Summer Poetry Workshops 2019

Join us at the Downtown Modesto Library for our first Summer Poetry Workshop of 2019!

Linda Scheller from the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center(MoSt) will lead a workshop on Archetypes and Dreams. Participants will read, discuss, and write poetry derived from universal ideas and images from dreams.

All experience levels are welcome. This event is part of the MoSt Summer Poetry Workshop series.

All workshops are FREE TO THE PUBLIC with materials and inspiration provided. Sponsored by Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and the Friends of the Modesto Library.

Apr 12

Poetry Books for Schools in Spring 2019

This past month, MoSt purchased and donated sets of brand-new kids’ poetry books to five more elementary schools: Paradise Elementary, Walter M. Brown Elementary (Turlock), Orville Wright Elementary, Denair Elementary, and Martone Elementary. The photo here shows MoSt board member Salvatore Salerno delivering the books to Paradise Elementary School.

Your memberships and donations make programs like this possible! If you’re interested in helping us promote poetry in Stanislaus County, please go to the home page to become a member or donate.

Aileen Jaffa Poetry Contest Awards Ceremony

Come join us at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock for the Awards Ceremony for this year’s Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest! First, second and third place winners in each category will receive cash awards from the MoSt Poetry Center. Prizes are: First Place $25, Second Place $15, Third Place $10. In addition, the Modesto Branch of the National League of American Pen Women will award a $60 Aileen Jaffa Outstanding Poem award in each of two combined categories, Categories 1 and 2, and Categories 3 and 4. The current president of the NLAPW Modesto chapter will present the awards, and you’ll get to hear a reading featuring the winning poems.

Second Tuesday @ Barkin’ Dog

Join us for the Second Tuesday Barkin’ Dog reading on May 14th at 6:00 at the Barkin’ Dog Grill in downtown Modesto. Our featured poets will be Molly Fisk and Ingrid Keriotis.

An open mic will follow the featured reading, so bring a poem or two to share.

Poet and radio commentator Molly Fisk was chosen by the Academy of American Poets as one of the inaugural American Poet Laureate Fellows. She’s also received grants from the NEA and the CA Arts Council. Fisk is the author of The More Difficult Beauty, among other collections, and lives in Nevada City, CA.

Ingrid Keriotis‘ first book of poetry, It Started with the Wild Horses, is now available from Finishing Line Press. Her poems are also included in the anthology, More Than Soil, More Than Sky: the Modesto Poets. In writing, she believes in Richard Hugo’s advice: “You owe reality nothing and the truth about your feelings everything.” Ingrid lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills and teaches writing to community college students.

City of Modesto Poets’ Corner Reading

The annual Poets’ Corner contest is open to all Stanislaus County residents. Poets will read their winning poems on Sunday, May 5, 2019, at 1 p.m. at the McHenry Museum, followed by light refreshments.

Winning poems will be printed in a booklet that will be placed in the Poets’ Bookshelf, which contains published works by local writers and will be kept at the McHenry Museum. Each winner will receive a copy of the booklet.