The last weekend of February included two stellar Bay Area events. Actually, there were more than two, but I’m focusing on ones in which I participated – Lunar New Year in Santa Rosa and a poetry-joined-to-painting event in Benicia. The hillsides were green, rain waited in the wings until the start of the following week, and both events welcomed old friends and new attendees. I treasure art gatherings at which communal welcome counts for more than pushing big names. Both events were full of group goodwill.
The Santa Rosa event featured music, dance, and community recognition. The Santa Rosa Wu Academy is a Bay Area standout. I’ve been watching top Bay Area t’ai qi for decades and even wrote some poetry about it (see the end of this article). It was a pleasure to see young practitioners, even some of preschool age. A group of their older classmates will be going to China for an upcoming competition. There was also piano, choral singing, dragon and lion dancing, a guqin (horizontal string instrument) played by Wanda Wang, who has played at the San Francisco Opera House, and a very well done Tibetan dance.
The event was a fundraiser for the Redwood Empire Chinese Association, which, among other activities, sponsors an annual Multi-Cultural Poetry Day at which all who would like to can read poetry in a wide variety of languages. This event is held each August. Last year, we had a long, impassioned discussion of translation – what works and what doesn’t and why. Because of practice translating to and from a variety of languages (including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, German, Old and Middle English, and Spanish) the discussion was down to earth, acknowledging that translation needs to include the points of view of varied cultures, plus a little panache, tweaking, and generalizing to be successful. Simply translating words literally will not get readers interested.
The next day I made my way to Benicia for the first time. Green hills aplenty, water birds, fine views of Mt. Diablo above rushes and cattails, a few sailboats, and the Benicia State Capitol – active as the capitol in 1853-1854. I was headed to Arts Benicia for an ekphrastic poetry event at which members of Benicia First Tuesday Poets read poems they had written in response to visual art displayed in the gallery. Readings were lively, participants were from three generations, old friends gathered, and people new to one another – including myself – had a chance to get to expand our knowledge of arts in the Bay Area.
The Santa Rosa event featured music, dance, and community recognition. The Santa Rosa Wu Academy is a Bay Area standout. I’ve been watching top Bay Area t’ai qi for decades and even wrote some poetry about it (see the end of this article). It was a pleasure to see young practitioners, even some of preschool age. A group of their older classmates will be going to China for an upcoming competition. There was also piano, choral singing, dragon and lion dancing, a guqin (horizontal string instrument) played by Wanda Wang, who has played at the San Francisco Opera House, and a very well done Tibetan dance.
The event was a fundraiser for the Redwood Empire Chinese Association, which, among other activities, sponsors an annual Multi-Cultural Poetry Day at which all who would like to can read poetry in a wide variety of languages. This event is held each August. Last year, we had a long, impassioned discussion of translation – what works and what doesn’t and why. Because of practice translating to and from a variety of languages (including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, German, Old and Middle English, and Spanish) the discussion was down to earth, acknowledging that translation needs to include the points of view of varied cultures, plus a little panache, tweaking, and generalizing to be successful. Simply translating words literally will not get readers interested.
The next day I made my way to Benicia for the first time. Green hills aplenty, water birds, fine views of Mt. Diablo above rushes and cattails, a few sailboats, and the Benicia State Capitol – active as the capitol in 1853-1854. I was headed to Arts Benicia for an ekphrastic poetry event at which members of Benicia First Tuesday Poets read poems they had written in response to visual art displayed in the gallery. Readings were lively, participants were from three generations, old friends gathered, and people new to one another – including myself – had a chance to get to expand our knowledge of arts in the Bay Area.
On the way home, I counted the fine poetry and art groups I know in communities I passed between Benicia and Emeryville, and a few more. Right here and now I’m encouraging everyone to step out beyond current travels and visit some of the following. My list here is not exhaustive. I’m mentioning groups I know and some I work with. Our press conveys the impression that San Francisco is the only place poetry’s at. ‘Tain’t the half of it! Here’s more.
www.beniciafirsttuesdaypoets.com (poetry in Benicia – all welcome)
www.frankbettecenter.org/alameda-island-poets.html (poetry in Alameda -- all welcome)
www.dancingpoetry.com The Dancing Poetry Festival (held each September at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco) 2019 Dancing Poetry Contest now open. Check the website, respond to this email or call Natica Angilly, director, (510) 235-0361
www.lapromenadecafe.com/events.html Promenade Café, San Francisco, excellent writers, unusually good conversation, monthly readings. To get on the mailing list for monthly specifics, email [email protected].
http://www.facebook.com/groups/203539673… or email Dan Brady at [email protected] For events at Sacred Grounds Café in San Francisco. Readings have been happening at this Cole Valley spot since 1972. Poets from all over the Bay Area participate and the quality is excellent.
https://poetryexpressberkeley.blogspot.com
Poetry Express has hosted weekly poetry readings in downtown Berkeley for over 17 years. It is top notch. Also on the same blogspot is The Last Word Reading Series at Nefeli Café in Berkeley.
And there are many more. The Ina Coolbrith Circle (meeting in Lafayette), the annual Poets Dinner (held each spring, currently in Concord), poetry in Davis and Modesto. Check it out on your mobile device or respond to this email for more.
And, of course, our own Pinole Artisans!
www.pinoleartisans.weebly.com
To conclude, here is a closing t’ai qi poem.
Yellow leaves pattern the ground.
In silence, the t’ai qi master moves
Over afternoon shadows.
Tanya Joyce
Poet, Painter, Pinole Artisan
www.tanyajoyce.com
[email protected]
www.beniciafirsttuesdaypoets.com (poetry in Benicia – all welcome)
www.frankbettecenter.org/alameda-island-poets.html (poetry in Alameda -- all welcome)
www.dancingpoetry.com The Dancing Poetry Festival (held each September at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco) 2019 Dancing Poetry Contest now open. Check the website, respond to this email or call Natica Angilly, director, (510) 235-0361
www.lapromenadecafe.com/events.html Promenade Café, San Francisco, excellent writers, unusually good conversation, monthly readings. To get on the mailing list for monthly specifics, email [email protected].
http://www.facebook.com/groups/203539673… or email Dan Brady at [email protected] For events at Sacred Grounds Café in San Francisco. Readings have been happening at this Cole Valley spot since 1972. Poets from all over the Bay Area participate and the quality is excellent.
https://poetryexpressberkeley.blogspot.com
Poetry Express has hosted weekly poetry readings in downtown Berkeley for over 17 years. It is top notch. Also on the same blogspot is The Last Word Reading Series at Nefeli Café in Berkeley.
And there are many more. The Ina Coolbrith Circle (meeting in Lafayette), the annual Poets Dinner (held each spring, currently in Concord), poetry in Davis and Modesto. Check it out on your mobile device or respond to this email for more.
And, of course, our own Pinole Artisans!
www.pinoleartisans.weebly.com
To conclude, here is a closing t’ai qi poem.
Yellow leaves pattern the ground.
In silence, the t’ai qi master moves
Over afternoon shadows.
Tanya Joyce
Poet, Painter, Pinole Artisan
www.tanyajoyce.com
[email protected]