Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the monthly Poetic Tuesdays series runs from May to October, turning lunchtime into an oasis of creative expression. Lighting up the Gardens with a fabulously curated line-up of poets and musicians, Poetic Tuesdays offer a vivifying midday breather for neighborhood groups, students, office workers on break and even out-of-towners looking for respite from The City’s hustle and bustle.
About the Artists
MK Chavez is an Afro-Latinx writer and educator. She is the author of Mothermorphosis, and Dear Animal (Nomadic Press) and the lyric essay chapbook A Brief History of the Selfie. Chavez curates the reading series Lyrics & Dirges and is co-director of the Berkeley Poetry Festival. She is a recipient of the Alameda County Arts Leadership Award, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award and the 2021 San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press literary award. Her most recent work can be found in the Academy of Poets Poem-A-Day series and at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with the Voice of Trees projects.
Donté Clark, a native of Richmond California, reigns as one of the most prolific writers and voices out of the Bay Area arts community. Donté is not only eclectic in the art of storytelling through the spoken word, his body language and musical presence in his performance is poetry in itself. He captures the complexities of vulnerability within black masculinity while governed by a society of white supremacy and hyper violence amongst black youth. Donté engages young people in writing and performance workshops. Securing space for the youth to process their trauma and rewrite the narrative that has surrounded their community. Donté Clark is an actor, stage and film director, scriptwriter, lyricist and Public Defense attorney consultant. All of Donté’s work as an artist and community member is dedicated to shifting the narrative(s) of black/aborigine peoples history; While challenging educators and courtroom officials to abolish all racist policies.
Antony Fangary is a Coptic-American Poet, Educator and Artist living in San Francisco. His poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in The Oakland Review, New American Writing, Interim, The Sycamore Review, West Branch and elsewhere. His chapbook, HARAM, was published by Etched Press in 2019. Antony was Honorable Mention of the Ina Coolbrith Poetry Prize, a finalist for the 2021 National Poetry Series, 2019 Wabash Poetry Prize and Runner-up for the 2020 Test Site Poetry Series Book Prize. His work has received support from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Center for Cultural Innovation.
Giovanna Lomanto is a Bay Area poet and teaching artist with a passion for investigating self-liberation through the arts. An alumnus of U.C. Berkeley and a current MFA candidate at NYU’s low-residency program, she finds power in education, and therefore holds a passion for delivering that same power to youth—in classrooms, workshops, and mentorships. Her work has been featured on KALW, the Worth-Ryder Art Gallery, the Flor y Canto Literary Festival, Box, and the Elevation Review. She is the author of two poetry collections: no body in particular (Scrambler Books, 2019) and jupiter fell out the sky last night (Bound to Brew, 2021). You can follow her on Instagram @giovanna_lomanto for updates on future projects. She currently resides in Oakland, CA with her friends, most notably her lionhead bunny Maggie.
Erin Rodoni’s most recent book is And if the Woods Carry You, winner of the 2020 Southern Indiana Review Michael Waters Poetry Prize and nominee for the 2021 Northern California Book Award. Her two previous collections are: Body, in Good Light and A Landscape for Loss. Her poems have been published in journals and anthologies such as Blackbird, Poetry Northwest, and Best New Poets. She has won awards from AWP, Ninth Letter, and the Montreal International Poetry Prize. She holds an MFA from San Diego State and a BA from UC Berkeley. She teaches at the Writing Salon in San Francisco, serves on the board of the Marin Poetry Center, and raises two small humans.
Zach Gamble is a professional musician and sound artist based in the East Bay. Drawing from a mixed Filipino-American identity and studies in Jazz and creative improvised music at the California Jazz Conservatory, his music centers itself around collaboration, connection, and spontaneity.
About the Curator
Kevin Dublin is a writer of poetry, prose, scripts and code. Currently Director of Litquake’s Elder Writing Project, he’s committed to helping nurture emerging writers of all ages, serving on the board of Bay Area reading series Quiet Lightning and mentoring Black students writers through 826 Valencia. Kevin curates The Living Room Reading Series & Salon and has received fellowships, grants, and awards from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, and the Writers Studio. He is author of the chapbook How to Fall in Love in San Diego (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and holds an MFA from San Diego State. His recent work has been featured in The San Franciscan, Cincinnati Review and the North Carolina Literary Review.
Co-Presented by:
