The Second Tuesday Poetry Reading is as late in the month as it can get, so be sure to mark your calendar for August 14 at 6:00 at the Barkin’ Dog Grill.

This month’s featured readers are DW Schmidt and Kathleen Winter, and of course, our featured readers will be followed by an open mic, so bring a poem or two to share.

D.W. Schmidt has written much more prose than poetry.  When he started writing poetry, he felt the poems happened accidentally, like they found him, which was probably the influence of the great imagist poets he has taught in his college classes for so long.  Lately, he has allowed his poems to be more topical, personal, phrase-driven, and ultimately more intentional.

Kathleen Winter is the author of I will not kick my friends (2018), which won the Elixir Poetry Prize, and Nostalgia for the Criminal Past, winner of the Texas Institute of Letters Bob Bush Memorial Award. Her poems have appeared in Tin House, Agni, New Statesman, New Republic and Yale Review. She was granted fellowships by Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Dobie Paisano Ranch, Dora Maar House, James Merrill House and Cill Rialaig Retreat.

Join us for the Second Tuesday Barkin’ Dog reading on July 10 at 6:00 at the Barkin’ Dog Grill in downtown Modesto. We’ll have an evening of writing inspired by the poetry of Thomas Merton, hosted by Ed Bearden. An open mic will follow the featured reading, so bring a poem or two to share.

About the Thomas Merton Poetry Group: In February of 2016 Deacon George Cano of St. Paul’s Episcopalian Church, convened the Thomas Merton poetry group. It was began to provide more than chit-chat, but rather to encourage spiritual growth. Poetry, as another way to pray. Meeting twice a month, the group wrote and published Poetic Prayer: writing from the soul. Meditation
techniques from Buddhist traditions or centering prayer were used to access the poetic well. The group consists of Deacon George Cano, Ed Bearden, Roberta Bearden, Jeanette Comegys, Stephanie Gilmer, Sarah B. Hartmann, Judy Miller, Linda Marie Prather and Cheryl Russel Pogue. Others would be welcome to join the writing and fellowship.