
2012, 97 pp., $12.95
Poetry – local author / local press

Cynthia Linville’s collection of poems, “The Lost Thing,” travels through time and geography in search of love. Beginning with “Wandering Sunday, lost,” where the speaker asks, “What is there to fear,” Linville guides the reader through poems that are relatable to anyone who has ever loved, lost and loved again. Through poems like “A Thousand Ways to Say Goodbye,” “What should I do with all these love poems now?” and “This Poem is Not About You: A Post-Break-Up Spell,” we realize that there is nothing to fear. In “Heat,” we relive that moment where we are “almost kissed,” and in “Joshua Tree National Park,” we feel the passion of that new love, where we want to “ride the slow-wave of blood / rushing in / rising without crest.” These poems are funny, sad, and never lack hope. Are these poems personal? Perhaps, and it is just that personal touch that makes them universal.

***

“Annotated Pai Gow Poker and more” by Jen Palmares Meadows
2011, 28 pp., $5.00
Short fiction and creative nonfiction – local author

Fiction meets creative nonfiction in Jen Palmares Meadows’ chapbook, “Annotated Pai Gow Poker and more.” A short fiction piece features two voices, illustrations and instructions on how to play Pai Gow. The language in this section is both seductive, befitting a story set in Sin City, and direct. It is a quiet, contemplative piece, unlike the raucous nonfiction ”Pretty Potion,” a recipe that claims to be “the solution to every homely girl’s puberty predicament,” and that encourages the mixing of sugar; cinnamon; eye shadow; a decapitated, chopped and melted Barbie doll and a lock of Kelly Kapowski’s hair. Directions are given, with a warning: “Inexact measurements could result in uneven-sized breasts." “Pretty Potion” is a girl’s coming-of-age story that reminds us what it was like to be in junior high school, a girl with braces or glasses, or wearing a hand-me-down training bra.

***

“Fracture” by Megan Miranda
Walker Childrens
ISBN 978-0-8027-2309-3
2012, 272 pp., $17.99
Young adult fiction

Megan Miranda’s first book, “Fracture,” follows Delaney Maxwell, a 17-year-old girl who has been in a coma for six days. Her voice opens the book with, “The first time I died, I didn’t see God.” From the first page, Miranda’s characters are people we care about: Decker, the boy Delaney’s known forever and who waits by her hospital bed; Delaney’s mom, who seems on the verge of some sort of breakdown and who has her own secrets; Troy Vega, the young man who works in an assisted living facility; and Delaney. It seems like Delaney’s fall into freezing water, where she remained for 11 minutes and should have been dead after 10, and her subsequent coma, affected her brain so that she can sense illness and death. She doesn’t understand this new power and learns that Troy also has it, but they have differing views about actions they should take.

***

“Songs and Stories of the Ghouls” by Alice Notley
Wesleyan
ISBN 978-0819569561
2011, 208 pp., $24.95
Poetry

History is usually written by the winners, but Alice Notley turns that old belief on its head in her latest book, “Songs and Stories of the Ghouls,” where the victims of genocide, particularly women, tell their stories and gain power – sometimes for the first time. Within the 208 pages of prose, dialogue and poetry, Medea is not the murderess of her sons, and Dido repeatedly founds a city. “The fact that our souls are poems is obvious, once it has been stated,” says Dido, the “activator of our ghoul world” who is “helping us to wait for what we’re owed, after the planet is finished and the gods all of them are defunct, the diseases are exhausted, and the genocides, successful, are concluded.” Throughout the book, we are reminded that the same horrors and the same outcomes have occurred, and still occur, but poetry provides the stories that the winners never tell.

"Book Talk" welcomes comments and queries from local authors and publishers. SacramentoBookTalk@gmail.com

Barkin’ Dog and Julia Connor: Bluegrass and poetry

2012-04-27T01:34:33Z

Saturday evening is the last opportunity to view “Shelf Life: Paintings and Objects,” the current exhibit at the Sacramento Poetry Center featuring the work of poet laureate emeritus Julia Connor.

The closing reception, free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. and will feature the music of Barkin’ Dog Bluegrass, a California-based band that plays traditional and progressive bluegrass, and a poetry reading by the artist Julia Connor.

“I think of this exhibition as a gathering, a way of sharing where I have been by sharing with you what remains,” Connor wrote in her statement about “Shelf Life.”

Poetic Voices: Flor y Canto

2012-04-25T07:37:25Z

Poets and musicians gathered Friday night at the Guild Theatre to raise funds for C.O.R.E., Chicano Organizing and Research in Education, and their Que Llueva Café scholarship fund.

C.O.R.E. is a non-partisan, research, and advocacy organization with the purpose of improving the education environment of all Chicano/Latino students. C.O.R.E.’s membership, including its board members, come from various backgrounds and fields and support the organization’s many efforts, which include a variety of scholarships, such as the Que Llueva Café.

The Que Llueva Café scholarship was founded in response to “what is an unfair immigration system that continues to deprive aspiring new scholars from continuing their education in the only country they have ever known, the U.S.,” according to the C.O.R.E. website. The scholarship provides financial assistance to undocumented students so that they may continue on their academic path.

The $10 cover charge donation provided the several dozen attendees with an evening filled with poetry and music from some of the area’s finest poets and musicians. Raffle tickets offered opportunities to win gift cards, several bottles of wine, and an electronic book reader. A silent auction was held for a piece of original art by poet and C.O.R.E. member Nancy Aidé González, who also organized this annual fundraising event.

“I believe in the scholarship, which supports the hopes and aspirations of college-bound undocumented students,” she said. “Many of the students applying for the scholarship have had difficult lives. Despite setbacks, they have achieved academically and want to attend universities. They want to improve their lives. They are the dreamers the DREAM Act seeks to help.”

C.O.R.E. executive director Miguel Cordova said scholarship applications have arrived from Georgia, South Carolina and Arizona, from graduating high school students who “believe they can make it in college.”

The event featured local poets Francisco X. Alarcón, Julia Connor, JoAnn Anglin, Graciela Ramirez, Paco Marquez, Sean Penna, Rosalba Gabriela Ruvalcaba, Betty Sánchez, an open mic, and musicians Patrick Grizzell, Cynthia Llano Faulkner and Joaquin Clemente Faulker. Several poets are also members of Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol, a Sacramento-based writing group.

The mix of poetry read in Spanish by Ramirez and Sánchez was complemented by the poetry read in English by Anglin and Aidé González. Several poets, including Alarcón and Marquez, read their pieces in both Spanish and English.

The audience was moved by poems like Penna’s “Las Muertas de Juárez,” about the deaths of women in Juarez (“A vile lachryphagous moth/ Drinking tears of sorrow/ Pain/ And misery/ From those he has taken/ And those he is yet to take”).

Aidé González read her poem “La Llorona,” based on the Mexican legend of the Weeping Woman.

“It is said La Llorona’s spirit is blessed with natural beauty and long, flowing black hair,” she said. “Wearing a white gown, she roams the rivers and creeks, wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave. Though the tales vary, the one common thread is that she is the spirit is of a doomed mother who drowned her children and now spends eternity searching for them in rivers and lakes. I wrote ‘La Llorona’ because it is an important legend in my culture.”

Local poet and musician Grizzell performed two sets, including a bluesy song, and at times incorporating the harmonica along with the guitar. He can often be found throughout Sacramento performing music or reading poetry, and his books may be purchased at The Book Collector.

Early Mexican and Californio musical pieces were performed by C. Faulkner on mandolin and J. Faulkner on guitar. C. Faulkner related that people often ask why the songs are performed in Spanish. “Because at this time [California] was Alta California.”

The duo performed a set that included “El Capotin.” C. Faulkner credits Charles Fletcher Lummis with preserving these songs, which he recorded on Edison wax cylinders in 1903 and 1904.

Sacramento poet laureate emeritus Julia Connor began her reading with “The Place of Dark Blue Flowers,” a poem about Sacramento.

Her second poem, “Hidden Religions,” is a “poem about the making of poetry couched in the lore of ancient Ireland.” The poem refers to how sacred stones in Ireland in the 3rd century B.C. had to be chipped so that they would fit exactly when used to create stone monuments. Connor compares that construction to the poet sculpting words to fit a poem.

Connor also read a series of poems entitled “Postcards from Todo Santos” after having spent a week in that part of Baja California. The first section was about dogs because she said that the town was “full of dogs.” Connor finished her reading with “Epitaph.”

One of the highlights of the event was Alarcón’s invocation to the four cardinal directions. Beginning with North and ending with West, he invited the audience to stand and join him in calling the earth’s four directions. At each location, the ancient Nahuatl word, “tahui,” is called out twice.

“In the Nahuatl tradition,” Alarcón writes, “North is the Land of the Dead,” where the ancestors originated from, and they are called upon “to grant us their wisdom.” East is where the sun rises and “is the direction of our birth, of our childhood and youth, of passion, and is ruled by the protectors of love, of the arts and poetry, and of what is really most precious in life,” he continues. South is the “fertile land of Mesoamerica where my family ancestors came from. It is dedicated to honor all women.” West is where the sun sets, and “in the Nahuatl tradition, it also represents the end of our life journey.”

Alarcón has performed this ritual, which is an ancient oral tradition, hundreds of times at poetry readings, weddings, funerals, and performed the invocation once in the Senate Chamber of the California State Capitol.

In addition to his invocation and his poems, including one in the form of a letter to Hernando Cortez and another in response to Columbus, he is the creator of the “Poets Responding to SB 1070” Facebook page. He began the page in response to the controversial Arizona bill that many claim encourages racial profiling. He also spoke of the nine students known as the Capital Nine who protested the passage of SB 1070, calling them “the hope of our nation.”

“We are all humans,” he said. “Each poem is an act of faith, a call for action.”

How to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day

2012-04-24T06:18:22Z

Put a poem in your pocket or tuck one into someone else’s pocket this Thursday because April is National Poetry Month and April 26 is Poem in Your Pocket Day.

This annual event was started by the Academy of American Poets who “encourage folks to stuff their pockets with their favorite poems and spend the day sharing them with others,” says Richard Hansen, proprietor of The Book Collector in Midtown.

Hansen is no stranger to small poems, as his own project, Poems-For-All, is about the creation and scattering of poems.

“It is about building tiny books of poetry to be scattered like seeds,” he said. “These little books fit perfectly into pockets.”

Hansen creates these books for special events like the upcoming Food Bank benefit at the Sacramento Poetry Center. He has created more than 1,000 tiny poetry books since he began the project in 2001.

He has published poems by Kathy Kieth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Xico Gonzales, Russell Salamon, Robert Creeley, and began the project with “The Bells of the Cherokee Pony” by d.a. levy.

If you find yourself in Davis on Thursday , the current poet laureate, Allegra Silberstein, will read poems at various locations throughout town and will be at the Mary L. Stephens Library on 14th Street from 3 to 6 p.m. listening to poems and issuing slips for a free book, which will be donated by the library.

The library will also set up a station with prompts for writing poems.

In the evening, Luna’s Café will feature Bill Gainer, who always has poems falling from his pockets. People are invited to share their poems at an open mic. The event begins at 8 p.m.

National Poetry Month in Sacramento

2012-04-11T07:07:40Z

April 1 kicked off National Poetry Month, an event “inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 . . . when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.” Although National Poetry Month is held every April, and Sacramento and its neighbors are celebrating in various ways, Sacramento is certainly no stranger to poetry and the banding together of poets.

About poetry, bookseller Richard Hansen, aka The Book Collector (24th and J), says, “I like to find ways to make poetry part of my life every month, but I am always excited when April rolls around and various folks and organizations find special ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.”

The Book Collector boasts a large poetry section which showcases talented local poets. On the shelves might be found works by Ann Menebroker, Carol Louise Moon, Danyen Powell, or anthologies and journals like Brevities, WTF?! and Primal Urge, publications by Rattlesnake, Swan Scythe and little m presses. On certain days, poetry is presented live. In April, poetry comes in one of its many manifestations when Hansen hosts Anna Joy Springer, Tisa Bryant and Doug Rice on April 21 to celebrate the release of Rice’s book, Memoirs of a Fabulist, published by local Copilot press.

About Sacramento and poetry, Hansen says, “There's an exciting poetry culture in Sacramento with numerous poets, several small poetry presses and many venues, including our bookstore, where you can experience poetry live.”

Live poetry thrives in Sacramento as can be seen by the offering below.

Sacramento City College is featuring an exhibit of poems located on the second floor of the library to celebrate National Poetry Month. According to Judith Howe, the curator of the exhibit, which includes illustrated poems, free verse and various forms, the library has hosted this exhibit for several years. Poems may be dropped off at the library desk on the second floor or emailed to howej@scc.losrios.edu to be included.

Additionally, an interactive display, "Wordplay," teaches people about poetry forms and provides ideas for creating poems. A display of books and other media showcases poets from around the world including Sacramento poets featured in a DVD titled, “I Began to Speak.” The library's impressive collection of poetry includes works by Neruda, Rilke, Rumi, Ginsberg, Kerouac, and names less familiar that might be found in the many anthologies.

The Guild Theatre will host the "Poetic Voices Flor Y Canto C.O.R.E. Fundraiser" on April 20 and will feature many of the area's finest poets including JoAnn Anglin, Francisco X. Alarcon, Nancy Aidé González and Betty Sánchez. More information is available by contacting Miguel Cordova at mcordova@ca-core.org.

Monday, April 2 was the first of five Monday readings at the Sacramento Poetry Center (SPC) and featured “volunteers and students who participated in the New Folsom Project, a year-long exchange between poets on ‘the outside’ and ‘the inside.’”

About SPC, Tim Kahl says, “We endeavor to promote talent from across the country as well as local talent.”

Perhaps the biggest event at this organization that hosts poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction events is its annual Spring Writers Conference to be held on April 14. The event is open to members and non-members for fees ranging from $20 to $30. Included will be workshops on writing and publishing, and readings by presenters. This year, a special reception for Julia Connor, Sacramento poet laureate emeritus, will take place in the center’s art gallery where her art is featured.

Other events include a special fundraising event on April 30 featuring Davis poet laureate Allegra Silberstein, Josh Fer nandez and others, hosted by Lytton Bell. All funds raised will benefit the Sacramento Food Bank. Frank Dixon Graham hosts the fifth Mondays, featuring different organizations, such as his successful annual autism awareness readings.

The Sacramento Public Library is also on board with National Poetry Month, and a sprinkling of events to be found include a “Tag-Team” reading (April 4) at the South Natomas library, hosted by Lana Adlawan, the library's branch supervisor. Featured poets read from their work and from the work of poets who inspired them. Also at South Natomas (April 21) is an “Altered Book Poetry” program for teens. North Natomas library will host “Haiku Collage” on April 26, and Central library featured “Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives - From Homer to Hip Hop” (April 4).

Other locations and events in and out of Sacramento include Emmanuel Sigauke, editor of Munyori Journal, at Luna’s Café (April 5) and Sacramento poet laureate Bob Stanley on April 12. Luna’s is home to the long-running “Poetry Unplugged” series begun by Joe Montoya and offers readings by five different hosts every Thursday. In addition to featuring readings by local poets and musicians, the largest open mic in Sacramento welcomes poets at various stages of their writing.

The Rattlesnake Press publication, WTF?!, featuring art, music and poetry from near and far, is released four times each year at Luna’s (third Thursday with host and editor Frank Andrick). The submission date for the next issue is April 15. Little m press, a Sacramento press, releases chapbooks by area poets (second Thursday with host and publisher Geoff Neil). Other hosts include Mario Ellis-Hill, Sho'nuff & Jenilynn, and Robert Grossklaus, publisher of local Polymer Grover press. If you’ve never been to Luna’s, it’s always exciting.

Also exciting are the many readings like the “Poetry With Legs” series at Sacramento’s Shine Café on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. This series is underwritten by Primal Urge Magazine. Hosted by Bill Gainer, this series welcomes poets working in all forms, from traditional to experimental. Like Luna’s, Shine offers food and drink, seating, and a host of local and not-always local poets like Brigit Truex and Phillip Larrea (April 11) and Rachel Leibrock (co-editor of WTF?! and columnist for Sacramento News & Review and Sage Alejandra (April 25).

About the series, Bill Gainer writes that “the audience is encouraged to be part of the show.”

Shows featuring poetry may be found at Queen Sheba, where the Mahogany Urban Poetry Series is hosted by NSAA on Wednesday evenings. This month David Scott will be featured. Also to be noted are events sponsored by Terry Moore including “Big Daddy Night for all Fathers and Father Figures” (April 5) and the monthly event, “The Show.” Mondo Bizarro also hosts Midtown Out Loud, which runs an open mic every first and third Wednesday of the month.

Other Sacramento area readings include the Crossroads series, which will feature Lisa Abraham-Dominguez and Susan Kelly-DeWitt on April 21 at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento. This series features distinctive voices and is “dedicated to enriching the interplay between literary and visual artists,” according to the website. It is also the only daytime reading series in Sacramento.

Daytime readings, however, may be found in Davis when Rebecca Moos hosts her long-running “Poetry in the Garden” series each spring. The next reading will feature Sacramento poet laureate Bob Stanley and Davis host Andy Jones (April 26).

Also in Davis are evening readings at the Natsoulas Gallery on the first and third Thursday where Andy Jones hosts “The Poetry Night Reading Series” and at the Unitarian Universalist Church on the third Friday of the month where Davis poet laureate Allegra Silberstein hosts her series, “The Other Voice,” which will feature Laura Sandage and Kirk Ridgeway on April 20.

Woodland has joined Sacramento and Davis with a monthly reading series at the Woodland Public Library where host Jessica Kristie presents a featured poet and an open mic on the last Wednesday of each month in the “Inspiring Words” series.

The listings above are but a sampling of what’s available in and around the Sacramento area. For more information, ask other poets, look for flyers in your local cafes, coffee shops and libraries, visit the venues, seek out other poets and check out two of the most comprehensive online event calendars for Sacramento and beyond.

SPAM – Sacramento Poetry Art and Music offers event listings in a traditional calendar format where the viewer can be overwhelmed by the number of events on any given day. Additionally, this site links to area writing groups and workshops.

Medusa’s Kitchen offers event listings, workshop listings, poetry, art, submission opportunities and covers all of Northern California. See poets in action, their artwork and photos, read their words and find out what’s going on in Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Lincoln, Reno, Stockton, Modesto and points beyond.

Family Circus workshops

2012-02-08T05:09:00Z

On Sunday morning at the University of California, Davis Mondavi Center, Kevin O’Connor, Slater Penney, Christine Germain and Emily Leap led two free workshops on rope climbing, juggling, building human pyramids and using the trapeze. Each 90-minute workshop accommodated 60 very lucky participants ranging from age 4 to adult. More than 300 people could not be accommodated.

Kevin O’Connor, an MFA choreography candidate and graduate of the National Circus School of Montreal, was the event’s organizer. O’Connor invited three other trained professionals to lead the four simultaneous workshops sponsored by the new UC Davis Institute for Exploration in Theatre, Dance and Performance.

The morning workshop buzzed with energy from participants, and a passion for teaching was exhibited by Slater Penney, an educator in physical theater and Emmy winner who opened the event and led the group through a series of warm-ups that included stretches for legs, torso and hands.

Other exercises included spatial awareness activities that required each participant to find a person to follow and to keep that person on their right. The catch here was not to tell the other person. Penney then directed the participants to locate another person and keep that person on the left. The key was to keep the original person to the right and add the second person.

After warming up and learning more about spatial awareness, Penney broke the group into three smaller groups of about 20 participants each for the first of three rotations of juggling, human pyramid building and aerialist work. Each group spent time in each of the three areas. The aerialist work was divided between rope climbing and trapeze work.

Penney led the group in juggling colored scarves and tennis balls. Scarves were wadded and dropped and participants were asked to perform while the scarf was floating to the ground. A waving of arms, dance moves and jumping took place before the pink, blue, orange, green and yellow scarves landed. Scarves were tossed high and caught on heads and juggled before participants were given tennis balls – first one, then two.

Penney refers to himself as a “Jack of all trades” and said that he loves teaching. His passion for teaching and for the circus arts shone as bright as his orange shirt. He leads programs for children from 5-10 years old at the International House in Davis.

The group next to Penney, led by Christine Germain, a dancer and an MFA student, worked on partnering skills and trust as they held hands and leaned back or placed themselves back to back and moved from standing to a squatting position and back. Germain told the group as she led them through the building of a small human pyramid that the lizard becomes the rock. Weight distribution was discussed, and no one fell over during the morning workshop.

Along the back wall, O’Connor led the third group through rope climbing. Perhaps the only disappointed participant was Katrina Hernes, an avid tree climber and gymnast, who was told that she would not be permitted to climb to the top of the ropes for safety reasons.

Rope climbers also worked with aerialist and dancer, Emily Leap, on the trapeze where she first demonstrated a spin and then guided participants, holding firmly to the small children.

Each group worked for approximately 20 minutes with each leader, and the time seemed too short for most when the 60 participants were reassembled for cool-down exercises led by O’Connor.

“As part of my upcoming MFA thesis presentation,” said O’Connor as he explained the reason for the workshops, “I wanted to activate the Mondavi space with a whole cross range of the surrounding Davis community. I wanted to bring people into the space to play, learn, meet each other and share ideas. I think more of these types of workshops could happen here so that the Mondavi center has a felt sense of being a creative space and force in the community.”

O’Connor, with collaborator Leap, will present dis/connect, a show that explores the idea of place, at the Mondavi Center for two weekends beginning February 16. The show will feature four additional dancer/circus artists and three vocalists and will be, according to O’Connor, “an interactive event that will move between a performance and audience participation,” with a soundscape featuring live vocalists.

Many attendees and several workshop leaders expressed a desire for more workshops like those presented Sunday where children and adults, and friends and family came together to learn more about themselves, about circus acts, and to enjoy themselves.

Blue Christmas for kids raises funds for Sacramento Children’s Home

2011-12-21T07:50:26Z

People came for the music and because Sunday’s musical feast at Folsom’s Powerhouse Pub was a charity event. At $15 per ticket, with six bands lined up to cover a spectrum of blues music, and all ticket proceeds benefiting the 147 year old Sacramento Children's Home, there was no better place to be.

The Randy Carey Band opened the show at 1:50 p.m. and their rocking country blues sound had people dancing early on. They opened with “Born Under a Bad Sign,” sung by Carey, who also penned several of the songs, including “Blue Boy Blues,” their next to last song. The band’s rendition of “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” had feet tapping and bodies swaying in seats and on the dance floor that was in use for five hours Sunday.

“They really deserve your help,” said Carey, speaking of the children at the Sacramento Children’s Home, the event’s beneficiary. Carey also reminded the audience that it was going to be a great day of music, a promise fulfilled by his band and the five that followed.

The band closed with a slow song, “People, People, People,” originally performed by Jimi Hendrix in the 1960’s, but sung Sunday by Ron Cook. Carey and Cook were the vocalists on an eight song set. The band hosts the first Sunday blues jams from 2-6 p.m. at Louie’s in Rancho Cordova and participate, like many others performing Sunday, in fundraisers throughout the year.

A ten minute break for the scurry of set changing followed. Instruments were carried off and on stage as the Randy Carey Band made way for Gumbo Stew, a Bay Area based band that opened with Kathy Tejcka singing “Maybe Someday Baby,” a Delbert McClinton song that she did more than justice to.

Tejcka, vocalist and keyboardist, also fronts her own band as do many of Sunday’s performers. She previously performed with Johnny Nitro whose musical roots are Sacramento-based, and who passed away this year. Fans may find her New Year’s Eve day in San Francisco at The Saloon.

About Sunday’s event, Tejcka said, “Gumbo Stew had a great day, great venue, great people, great Blues Society!”

Stewart Burr, drummer and leader of Gumbo Stew reminded the audience why they were all there, thanked Rick von Geldern and the Powerhouse Pub for making the event happen and pointed to the bar saying, “Visit Scott.”

Burr’s request to “shake your butts on the dance floor” was answered by more people when the band played an old Billy Preston tune, “Will It Go Round in Circles?” The four-piece band in bright shirts presented their zydeco and soul spin on the blues for nearly an hour and made several new fans.Among attendees at Sunday’s event were members of the Sacramento Blues Meetup group. They had a table away from stage, but the group’s members were fixtures on the dance floor, dancing sometimes alone, sometimes with other members, and sometimes with the musicians. Mari Lu Onweller was Sunday’s meetup host and said that twenty-two members had registered online.

Gumbo Stew completed their set, quickly dismantled their instruments, including Burr’s drum set, and made room for Pinkie Rideau and her band of four, who opened with Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man” and the first harmonica of the day. They lived up to the tune’s lyrics of keeping the audience satisfied.

Rideau, clad in a pink-sequined top and matching pant insets, was playful with both her band and the audience. She offered ten copies of her cd, “Long Walk off a Short Pier – Pinkie & Blind Resistance Live at Lou’s Pier 47,” stating that all proceeds would be donated to the Sacramento Children’s Home. One attendee quickly bought two while Rideau was still on stage. Five more were sold throughout the afternoon.

“We’re here for the kids,” she said. She thanked “each and every one” for attending.

“I thought it was a phenom!” said Rideau about Sunday’s event. “Great music from beginning to end.” She credited the smooth transitions and timeliness to Rick von Geldern and said, “The sound guy, Bradley, did a marvelous job.”

Indeed, Bradley Kent made sure that the sound was excellent, surely not an easy task with six bands playing different versions of blues music.

Rideau continued, “We are all so fortunate to be able to perform at concerts like this. We pay it forward and do things for others – without pay. In this instance, it’s Christmas for the kids that are less fortunate. I tell my guys that we do four benefits a year, but we do more than that – it humbles them and me.”

Humble, energized and fun describes not only Rideau’s singing but Jay Cavileer’s harmonica playing. Cavileer played for the audience and used his entire body, at times kicking up one leg or the other.

Channing Heath played bass, Rodney Alcover played guitar and Big Dave Watkins kept the drums beating. Primarily the vocalist and sometimes storyteller, Rideau picked up her guitar for a slower song that Celeste Lemen, one of the Meetup attendees called “beautiful.”

One of the audience favorites was Rideau’s live performance of “Camel Toe Boogie,” which John Rohlman, an audience member, particularly enjoyed.

“It don’t get any better than this,” said Rohlman. “Not only was this a worthy cause but the entertainment was as worthy as the cause.” Rohlman was later spotted dancing with Rideau.

A new cd is expected in March and the band can be found in February in Reno performing at “A Tribute to the Kings of Blues,” another benefit.

A flurry of activity once again ensued to move Pinkie Rideau, an audience favorite, off the stage to make room for the next act.

Ron Alexander, the CEO of the Sacramento Children’s Home, was introduced by Rick von Geldern, the event’s emcee and stage manager and the bandleader/guitarist for Sacramento Blues Revue. Alexander spoke briefly about the history of his organization and thanked the musicians and audience.

Pailer and Adams took the stage next. Wingnut Adams was the harmonica player and primary vocalist Sunday when he, Jimmy Pailer on guitar, Leigh Lonetta on drums and Dave Chanell on bass performed to an ever-growing crowd.

“How’s everyone doing?” preceded “Will you be good enough to let me get funky?” Adams then blew his harmonica and did indeed get funky, much to the enjoyment of the audience.

Adams, the 2008 West Coast Blues Hall of Fame “Bandleader of the Year” released his most recent album, “Will Work for Groove” in June. He teamed with Pailer of the Jimmy Pailer Band for a performance Sunday that was exciting, powerful and fun.

Pailer and Adams perform regularly at Sacramento’s Torch Club on Wednesdays, both have new cd’s, and Adams said that he’s headed to the studio after Christmas to work on an album due out February, 2012.

Like Rideau, Adams is a storyteller and musician who obviously loves to interact with the audience. He often led into songs via stories and played the harmonica with as much passion and fun as any great blues harmonica player, but with his particular funky spin.

“Give yourselves a hand for coming out on a Sunday right after church,” he said. “It’s all about having a good time.”

A good time was had by musicians and audience alike, and Adams said that he was glad to see the musicians come together.

Adams was not the band’s only vocalist, as proved by Chanell’s performance of the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” the band’s final song before passing the stage to the Sacramento Blues Revue.

Von Geldern, the man of many hats and shirts Sunday, had changed into his Sacramento Blues Revue print shirt, and thanked everyone for coming out, reminding them to buy tickets for the raffle to be held after his band finished playing.

Up for grabs with tickets just $2 each was a white, Fender Starcaster guitar donated by Skip’s Music and signed by all of the musicians. Other prizes included signed event posters and a signed canvas piece, “The Blues are Good for a Man.”

The Sacramento Blues Revue took the stage with ten of its eleven band members, rotating vocalists Deacon Baker, Marshal Wilkerson and Lena Mosley throughout their set. Mosley’s rendition of “Chain of Fools” clearly showed why she was inducted into the Sacramento Blues Hall of Fame this year. Jonny “Mojo” Flores led the band as vocalist on at least one song. This Sammie award-winning band with its R&B spin filled the stage and proved to be an audience favorite that many felt didn’t play long enough.

Von Geldern enlisted the aid of Lady Rhythm, the band’s drummer, to pull tickets for the raffle while the stage was being cleared of their instruments and set up for the final event band.

The first two prizes, the signed event posters, were won by a member of the Meetup group and a woman named Renee. The canvas piece was won by a man who looked like he would have rather won the guitar, but his ticket, like the previous winners’ tickets, went back into the drawing for the signed Fender Starcaster.

The first ticket pulled produced no winner. Von Geldern extended the tension felt throughout the pub as he call “8 – 2 – 4,” then paused. The sound of tickets rustling could be heard throughout the otherwise relatively quiet establishment. Von Geldern asked a couple of people what ticket numbers they had, then finished with “4 – 2 – 7.”

A man headed toward the stage, and Rideau soon caught up with him. “That is our guitarist,” she said, and Channing Heath ~~Rodney Alcover~~ was presented with the guitar signed on both front and back.

Heath ~~Alcover~~ grinned and looked like he wanted to eat the guitar. Lady Rhythm smiled throughout the drawing as she had during her drumming. She, like many of the musicians, had been spotted throughout the day dancing and assisting other musicians with their gear.

“I love kids from the bottom of my heart and they are our future today!” said Lady Rhythm about the day’s event.

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats completed the event with their harmonica-driven, blues/jump style. Indeed, Estrin’s harmonica was heard and enjoyed by attendees upstairs and downstairs.

No matter which band people came out to hear, a great time was had by all.

Sunday’s event, the 2nd annual Blue Christmas for Kids, surely will not be the last based on the response of both musicians and audience, as well as von Geldern’s words.

“I intend this event to be annual.”

Editor's note: Edits have been made to the name of the artists after publication.

Blues to benefit Sacramento Children's Home

2011-12-16T05:12:34Z

If you equate blues music with Robert Johnson, you’re in for a surprise and a treat Sunday afternoon when Sacramento Blues Revue teams with Folsom’s Powerhouse Pub to host the second annual Blue Christmas for Kids, benefiting the Sacramento Children’s Home.

The event kicks off at 1:50 p.m. with the Randy Carey Band, a country blues group, and will finish with Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, a blues/jump band, playing from 6 to 7 p.m. In between, attendees will hear blues/zydeco from GumboStew, blues from Pinkie Rideau & Blind Resistance, rockin’ blues from the Jimmy Pailer Band, and blues/R&B from Sacramento Blues Revue, led by Rick von Geldern.

Von Geldern said he began working on this event back in March and that last year’s event delivered “a couple of vans filled with toys and barrels of food” to an after-school program in South Sacramento.

This year’s event will generate funds for the Sacramento Children’s Home, a Sacramento organization founded in 1867 that provides care to the most vulnerable children and families in our area.

The Sacramento Children’s Home hosts many programs including crisis intervention; home visitation through Birth and Beyond; crisis nurseries encompassing literacy programs and case management; counseling for families; and trauma, residential and transition-age programs that include independent living skills; and various educational programs.

“Christmas is a time for kids,” Von Geldern said. “I know not all kids have families they can share Christmas with, and for those at the Sacramento Children’s Home, I hope their Christmas will be a little bit brighter in some small way from what we’re able to raise from the second Blue Christmas for Kids event.”

Von Geldern is the bandleader and guitarist of Sacramento Blues Revue, past president of the Sacramento Blues Society and committed to blues and kids. In 2003, he was elected president of the Sacramento Blues Society, the same year Congress proclaimed “year of the blues.”

“That’s the first year we put together a Blues in the Schools (BITS) committee and started the program,” he said. “For me, it was a priority to get it started.”

He credits Cynthia Jaynes and her hard work, and the work of others, for helping the BITS program develop through the years. BITS strives to bring musicians, storytellers and educators together in an effort to teach Sacramento youth the historical significance of blues music and its impact on both American and world culture.

While children will not be admitted to the 21-and-over establishment Sunday, adults will enjoy the coming together of names familiar to those who attend local blues events as well as names less familiar. Many genres of blues music will be well represented.

Randy Carey Band is a new group focusing on country blues. Carey is the bandleader and will be accompanied by Zane Toberer, Ron Cook and Paul Whitney.

GumboStew hails from the Bay Area. Led by Stewart Burr who has toured and recorded with Chubby Checker, Sista Monica and others, this band is sure to keep people dancing. Joining Burr are Jim Caroompas who was a featured player with John Lee Hooker’s band and has opened for Van Morrison and Tower of Power, Richard Burgan who plays bass guitar, and Kathy Tejcka who credits Luther Allison’s passionate and powerful performance one evening for a career change.

Pinkie Rideau & Blind Resistance are Modesto-based musicians. Rideau listened to Madame Butterfly, Hank Williams and the Rolling Stones growing up. Her list of non-music occupations range from body builder and power lifter to carpenter and salesperson and include stints at massage therapy, waitressing and wedding planning. Rideau will be joined by four talented musicians, each hand-picked.

Von Geldern calls Rideau a “tremendous talent” who “will put on an excellent show.”

The Jimmy Pailer Band follows with rockin’ blues. A regular at Sacramento’s Torch Club and at the San Juan Club in Fair Oaks, Von Geldern says Pailer is “one of the best blues guitarists. He’s been my hero for many years and has a great voice.”

Von Geldern will lead the Sammie Award-winning Sacramento Blues Revue in nearly an hour of blues/R&B. Ten of the 11 members will perform Sunday, including vocalist Lena Mosley, 2011 inductee into the Sacramento Blues Hall of Fame. Also on vocals are Marshall Wilkerson and Deacon Baker. Joining Von Geldern on guitar will be Jonny “Mojo” Flores, Marty Deradoorian, Charles Williams, Katoya Moore, Mark Heggen and Zot.

Closing Sunday’s event will be the harmonica-driven, Alligator Records artist Rick Estrin and the Nightcats. Estrin said he will be in the studio next Monday working on a new record, the first since 2009’s “Twisted.” He hopes that the yet untitled album will release mid-2012. Joining Estrin Sunday will be J. Hansen and Lorenzo Farrell on rhythm and guitarist Kid Andersen performing their blues/jump style that Estrin calls his “unique stamp” on blues music.

About participating in Sunday’s event, Estrin said “I feel bad for any kids having a hard time,” and hopes that the combined efforts of this event will help.

Six bands, five hours of live music in the funky Powerhouse Pub, a tour of blues genres, and all for only fifteen dollars, proceeds that will benefit the many programs of the Sacramento Children’s Home.

Tommy Castro rocks Folsom

2011-12-12T07:41:01Z

The bumper sticker read, “I’d rather be at a Tommy Castro Show,” and the crowd that filled Folsom’s Powerhouse Pub Saturday night agreed.

Ben and Robin Penn chose Castro over the lighted boat parade, and others chose the show over competing concerts and Sacramento’s Second Saturday events, braving the cold and the Santa Pub Crawlers to hear Castro and his band.

The band that performed Saturday night is not the same lineup fans will see in 2012, when Randy McDonald will replace Scot Sutherland on bass, Keith Crossan will take his sax skills elsewhere, as will Tom Poole and his horn and Tony Stead and his keyboards. Byron Cage will remain at drums.

Castro fans were clearly not disappointed when the band began playing just after 10 p.m. The crowd drew closer to the stage, filling the dance area from stage to bar. Personal space was not a concern.

“We love you!” came from all corners of the funky pub with guitars and dragonfly stained glass lights, masks and blacklight posters adorning ceiling and walls.

Castro opened the nearly hour-and-a-half-long first set with “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and the somebody being served Saturday was the crowd. Castro’s energy was high as he played the guitar and sang. It was clear why he’s referred to as a hard-working musician, performing 10 songs in the first set.

Several times throughout the evening, Castro asked the crowd to be more vocal and said, “I know just about everybody here.” The band has played the Powerhouse Pub many times, and Castro said in an earlier interview that it’s one of his favorite venues because of the crowd’s enthusiasm and energy.

Castro sang “Make it Back to Memphis” and performed a lengthy guitar solo, but he was not the only musician to be highlighted. Crossan was featured prominently with long sax solos on several songs.

One of the most soulful songs of the evening was “When My Left Eye Jumps” from the 2003 album “Gratitude.” It was a grittier, less rock ’n’ roll, piece that offered a pacing change midway through the extended first set.

It was also during this piece that Castro left the stage to meander through the audience, performing to a more intimate group. Fans invited him into their personal space, allowing him room to move and play, until he made his way back to the stage to finish the early set at nearly 11:30 p.m.

Many attendees, like Andrea Rosen and Earl Withycombe, are members of the Blues Lovers of Sacramento, who arrange meetups in the Sacramento area. Others, like Kelly and Michael Irwin, are longtime Castro fans with a collection of CDs who have never seen him perform live or visited the Powerhouse Pub. Still others, like Ben and Robin Penn and Erik and Jayne Brenning, are longtime fans and followers of the band.

Tommy Castro to Rock the Powerhouse Pub

2011-12-09T07:02:51Z

This Saturday, Tommy Castro – deemed one of the hardest working musicians in any genre – will bring his signature sound, a blend of blues, R&B and roots rock ’n’ roll, to Folsom’s Powerhouse Pub.

“Castro navigates seriously funky Southern soul, gritty big city blues and scorching rock,” Carlos Santana has said. “His silvery guitar licks simultaneously sound familiar and fresh. He has the voice and the sound to touch everybody’s heart.”

Castro began playing guitar at age 10, and he cites Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield among his early influences and Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and B.B. King among his later guitar influences. Soul singers like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and James Brown provided Castro’s vocal influences.

Castro’s résumé is lengthy, dating back to the late 1980s when he joined Warner Bros. artists The Dynatones, a rocking soul band that toured the United States and had an extended fan base. The first Tommy Castro Band formed in 1991 and won the Bay Area Music Award for Best Club Band in 1993 and 1994.

Castro’s second album, “Exception to the Rule,” on the Blind Pig label, won him the 1997 Bay Area Music Award for Outstanding Blues Album. That same year, Castro garnered the Outstanding Blues Musician award.

More albums followed a three-season stint on NBC’s “Comedy Showcase” as the house band. Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street Records produced critically acclaimed albums from 1995’s award-winning “Exception to the Rule” to 2007’s “Painkiller.” In 2003, Castro also released “Gratitude” under his own Heart and Soul label.

In 2001 and 2002, Castro was invited to open B.B. King’s summer concert tours. King also extended an open invitation to join in the nightly finales.

In 2010, Castro won four blues music awards including his second B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award, the most coveted and highest award a blues performer can receive. He also took home the Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year, the Contemporary Blues Album of the Year and Band of the Year awards.

Castro’s latest offering from Alligator records is “Tommy Castro Presents the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue – Live!” featuring Castro with Rick Estrin, Janiva Magness, Debbie Davies, Theodis Ealey, Joe Louis Walker and others. About the newest release, Castro said that the artists represent the span of the United States and the different styles of blues within.

Attendees at Saturday’s concert can expect Castro performing songs from his 2009 award-winning Alligator Records release, “Hard Believer.” Castro said that this will be the last performance in the Sacramento area with the current band members, that changes would be made after the first of the year for artistic purposes.

The show begins at 10 p.m., and tickets are $15 in advance or at the door.

‘Entering’ Davis through poetry

2011-12-09T06:35:25Z

This Saturday is the release of the Davis poetry anthology, edited by the Davis poet laureate Allegra Silberstein. The public is welcome to attend the free event at the Davis Art Center, 1919 F St., where a reading by at least 15 anthology contributors will take place beginning at 7 p.m.

The anthology, “Entering,” is the product of the Davis Poetry Book Project and is funded in large part by the City of Davis Arts Contract Program, Silberstein said. Copies will be available for purchase and signing.

“This anthology of poems is by local residents and people who in the past have lived here,” said Silberstein, who included “the adobe train station on the cover symbolizing entrance to Davis, and on another level entering the soul of our city through poetry.”

With the assistance of Dr. Andy Jones, Danyen Powell, Briony Gylgayton, Lauren Swift, Carrie Dyer and photographer Katy Brown, Silberstein found a project she deemed “more difficult than I had ever imagined” to be manageable.

Silberstein is the first poet laureate of Davis, and those in the poetry community on both sides of the causeway know that she is active not only in Davis where she attends readings and hosts her own series, but in Sacramento as well where she can be spotted on many nights at venues ranging from the Sacramento Poetry Center to Luna’s Café, where she will be reading her own poetry on Dec. 15 with fellow Davis poet and Sacramento favorite Patricia Hickerson.

Mary Mackey and Sharon Coleman at SPC

2011-11-26T08:03:57Z

The Sacramento Poetry Center will welcome Mary Mackey and Sharon Coleman on Monday as part of its ongoing weekly reading series. Tim Kahl, local poet and longtime poetry center board member, will host the free reading at the gallery space at 1719 25th Street at 7:30 p.m.

Mary Mackey is a poet, novelist, screenwriter and professor emeritus who is always working on at least one new project. Her latest book of poetry, “Sugar Zone,” was released by Marsh Hawk Press on Oct. 1, and has received great praise. In addition to this sixth book of poetry, she’s authored 13 novels and five screenplays.

Mackey helped found the Sacramento State women’s studies program, the Sacramento State graduate creative writing program with former Sacramento poet laureate Dennis Schmitz and novelist Richard Bankowsky, and the Feminist Writers Guild with Adrienne Rich, Susan Griffin and Valerie Miner.

Mackey has also served as the president of the West Coast Branch of PEN American Center, whose mission is “to stimulate and maintain interest in the written word, to foster a vital literary culture, and to defend freedom of expression domestically and internationally.”

New projects include a novel she’s outlining, and “a series of poems inspired by the works of Brazilian poets and novelists.” She’ll combine Portuguese and English and create “poems that use Portuguese as incantation to evoke the lyrical space that lies at the conjunction of the two languages,” she said.

Several of her books have been released as e-books, but Mackey said that the most exciting news is that her “long out of print first novel ‘Immersion,’ which is arguably the first eco-feminist novel ever published, is being re-released as an e-book in the very near future, which means it will be available for the first time since 1972.”

Mackey will be joined by Sharon Coleman, a contributing editor to “Poetry Flash.”

Coleman also teaches poetry and composition at Berkeley City College and is the faculty coordinator for the college’s art and literary journal, Milvia Street. Additionally, Coleman is a member of the Northern California Book Reviewers, which presents annual book awards to northern California authors.

In addition to writing, teaching and reading, Coleman also co-curates the reading series at Pegasus Books in Berkeley. The year-old “Lyrics & Dirges,” which features writers at various stages of their careers in order to showcase the Bay Area’s diverse literary community has also featured several Sacramento area poets at this third Wednesday series.

Coleman studied translation and women’s studies at the Université de Paris 8 after completing her studies in comparative literature with a focus on French literature at UC Berkeley. Her poetry, reviews and translations have appeared in a variety of publications, and a recent fiction piece in Blink has been nominated for a Pushcart.

“I'm still working on / finishing a poetry chapbook manuscript entitled ‘Half Circle’ and am working on a manuscript of blink fiction (50 words each) entitled ‘Paris Blink,’” said Coleman.

Odes and corridos honoring Facundo Cabral

2011-11-08T06:46:37Z

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento presented “Honoring Facundo Cabral: a Día de Los Muertos Poetry Reading” Friday evening. More than two dozen people attended the event, which included music, poetry, art and history.

Friday’s event was one of several associated with the “Voice for the Voiceless” exhibit featuring the artwork of Malaquías Montoya, who had created a piece in memory of Cabral, an Argentinean writer, singer and peace messenger who was murdered in Guatemala City on July 9, 2011. “Facundo Cabral Presente” was the backdrop for the evening’s reading and music, which featured poets Betty Sánchez, Nancy Aidé González and Francisco X. Alarcón, and musician Manuel Lopez.

Before the event began, the three featured poets shared their thoughts about Cabral.

“It is a privilege to take part in honoring his legacy of strength, of lucha por la paz, of love for the whole human race,” said Sánchez.

Aidé González added to this.

“He is an inspiring philosopher-poet and singer. I admire Facundo Cabral because he was a voice that protested the violence and dictatorship throughout Latin America,” said Aidé González.

“He was both a visionary and a superb musician with a continental trajectory,” said Alarcón. “We mourn his tragic passing in Guatemala and want to celebrate his life and work by having a reading on Friday in a gallery with another master of the visual arts committed to the best social causes of Latinos in the U.S., Malaquías Montoya.”

The event was one of community. Alarcón opened with a translation of Montoya’s words on the “Facundo Cabral Presente” piece, “He illuminated the path of our days.”

“We want to celebrate him on the Day of the Dead, a Mesoamerican syncretism that has been celebrated for thousands of years,” said Alarcón.

Alarcón introduced Sánchez, who introduced her poems with a story about her parents.

“My father used to live by Facundo's standards. He quoted Facundo sayings every time my mother complained about his careless attitudes. My mother told me one day, ‘Mija find out who is this Facundo Cabral that gives your father excuses for everything.’ She came across his music and fell in love with his philosophies. After that she replied to my father citing Facundo's words.”

Sánchez read three poems in Spanish. The first, “Ode to Facundo Cabral,” spoke of “his childhood, his spiritual guides and the impact his music had on the multitudes and how his words can still be applied to these turbulent days.”

Her other poems, “Ode to Present” and “Song to Life/Death” were, said Sánchez, “in response to an interview with Cabral where he had said that ‘the present is here and now, yesterday is gone and tomorrow will never come,’ and the concept that when we go to sleep we practice death, that we live 365 lives a year.”

Audience members who understood Spanish were provided with the full meaning – language and sound – while those who did not understand Spanish were provided with an alternate meaning of the language’s sound.

The evening was hosted by the exhibit’s curator, Xico González, who is also a poet, artist and activist. He said that he dedicated the reading to Cabral because he was introduced to Cabral’s music through Montoya, who played it in the silkscreen lab where they worked.

“The song gets me so emotional,” said González, adding that he was glad because, “I feel alive,” referring to Cabral’s most famous song, “No Soy de Aqui, Ni Soy de Alla” (“I’m Not from Here, I’m Not from There Either”).

“We connect to that song,” said González. “We’re in the middle.”

About Día de Los Muertos, he added, “A lot of us have lost people along the way. They are still with us. It is not about being sad.”

Although emotions were shared Friday night, it truly was a celebration of Cabral and of those who came before - the ancestors.

“Our tradition is circular. Someone else takes our place,” said González, who read Muerto Poem about the many ways to say that someone’s passed on. For this poem, he collected terms from different people (friends, professors, etc. at Sacramento State).

He introduced Nancy Aidé González, who stepped into Friday’s circle to replace him. She read three poems, all in English, and began with “Facundo Vive!”

She opened the poem with a quote by Cabral.

“’Do not lose anyone who died just ahead of us because we all go there.’”

Her first poem focused on how Cabral will continue to live in our hearts.

“You will live on in the smiles / of children / in the dreams of those oppressed by dictatorships / in the spirits of those that face obstacles with fortitude / in the shouts of revolutionaries / advocating freedom / and human rights / and in the flutter / of doves wings.”

Her second poem, “Offrenda,” was written for her grandfather, to honor him on Día de Los Muertos. She honored her female ancestors with her third poem, “The Ones that Live On,” and spoke about how they “inspire and empower” her.

“They are the force / that reach out and touch my soul / they are the hands / that lift me up when I have failed / they bathe me when I am covered in mud.”

“I especially honor my ancestors on Día de Los Muertos,” said Aidé González. “It is believed that that the spirit of the dead visit their families on that day.” She added, “It might sound somewhat morbid, but the Mexican people react to death with mourning along with happiness and joy. We accept that death is part of life.”

Morbid was definitely not the word of the evening. Each of the poets, the musicians and those in the audience respected one another as much as they did the reading and the man that brought them all together.

Between readers, González stepped in to speak of Cabral and often of Montoya’s artwork, in which “we see the faces of people struggling to make it. If you look around, you see pain, but also see celebration.”

He pointed to several pieces, including “Facundo Cabral Presente,” that included images of guitars, an instrument of music.

González also spoke of the timelessness of Montoya’s art, pointing out “Undocumented” from 1981 as the oldest piece in the exhibit. He spoke of the struggles that still occur thirty years after “Undocumented,” a topic that Montoya had spoke of in an earlier interview.

He introduced Alarcón, saying that he is glad someone is writing the stories for the younger generation. Alarcón, founder of Poets Responding to SB 1070, writes for both adult and children, and he read Spanish and English versions of each poem, beginning with “A la memoria de Facundo Cabral / In Memory of Facundo Cabral,” written this past week.

“la guitarra / calló muda / ensangrentada / una paloma / cayó del cielo / con las alas rotas”

“the guitar / fell silent muted / bloodied / a dove fell / from the sky / with broken wings”

Watching Alarcón read is a pleasure. His voice is strong, powerful and filled with the emotion of the words, whether he reads in Spanish or in English. The passion he has for the language, for the poetry and for his heritage was felt by the audience.

Alarcón moved next to “Trees are Poets,” which elicited considerable emotion from the crowd as he spoke about how the “trees go naked” in winter and how poets have the ability to heal the self through the empowerment of the word.

“up here / trees are / poets,” he began, before leading the audience through the seasons and the changes of both trees and poets, ending “with green / verses / once again.”

This poem was dedicated to the Writers of the New Sun, Sacramento, Calif.

Alarcón called Cabral a philosopher, saying, “We’ve all been influenced by his philosophy.” He said he tries to emulate Cabral.

He read several short poems from his book, “Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para So,” a collection of bilingual poems for children. He opened with “Waking Dream/Sueño Para Despertar,” and he read several others first in Spanish and then in English, including a longer piece, “Day of the Dead/El Día de los Muertos,” which begins, “Day of the Dead / brings lots of joy / to the dead,” and ends with, “It’s my grandma / who comes to visit me!”

In 1993, César Chávez passed. Alarcón said that people had gathered to celebrate Jose Montoya’s new book. Joe Serna suggested cancelling the event, but Montoya disagreed, saying that Chávez would have wanted them to continue.

“I saw the power of poetry,” said Alarcón of that day and then read a poem written to honor Montoya, “A Poet is a River.” Within the poem are images of guitars, movements and indications that the poet, “Speaks / in tongues / brings back / the dead / makes / possible / dreaming / in the fields.”

This poem resonated with many attendees, as did his other poems.

When González stepped back into the circle, he spoke about one of the exhibit’s pieces, and he discussed why M. Montoya brought color into the piece.

He reflected, and indeed paid homage, to the words of the poets who had read, by pointing out some of the art pieces, discussing them, and referring back to lines from the poems.

He spoke of Richard Favela, who was his mentor and close friend.

“He was and is an inspiration of what I am and aspire to be, a committed and caring educator. He had this philosophy of a lifer and a long distance runner when it came to be committed to the struggle for equality and social justice for Chicanos and other underrepresented groups. He used to say, ‘I am a long distance runner and I will be a Chicano until I the end.’”

He also spoke about Phil Goldvarg, a Jewish American who had been very involved in the Chicano community.

He read poems honoring both men, beginning with “Versos pa' Favela” for his friend and mentor and “Ixtakuautli” for Goldvarg before introducing Manuel Lopez.

Lopez, a musician, spoke of the thirty-six year civil war in Guatemala and then said that he is twenty-eight years old.

“We left our countries, left with vision,” said Lopez, who called Cabral a martyr.

Lopez sang, “Memorias/Memories,” and explained that it was written when he was ready. The song honors his father, and is of the corrido tradition like those of Américo Paredes, a scholar interested in, among other things, the corrido, which Lopez said is “a way to tell a story and is used to education people.”

“Reading and writing is still a privilege,” said Lopez. He continued, “Even if you can’t understand the words, you can feel the emotion of the corrido.”

Lopez sang, played his guitar and when he finished, said, “It feels so good when the pain leaves your body.”

“Otro,” was heard in the audience.

Lopez graciously agreed to play another song. He performed Ramón Ayala’s “Puño de tierra,” which does not easily translate into English. As he sang, voices could be heard throughout the gallery. Women, men and children joined Lopez, and a community that had come together earlier in the evening sang as a single unit.

“The song speaks to a lot of people who know the tradition of that music,” said Lopez.

A short open mic segment followed where Roberto Lopez presented three pieces in Spanish, the last a tribute to his grandmother.

Sean Penna shared two pieces with the audience, including a piece that asked when America forgot that it was founded by immigrants.

González ended the evening with “Flor y canto.”

The evening was an opportunity to hear poets and musicians pay homage to Cabral, to their ancestors and to language.

Visitors to the gallery can view silkscreen prints, mixed media and charcoal drawings created by Montoya, including his latest piece honoring Cabral, a silkscreen entitled, “Facundo Cabral Presente,” which features Smartphone technology and the opportunity to hear the artist speak about the piece in either Spanish or English.

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento is located at 1519 19th St.

Poets honor Facundo Cabral: A Día de los Muertos Poetry Reading

2011-11-03T04:17:45Z

On Friday, the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento will present “Honoring Facundo Cabral: a Día de Los Muertos Poetry Reading,” one of the events associated with the “Voice for the Voiceless” exhibit, featuring the artwork of Malaquías Montoya.

Curator Xico González will host Friday’s reading. A poet, artist and activist, he recruited four area poets to pay homage to Argentinian Facundo Cabral, a writer and performer of protest songs who gained fame in the 1970s when dictatorships, coups and other crises plagued Latin America. Cabral’s most famous song was “No Soy de Aqui, Ni Soy de Alla” (“I’m Not from Here, I’m Not from There Either”). Cabral went into exile in Mexico from 1976 to 1983 and was named “international messenger of peace” by UNESCO in 1996. He was killed in Guatemala City on July 9, 2011.

“Facundo Cabral has been part my life since the ’70s,” said Betty Sánchez, one of the featured readers and a longtime member of Los Escritores de Nuevo Sol. “I admire this wonderful man that, despite his hardships, [rose] above them and shared with the world his passion for life. It is a privilege to take part in honoring his legacy of strength, of lucha por la paz, of love for the whole human race. He will be with us as long as we remember him and follow his steps of fighting for human rights and embracing life no matter our circumstances. Facundo Cabral, PRESENTE, hoy y siempre! Looking forward to an exciting night of poetry in honor of a great man.”

Her thoughts on Cabral are echoed by Chicana poet, writer, educator and contributor to the “Poets Responding to SB 1070” Facebook page, Nancy Aidé González, another featured reader.

“I believe Facundo Cabral was a messenger of peace,” she said. “He is an inspiring philosopher-poet and singer. His songs spread the spirit of peace throughout the world. His songs, poems and writing touched my heart and the lives of millions. I admire Facundo Cabral because he was a voice that protested the violence and dictatorship throughout Latin America. He was a fervent believer in liberty and the equality of all men. I think it is important to remember the troubadour of a generation whose messages and songs will transcend all generations.”

One of the most well-known names reading on Friday is Francisco X. Alarcón, creator of “Poets Responding to SB 1070,” poet, activist and educator.

“Facundo Cabral was a cantautor (singer/composer) committed to the best social causes of the Latin American people,” he said. “He was both a visionary and a superb musician with a continental trajectory. We mourn his tragic passing in Guatemala and want to celebrate his life and work by having a reading on Friday in a gallery with another master of the visual arts committed to the best social causes of Latinos in the U.S., Malaquías Montoya.”

Visitors to the gallery can view silkscreen prints, mixed media and charcoal drawings created by Montoya, including his latest piece honoring Cabral, a silkscreen entitled “Facundo Cabral Presente.”

This is an opportunity to hear four poets pay homage to Cabral, and it is an opportunity to hear four poets pay tribute to language.

An open mic segment will follow the featured readers.

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento is located at 1519 19th St. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m.

Expired medicine disposal

2011-10-25T05:03:23Z

Gather up your expired and unneeded prescription medicines and bring them to the Public Safety Center at 5770 Freeport Blvd. from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. this Saturday for safe disposal.

The Sacramento Police Department, for the third time, is offering a collection site as part of the DEA’s National Take Back Day.

According to the DEA’s website, “More than 376,593 pounds (188 tons) of unwanted or expired medications [were turned in] for safe and proper disposal” this past April.

There are many reasons to participate in this important program, including limiting access to children. According to the DEA’s website, “Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.”

Unexpired medicines should also never be given to others to use because medicines react differently for each person. Doctors take many factors into consideration before prescribing. Weight, age, other medical conditions, other prescriptions being taken, and past allergic reactions are just a few.

Yet another reason is that using expired medicines “is risky and possibly harmful to your health,” according to the FDA. Expired medicine may become less potent. It is also possible that the chemical compositions may have changed, so the FDA also recommends proper and safe disposal of medicines.

If you can’t make it to Saturday’s event, Sacramento county residents may bring their expired medicine to the North Area Recovery Station or place them in the trash. Disposal in waste cans should conform to the guidelines set forth by the FDA. Although the FDA provides a short list of medicines that may be flushed, CalRecycle states, “Do not dispose of any waste medication down the drain or down the toilet.” Always check with your local jurisdiction before disposing.

Grab a garden plot

2011-10-16T03:23:14Z

Garden plots in two sizes will be available at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Garden in Oak Park Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. Approximately nine of the several dozen original plots are still available. A 10x10 plot costs $25 per calendar year, and the 10x20 plot costs $50 per calendar year. A $25 refundable cleaning deposit is also required for both sizes.

“I will throw in the rest of this year, plus free seeds,” said Bill Maynard, director of the city’s community gardens.

Since the grand opening in August, community gardeners have grown and harvested corn, Swiss chard, spinach, peas, Brussels sprouts and flowers. Garden plots are laid out in rows, curves, or in any manner that gardeners choose. Some gardeners label each crop, and others decorate their plots.

“There’s still time to put in a winter garden or a cover crop,” Maynard said.

Maynard spoke about cover crops at a seminar on October 8, and demonstrated how to plant fava beans and mustard.

Some recommended crops for a winter garden are broccoli, celery and strawberries, according to SacramentoGardening.com.

Sara and Ed Chandler have a small plot where they grow mustard, kale and tomatoes because their own yard is too dark for growing. They predict that the garden plots will be full by spring.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Garden is located at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 12th Avenue.

Last Red Night?

2011-10-16T03:14:07Z

The Red Night poetry series will close at Beatnik Studios after a year that has featured Mary Mackey, Kathryn Hohlwein, Josh Fernandez, Sandy Thomas, Bill Gainer, Lara Kaapuni, Phillip T. Nails, Crawdad Nelson, James Lee Jobe, Mario Ellis Hill and numerous others, including B.L. Kennedy, who was featured in the first show with Charlene Ungstad.

Kennedy will join Ann Menebroker and Paul Fericano to close the popular reading series that has run the third Wednesday of each month since July 14, 2010, and has been well-attended by poetry and prose enthusiasts.

Organizer Genelle Chaconas, a Sacramento State alum, artist and poet, envisioned the series as a place “where our shared instinct to create would be celebrated.”

“She’s serious about wanting to present very different types of poets and their poetry,” Menebroker said. “I think she’s done a very enthusiastic job of emceeing the poets she’s invited to read. I can only hope she finds another place for her poetry venue.

“(She is) a growing and illuminating poet in her own right, who has an impressive interest in past events, which is refreshing,” Menebroker continued.

Although Red Night has focused primarily on poets from the greater Sacramento area, this final event will include the voice of Paul Fericano, who splits his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Barbara. He is the co-founder of YU News, a parody news service, and the publisher of The Broadsider. He is widely published and recently performed with Menebroker in a tag-team reading, a concept he is promoting.

“Fericano writes of the human condition, but he also has a talented streak of humor in his work. His work has grown over the years and become even richer, better,” Menebroker said, adding, “Paul is a fantastically great reader!”

Poet B.L. Kennedy is a well-known name in Sacramento as one of the past hosts of the long-running “Poetry Unplugged” series at Luna’s Café and for projects throughout the Sacramento area. Kennedy was also presented both a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Community Service Award from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. He was the recipient of five new works in performance grants from SMAC and a new projects grant to help produce the film “I Began to Speak,” which he also directed.

About new projects, Kennedy said, “I am planning a special group reading of d.a.levy for next October, and I am also at work on an as yet untitled new collection of poems and a second edition of sonnets.”

“I asked Genelle Chaconas to be included in the last (event) so that I could give thanks to two poets that were major in helping shape my path in poetry,” Kennedy said. “I am both humbled and honored to read with (Fericano and Menebroker).”

“B.L. Kennedy and I have been friends for many years, and we've been on the same stage together many times, but it's been awhile, and I'm looking forward to reading with him,” Menebroker said. “B.L. has always been a dynamic reader and writes from the heart of his hopes and fears and longings with huge feelings and Kennedy Style.”

Menebroker is also a well-known Sacramento poet who doesn’t read publicly as often as some might like. Featured as the Nine of Hearts in the SMAC “Poets on Deck” (playing cards), she has authored over 20 collections, and her work can be found in “The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry.”

About the term "meat poet" often applied to her work, she said, “I'm not a great fan of hooking names on movements in poetry. Poets are poets and we do tend to go through periods of writing a certain way at a certain time, but it's an accident of birth and current cultures and histories. My writing has changed a lot over the years; it is no longer so personal, so confessional. There isn't as much “me” in it, although no one can write and keep themselves out of the poem, the idea of it.”

Menebroker's newest book of poems entitled “The Measure of Small Gratitudes” published by Kamini Press in Sweden will be released soon.

These three poets rarely give public readings, so this is an opportunity not only to be at the closing of Red Night at Beatnik but to see and hear three poets, all with different styles, whose works complement one another.

Wednesday’s event begins at 8 p.m. and costs $5 at the door. Beatnik Studios is located at 2421A 17th St.

Visual language of Malaquias Montoya

2011-10-16T02:58:16Z

It was standing room-only for the people who came to hear Malaquías Montoya speak about art, life, protest and language Wednesday evening at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento. The crowd spilled out the door onto 19th Street and included UC Davis students, CCAS members, artists and activists.

An electricity filled the room as voices rose and fell. Current and former students proclaimed they are all fans of Montoya.

Curator Xico Gonzáles served as the evening’s host, leading the audience in a welcome applause before speaking about Montoya, under whom he had studied.

Montoya stepped up, without a microphone, and asked, “Why do we do the things that we do daily?”

He answered that question through sharing stories from his life. Montoya’s stories resonated with the audience, who sometimes laughed, sometimes remained silent, and always listened.

The artist begins to surface

Montoya recalled reading about Dick, Jane and Spot in elementary school readers, and he said the stories and their lives made no sense to him.

“The dog in my neighborhood didn’t look like Spot,” he said.

While that elicited some laughter from the group, when he spoke about being placed in a special class, the audience became quiet. Montoya spoke about labels placed on children, sometimes because of their names, accents, or clothes. His mother said the class would be best because he would receive attention.

“All we did was use glue, scissors, paper, and once a week the teacher wrote on the blackboard. The rest of the time, we’d draw or color,” Montoya said.

In that class, Montoya’s “artistic self began to surface.”

“I realized that I was someone people looked to. I gained pride, self-esteem.”

Earth, crepe paper, inner tubes, and tires

In the early ’60s, Montoya began working with silkscreen, cutting stencils and doing design. He recalls asking his mother about the family home and where, if they had no money, she found the money to transform the home with stencils, decals and paint.

“My mother married at 13, and when my father was working, she’d play. She went to the arroyos, scraped layers of earth, collected berries and brought back some white rock. From these, she’d create (paints) and gesso. She’d collect all of the crepe paper from celebrations, bring it home and put it in water. The crepe paper bleeds, and she’d use that to tint the earth colors.”

The decals and stencils were created from inner tubes from which Montoya’s mother cut designs and placed on thick cardboard.

“She made little printing blocks,” he said.

She cut apart old tires, dipped those in paint and printed on the walls.

“We’re born creative. We’re little geniuses,” Montoya said, adding that outside influences try to take that away from us.

A new way of learning

Two years after beginning work with a printer, Montoya enrolled in a commercial art class and found the education more positive than his earlier college experience. He already knew a great deal about silkscreen printing, and he knew that the professor had not given students all the information available, so Montoya supplemented the instructions.

“The students were excited. The teacher was angry,” he said.

Montoya was told he was not good as a writer and that he was not good at drawing. He was referred to Professor Joseph Zirker at San Jose City College, who told Montoya there was nothing wrong with his drawing. Zirker became Montoya’s mentor and friend, and Montoya recalls that Zirker was compassionate and sensitive, traits Montoya had applied to artists in his early years.

Montoya continually dropped his English classes when the first assignments were handed out. He enrolled in what was then termed “bonehead English” and was told that his work was fine.

“I’d buy new pencils, binders, a dictionary. I thought they would make a difference,” Montoya said.

He pursued self-hypnosis.

“I am going to do it,” is what he said.

Montoya would not simply try. Determined to succeed, he wrote his paper, turned it in, then waited. He wanted a grade, wanted to read the comments, wanted not to fold the paper and put it in his pocket. On the day the papers were returned, Montoya’s was read (aloud) by the teacher.

“It was the beginning of a different way of learning. We all have different ways of learning.”

Montoya entered UC Berkeley in 1968, against Zirker’s recommendation, who feared the university would change Montoya’s work.

“I found school very difficult,” he said. “The type of work I did – didn’t call it Chicano, political – was of cotton pickers who looked Mexicano. Some called it outdated, archaic. I visited studios of the professors. One was drawing squares of color in the manner of Rothko.”

That type of drawing did not offer the means to express what Montoya wanted to say.

Toward a Mexican identity collectively

Montoya spoke about José Clemente Orozco, a Mexican socialist painter; Diego Rivera, known for his murals focusing on history and humanity’s future; and David Alfaro Siqueiros, a social realist painter whose works were about redefining Mexico.

“(These works) gave Mexico a new face, pushed the revolution that had happened,” he said. “(The artists) worked collectively to give us a Mexican identity. Collectives were geared toward workers to develop a strong working class. Younger artists wanted to be more individualistic.”

CIA as curator

The U.S. Information Agency, the CIA and multinational corporations were interested in the changes in mid-twentieth century Mexico.

“Rockefeller and others went to Mexico to change the artwork,” Montoya said.

Jose Luis Cuevas was invited to show his art in New York, which caused a rumble in Mexico, Montoya said.

“The U.S. wanted to push the school of muralism back,” said Montoya.

The murals of Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros raised the consciousness of the Mexican people, and that meant it was difficult to make business deals in Mexico.

In this way, art becomes a commodity, and artists create in order to sell their product.

“Art is a language for people to feel and understand,” he said. “When that is taken away, you lose.”

Chicano art today, validation, and memory

A question-and-answer session followed Montoya’s lecture.

To a question posed about Chicano art today, Montoya responded that there is much “so-called Chicano art,” that the corporations have bought into it, but the Chicano artists have lost their edge and have become good grant writers.

“For a lot of people, it’s even worse today than back then. We believe it.”

When asked if there is organizing to do, Montoya said, “It has to be done. Artists have to remember.”

Montoya spoke about the piece that attracted the attention of many attendees, “Memories,” created with two other pieces in 1992 on the quincentennial of the arrival of Columbus to this continent. The three-piece set denounces the atrocities committed against the indigenous people by Columbus and invading Europeans.

“It talks about how many died,” Montoya said.

He read the words printed across the top: “My memory will retain what is worthwhile. My memory knows more, about me than I do; it doesn’t lose what deserves to be saved,” from Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist and novelist.

“What is it like to not be validated for your work?” another attendee asked. “Where do you seek your validation from?”

Montoya told a story of walking into a class one day and seeing his name written across the board. The teacher brought him to the board and, erasing the letters of his name from back to front until only three letters remained, asked “What if we call you Mal?”

His validation came from Zirker, and it came from César Chávez, and it came from the Chicano movement, out of which came newspapers.

“We were reading about ourselves. That validated our own bilingualism. It was power. I was validated by my community. We wanted to stop the war in Vietnam. It’s hard to instill in students today because of the diversions,” Montoya said, referring to iPod earbuds and shopping malls.

“They are allowed to wear raggedy clothes, to shave their heads, in a sense of freedom, instead of looking at what’s around (them),” he said.

The audience remained throughout the entire lecture.

“That is just what I needed to hear,” said Jen Cimaglio, Sacramento artist and activist, “I have work to do.”

Composting, cover crops, and red worms

2011-10-11T01:20:16Z

Saturday morning was warm enough to draw more than 38 people to Martin Luther King Junior Community Garden for seminars and discussions on composting, cover crops, vermicomposting and the benefits of ladybug larvae.

More than a dozen people attended the first of two composting seminars, led by Bill Maynard, master gardener and director of community gardens for the city.

Sacramento waste reduction coordinator Doug Houston opened the 8 a.m. event by speaking about waste reduction and the cost of green waste. Houston told the group that Sacramento pays for green waste disposal. Bins cost residents less money each month, and they are environmentally friendly because green waste is kept out of the storm drains, he said.

“Food waste in the garbage means organics go into the landfill,” he said. “The organics create methane which becomes greenhouse gas. Yard waste is a valuable resource.” He then confessed that he keeps a composting bin in his office.

Each attendee received a kitchen composting bin, a container of parsley to plant, a composting booklet, seeds and a discount coupon for a composting bin at Home Depot.

Houston introduced Bill Maynard, who told the group there will be 11 community gardens in Sacramento by the end of the month. Each plot could generate $400 worth of food per year.

“Fall is my favorite time of year,” he said. “Free carbon falls from the sky,” referring to leaves.

He led the first of two lectures on composting and discussed the differences between hot and cold composting, saying that hot will happen faster but takes more effort, and cold takes about nine months and will happen whether we want it to or not. Both require carbon and nitrogen layers.

Carbon should be both the top and bottom layer and consists of leaves, twigs, newspaper using soy-based ink like Sacramento News & Review or The Sacramento Bee, hair and cotton dryer lint, Maynard explained.

Nitrogen layers should be living or still green, like lettuce and spinach, but not Bermuda grass or diseased plants.

“Look under leaves for aphid eggs,” Maynard said. “The eggs are laid in the fall and hatch in spring. Most of the year aphids are all female and are born pregnant.”

Plant materials were circulated for attendees to examine for evidence of disease or eggs.

A short question-and-answer session followed with questions about whether the heat would kill Bermuda grass and seeds.

“If the compost pile gets to 133 degrees for several days, the heat may kill the seeds,” Maynard said. “The temperature can rise to 160 or 180 degrees, but it’s best to let the Bermuda grass dry out and use as part of the carbon layer.”

Maynard warned against using weed seeds or morning glories due to flower overproduction, or too many coffee grounds, because of the acidity. He added, though, that rhododendrons and azaleas prefer more acidity.

When asked how moist to keep the pile, Maynard said “like a wrung-out sponge,” adding that the pile can be in the sun or the shade, but that worms prefer cool, and the pile should be protected from rain.

Maynard suggested using compost at the root zone of plants or to place around the plants, and said of the odor that “it should smell like a nice, earthy scent.” A stinky pile needs more nitrogen.

“Always end with a layer of carbon, to act as a cap to prevent flies from laying eggs in the pile and deter rodents,” he reminded the group before leading them to the cover crop demonstration.

Cover Crops

Maynard called cover crops green manure that “enrich the soil.” He said the crops should be cut down by Feb. 15, and by March 15, “the average last frost date,” gardeners may plant at their own risk, reminding attendees that frost does not mark its calendar.

Fava beans, bell beans, field mustard and winter wheat are good winter cover crops. Buckwheat is good for summer. Maynard demonstrated the planting of both fava beans (in rows) and mustard (scattered).

Maynard also mentioned that he is working with the Sacramento Food Bank (3rd Avenue and 33rd Street) and will manage the garden education center. Monthly gardening classes will begin in 2012.

Vermicomposting

The group moved to hear about the benefits of composting with worms and how to build and maintain a worm farm. Worm Fancy’s Michelle Himed, a self-described “compulsive recycler” and Kate Waldo, a “vermaholic,” led the discussion on vermicomposting.

Himed opened by speaking about the history of Worm Fancy and their goal “to educate, build worm bins, and get into classrooms.” They want to reach the youngest generation, the kindergartners, and teach them what happens when they throw a banana peel into a worm bin.

Waldo described the difference between the bins for the classroom, which are single unit bins, and manufactured, multi-layered bins that can be kept in a house or office. Plans for building a classroom unit were available. A plastic bin, water or soda bottle plastic top and some black shade screen were the primary materials used.

Worms require bedding, which can be almost any type of paper. It cannot be the glossy pages from many magazines. They approved the pages from Edible, which was available at the event, as bedding material.

“Worms eat paper as fast as they eat kitchen products,” Waldo said. “They eat the microbes on top of the food.”

Worms cannot be fed everything, though.

“No dairy, no meat and no oil,” she said. “Worms breathe through their skin, and being coated in oil will kill them.

“It’s best to begin with a pound of worms, which is between 800 and 1,000,” she continued. “They are voracious eaters and can eat up to one half of their body weight each day. One pound of worms will eat about three pounds of food each week.”

Attendees were warned not to overfeed or to permit the bins to “get too hot or too smelly.”

“Worms are prolific,” she said. “One adult worm can have up to three cocoons per week and can have between one and 20 worms per cocoon.”

If people were concerned about overcrowding, Himed reassured “the population will regulate itself.”

Waldo reached into the school bin and pulled out a handful of paper. She discussed the types of paper products to use, adding that layering should be used like in composting. Several worms tried to burrow into the paper.

“Worms need to be trained to burrow down, so when first adding works to the bin, it’s best to begin by exposing them to about an hour of light so that they learn to stay down,” Himed said.

The bin’s temperature should be cool, and the bin should be kept in deep shade or inside the house. Mini swamp coolers made from frozen water bottles can help keep bins cool during temperatures above 90 degrees. Worms should also not be too cold, so sometimes miniature holiday lights might be used.

Harvesting should occur every three months and will produce five to six gallons of casings, which equates to nearly one cubic foot. This is enough to start planting in spring. Some casings sold in the store are dry and do not offer the same benefit.

Ladybug larvae

Several people remained to speak about worms, while Maynard led another group to the pumpkin plants and discussed the benefits of ladybugs in the garden.

“Many times, gardeners will kill the ladybug larvae because they think it’s a bad bug,” Maynard said. “In fact, it’s a good bug that eats a lot of aphids before it changes into a ladybug.”

Yes to composting and community gardening

Most attendees were seeking out composting information for their home gardens. Several people said they enjoyed the seminar and discussions very much and had gained a lot of information. Some people had not yet begun their gardens; others had just started; others had been gardening for a long time.

Heather and Joseph Cromartie said they would probably use both traditional composting and vermicomposting at some point in their home gardens, where they are growing greens, carrots, bell beans and tomatoes.

On this visit, one community gardener harvested Swiss chard, saying the rain helped a great deal before she attended the day’s second composting seminar.

Maynard reminded attendees that there are still several plots available. The next plot sale at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Garden is Oct. 18.

Aztec dancers bless ‘Voice for the Voiceless’

2011-10-10T05:05:32Z

A cultural reception was held Saturday, opening with a blessing performed by Kalpulli Maquili Tonatiuh, a spiritually-based local Aztec dance circle, thanks to Xico González, curator of Malaquías Montoya’s solo exhibit, “Voice for the Voiceless” at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento.

“In the Chicana/o tradition, we pay homage to those that came before us, to the people that Malaquías pays homage to in his artwork,” González said.

Homage was certainly paid as the dancers assembled outside of the center to first bless the building. Jessica Alvarado, donning a headdress with green feathers, carried a smoke pot in which tree sap burned. She read the blessing in the Nahuatl language.

Alvarado and the other dancers, led that night by Andrew Chavarria, faced each direction beginning with east. Alvarado read the blessing at each turn, and younger members blew calls through conch shells.

“It’s all about moving energy,” dancer Liz Swan said.

Energy moved within the dancers and the attendees and continued throughout the evening. The group rose and knelt and rose, maracas sounded, and conchs were blown again before dancers moved from one direction to the next.

Once the outside blessing had finished, the group moved inside the building where Chavarria said they would “honor and bless the artist and his work with prayers and energy.”

The group performed several dances. The first was a dance dedicated to the frog, and the second was dedicated to the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl, one of the Aztec gods.

The dancers created their own music from the ayoyote-seeded legbands they wore. Although they carried the maracas, they weren’t necessary as the seeds created the music that echoed rhythmically throughout the gallery as the barefoot dancers honored their ancestors.

Alvarado performed a blessing of the artist, Montoya. As she did outside, she read in the Nahuatl language, in a voice that was both mesmerizing and reverent. She blessed Montoya from top to bottom and on all sides.

After the group left, González introduced Montoya, who spoke briefly about his workshops in Woodland. He invited everyone to his lecture Wednesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the gallery. Members and students get free admission, and non-members pay $5. He also mentioned another exhibit opening at Sacramento State dealing with the death penalty on Oct. 11.

The ‘Voice for the Voiceless’ exhibit includes scannable QR codes for smart phones, which allow viewers to hear Montoya speak about nine of the works in either English or Spanish. Several people had the proper phone but not the proper app Saturday.

“(This is) the best art I’ve seen in Sacramento in a long time,” David Young said. “It’s not art for art’s sake. This artist has mastered the craft.”

Reception-goers were diverse, and several younger attendees proved that Montoya’s work, which has traveled together for several decades, is still relevant.

Angela Ortega chose "Undocumented," a silkscreen dating back to 1981 as her favorite piece.

“Border Incident” from 1994 was a favorite of Juan Gonzalez.

“It has power and shows how people suffered crossing the border,” he said.

People didn’t move quickly from one piece to the next — they reflected not only on the charcoal and silkscreened images, but on the words embedded in many of pieces, including “El Sueño,” the only piece offered for sale in a limited edition of 40 prints.

Terezita Romo, author of “Malaquías Montoya,” was on hand and said she used to work at La Raza Galeria Posada and had exhibited Montoya’s work in the gallery in the ‘80s.

“When the opportunity came to propose a book, (Montoya) said yes,” she said.

Romo discussed the new series, which will feature Latina/o artists. She and Montoya will also appear at the Sacramento State library gallery on Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. for a reading and conversation.

"Voice for the Voiceless” runs through Nov. 18 at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, 1519 19th St. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. A closing reception will be held Nov. 12 from 6 to 9 p.m.

“Voice for the Voiceless” opens at CCAS

2011-10-05T06:46:02Z

A solo exhibit featuring the work of Malaquías Montoya, “Voice for the Voiceless,” opened September 20 at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento and will continue through November 18.

A cultural reception will be held this Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., opening with “a Mexica blessing to be performed by Kalpulli Maquili Tonatiuh (a local Aztec dance circle),” said Xico González, curator of the exhibit.

“In the Chicana/o tradition, we pay homage to those that came before us, to the people that Malaquías pays homage to in his artwork,” said González.

Montoya, one of the founders of the social serigraphy movement, will speak about himself and his art, which includes “Undocumented,” from 1981 and “Facundo Cabral,” created a few months ago after the death of the Argentine singer and songwriter.

Montoya says that topics of war and immigration are still relevant, adding that, “The Vietnam War may be over, but we are still involved in war.”

About the exhibit Montoya said, “This exhibit has been intact for many years. I try to keep the work together and use it as a voice for those who don’t speak for themselves.”

Montoya does not sell his work commercially, but he created one piece for this exhibit to raise funds for the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, a non-profit arts organization. “El Sueño” is a limited edition silkscreen print, and Montoya said that he first drew the image in charcoal, a favorite medium that permits “an explosion of emotions,” and turned the drawing into a silkscreen.

“I bought fabric to silkscreen over the face. Netting adds to the dreamlike quality, the power of the print and a certain dignity and sadness,” said Montoya.

Montoya often adds quotes or poetry to his works, and a quote from a Chilean singer may be read on “El Sueño.” He doesn’t believe that artwork always needs to speak on its own.

“I often want people to walk away with what I intended,” said Montoya.

Montoya works with what he has at hand. Charcoal is fast and allows him to better express emotions as they arise from the artwork.

“Sometimes the hand or shoulder is not quite right, but to rework the drawings becomes academic,” Montoya said. “Prints require more discipline,” he explained, “but they permit the message to be repeated many times.”

His work has been referred to as propaganda art, not usually accepted in galleries, but he doesn’t mind that label.

“Art speaks on behalf of others, and it depends on who you want to propagandize for,” said Montoya. “I wanted to speak of how my mother contributed to the wealth of the country, but my early pieces were narrative and not in fashion with the pop and funk art.”

Montoya’s works speak about and for many issues and people, but the themes of “injustice, empowerment and international struggle” are prominent in his work.

“In my images of struggle for justice I try to illuminate with clarity the defects of social and political existence. My images of empowerment are intended to confront the multitude of images of disempowerment given to us by our daily media… Images of international struggle are important to our community,” writes Montoya.

Diana Bowers, gallery assistant, demonstrated how attendees may use their smartphones to scan the barcodes on nine of the exhibited pieces. With the proper app, viewers can listen to Montoya speak about particular pieces.

“If you miss the lecture, you can still hear the artist talking in his own words,” said Bowers.

“Montoya provides the background and issues that he was addressing with those pieces in English and in Spanish,” added González.

González also said that Montoya is “very committed to educating young generations about Chicana/o art and the responsibility of the artist to the community.”

He also spoke about a new project for area students that will utilize Skype technology.

“Students from the Met Sacramento High School will be given a virtual private tour and will have an opportunity to talk to Montoya,” explained González.

Montoya’s dedication to students will culminate in a reception and critique.

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.

In addition to Saturday’s reception, several other programs have been planned around this exhibit, including a lecture by Montoya on October 12 at CCAS, an author’s presentation by Terezita Romo on November 3 at CSUS, and a poetry reading entitled, “Remembering Facundo Cabral,” on November 4 at CCAS.

Free kitchen composting bins at seminar Saturday

2011-10-04T06:56:56Z

Bill Maynard, Director of Community Gardens for the City of Sacramento, will lead two composting seminars for City of Sacramento residents Saturday morning (8:15 and 9:15) at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Garden at 3663 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Attendees will learn how composting works, what materials should and should not be composted, how to maintain the compost pile, and how to obtain the right balance of food, air, and moisture. In addition to composting training, Maynard will include a session on planting cover crops, which help revitalize the soil.

“Discount coupons for composters from Home Depot and free post waste kitchen countertop bins to carry your waste to the compost pile will be available to residents,” said Maynard.

Vermaculture fans will enjoy the worm farming presentation by Sacramento area company, Worm Fancy. Kathleen Waldo and Michelle Himed will teach the basics of vermicomposting and offering discounts on worm bins to seminar participants.

“Now is the time to start a vermicomposting bin (worm bin) so gardeners have lots of worm castings for their garden come next spring,” said Waldo.

This event is sponsored by the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities and the Department of Parks and Recreation Community Garden Program.

Rafael Jesús González - activism and poetry amid costumes at La Raza Galería Posada

2011-09-30T06:24:10Z

Wednesday evening was filled with poetry, music and activism when Rafael Jesús González (poet, professor, artist and bilingual studies innovator) read to a full house at La Raza Galería Posada. He was accompanied by flautist and Rooted in Community co-director Gerardo O. Marín and artist and activist Colin Miller.

The event was hosted by Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun and opened with local writer JoAnn Anglin. She spoke of the group’s founding in 1993, its monthly writing group, monthly readings and of the group’s anthology, “Voices of the New Sun: Songs and Stories / Voces del Nuevo Sol: Cantos y Cuentos.”

González was introduced by Dr. Fausto Avendaño, a retired Sacramento State foreign language professor, who explained that the evening’s reading would be bilingual. Poems, stories and introductions would be read in Spanish, and English versions, not translations, would follow.

The two men met many years ago, and Avendaño said González’s poetry resembled Federico Garcia Lorca’s, and that “the images struck (him) because it is hard to equal Garcia Lorca.” The idea González put forth that “poetry is just a game with words, images and metaphors” also reminded Avendaño of Garcia Lorca.

González read in front of a backdrop of swirling color, thanks to the current exhibit, “Ballet Folklorico-Lace and Ribbons: The Making of Cultural Affirmation-Costumes from the Instituto Mazatlan Bellas Artes.” He opened by burning a small leaf, a custom he performs before each reading, one that comes from his ancestors.

“We burn a little bit of fragrant smoke to invoke the gods so that what we say does not offend them or the audience,” he said, and suggested that politicians try this custom.

Judging from the full house that remained through nearly three hours, in a room that was often too warm, the sage-burning worked.

He began with a poem honoring Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the Jewish New Year. As with most poems, González provided some background. His third poem was one of his first published poems, and he says the topic is “as pertinent today as it was then.” The poem’s last line is “How much, Mister.”

To which he responded, “Too much. Far, far too much. Many of us were asked to give up our culture and our language to assimilate. We lost our names and took on English names to protect us from prejudices.”

Being an activist and a poet, many of the evening’s poems were politically charged. He read several poems about heroes like César Chávez, whose “voice will bear fruit and there will be rejoicing in the furrows, in the ditches.” He reminded the audience that “the battles of the fieldworker are not done,” and he urged people to remember the blood of those who died “when you say grace above your meal.”

Several nerves were touched when he read “To My Student,” with its memorable line of “You who can read, do not take it for granted.” Following the poem, he said that 1968 California “had the best education system in the country,” but that Proposition 13 (1977/78) “undermined the whole infrastructure of the state of California, and (he) quickly saw the literacy rate plummet.”

At the time, he was teaching at Laney Community College in Oakland, where the oldest student was 79 and the youngest was 18, and where “real education was taking place.” Today, he says that it is “to our shame that the wealthiest state cannot afford to teach its children” and called No Child Left Behind the most anti-education act.

Poems about the Golden Gate Bridge, houses, and jade hearts preceded more hero poems. One was about Victor Jara, one of the imprisoned intellectuals in post-Allende Chile. “The Hands” relates the near-myth story of Jara’s hands being severed by guards, and the refrain of “each drop, a note against silence” served as a reminder for each of us not to remain silent.

Perhaps the most touching of González’s poems was “Blankets,” written for “my mother (who) still covers me with rainbows.” This piece, as with a few others, was accompanied by Marín, who played two different native Mexican flutes.

The music served to make González’s voice stronger, and it seemed to work better with the Spanish readings. But Marín, who always watched his maestro, never overpowered the words.

Following a poem written as part of his dissertation about the influence of the gypsy idiom on Garcia Lorca’s work, he spoke about living and writing.

“Everything we do is a game,” he said. “Living is a celestial game that is sometimes peaceful, sometimes difficult. Sometimes words are very volatile. To name a thing can take away its power, (and that) gives us power over nature.” He called naming a “sacred act.”

About writing, González said, “Everybody can write.” He urged the audience to “write for fun. Write for the music of the words. Write to overcome your pain. Write to celebrate your joys.”

He closed with “If We Do Not Speak,” influenced by his invitation to the 20th World Congress of Poets in 2005. While driving home from Santa Fe, N.M., he considered what he wanted to tell his fellow colleagues who spoke in many languages. The opening line is “If we do not speak to praise the Earth / It is best we keep silent.”

He closed with a reminder that “we have never been expelled from paradise. We live in paradise,” and that we “need to care for and love the earth more.”

First 'Open Reel' at the Crest

2011-09-12T04:13:42Z

The Crest Theatre’s Screen 3 is where a large crowd viewed 12 three-minute films for the first ‘Open Reel’ competition. The evening began with a few words from Mike Azevedo, gallery manager at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, and a reminder that all films would be shown Saturday and Sunday at 1020 16th St. as part of the annual Capitol Artists’ Studio Tour.

The screening began with two one-minute films by Adam Bearson that featured Lisa Fernald Barker and Shirley Hazlett in their studios.

Bearson captured the essence of the artists, focusing on their tools and works, allowing the film to say as much as the subjects. Barker spoke mainly of one painting, while Hazlett spoke of her work in general.

The three-minute shorts followed and were varied in theme, style and tone, beginning with “Devil Forgot His Hat” by Lori Blair and Jason Triano. The films following were “Zombie Kickball” by Ann Tracy; the first of Atomic Elroy’s three films, “Beckett’s Autopsy,” which featured puppets of Groucho Marx and Franz Kafka; and Travis VanZant’s “Fliegen,” starring a dead hummingbird and a poem. While the former three films garnered some laughter, VanZant’s film commanded silence, yet nervous laughter was heard at times.

Donald Satterlee’s “Stormscapes” seemed to be a favorite with the audience. Satterlee shot the film through the windshield of his car on a rainy day. The Tower Theatre and Mercury Cleaners were a few Sacramento landmarks in the film. Atomic Elroy’s second film, “The Invention and Demonstration of MONOCYCLE,” was enjoyed by many attendees.

“Close” by Jonathan Joiner included the use of saturated color and ice cubes. One attendee said he had never seen color and ice like that. Next came Tim McHargue’s “The Locust” and Camille Getz’s “The Spider.” The Crest audience seemed to enjoy Getz’s film the most, indicated by their laughter throughout as a woman attempted to capture a very large, very plastic spider that first appeared on the wall above the bed she shared with a sleeping man.

The final two films were by Robert Barbarino: “Land Escapes” and “Green Umbrella.” The judges deemed the latter worthy of the award for best use of color.

“We were looking for the best use of color, not necessarily saturated color,” judge Jenny Stark said. “This film has a strong sense of art direction, and it seemed like the artist was thinking about costume and how that relates to the background, which is not often seen in experimental film.”

Azevedo said the 'Open Reel' competition will become a part of the Capitol Artists’ Studio Tour next year.

Reflection Spot at Axis Gallery

2011-09-12T02:53:51Z

Ten years after the events of 9/11, Karen Bearson brings large-scale photographs of Lower Manhattan to Axis Gallery at 1517 19th St. in a solo exhibit entitled “Reflection Spot: Ten years before, ten years after.” The exhibit opened Sept. 3 and runs through Sept. 25.

“On the tenth anniversary of this event I wanted to create a series of images that explored the loss – the absence of what once existed,” Bearson wrote in her artist statement. “I visited NYC in May to recollect my own past history there 20 years ago, photograph familiar places, visit old friends and spend some time at Ground Zero. Ten of the images are a result of this trip.”

Bearson is a painter and professional photographer who studied at the International Center of Photography in New York. This is her third solo show in Sacramento and the first to feature photography.

‘Open Reel’ premieres three-minute films at the Crest

2011-09-05T03:46:51Z

Short film lovers will have the opportunity to view about a dozen three-minute pieces at the Crest Theatre on Thursday. The shorts are from “Open Reel,” a film competition held by the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, as part of the center’s sixth annual Capitol Artists’ Studio Tour. The event starts at 8 p.m. and is free.

One film at Thursday night’s screening will receive an award for best use of color as determined by judges Jenny Stark and Ed Ortiz. Stark is an associate professor of communication studies and film at Sac State, and Ortiz is a Sacramento Bee music critic, playwright and Sac State screenwriting instructor.

A second award will be presented for the audience favorite, which will be judged next weekend at 1020 16th St., where all films will be shown on a continuous loop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Among the videos to be featured is “Storm Scapes” by Donald Satterlee, a commercial photographer who created a short film of still photos in the manner of Ken Burns.

“I zoom and pan to create motion, the feeling of movement,” he said.

Each image was shot entirely through the windshield of his car during a rainstorm while he was trying out a new lens. Many of the Sacramento locations are iconic and may be recognized through the raindrops.

“I liked the neon effect of raindrops backlit,” Satterlee said.

Travis VanZant will show his film “Filegen.”

“I found a dead hummingbird,” he said. “Judging by its condition, it must have been moments after its death. I was struck by its beauty, and the idea for the film popped in my head.”

VanZant prefers to hear how others interpret this type of film. He has worked with film for about three years and graduated with a degree in film and video production from Sacramento State in 2010.

“Devil Forgot His Hat,” filmed on a cell phone and a 12-megapixel camera, is a collaborative project between Jason Miles Briano and Lori Ann Blair Taffuri.

“The film is multilayered,” Taffuri said. “It’s about the type of beauty our culture demands and about laughter and began with a failed job interview and a very large bra.”

Other films to be screened Thursday evening are “The Spider” by Camille Getz, “Close” by Jonathan Joiner, “Zombie Kickball” by Ann Tracy, “Land Escapes” by Robert Barbarino and “The Locust” by Tim McHargue.

In addition to the “Open Reel” films, the event will include two films by Adam Bearson featuring studio artists Lisa Fernald-Barker and Shirley Hazlett.

One film focuses on why Hazlett participates in the annual studio tour, which has grown from 30 to more than 150 participating artists in six years, and the process she uses to create her acrylic on silk/poly-fusion art.

“I work like a film photographer, creating a very large piece and then looking for pieces within,” Hazlett said. “The process informs what the outcome will be. It evolves visually.”

“The film competition is another component to the annual studio tour,” said gallery manager and event coordinator Mike Azevedo. He hopes that this is the first year of an annual competition.

Building community and gardens in Oak Park

2011-08-29T08:01:23Z

The former site of a gas station at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 12th Avenue has been transformed into the city’s ninth community garden. The garden’s grand opening on Saturday offered free seeds, magazines and workshop information to several dozen attendees.

Bill Maynard, Sacramento’s director of community gardens, has been working on this project for four years. He said half of the garden plots have already been rented at a cost of $25 to $50 per year. WIC, a federally funded organization that focuses on nutrition and health for women, infants and children, rents space in the garden, which is near their office building.

Andrea Kennedy, one of several people tending gardens at Saturday’s opening, has a plot divided into four sections, which include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, cauliflower, yams, chard, snap peas, snap beans, mint, peppers, herbs and flowers “for color.”

John Roberts was busy tilling the soil, claiming it was harder than when he worked in the concrete business. He has a family garden plot where he will plant celery, garlic and broccoli.

“Taking a vacant lot and doing something great signifies what’s happening in Oak Park,” Councilmember Jay Schenirer said, adding that his office will subsidize the first year of rent for residents who cannot afford it.

The garden’s site was acquired several years ago through a “grant for redevelopment purposes,” said Matt Hertel, redevelopment planner for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. The site has been soil tested and cleaned and is, in Hertel’s words, edible.

In addition to individual and group plots, the garden has community plantings, including pumpkins that will appear this fall, and fruit trees planted along one fence. Maynard said the mandarin is the garden’s ceremonial tree.

On-site compost bins will be used to teach gardeners about composting and reducing waste. Composting reduces greenhouse gasses, particularly methane, by keeping green waste out of the landfills.

“Composting is a great soil amendment, plus it is economical,” Sacramento waste reduction coordinator Doug Huston said. “Fifty to 70 percent of waste to landfills could be composted.”

The garden is the first official element of the MLK Streetscape and Urban Development Plan, providing access to healthy foods and improving the street’s aesthetics. Where a vacant lot once stood, a garden will provide food, beauty and community.

The parks and recreation department has scheduled to open gardens at Valley Hi Park and Camellia Park by the end of this year.