Come join us at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock for our next installment of the quarterly Poetry on Sunday series, featuring Angela Morales Salinas, Nancy Haskett, Sarah Haskett, and Katy Brown. This event is FREE and open to the public, with an open mic following the reading. Join us in celebrating the spoken word!
Poet and photographer Katy Brown, whose work frequently appears on Medusa’s Kitchen Blogspot and Convergence, has won awards in The Ina Coolbrith Circle, The Berkeley Poets’ Dinner, and The International Dance Poetry Competition. Her poetry has been in Brevities, Rattlesnake Review, The Song of San Joaquin, Poetalk, Persimmon Tree, and Harpstrings, as well as in several anthologies such as Sacramento Voices, Entering, and Fog and Woodsmoke. Other writing credits include, automobile humor, greeting cards, a multiple-ending book, a poetry workbook, and a series of short mysteries for young readers. Her secret power is that she can catch a lizard with a blade of grass.
Nancy Haskett has been writing since she was in high school. An educator for over 30 years, she retired in 2011 and is an active member of the poetry community in Modesto, CA. She is a member of the Ina Coolbrith Circle, MoSt (Modesto Stanislaus Poetry Center), National League of American Penwomen and other local writing groups. Nancy has presented her poetry at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, CA and has been published in many places, including the anthology More than Soil, More than Sky; Stanislaus Connections; Penumbra; Homestead Review; Iodine Press; Song of the San Joaquin; The Pen Woman, and more. In her spare time, Nancy enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Sarah Haskett is the daughter of an English teacher and an artist; surrounded by these inspirations, she has, not surprisingly, been writing poetry since she was a child. She is a high school English Honors and Creative Writing teacher, and therefore much of her inspiration to write comes from her classroom, as well as the injustices of society. Having recently graduated as a Master in Teaching for Social Justice, Sarah finds ways to meld her passion for writing with her passion for bringing awareness to those social issues. Her writings have been published by Modesto Poet’s Corner, Stanislaus Connections, and the booklet she publishes with her Creative Writing students each year. In her almost non-existent spare time, she likes to travel and hike with her husband and their two dogs, Ringo and Whiskey.
Angela Morales Salinas is a retired kindergarten teacher who writes poetry for love. She has been published locally in Penumbra, Something So Write, Stanislaus Connections, and hardpan.
Angela states, “I came to this country speaking nothing but Spanish. When I went to school, I quickly learned to speak English. I fell in love with how two languages could work together to create something unique. I have been in the San Joaquin Valley for most of my life, starting at the very southern end, Kern County, and making my way slowly but surely up north. I have chosen to work in a neighborhood that many people do not like to think about. I understand. It is hard to look at want and fear because if you are not careful that is all you will see. You have to be able to look past that and see the absolute joy and hope that is there beneath the surface. This crazy mix of languages, people, and ideas has been my inspiration. There is beauty in the ugliness, and harshness masks a gentleness that’s also there. If I can give voice to what our valley is trying to tell us, I will have done I think, what I was sent to do. But to accomplish this I know I must listen carefully, look deeply and allow love to guide my voice.”
