Dear Friends of Poetry,
The Poetry Night Reading Series will feature Davis junior high poets and their new book, To the Human Race. We will meet at 7 PM on Thursday, December 4th, 2025, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.
Our December 4th night of poetry will feature young poets who have worked with Davis poet laureate emerita Julia B. Levine to write poems about resilience and climate change. The poems have been collected in a 16 Rivers Press book titled To the Human Race. Most of the authors whose work has been anthologized in this special collection will read their individual poems. Courtesy of Julia B. Levine and others, food and drink will contribute to the festive atmosphere.
December 4th is also the 95th birthday of Allegra Silberstein, the poet laureate of our hearts. We hope she will join us for this special event and to be appropriately feted.
An open mic will follow the young featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to four minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. As Robert Southey says, “Be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams – the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”
The open mic list typically fills by 6:35 PM, so please arrive early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour. Attendees who request to be added to the list after 7 PM will be invited to try again at a subsequent event.
The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Lacee and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis.
Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting
https://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list.
Readers scheduled to perform in 2026 include Gabrielle Myers, Pamela Pan, Grant Faulkner, Susan Wolbarst, Matt Mitchell, Connie Johnstone, Bob Stanley, Mercedes Ibanez, Wolf Fox, Molly Fisk, and Bill O’Daly.
The Poetry Night Reading Series has been committed to serving the literary and arts community in the city of Davis since 2006. Happening every 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at the Natsoulas Gallery, each reading contains two featured poets followed by an open mic. Poetry in Davis was voted “Best Open Mic” in The California Aggie’s “Best of Davis″ edition and has been featured in Davis Life Magazine.
The more than 400 featured poets have included UC Davis faculty Francisco X. Alarcón, John Boe, Zinzi Clemmons, Joshua Clover, Luci Corin, Iris Jamahl Dunkle, Jack Forbes, Lynn Freed, Sandra Gilbert, Laurie Glover, Rae Gouirand, Brad Henderson, Pamela Houston, Andy Jones, Clarence Major, Sandra McPherson, Maceo Montoya, André Naffis-Sahely, Cindy Ok, Katie Peterson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Margaret Ronda, Gary Snyder, Joe Wenderoth, and Alan Williamson, as well as many regional and traveling poets, including Molly Peacock, Jane Hirshfield, Dana Gioia, and James Ragan.
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