Poetry

Poetry is a division of literature. It's an ancient form that has gone through many revisions over time. Perhaps it's an attempt to identify life through words, rhythms and sounds. Really, it's hard to pin.

One could argue that if there was a shoe in front of a fiction writer, she might pick it up and observe it. He might also poke at it, then unlace it. Furthermore, they might look at the shoe from every angle, then write about it.

Given the same shoe, the poet might observe, poke, unlace and look at the shoe. Then they might lick it. Then rub it all over his body. Then make love to it. Then cut it into pieces with a knife. Then swallow it, letting the shoe pass through her system and defecating it into a pile on the floor. Then feeding that pile to a pigeon who would fly to a bridge leaving tiny shoe droppings en route. The poet would pick up each dropping, writing about them as if they were tiny shoes.

The definition is not so important as the poetry itself.

There are tons of poets in the area — some famous, some not; some published, some not.

Faculty:

Joshua Clover
Brad Henderson
James Lee Jobe
Dr. Andy Jones
Clarence Major
Sandra McPherson
Joe Wenderoth

Former and Current Undergraduates:

Naomi Adiv
Brian Ang
Andrew Behjatnia
Kristen Birdsall
Susan Calvillo
Jennifer Ellis
Gina Faridniya
Michelle Tang-Jackson
Kristen Judd
EliseKane
Will Kaufman
Katie Delwiche
Josh Fernandez
Dan Glendening
Gabrielle Myers
Henry Reneau
Rob Roy
Cora Stryker
Carlos Overstreet - published in The Yolo Crow
Simone Davis of Sickspits
Elyssa White of Sickspits

Local Poets:

TheodoreGould
JamesJobe
Hannah Stein

The Yolo Crow
Produce
The Scrambler
Nameless Magazine

SickSpits - they compete in poetry slams and won 5th place in nationals last year. woot woot!

Poetry Night at Bistro 33 is now held on the first and third Wednesday of the month beginning at 9pm in the Banquet Room. The hosts are Dr. Andy Jones and Brad Henderson. The Open Mic begins after the featured poet concludes. Frequent Open Mic participants include Heidi Bekebrede, Rob Roy, Rondu Gantt, Elyssa White, and Joe Wenderoth.

Simple 

by Josh Fernandez


He sits quietly
watching
as his teacher
demonstrates
the simplicity
of quadratic formulas.

The boy reaches around his own head,
gently unhooking it from his neck,
removes his left arm,
unzips himself
from his body
and calmly sets his fleshy parts,
one by one,
before him on a desk.

He moves apart his ribs,
plucks a rusted knife
from where his heart should be
and flings it
toward the open window.

The teacher:

a) puts down his chalk
b) throws his book to the floor
c) sits in his chair
d) softly begins to weep

—
Sundown, Summer, The World

Look, sundown walks slowly in summer, darkness
creeps out first from the shadows of plants — a little
at a time. Shadow lengthens from under the lavender,
the rosemary, the anise. Over a sultry stretch of minutes
and hours shadow meets shadow and connects. The Mulberry
joins in this skulking carpet, low, as does the Crepe Myrtle,
the redwoods. Once darkness covers the yard, the sky
then flickers a burnt red, a glowing orange — long dashes of purple
slash the western heaven. The magpie grows quiet, then night
swims in over all this world, ebony, shimmering, soft.

James Lee Jobe
—

The Pamela Maus Contest in Creative Writing
The Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize
Poet Laureate Contest (discontinued)
The Celeste Turner Wright Poetry Prize

The Tomales Bay Workshops

Sacramento Area Poetry

Sactown Poetry is a new site that recognizes the poets and poetry of the greater Sacramento area. From Davis to Elk Grove to 35th St. this site posts videos of poets performing their work. It was started in September 2007 as an attempt to document the Sacramento area poetry scene. The site is new, so poets and friends of poets- help spread the word and contact the creator of the site with poetry news, videos or just to introduce yourself.

Poet's Corner