FEB 2 | Music | Instagon at the Java Lounge

SATURDAY, FEB 2, 8PM
[Music]
INSTAGON LORDS OF OUTLAND
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Java Lounge, 2416 16th Street, Sacramento. www.thejavaloungeisrad.com
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You may know Lob as a poet. He's also the genius behind the annual Noise Fest as well as the unique noise-music-performance experience know as INSTAGON whose performers change every time it takes the stage. About the show, which celebrates Instagon's 15th birthday, Lob says: "Your support would be most appreciated.. It will be a fun show will lots of surprizes... BE THERE." Also playing, LORDS OF OUTLAND from the Bay Area who will be celebrating a CD release. More info: Lob ov Instagon


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ELSEWHERE & OTHERWISE
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FRIDAY, FEB 8, 5PM
ALEX ESCALANTE: POET-TRAITS
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Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th Street. (916) 441-3931.
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Poet Portraits of JOSE MONTOYA, PHIL GOLVARG, FELICIA McGEE and others. Readings by selected poets at 7pm. Complimentary wine and Hors d’oeuvres will be served.

FEB 4 | Poetry | Francisco X. Alarcón & Eve West Bessier

MONDAY, FEB 4, 7:30PM
Sacramento Poetry Center presents:
FRANCISCO X. ALARCÓN & EVE WEST BESSIER
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The Book Collector, 1008 24th Street, between J & K Streets. (916) 442-9295. www.sacramentopoetrycenter.org
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PLEASE NOTE THE TEMPORARY LOCATION CHANGE. SPC events typically happen at their location at 25th & R Streets, inside HQ: Headquarters for the Arts.
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Francisco X. Alarcón is an acclaimed poet and educator, author of ten volumes of poetry. Alarcón is the recipient of 1993 American Book Award, the 1993 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and the 1984 Chicano Literary Prize. In April 2002 he received the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association (BABRA). He was one of the three finalists nominated for the state poet laureate of California. Alarcón was also awarded the 1997 Pura Belpré Honor Award by the American Library Association and the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal. He also received 2002 Pura Belpré Honor Award, Danforth and Fulbright fellowships, 1998 Carlos Pellicer-Robert Frost Poetry Honor Award by the Third Binational Border Poetry Contest, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
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Alarcón's most recent books are Sonnets to Madness and Other Misfortunes / Sonetos a la locura y otras penas (Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company 2001) and From the Other Side of Night / Del otro lado de la noche: New and Selected Poems (University of Arizona Press 2002). He currently teaches at the University of California, Davis.
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Eve West Bessier is a author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. She was born in the Netherlands and has lived in Davis, California for the past two decades. She currently works as a Certified Life Coach and Vocal Coach, and teaches writing workshops and residencies. She worked for The University of California, Davis for eighteen years in educational research, program development and evaluation. She holds a Master of Education from UC Davis and has done graduate course work in English and creative writing at California State University, Sacramento. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.
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She is a performing jazz vocalist, a visual artist and a promoter of community arts programs. She has received several literary awards including The Kathryn Hohlwein (2000), First Place for Poetry in The California Focus on Writers Contest (2000), and Second Place in the Sacramento News & Review's Short Story Contest (2001). Her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2003.. She has two chapbooks, Roots Music and Splash published by dPress, Sebastopol, 2002 and 2003.

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ELSEWHERE & OTHERWISE
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MONDAY, FEB 18, 7:30PM
Sacramento Poetry Center presents:
AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE & HISTORY MONTH READING
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Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th Street, 25th & R Streets, www.sacramentopoetrycenter.org
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Hosted by: Indigo Moor and Khiry Malik Moore. Headliners include: Emmanuel Sigauke, Dawn Dibartolo, Mario Ellis Hill, Terry Moore and Supanova.

JAN 12 | stranded and disbanded, busted and disgusted

Many will remember Tim Holt as the editor of The Suttertown News, Sacramento's alternative newspaper long before the News & Review opened up shop. Living in Dunsmuir now, Tim returns for an evening celebrating Woodie Guthrie and the American folksong. His talk and performance will be followed by a folk jam. Folk musicians from beginners to pros are invited to bring their acoustic instruments and join in. It all takes place at 2pm at The McClatchy Library, 2112 22nd Street, Sacramento. It's free, folks.

"The history of the American folksong is a people's history of thiscountry," Holt says.

From the ramblin' songs of Woody Guthrie ("from Oklahoma to CaliforniaI've been stranded and disbanded, busted and disgusted") to the old-time religious songs of a much earlier era, Tim Holt will explore thehistory of the American folksong--its origins in the British Isles andWest Africa, and the social context from which it arose.Along the way he'll sing songs that represent various facets of theAmerican folksong, including the preoccupation with sinfulness and thesinner ("Hard Ain't It Hard"), the old-time gospel ("LonesomeValley"), Guthrie's Depression-era songs ("Ramblin' 'Round"), songs ofthe westward migration ("Cumberland Gap" and "Sweet Betsy From Pike"), and the contributions of Charles Neblett, a courageous champion ofcivil rights in the 1960s ("If You Miss Me On The Back Of The Bus").

Tim Holt is a frequent contributor to the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle and the author of several books, including On Higher Ground and Songs Of The Simple Life (both available at The Book Collector).

JAN 7 | POETRY | Barbara Jane Reyes and Oscar Bermeo

MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 7:30PM
Sacramento Poetry Center presents:
BARBARA JANE REYES, OSCAR BERMEO
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1719 25th Street. 25th & R Streets,Sacramento
(916) 451-5569.www.sacramentopoetrycenter.org
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The Sacramento Poetry Center starts the new year with a reading featuring Barbara Jane Reyes and Oscar Bermeo. Hosted by Arturo Mantecon, count on it to be an exciting night of powerful poetry.
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Barbara Jane Reyes was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in the SF Bay Area. She is the author of Gravities of Center (Arkipelago,2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish, 2005) which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her other honors include an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship and numerous Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asian Pacific American Journal, Chain, New American Writing, North American Review, Notre Dame Review, among others. She lives with her husband, poet Oscar Bermeo, in Oakland.
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Born in Ecuador and raised in the Bronx, Oscar Bermeo is a BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) award winning poet, educator & literary events coordinator who now makes his home in Oakland, where he is the poetry editor for Tea Party magazine and lives with his wife, poeta Barbara Jane Reyes.
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Upcoming Readings at the Sacramento Poetry Center
January 14 [T]: Emmanuel Sigauke and Shevonn Blackshire
January 21[R]: Michael Cluff and Michael Garbarini
January 28 [B]: Frank Graham
February 11 [B]: Pat Grizzell and Alice Armstrong
March 3 [T]: Julia Levine and Rick Campbell
March 10 [B]: Edythe Schwartz

Host code: [T] Tim Kahl; [R] Rebecca Morrison; [B] Bob Stanley;
[A] Arturo Mantecon


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TL Coffeehouse is willing to help keep the coal out of your stockings

Viva! The (tiny) book arts!

Tiny books. I love them. One of my Christmas gifts was a miniature book (pictured) from Sharon Tanovitz. While I publish chaplettes for the Poems-For-All Series mostly as computer output, Sharon continues to amaze me with her command of the craft of bookmaking which involves hands-on paper manipulation, sewing signatures, building bindings, etc. For anyone interested in the book arts, Sharon is a wealth of information (and inspiration.) You can see examples of her work both on display and for sale at her artshop Art Ellis, 2508 J Street, Sacramento.

bookbinding class

Sharon will be teaching a bookbinding class via the Learning Exchange in a day-long session on Saturday, February 2, 2008. Description: "Explore the art of making hand-bound books. Even with no prior art or bookbinding experience, create a unique and beautiful long stitch journal. In just one session, make a hard covered exposed stitched book embellished with beads on the spine. Learn about materials, equipment and various binding techniques. This class promises to pique your interest in making books and inspiring your creativity and uniqueness." The class is $59 with a $20 materials fee. For more details or to add the class go to the Learning Exchange (search: bookbinding.)

JAN 19 | Birth Documentary / CA Midwives Benefit

FRIDAYS | Rocky Horror Returns to Sacramento

From: "Robert McKeown" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Friday: The 4th Dimension and a little surprise

Hi there!! First off, I want to plug something - on Saturday, December 1 - you ought to head on over to the YWCA of Sacramento at 1122 17th St in midtown (between 2 and 9 PM) for IndieSacramento. It's Sacramento's largest indie/alternative craft fair, and a great place to buy gifts for you or someone else for the holidays!

And if you go, you might have a chance to win free passes to Movies on a Big Screen!!! We'll also have schedules there. There's lots more going on, too, including live music, cupcake decorating classes and, well, lots of stuff - check it all out at www.indiesacramento.com

OK - so Friday. Before I go into The 4th Dimension, which screens at 7 PM, I want to let you all in on something that hasn't really been promoted due to a very odd week last week. We had planned to begin regular Friday 10 PM screenings of Rocky Horror. Then didn't spread the word. But ya know what?? We're gonna kick it off this week ANYWAY, even if not many folks are there for it. Feel free to tell friends, and we do plan to keep showing this if people show up (we won't base that on the first night's attendance :) ). So yeah - Friday, 11/30. 10 PM. Rocky Horror Picture Show. Admission for this will be $6.00 each week (rather than $5 - it's a little pricey to run). Audience participation, as it should be, will be encouraged.


PRIOR to that - at 7 PM (admission: $5.00): The 4th Dimension.

Jack (Louis Morabito) is a loner confined to a workbench in the back of an antique shop. When a mysterious woman presents him with a broken antique clock, unexplainable events begin to occur. After finding Albert Einstein's journal on his still unsolved Unified Field Theory, Jack becomes compulsive about analyzing time and theorizing its connection to his supernatural experiences, his surreal dreams, and his perception of reality, only to lead to the discovery of the biggest mystery of all - himself. Written and directed by Tom Mattera and Dave Mazzoni.

"An Alice-like rabbit hole of suppressed memories... Simmering with neurotic emotions and surreal dream states... Sustains a disturbing, somnambulistic mood." ­
Robert Koehler, Variety

“Kafkaesque…a densely etched portrait... Stylistically channeling David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky… Striking black-and-white cinematography and stark atmospherics set an intriguing tone”
Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

“Dark, brooding mood and tone are seductive and compelling.” ­
Ain’t it Cool News

Honorable Mention recipient from the Cinevegas Grand Jury. You might not want to miss this one... Oh and hey! December is all scheduled and will be emailed shortly! And it's gonna be a great month!!!

Of course - this at 600 4th St in West Sacramento. Corner of 4th & F in WEST Sacramento, near The Pyramid Building (so just over the river). And I am meeting PG&E there on Friday AM to see if we can get some heat going in the place!!!

OCT 27 | Unheimlich No!

NOV 16 | Proust as Prompt | Weekend Writing Intensive

Weekend goal: To bring participants into the literary world (Proust’s world) of time, symbol, dream, memory and personal myth -- an author-guided tour to your own best and most authentic writing.

Lawrence Spann will facilitate a weekend writing intensive sponsored by the UC Davis Cancer Center’s Outreach Research and Education Program as part of its “Writing as Healing” project, Friday November 16 evening through Sunday November 18, 2007 in the Facilities Support Services Building, 4800 2nd Ave, on the UC Davis Health System campus in Sacramento.

Dr. Spann founded the Literature, Arts and Medicine Program in Sacramento. Group members write to a prompt, but are not limited to it, and read what they write to the group on a voluntary basis.

All writing is treated as fiction and is confidential. All comments are positive and uplifting. Dr. Spann writes and reads with the group and comments from a literary perspective. Literary figures will be integrated throughout the weekend with handouts and explanations.

Register by calling or sending an email to
Patti Robinson, 916-734-0823 or
patricia.robinson@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
For more information, call Patti (916-734-
0823) or Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater,
Ph.D., Director, Outreach Research &
Education Program, UC Davis Cancer
Center (916-734-8810)