Announcing the NCWMF Contest Winners!

CONGRATULATIONS to our winners and honorable mentions and to all those who submitted their poems to the first annual Northern California Women’s Music Festival poetry contest! It was an honor and a privilege to read your work.

1st Place — Iris Jamahl Dunkle, “Instructions for Sailing Around the Cape”
2nd Place — Helen Wickes, “Old-Time Crayolas”
3rd Place — Louise Kantro, “By the Campfire, Borrego Desert”

Honorable Mentions
JoAnn Anglin, “Sisters”
Lynn M. Hansen, “Self Portrait”
Georgette Howington, “The Erogyny of Panties…”
Eileen Malone, “Quickening”
Prudence Starr, “I’m the Mom Forever Umbilicus and Watery”

Second Tuesday @ Barkin’ Dog

The Second Tuesday Poetry Series is happening at the Barkin’ Dog Grill! 940 11th Street, Modesto.

Join us on September 8 at 6:00 p.m. for a great reading, and come and enjoy a great dinner too.

Jeanne Foster
Jeanne, a professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at St. Mary’s College, divides her time between Berkeley, and Italy. Widely published, she is currently working on two Italian-centered projects: a memoir of ballroom dance in Italy and, along with poet Alan Williamson, translations of the poetry of Bianca Tarozzi. Jeanne is co-editor of Appetite: Food as Metaphor (BOA), and her critical work A Music of Grace, explores the sacred in contemporary poetry. Her collection A Blessing of Safe Travel won the Quarterly Review of Literature Poetry Award, and her new collection, Goodbye, Silver Sister, was published by Northwestern University Press in 2015.

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Tom Myers
Tom is a retired elementary teacher who has lived the vast majority of his life in California’s Central Valley. He lives with his wife Anne and assorted pets and is active in the Modesto poetry scene. Much of his work originates from his love of nature – hiking and birding are two of his favorite activities. His poems have appeared in More Than Soil, More Than Sky, hardpan, Quercus Review, Collision II, 4more, Modesto Poets’ Corner, and Stanislaus Connections. He has one chapbook, The Lost Language of Birds.

Our Most Excellent Open Mic will follow the featured readers, so bring a poem or two to share! For more information, email info@mostpoetry.org.

You can also download a PDF flyer right here.

Contest Alert! NCWMF Poetry Contest Deadline Sep. 1

The deadline for the inaugural Northern California Women’s Music Festival Poetry Contest, being held in conjunction with the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center, is coming fast–September 1st! The contest is open to ALL Northern California poets, not just guys, so submit your work soon. There is no charge to enter. For more information, please visit our contest page.

Northern California Women’s Music Festival

The Northern California Women’s Music Festival will be held on October 23rd and 24th in downtown Modesto. This includes the poetry portion of the event with readings by the winners of the poetry contest and the launch of the chapbook honoring this festival. Buy your tickets now. Info at www.northerncaliforniawomensmusicfestival.com.

SLaM on RyE

SLaM on RyE will return this fall with poetry slams on Thursday, September 24th and Thursday, November 5th. There will be featured poets, an open mic, cash prizes, DJ Jimmy, and lots more. All this will take place at the Prospect Theater. Ticket links are still in the works, so more on this soon!