Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center

Thank you, guest artist Tama Brisbane! MoSt Summer Workshop #3, “The Poem Heard in Plain Sight” was truly excellent.

Huge congratulations to Modesto’s newest Poet Laureate!!! We are thrilled for you, Angela Drew, and thrilled for Modesto!!!

Meet the poet!!! Susan Cohen will be reading as part of our 2nd Tuesday Reading Series at Bookish Modesto, 7:00, on Tuesday, Aug. 13. See you there!!!

Susan Cohen's third collection, Democracy of Fire (Broadstone Books: 2022), was praised by Ellen Bass as a "wise and wonderful" vision of "our interconnectedness." Her poetry honors include the Red Wheelbarrow Prize judged by Mark Doty, the Terrain Annual Poetry Prize judged by Arthur Sze, and a special mention in Pushcart Prize XLIII. A former journalist and contributing writer for the Washington Post Magazine, she lives in Berkeley and has appeared in 32 Poems, Prairie Schooner, Southern Review, Verse Daily, and many anthologies.

Meet the poet!!! Lenore Weiss will be reading as part of our 2nd Tuesday Reading Series at Bookish Modesto, 7:00, on Tuesday, Aug. 13!

Lenore’s past poetry collections form a trilogy about love, loss, and being mortal: Cutting Down the Last Tree on Easter Island (West End Press, 2012); Two Places (Kelsay Books, 2014), and The Golem (Hakodesh Word Press, 2017). Her most recent collection, Video Game Pointers (WordTech Editions, 2024) issues a call for peace. Ethelzine published her hand-sewn poetry chapbook, From Malls to Museums. Alexandria Quarterly Press published her prize-winning flash fiction chapbook, Holding on to the Fringes of Love.

Lenore serves as the Associate Editor (Creative Nonfiction) for the Mud Season Review and lives in Oakland, California with Zebra the Brave and Granola the Shy. She earned an MFA in fiction from San Francisco State University. You may find her at www.lenoreweiss.com.

MoSt Poetry relies on memberships to support programs and events that promote poetry and community. We're very grateful to those who recently renewed or became a new member. Please consider becoming a 2024-2025 member of MoSt Poetry. Go to https://www.mostpoetry.org/. Thank you!

Welcome to the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center! Welcome Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is dedicated to promoting poetry throughout Stanislaus County and to promoting Stanislaus County through poetry. Since our inception in January of 2013, we have become an important part of the regional arts scene, facilitating two reading series -- one monthl...

MoSt’s annual meeting kicks off a new year of readings, workshops, Poetry Out Loud, Poetry on the Spot, and more. We promote poetry throughout Stanislaus County and proudly promote our region through poetry. 💐Thank you, Prospect Theater Project, for graciously allowing us to meet in the Artist Lab.

In youth poetry news: Oakdale High's Zoe Byron has been selected as Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate for 2024-25. Congratulations, Zoe!

https://www.mostpoetry.org/contests/ypl/ypl2024/

Poetry on the Spot at Carnegie Arts Center’s Block Party

The City of Modesto’s Poets’ Corner reading and reception is today at 1:00 at the McHenry Museum. Join us!

Thank you to Bookish Modesto for hosting, to featured readers Michael Meyerhofer and Angela Chaidez Vincent, and all the lovely people who came out for last night’s reading.
It was a perfect night!

Meet the poet!
Angela Chaidez Vincent writes poetry and fiction and has a background of livelihoods in engineering, mathematics, and programming. Her debut poetry collection ARENA GLOW (April 2024, Tourane Press) features poems about women with a daredevil oblique. Angela's work has appeared in Oxford Review of Books, North American Review, 32 Poems, Atticus Review, and Bellevue Literary Review, among others. She lives in Fresno, California and is online at angelachaidezvincent.com.

Join us at Bookish Modesto on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 for a reading with Angela Chaidez Vincent and Michael Meyerhofer. We can’t wait!!

Meet the Poet:
Michael Meyerhofer is the author of five books of poetry—including What To Do If You’re Buried Alive (free from Doubleback Books). His work has appeared in The Sun, Missouri Review, Southern Review, Brevity, Rattle, and other journals. He’s also the author of a fantasy series and Poetry Editor of Atticus Review. For more info and an embarrassing childhood photo (Michael’s words, not MoSt’s), visit troublewithhammers.com.

Michael will be reading this Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 at Bookish, the cool, new bookstore in Roseburg Square. Join us!!

HOME | mysite "Michael Meyerhofer takes us with him everywhere he goes, from the back rooms of hash-slingers to the Star of Africa...I like these poems, kinetic and half-crazed, they remind me that poetry is an explosion, that energy plus mass equals a dark magic." -Dorianne Laux, author of The Book of Men

We are excited to announce Zoe Byron as our next Youth Laureate!

Zoe Byron, a sophomore at Oakdale High School, was selected as the Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate for 2024-2025. She will serve a one-year term, participate in several engagements throughout the year, and receive a $500 honorarium. Cameron Cendejo, a junior at Pitman High School, was a finalist.

“Congratulations to Zoe Byron, the newest Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate. I know that she'll carry the poetry torch high, continuing the excellent work that inaugural Youth Poet Laureate, Faith Delgado, began this past year. Thank you to program coordinator Stella Beratlis and to all the judges for their work on this, and congratulations again to Zoe,” shared Gillian Wegener, MoSt Poetry Center president. The Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate is a program of the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt Poetry), in partnership with Stanislaus County Office of Education, Stanislaus County Library, Modesto Junior College’s School of Language Arts and Education, and Stanislaus Library Foundation.

This program celebrates youth voices that are committed to artistic excellence, civic engagement, and social impact.

City of Modesto Poet Laureate Salvatore Salerno served as a judge along with fellow community members and champions for poetry: Sam Pierstorff, poet and MJC professor; Amy Bultena, artist and SCOE Arts Coordinator; Jessica Geiss, Children’s Librarian at Salida Regional Branch of the Stanislaus County Library; Tina Curiel-Vega, poet and author; Dr. Gillian Wegener, Assistant Superintendent for Oakdale Joint Unified High School District and City of Modesto past poet laureate; Faith Delgado, inaugural Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, and Mariah Ring, Community Outreach Specialist, Stanislaus County Youth Empowerment Program..

Applicants for the Youth Poet Laureate program submitted an application and an artistic statement/biography indicating civic engagement and leadership background along with original poems. A panel of judges critiqued this work on content, voice, and craft. Leadership and performance were also considered in determining the young person who will represent our communities as Youth Poet Laureate.

Please join Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center in celebrating new Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate Zoe Byron at an event in early August, date TBA. You will hear original poems from the new youth poet laureate and honor outgoing Youth Poet Laureate Faith Delgado. who was our county's inaugural youth laureate. To learn more, visit www.mostpoetry.org/contests/ypl.

Hey there! Our May 14 Second Tuesday Reading will be held at Bookish!! Stay tuned for details!

A huge thank you to poets Linda Scheller, Angela Drew, and all those who came out to this week’s 2nd Tuesday Reading. The poetry was AMAZING, the space at Prospect Theater Project wonderful, and it felt great to be back in person!

Meet the Poet! Angela Drew will be reading at Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center's 2nd Tuesday reading on February 13 at 7:00 at the Prospect Theater's Artist Lab, 1214 K Street, Modesto! Angela Drew is a mother, dancer, author, poet and self-proclaimed linguistic artist who has loved the rhythm of words for as long as she can remember. Born in Berkeley, CA, she began writing at age eight and has always understood that words have the power to soothe, stir, or solidify connection. She has played with the magic of storytelling ever since. Angela is thewinner and first-place slam champion of Modesto’s 2021 ILL List 16 Poetry Slam. She has performed her spoken word poetry at an array of venues, just to name a few: Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Oakland, CA, Gallo Center for the Arts and The State Theatre, Modesto, CA, Brickhouse Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA, and Apache Cafe, Atlanta, GA – a landmark poetry lounge that is home to some of ATL’s finest creatives. She is the author of ElderBerry Wine, a children’s book written in poetic verse, that celebrates the beauty and majesty of our elders and the richness
they bring by simply being a part of our lives. Join Angela on her poetic journey via Instagram@she_spits_fire and on her website at linguisticartistry.com.

Meet the Poet! Linda Scheller will be reading this Tuesday, Feb. 13 at the Prospect Theater's Artists' Lab, 1214 K Street, Modesto, at 7:00pm. This in-person reading will be excellent and we hope you can join us. Linda Scheller, one of two readers for the evening, is the author of two books of poetry, Fierce Light (FutureCycle Press) and Wind & Children (Main Street Rag Publishing Company). Her poetry and book reviews are widely published, with new work forthcoming in Watershed Review, Slipstream, Packingtown Review,
and Santa Fe Literary Review. In 2023, her poetry was nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes, and her manuscript Laurels was a finalist for the Aryamati Poetry Prize and shortlisted for the Concrete Wolf Louis Award. Ms. Scheller is a founding board member and vice president of MoSt Poetry, a National League of American Pen Women member, and a programmer for KCBP Community Radio, co-hosting “Arts of the San Joaquin Valley” and
“Women of the Valley.” Her website is lindascheller.com.