Poetry at Albion Hall
2024-11-17 16:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Albion Hall, 143 Albion St, San Francisco, CA, United States
Poetry at Albion Hall
Sunday, November 17, 2024, 4:00 pm
A Sunday afternoon reading featuring eight poets:
Genny Lim, current San Francisco Poet Laureate,
Giovanna Lomanto
Kim Shuck, 7th San Francisco Poet Laureate
David Gorin, Winner of the 2023 Emily Dickinson Award
Deborah Bachels Schmidt NSAA (Lawrence Dinkins, Jr) Rebecca Lee Whiting
Bob Stanley, Sacramento Poet Laureate, 2009-2012
With musical accompaniment by Mike Shea on bass

Join us for this special poetry event!
Sunday, November 17 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Doors open at 3:30
Albion Hall is located at 143 Albion St, San Francisco
Seating is limited
Please make your reservation at albionpoetry@gmail.com
Suggested donation $20 per person
All donations will benefit two Bay Area literary organizations:
Colossus Press and The Ina Coolbrith Circle
Note: Donations may be made directly to these organizations, or you may donate at the door.
To support the work of Colossus Press, please donate at https://colossuspress.org/support-colossus-press
To support Ina Coolbrith Circle, please send a check to Gayle Eleanor, Treasurer
1245 Pine Creek Way, #J Concord, CA 94520
(please indicate “Albion Poetry” on check)
Note: Parking is very difficult, we recommend ridesharing or public transit. 16th Street/Mission is the nearest BART station.
FEATURED POETS
Genny Lim was born in San Francisco, and she earned a BA and an MA from San Francisco State University. Lim earned a certificate in broadcast journalism from Columbia University and later worked as a reporter, producer, and commentator for CBS News. Lim is the author of the poetry collections Winter Place (1989), Child of War (2003), and Paper Gods and Rebels (2013). Her work appears in the Oxford Book of Women’s Writing in the United States (1995), and Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island (1980). Lim is the winner of the 1981 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. In 1982, she founded a theater company, Paper Angels Productions, now known as Theatre XX, a company that performs experimental theater. Lim has taught at the New College of California, and her papers are held at UC Santa Barbara. She was named Poet Laureate of San Francisco’s in August 2024.
David Gorin is the author of To a Distant Country, selected by Jennifer Chang for the Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship and forthcoming in 2024. His writing received the 2023 Emily Dickinson Award from the Poetry Society of America. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA, MA, and MPhil in English Literature from Yale University. He has taught creative writing and literature at Deep Springs College, Stanford Continuing Studies, the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution (via the Yale Prison Education Initiative), Eastern Correctional Facility (via the Bard Prison Initiative), and Yale.
Kim Shuck is a poet, visual artist, and educator. She is solo author of eleven books, part of editing another eleven. Shuck served as the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco.
Deborah Bachels Schmidt has published five chapbooks, including Stumbling into Grace, published by Orchard Street Press. She is co-author of Love’s Meditation from Random Lane Press). Her work has appeared in journals including Blue Unicorn, California Quarterly, The Exacting Clam, and The MacGuffin, as well as in numerous anthologies. She has earned awards from the Coolbrith Circle, the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, and Orchard Street Press. This year her poems won grand prizes in the Poets’ Dinner and the Dancing Poetry Festival.
NSAA (Lawrence Dinkins, Jr.) was born in Detroit and moved to California in the 1990s. He studied writing at Sacramento City College and has been writing and performing his poetry for over twenty years. Lawrence served on the board of the Sacramento Poetry Center, and he has hosted dozens of Sacramento poetry events at both Mahogany Urban Poetry and Luna’s Café. Lawrence published Open Mic Sketchbook and And It Is Beautiful with little m press, and his selected poems, Warrior Poet, was published by Random Lane Press in 2019.
Giovanna Lomanto is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and dog costume contest judge (ask her about it), who has published 3 poetry collections, 2 chapbooks, and an art book with various small presses. A recent MFA graduate from NYU, she currently serves as the co-publisher of the indie press Game Over Books and the lead curator of LitQuake’s QTBIPOC event series. Her work can be found in the SFMOMA, KQED, and the bookshelves of her friend’s homes.
Rebecca Lee Whiting has published her poetry in many independent literary magazines and presses including Prometheus Dreaming, Colossus: Freedom, and Colossus:Body.. She has served as an editor for Colossus Press, an Oakland-based literary nonprofit press that funds good works with good art. Rebecca studied creative writing at Bennington College and has a BA from Yale, an MA from the Courtauld, and a JD from UC Berkeley. A Los Angeles native, these days she splits her time between Sea Ranch and San Francisco with her partner and their goldendoodle, Justice.
Bob Stanley has published two books from CW Press, Miracle Shine (2012), and Language Barrier (2024). He has organized poetry events in Northern California for over 40 years, and he served as Sacramento’s fifth Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2012. With his wife Joyce Hsiao, Bob leads online poetry classes and manages Random Lane Press, a small publisher, from their home in Sacramento.
Mike Shea, bass, has played in numerous jazz groups over the years, including a duo with vocalist Michelle Abby, and both a trio and a quintet featuring vocalist Mike Biber. Mr. Shea has performed with poets Lawrence Dinkins and Bob Stanley at the Sacramento Poetry Center, and he played bass in the group that provided accompaniment for a 12-hour performance of Homer’s Iliad at Grace Cathedral in 2023.
The Ina Coolbrith Circle was founded in 1919 by Ina Coolbrith, California’s first Poet Laureate. Today, over 200 ICC members continue to nurture the poetry and history of the Golden State. www.coolpoetry.org
Colossus Press publishes anthologies and organizes events to help fund nonprofits that work for social justice. Colossus’s goal is to create a space to gather in the spirit of resistance to “call out cruelty and support concrete change.” colossuspress.org
Albion Hall is an historic Mission District building known as Equality Hall when it served as a headquarters for the Socialist Party in 1908. From 1912 to 1966 the hall was headquarters for the International Longshoreman’s Association and the Workmen’s Educational Association. This is the first poetry event held at this venerable San Francisco home.
Poetry at Albion is hosted by Leslie Lai and Rebecca Lee Whiting.

Third Tuesday Poetry Night @ Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant: Cynthia Linville, Sue Daly, and Richard Turner
2025-07-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant, 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA, United States
Third Tuesday Poetry Night
Tuesday, July 15 at 6:00 pm
Cynthia Linville, Sue Daly, and Richard Turner
Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant – 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento
Hosted by Ann Michaels
Reading starts at 6:00, followed by open mic.
Seating is Limited! Reservations and pre-ordering are strongly requested – please go to twinlotusthai.com to reserve your table and place your food order.
Note that the Third Tuesday Poetry link is listed below all the Music Events and just below Two Tune Tuesdays.
Featured poets for JULY 15
Sue Daly has been writing poetry since she was a teenager. She and her late husband, Stephen, have been involved with Sacramento Poetry Center for over ten years, and both have been featured readers there. The Dalys are founding members of The Sacramento Poetry Alliance. Sue’s poetry has been published in several literary journals and anthologies. Her chapbook, A Voice at Last, was published in 2017 by Dad’s Desk, and her latest poetry collection, Language of the Tea Leaves, published by Cold River Press in 2021, is available to buy tonight. Sue, who led a writing class at Wellspring Woman’s Center in Sacramento for many years, plans to lead writing groups as an AWA facilitator this fall. For more information about her books and workshops, contact Sue at jtwnana7@gmail.com.
Cynthia Linville’s two books of collected poems, The Lost Thing and Out of Reach, are available from Cold River Press. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize as well as for a Best of the Net. A music aficionado with a theater background, Cynthia has received three mini-grants from Poets & Writers to perform her work in collaboration with musicians. She has taught in the English Department at Sacramento State University since 2000, and she served as Managing Editor of Convergence: an online journal of poetry and art from 2008 to 2018.
Richard Turner is an accomplished writer and award-winning photographer, a graduate of Stanford and UC Berkeley School of Law. He practiced law for over 50 years, including serving as counsel to Governor Ronald Reagan. For many years Richard served as President of the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, and his artwork has featured in many art galleries, public buildings and private collections. He and his wife Prem are profiled in the book The Third Act: Reinventing Your Next Chapter alongside Gloria Steinem, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, and others, as people redefining their lives in inspiring ways. The late Wayne Dyer said of Richard’s first book, “The words and images touched me at my soul.” At this reading you will get a preview of his second book, Sweet Crazy, Walking on the Edge, with a presentation integrating poetry, photography and music. For all the accolades, Richard has had his share of challenges. He is indebted to the recovery and spiritual communities, as well as a team of medical professionals, as he takes the good fight to Parkinson’s disease. Richard, at 87, has three living children, 13 grand and great grandchildren. He is urging them all to become park rangers instead of lawyers.
Here is the direct link to reserve for the show; https://forms.gle/K2R2xi4U4xKa8R1o9

Third Tuesday Poetry Night @ Twin Lotus: Brad Buchanan, Karen Defoe, and Jim Knowles
2025-08-19 18:00 | Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant, 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA, United States
Third Tuesday Poetry Night
Tuesday, August 19 at 6:00 pm
Brad Buchanan, Karen Defoe, and Jim Knowles
Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant – 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento
Hosted by Bob Stanley
Reading starts at 6:00, followed by open mic.
Seating is Limited! Reservations and pre-ordering are strongly requested – please go to twinlotusthai.com to reserve your table and place your food order.
Note that the Third Tuesday Poetry link is listed below all the Music Events and just below Two Tune Tuesdays.
Featured poets for August 19th
Karen DeFoe holds a BA in Drama and an MA in Education, has performed with Roadside Theater Company in Germany and San Jose Music Theater, was Director of Drama for Carmichael School of Performing Arts, founded the children’s theater company Corps de Jeune, and taught English and Drama in Germany, and in both public and private schools in California. Her poems have appeared in Ink Spots: Award-Winning Flash Fiction and Poetry, More Than Enough, Tule Review, and Voices.
Jim Knowles was born in Honolulu, raised in the Diablo Valley east of San Francisco Bay, and lived more than 30 years in Silicon Valley. Jim played keyboards in jazz, rock, fusion, and blues bands while pursuing a long career as a software engineer. Jim and his wife Liza now live in Sydney, Australia, where he pursues his daily practices of tai chi, music, poetry, and art. His first book of poetry, The Beginning of Dreams, has just been published by Random Lane Press.
Brad Buchanan has been published in over 200 journals, and he has many book-length collections of poetry in print, including The Miracle Shirker (2005), Swimming the Mirror: Poems for My Daughter (2008), and Chimera (2022). Now Emeritus Professor of English at Sacramento State University, Dr. Buchanan has also published numerous scholarly articles and two academic books. In February 2015, he was diagnosed with a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, and he underwent a stem cell transplant in 2016. Currently in remission, Brad continues to write and lead writing groups in the Sacramento community.

Gold Country Writers: Bob Stanley "Why Is This A Poem"
2025-09-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Auburn City Hall, 1225 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA, 95603
I’m going to be giving a talk on poetry at Gold Country Writers in Auburn on September 17th from 10 am to noon. It will touch on some of my poetic influences, as well as ways that Joyce and I have integrated poetry into our busy lives. It will probably be about two-thirds rambling lecture and one-third of me reading my own poems. Come if you can – it’s a free event at the Rose Room at Auburn City Hall – 1225 Lincoln Way. Bring and invite friends – any questions, let me know!

Art, Poetry, & Jazz Night
2025-11-15 18:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Fine Arts Center, 5330 GIBBONS DR, Carmichael, CA, 95608, United States
November 15, 2025

We love to bring together the visual, literary, and performing arts for this wonderful event. This year our poets will write poems based on selected artwork from the exhibit, Abstract Intentions. Jazz musicians will base their music on written poems. Join us as these elements come together for a stellar night of performances.
Bios for Art, Jazz, and Poetry 2025
Rick Rayburn worked for California coastal protection and parkland preservation for years, and he started studying and writing poetry after he retired from a career with California State Parks. Rick has worked with Bethanie Humphreys, Joshua McKinney, and Susan Kelly-Dewitt, and he’s an active member of PCG, the monthly critique group. He has published two books with Random Lane Press, Under the Overstory (2020), Slack Tide (2022). Rick’s third book, Pink Tercets, was published by The Poetry Box in September 2025.
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas earned her MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a twelve-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a seven-time Best of the Net nominee. In 2021, her poetry collection Alice in Ruby Slippers, was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for Women’s Wisdom Art. Carol Lynn has published numerous books of poetry including Handful of Stallions at Twilight from Finishing Line Press and A Shared and Sacred Space from Kelsay Books.
Stan Zumbiel started writing poems while he was in the Navy. A beloved English teacher for 35 years, Stan taught junior high and high school until his retirement in 2008. Stan served on SPC’s board of directors for more than two decades, and he earned his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. His books include Standing Watch (Random Lane Press, 2016) and Hat Full of Leaves (Cold River Press, 2021). A new, updated and expanded edition of Standing Watch is forthcoming from Random Lane in 2025. He and his wife Lynn have four children and nine grandkids.
Dr. V.S. Chochezi and Staajabu are a unique mother and daughter poetry team known as Straight Out Scribes. They are widely published, have received many honors and awards, and have published eight books of poetry and two CDs. In addition to their writing and performance accomplishments, this mother/daughter poetic duo has produced and coordinated many consciousness-raising events and fund-raisers. True activist poets, Straight Out Scribes has spent over three decades working on the campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and aid many other political prisoners. Learn more at their website straightoutscribes.shop.
Mary Zeppa has been a mainstay of the Sacramento poetry scene since she helped found the Sacramento Poetry Center in 1979. Her poems have appeared in many journals including Perihelion and The New York Quarterly, and she has two chapbooks, The Battered Bride Overture and Little Ship of Blessing. Her most recent collection is My Body Tells its Own Story, from Cherry Grove Editions. Zeppa is also a singer and lyricist, and she sang in the a cappella quintet Cherry Fizz.
NSAA (Lawrence Dinkins, Jr.) has performed and hosted at poetry events for many years. He’s also created special events such as Poet vs Band and the online poetry series Coffee and Poets. As part of the duo Electropoetic Coffee, with guitarist Ross Hammond, NSAA recorded numerous albums, and they performed at the Crest Theater in 2018. NSAA’s books have been published by Sacramento publishers little m press and Random Lane Press. He’s currently working on new poetry and prose, while working for a community theatre consortium.
Laura Martin has had her poems appear in many publications including Tule Review, Late Peaches: Poems by Sacramento Poets, The Gasconade Review, River Dog Zine, Peregrine, and Poems-For-All. Her new collection is Haiku for the Undead. She has won several awards for her poetry and fronts The Soft Offs—a seven-piece spoken word music ensemble that takes the written word from page to stage.
Bob Stanley (host) retired from teaching at Sac State so that he could focus on poetry, music, and travel. With help from his wife Joyce Hsiao, he has been presenting poetry programs including Bob’s Online Poetry Seminars and Third Tuesday Poetry at Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant. Bob is also working with producer Lawrence Dinkins on the poetry podcast Coffee and Poets. His most recent book, Language Barrier, was published by CW Books in June 2024.
Musician Ryan Clark (band leader) is a composer and vibraphonist who has performed with many award-winning jazz bands. Ryan wrote and performed the compositions for the group that played at the Art, Poetry and Jazz event at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center in 2019, online in 2021, and in person here at SFAC in 2023 and 2024.Our returning band is the Ryan Clark Quartet.

Ryan Clack -Band leader
Alex Reyes- Piano
Tyler Miles- Bass
Austin Kim- Drums

If you are hoping to have your art selected by a poet this year, we highly recommend entering the Abstract Intentions show.
Featured Art:
Anywhere But In Between by Allyson Gunnell
Brain Waves by Janice Hironaka
Self-Portrait with Guitar and Absinthe by David Vaught
Oh Bananas by Claude Duplat
Scarlett Twilight Canopy by Andrea Morris
Moonscape in Blue and Gold by Charlene Steen
Miami by Natalia Gomez
Morning Fog by Joel Bresolin
Geometry of the Moon by Chanel Mace
Ceiling View, Sagrada Familia by Nancy Garrett
Summer Carnival by Debbie Koerner
If You Don’t See a Pattern, Make One by Brett Billingsley
Common Threads by Patricia Abraham
Half Moon Bay by Nora Goff
Leaving Helsinki by Karen Finley
Untitled by Margo Mullen
Ephemera Madness 2 by Tina Maier
Member tickets are $30 each. General registration is $35. Click ‘Register’ below for tickets.

When: November 15, 2025

Third Tuesday Poetry Night: Featuring Stan Zumbiel and Susan Kelly-DeWitt
2026-04-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant, 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA, United States
Third Tuesday Poetry Night Tuesday, April 21 at 6:00 pm
Featuring Stan Zumbiel and Susan Kelly-DeWitt
A book release celebration for Stan Zumbiel’s latest collection – New and Expanded Standing Watch
Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant – 8345 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento
Hosted by Bob Stanley
Reading starts at 6:00 pm, followed by an open mic.
Reservations and pre-ordering are strongly requested – Please go to twinlotusthai.com to reserve your table and place your food order.
Note that the Third Tuesday Poetry link is listed below all the Music Events and just below “Two Tune Thursdays”.
=== Featured Poets ===
**Stan Zumbiel** started writing poems while he was in the Navy. A beloved English teacher for 35 years, Stan taught until his retirement in 2008. Stan served on SPC’s board of directors for more than two decades, and he earned his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. His books include Standing Watch (Random Lane Press, 2016) and Hat Full of Leaves (Cold River Press, 2021). A new, updated, and expanded edition of Standing Watch is now available from Random Lane. Stan and his wife, Lynn, have four children and nine grandkids.
**Susan Kelly-DeWitt** is the author of the full-length poetry collections Gatherer’s Alphabet (CA Poets Prize, Gunpowder Press, 2022), Gravitational Tug (2020), Spider Season (2016), and The Fortunate Islands (2008), as well as numerous chapbooks. Her honors include a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University and the Chicago Literary Award from Another Chicago Magazine. Her work has been included in several anthologies, including The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (2011). She lives in Sacramento with her husband, David.

Save the Press Fundraiser for SPC
2026-05-16 14:00 - 17:30 | 4010 Random Lane, 4010 Random Lane, Sacramento, CA, United States
Join us for a spring fundraiser to help the Sacramento Poetry Center!
SPC has been gifted an early 1900’s Chandler and Price Letterpress.
We are raising funds to transport the press to Sacramento, and get it up and running!
Once installed at SPC’s 25th Street home, we’ll produce broadsides, posters,
and fine poetry-art pieces to share in the community!

Save the Press
A poetry- and music-filled afternoon in the garden of Bob Stanley and Joyce Hsiao
4010 Random Lane, Sacramento
Saturday, May 16, 2026 from 2:00 to 5:30 pm

A reading by Allegra Silberstein and Dr. Andy Jones
Poetry Activities and Games, Letterpress information
Book sales in support of Save the Press
Music, Food and Beverages
Raffle, Auction, Conversation, and General Festivities

$30 donation for individuals/$50 for couples
which goes towards a one-year SPC membership
