7th Annual Pleasanton
Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival Overview

Saturday & Sunday, April 5 & 6, 2008

This is an exciting two-day celebration of poetry, prose and visual arts, filled with inspiring and informative events and people.

The event will take place at the Pleasanton Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Boulevard, Pleasanton, CA. This event is hosted by the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council and the City of Pleasanton, and sponsored by the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council, the City of Pleasanton, A&M Printing, Inc., Summerfield Suites, UNCLE Credit Union, Charlene Villella Memorial Fund and the Valley Times.

Speakers, Workshops & Events

Photo by Nick Rosza

Keynote Speaker:
Jane Hirshfield, Award-winning Poet, Essayist, Translator

Jane Hirshfield, author of six poetry collections and a book of essays, has been a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and England's T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Awards include the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, The Los Angeles Times and multiple volumes of The Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize anthologies. Hirshfield’s poetry speaks to the central issues of human existence, exuding a quiet authority about what it means to awaken into the full capacities of attention. Described by reviewers as conveying "a succinct wisdom," her work ranges from the metaphysical and passionate to the political and scientific and to the subtle unfolding of daily life. She has achieved wide acclaim with her presentations at international literary events.

Click here for more information about Jane Hirshfield

Special Guest &
Performance Workshop:
Word for Word by Greg Sarris, Award-winning Native American Author

A festival highlight will be a Word for Word performance of When Tom Smith Caused the 1906 Earthquake by Greg Sarris, award-winning Native American author of numerous works. The performance retells a folktale in which Medicine Man Tom Smith makes animals talk, fire walk and many other strange things happen. His unrestrained desire to be the most powerful medicine man spreads strong magic all the way to San Francisco.

Following the performance, Word for Word workshop staff will guide participants through the creative process of transforming a narrative into a theatrical presentation. The workshop will appeal to children and writers of children's books who want to enliven their writing. It will also be of value to teachers, librarians and those with theatrical interests. Word for Word, a Z-Space Studio production, is a San Francisco theatre company that performs short stories exactly as written, with every "he said, she said."

For more information about the Z-Space studio, visit www.zspace.org. The Sunday performance from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and the workshop from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. are open to the public at no cost. The workshop is limited to 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Michelle Russo by phone at 925-931-5350 or by e-mail at mrusso@ci.pleasanton.ca.us for workshop reservations.

Featured Festival Events

Click here to download a PDF of the Festival Program Overview. PDFs require Adobe Acrobat Reader which you can download for free here.

Adult Poetry & Prose Workshops

White Hot Heat and Necessary Coldness
Workshop led by Kim Addonizio

How do you get intense emotion onto the page and handle it once it's there? We will read illustrative poems, do in-class exercises and share writings to see how they can be developed further.

How to Develop a Multi-layered Plot-line
Workshop led by Martha Alderson

Plot springs from character in conflict. Learn how action, character, and theme work together to create a multi-layered plot at the scene and the overall story level. Apply the universal structure of story to create your own memoir, fiction story or screenplay.

Write What You DON'T Know — But Wish You Did
Workshop led by Maureen Boyd Biro

For all fiction and non-fiction writers. When you write to discover, you write from your deepest space. Learn how vivid, sensory detail and the question only YOU can answer will enrich and empower your prose. Bring a work in progress.

Finding the Music
Workshop led by Kevin Hearle

In this workshop, poets of all levels of experience will examine ways of finding the right sonic texture for each poem and letting that music guide us into what our poems want to say.

Lyric Intensity and Depth of Reference
Workshop led by Kevin Hearle

In this workshop, which is appropriate for poets of all levels of experience, we will examine ways — ranging from symbols and mythology to puns — of increasing the lyric compactness of our poems. Participants are encouraged to bring a dictionary.

Masks: Some Ways to Hide Your 'I's
Workshop led by Kathleen Lynch

Writing experiences that induce unexpected personas to find and claim you. No mythological characters! No fairy tale creatures! No historical figures or movie stars!

Techniques for Oiling the Gears
Workshop led by Kathleen Lynch

Beyond the free-write, clustering and (gulp) thievery: fast & furious blank-page stimuli for poets.

Enlivening the Imago
Workshop led by Nina Schuyler

Image and imagination come from the Latin root, imago, a picture or portrayal. Imaginative writing conjures up pictures in the mind. Through in-class writing prompts, this workshop will hone your images and make your writing come alive. For all fiction and nonfiction writers.

California Poet Laureate Al Young was the keynote speaker at the 2007 Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival. PHOTO BY RICHARD B. RESSMAN

Youth Poetry & Prose Workshops

Write It Down!
Workshop led by Martha Meltzer

For young poets on any experience level. Explore and play with different forms of poetry. We will focus on inspiration as you enjoy guided poetry exercises and write, write, write.

Poetry and Relationships
Workshop led Connie Post

The daily interactions teenagers have with others can be used as a steady stream of inspiration to write good poetry. We will use these relationships to create poems with strong imagery and a robust voice.

Poetry and Prose Contests

There will be more than $1,000 given in awards. Following are the nine categories of contests:

• Adult Poetry/Short, 20 lines or less (20 years old and up)
• Adult Poetry/Long, 46 lines or less (20 years old and up)
• Adult Non-Fiction Prose (20 years old and up)
• Adult Fiction Prose (20 years old and up)
• Teen Poetry (13-19 years old)
• Teen Prose (13-19 years old)
• Youth Poetry (11-12 years old)
• Youth Poetry (8-10 years old)
• Youth Poetry (4-7 years old)

Also . . .

Visual Arts Exhibit: This free public event is provided by the Pleasanton Art League and other regional artists.

Literary Row: This is a free public event where you can meet, talk and mingle with talented local & regional authors. Music by Jim Steinke.

Poets Laureate in California Exhibit: A photo exhibit of California Poets Laureate past & present with a poem and statement about being a poet laureate. This is a free public event.

Evening Awards Banquet: This event includes the award ceremony, reading of prize-winning poems and prose, door prizes and music by Flutes Con Moto.

Word for Word Performance & Workshop: "When Tom Smith Caused the 1906 Earthquake" and Q&A with performers and author Greg Sarris. This is a free public event.

Media Sponsor:

Click here to download a PDF of the Festival Registration Form.
Click here to download a PDF of the Festival Brochure.
Click here to download a PDF of the Festival Schedule of Events.
Click here to download a PDF of Directions to the Festival.
NOTE: PDFs require Adobe Acrobat Reader which you can download for free here.

For further festival information, contact:

Michelle Russo: 925-931-5350 / mrusso@ci.pleasanton.ca.us
David Wright: dawright@sbcglobal.net
Kirk Ridgeway: PleasantonPoetry@comcast.net

For further contest information, contact:

Martha Meltzer, Pleasanton's Poet Laureate: 925-417-6679 / m.meltzer@comcast.net

©2007-2008 PCAC