This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

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Our Saturday Night main event is a celebration of Yosimar Reyes, our new Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, along with the incoming 2024 class of Youth Poets Laureate and Ambassadors. We want their take on the world to impact us, to inspire us and to influence us. We are certain that their poetry has the power to motivate us to leave a better world for them. With special festival guests, RC Weslowski and Rachel McKibbens.

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[Youth Poet bios to come.]

Yosimar Reyes

Hailing from East San Jose by way of Guerrero, Mexico, Reyes quickly made a name for himself at the tender age of sixteen, exploding onto local Bay Area stages and captivating his audiences with deeply moving spoken word performances.

Reyes’ repertoire has since evolved to include nationally-acclaimed keynotes, writing workshops, and his one-man show, Prieto, a coming-of-age story that explores subjects like migration, sexuality, and socio-economic struggle—all while empowering his audiences to tap into their own creative potential.

His achievements don’t stop there. In addition to being the first-ever undocumented poet to achieve Santa Clara County Poet Laureate status, Reyes was chosen to be a 2024 Creative Ambassador by the City of San Jose, The Advocate named him one of "13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World," and Remezcla included him on their list of "10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know."

Amongst numerous accolades, Reyes has been awarded a NALAC Catalyst for Change Grant (2020), a Gerbode Foundation Grant and most recently, a Walter & Elise Haas Creative Work Fund Grant (2023), . His writing has appeared in publications such as MARIPOSAS: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry, Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings and forthcoming UndocuPoetics.

yosimarreyes.com

Rachel McKibbens is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, blud, Pink Elephant and Into the Dark & Emptying Field. In 2012, McKibbens founded The Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing intensive held exclusively for non-men writers of color.

Ploughshares recently called McKibbens “the witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised.” For over two decades, she has taught poetry to the outcasts, misfits and witches of the world while raising five children. In 2022, Mckibbens was the subject of the podcast We Were Three, from The New York Times and the creators of Serial.

She is currently writing a romance novel and believes Palestine will be free in this lifetime.

rachelmckibbens.com

RC Weslowski is an award-winning poet and broadcaster/podcaster including the 2024 Hunna Bubba Prize. He’s also a workshop leader, clown and bon vivant. He has performed his poetry across Turtle Island and parts of Europe since 1998. RC is celebrating his 25th year of performing poetry by being at the San Jose Poetry Festival. His first collection of poetry My Soft Response to the Wars is available now from Write Bloody North Publishing writebloodynorth.ca

Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

Threads of Memory: Haiku and Haibun by Members of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

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Linda Papanicolaou is an art historian and retired art teacher in Palo Alto, California. She began writing haiku in 1998 with the World Haiku Club on Yahoo Groups. For fifteen years she edited Haigaonline and has since been involved with other online and print publications. Her haiku, haiga, renku, and other short-form poems have appeared in online and print journals and have won awards. She has special interest is combining poetry with images in handcrafted artists’ books.  A member of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society since 2005, she began serving as president in 2022. She lives in Palo Alto.

Roger Abe is a retired San Jose Park Ranger who enjoys interpretation of nature. He has been active with the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society for over thirty years. He has served as Yuki Teikei President and continues to work as a dojin in the society. Roger lives in Morgan Hill, California.

Kathy Goldbach’s haiku come from her attraction to words and to music: from jump rope rhymes and piano lessons in Peoria, Illinois, to Shakespeare tucked between nursing classes in Iowa City, to Goodnight Moon and Old Joe Clark with her children, to a music degree and poetry at San Jose State in the ‘80’s, to a new language and a Bach choir in Germany in the ‘90’s, to piano teaching and poetry writing for the past 25 years. For the last six years, she has found haiku’s sturdy words and subtle music to be her best way to capture life’s “aha” moments.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live performances and online events.

$30 for general public and $20 for PCSJ Members and youth 19 and under. Admission may be purchased at the door.

Street parking available for this event.

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This performance workshop is facilitated by Jason Bayani.

Workshop Title – From Page to Body: How to Read Your Work for Audiences

Workshop description – Becoming a better more confident reader begins with understanding how the words we write connect to our bodies. In this hour long workshop, poet and performer, Jason Bayani, will help you find your voice on stage through theatre games, vocal exercises, performance coaching, and a bit of play.

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Jason Bayani

Jason Bayani is the author of the Northern California Book Award nominated Locus (Omnidawn Publishing 2019) and Amulet (Write Bloody Publishing 2013), and creator of the solo theater show "Locus of Control". He’s also the co-director of Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization in the country.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Three of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all at the Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara, CA

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On September 7 at 11 a.m. at the Central Park Library's Margie Edinger Room, join us for a special reading of select stories by the award-winning Minnesota poet and children’s book author, Bao Phi! He will be sharing from several of his children’s books, including his first book, A Different Pond, which received six starred reviews and won multiple awards including a Caldecott Honor. During this special visit he will answer questions from children and adults about his stories and writing journey.

Seating is first come, first served. This is a non-ticketed event. All-ages are welcome.

Your attendance to this program grants permission to the City of Santa Clara to take your photograph and/or your child's photograph for marketing purposes.

About the author:

A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. His poems and essays are widely published in numerous publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. A short story of his, Revolution Shuffle, appeared in the anthology Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, AK Press, 2015, and an essay of his was included in the anthology A Good Time for the Truth, edited by Sun Yung Shin, Minnesota Historical Society Press.

He has two collections of poems, both published by Coffeehouse Press, Sông I Sing and Thousand Star Hotel, the latter of which was nominated for the Minnesota Book Award, named by NPR as one of  the best books of 2017, and was chosen as 2017’s best poetry book of the year by San Francisco State’s Poetry Center.

His first children’s book, A Different Pond, received six starred reviews and won multiple awards including a Caldecott Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association award for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award for excellence in children’s book writing. It made several best books of the year lists, including Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and Shelf Awareness. He has written three additional children’s books since then: My Footprints. (2019), Hello, Mandarin Duck! (2022), and You Are Life (2022).

He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and the Artist of the Year (2017) and Author of the Year (2018) by City Pages, and was awarded the Kay Sexton Award in 2024. He was recently on the editing team for We The Gathered Heat, a forthcoming anthology of Asian American and Pacific Islander poets in the oral and spoken word traditions.

Born in Saigon shortly before the mass exodus of his family and many others to the United States, Bao is a Vietnamese American raised in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his child and their cat.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This workshop is presented by Poetry Center San José, in partnership with La RaízMagazine, facilitated by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo.

This workshop is free to all on Zoom. Register for this event on Zoom.

Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles is a bilingual generative poetry workshop inspired by the seven principles of the Zapatistas of the EZLN, Indigenous peoples of Chiapas, México. 7 Principles: 1. To Obey, Not Command, 2. To Propose, Not Impose, 3. To Represent, Not Supplant, 4. To Convince, Not Conquer, 5. To Construct, Not Destroy, 6.To Serve Others, Not Serve Oneself, 7. To Work From Below, Not Seek To Rise. Participants will be guided to write poetry in an interactive workshop featuring three segments of sample poetry, a prompt, verse starters, and sample verses. Everyone will be welcome to share their poetry aloud with the group and comment. The workshop is open to writers of all ages with any level of experience and is a continuation of the theme, with new content.

Palabras & Poetry: Zapatista Principles es un taller de poesía generativo, inspirado por los siete principios de los Zapatistas del EZLN, gente indígena de Chiapas, México. Los siete principios: Obedecer y No Mandar;  Proponer y No Imponer; Representar y No Suplantar; Convencer y No Vencer; Construir y No Destruir; Servir y No Servirse; Bajar y No Subir. Se guiará a los participantes a escribir poesía en un taller interactivo con tres segmentos de poesía de ejemplo, entrada, versos para completar, y versos de ejemplo. Todos seran bienvenidos a compartir su poesía con el grupo y ofrecer comentarios. El taller es para escritores de todas edades y cualquier nivel de experiencia.

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a poet, visual artist, and facilitator. She is Xicana Mexican of Indigenous descent. She served as 2021 Creative Ambassador of the San José Office of Cultural Affairs is a California Arts Council and YBCA Creative Corps Initiative Grantee and has facilitated generative poetry workshops for universities and non-profit organizations. Elizabeth earned a BFA in Art and a BA in French from San José State University. She is a Board Member of Poetry Center San José and Editor of La Raíz Magazine. www.ejmontelongo.com/poetry

Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo es poeta, artista plástica y facilitadora Xicana Mexicana de herencia indígena. Fué nombrada embajadora creativa de la oficina de asuntos culturales de San José, y tambien seleccionada para el programa del concilio de arte de California y YBCA, Creative Corps Initiative. Ella há facilitado talleres de poesía para universidades y organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Elizabeth recibió licenciaturas en arte y frances de la universidad estatal de San José. Es miembra de la mesa directiva de Poetry Center San José y editora y directora de La Raíz Magazine, una publicación bilingüe.

Instagram: @elizabethjimenezmontelongo Facebook: @ejmontelongo

La Raíz Magazine provides culturally-relevant, generative arts engagement experiences and opportunities for the publication and public presentation of creative work, with an emphasis on promoting the expression of people of color, women of color, women & girls, and people whose heritage is rooted in areas that are now Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, who may identify as: Indigenous, Raza, Chicana/o, from their country of origin, Latinx, or Hispanic. www.laraizmagazine.com

La Raíz Magazine provee oportunidades para participar en el arte de manera cultural y generative, también abriendo paso para la publicación y presentación pública de obras creativas, con el enfoque en apoyar la expresión de gente de muchas culturas, mujeres y niñas, particularmente personas con herencia en areas que ahora son México, Centro América, el Caribe, y Sur América, de alguna parte del continente Américano, quienes son gente indígena, de herencia indígena, Raza, Chicana, Latina, o Hispana.

Instagram: @laraizmagazine Facebook: @laraizmag

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#palabrasandpoetry #pcsj #laraizmagazine #generativepoetryworkshop #zoompoetry #poetryworkshop #liberation #multilingualpoetry #poesiabilingue #spanglishpoetry #chicanapoet #chicanopoetry #latinapoets #latinxpoetry #laculturacura #poetry #poesía

This is Day Two of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

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This year's Friday Night main event is one that bridges three points of poetry and place: San José, Minneapolis and Vancouver, BC. Three different styles of poetry from veteran three voices—with shared influences and vastly different approaches. To have Bao Phi, Arlene Biala and RC Weslowski share a stage on the same night is sure create moments we will not forget.

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Bao Phi is a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist. His poetry is included in The Best American Poetry 2006 anthology and published widely elsewhere, including in two collections from Coffee House Press and in Poetry magazine, Asian American Literary Review, and The Spoken Word Revolution. His fiction and essays have appeared in Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, and A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota.

Bao is also known for his children’s books. His A Different Pond received six starred reviews and multiple awards, including the Caldecott Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association award for best picture book, the Minnesota Book Award for picture books, and other recognitions. His latest children’s book is You Are Life.

He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and the Artist of the Year (2017) and Author of the Year (2018) by City Pages, and was awarded the Kay Sexton Award in 2024. He was recently on the editing team for We The Gathered Heat, a forthcoming anthology of Asian American and Pacific Islander poets in the oral and spoken word traditions.

Born in Saigon shortly before the mass exodus of his family and many others to the United States, Bao is a Vietnamese American raised in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis. He currently lives in Minneapolis with his child and their cat.

baophi.com

Arlene Biala (she/her) is a Pinay poet and performance artist born in San Francisco, CA and raised in the South Bay. She has been participating in poetry performances and workshops in the Bay Area for over 30 years and was Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016 and 2017. She is the author of several collections of poetry: bone, continental drift, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book, one inch punch, was published in 2019.

Arlene’s poetry has been described as "grounded in ritual object and ritual practice, mantras that resonate within the body and plant the body firmly in the world. Her work responds to the call of ancestors and our own broken bodies, spirits, and the spaces we inhabit. Her poems are prayer flags offered to those whose stories have been silenced, hidden, and ignored. Arlene’s work centers on stories of family, of generations who have left their native lands to live in diaspora, particularly those from the Philippines. She writes poetry to serve as witness, to create space for recognition and dialogue toward healing.

RC Weslowski is an award-winning poet and broadcaster/podcaster including the 2024 Hunna Bubba Prize. He’s also a workshop leader, clown and bon vivant. He has performed his poetry across Turtle Island and parts of Europe since 1998. RC is celebrating his 25th year of performing poetry by being at the San Jose Poetry Festival. His first collection of poetry My Soft Response to the Wars is available now from Write Bloody North Publishing

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Two of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to all on Zoom.

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Friday, September 6, 2024 from 6:30-8:30pm

¡Cultura Poetry Night! celebrates the culture of people who identify as Chicana/o, Raza, Latinx, and people with Indigenous heritage rooted in areas that are now Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. A multilingual event with two featured poets, guest poets, and open mic! Everyone is welcome at this inclusive event presented by Poetry Center San José, hosted by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, in partnership with La Raíz Magazine.

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Featured Poets

Ramón Jiménez says: I am a writer who resides in Seattle, Washington but is originally from Inglewood, CA. I attended UC Riverside and San Diego State University pursuing a BA and MA in political science respectfully. Career wise, I am a former teacher who now works a boring desk job. I love spitfire poetry, spicy food, and cumbia. In my poetry there is room for everyone and everything. Tacos, street vendors, loud parties, and cityscapes. Stories of struggle, geopolitical realities, and harsh social commentary. I use poetry to highlight the contradictions and special places of this world. My poetry is featured in Rigorous Magazine, La Raiz, Prospectus, and Alegria Publishing. Find Ramon on IG: @ramonloveswriting 

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Andrea Hernández Holm is from Arizona. Her family originated in Northern Mexico/ Texas and their stories migrated with them through the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Relationships with land, community, and family are integral in her writing. Her poetry has appeared in numerous venues, including Cutthroat, La Raiz Magazine, and Poetry as Resistance. She has forthcoming publications in the premier issue of Beyond Borders Literary Review; the critically-anticipated Somos Xicanas; and Teaching for Change, a textbook that will be used in classrooms across the country. Andrea’s first book, Not Enough, Too Much, is available through Flowersong Press.

Website: https://ahholm.wixsite.com/andreahernandezholm

Instagram: ahholm

Facebook: Andrea Hernandez Holm

LinkedIn: Andrea Hernandez Holm

Hosted by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo

IG: @elizabethjimenezmontelongo / FB: @ejmontelongo

Community Partner

La Raíz Magazine http://laraizmagazine.com

IG: @laraizmagazine / F B: @laraizmag

#culturapoetrynight #pcsj #laraizmagazine #multilingualpoetry #poesiabilingue #mexicanpoet #indigenouspoetry #chicanopoetry #latinapoets #latinxpoetry #laculturacura #poetry #poesia

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day Two of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events.

This event is free to the public. No ticket or RSVP needed. Writing utensils will be provided.

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In partnership with Willow Glen Library, this free creative poetry workshop for youth will be facilitated by local poet Mighty Mike McGee as a part of the 10th annual San Jose Poetry Festival! 

Mighty Mike McGee is a well-traveled poet and humorist from San José, California. He is the first and only spoken word performer to win both the 2003 National Poetry Slam Grand Championship and the 2006 Individual World Poetry Slam Grand championship. McGee is a co-founder of the live spoken word groups Tons of Fun University (TOFU) with Shane Koyczan and C.R. Avery. He also co-founded The Whirlwind Company with Mindy Nettifee, Brian S. Ellis, and Jon Sands, and the Poetry Revivals with Dan Leamen, Derrick Brown, Buddy Wakefield and Anis Mojgani. McGee was appointed Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) for 2018 & 2019 and serves on the Poetry Center San José Board of Directors where he has directed the San José Poetry Festival since 2021. His first collection of humor and poetry, In Search of Midnight, is available through Write Bloody Publishing.

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

This is Day One of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 10th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live performances and online events.

This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass. $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door.

Nearest parking garage

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We want to open this year's festival with a barbershop quartet of local performance poetry legends. We are so lucky to feature Jason Bayani, Jamie DeWolf, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk and Wonder Dave. Each one of them is a headliner, comedian, poetry slam veteran, and an integral part of the Bay Area performance community.

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Jason Bayani is the author of the Northern California Book Award nominated Locus (Omnidawn Publishing 2019) and Amulet (Write Bloody Publishing 2013), and creator of the solo theater show "Locus of Control". He’s also the co-director of Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization in the country. jasonbayani.com

Wonder Dave is a comedian, writer and performer from Minneapolis, MN, living in California. He has toured the country performing at comedy clubs, colleges, cabarets, comic and science fiction conventions, burlesque shows, theaters, strip clubs, and bowling alleys. Wonder Dave hosts and produces Safe Words Showcase - Queer Sex Positive Comedy and SMILF - Straight Men I’d Like to Friend with producer Jonah Price, hosts Hysteria: Open Mic for Women and Queers, hosts and produces Mental Health Comedy Hour with comedian Kristee Ono, and Co-Hosts Ruckus and Rumpus Revival with Jamie DeWolf. He is a frequent commentator for acclaimed independent wrestling show Hoodslam, has been a featured storyteller on the Risk podcast, and was a producer for the podcast Nerd Rage The Great Debates. Find Wonder Dave on instagram, twitter and facebook as @teamwonderdave. teamwonderdave.com

Lorenz Mazon Dumuk is a poet, spoken word artist, and curator. He is a VONA alumni, and a MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute) alumni. His two book collections of poetry are Ay Nako: Writing Through the Struggle, and I Think in Poetry. Lorenz has curated various events such as ReWrite Open Mic, Glowing with the Moon, and the Eastridge Open Mic. His wish to create a nourishing experience at his events pushes his desire to connect communities and their people. instagram.com/lorenzdumuk/

Jamie DeWolf is a performer, filmmaker, writer, live event producer, arts educator and circus ringmaster from Oakland, CA whose films have won over 35 international awards. He’s written and performed with inmates at San Quentin Penitentiary, won “Performance of the Year” by NPR’s Snap Judgment, was voted “Best Poet” and “Best Filmmaker” from the East Bay Express, and has lead writing workshops at over 90 universities, high schools and juvenile detention facilities nation-wide, also coaching the Youth Speaks slam team two years in a row to the Brave New Voices Finals, also featured on HBO. As one of the most in demand variety show hosts in the Bay Area and beyond, he’s a regular emcee and curator for circus troupes, vaudeville showcases and music festivals across the U.S. jamiedewolf.com

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Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival lineup.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.