Poetry Night Reading Series: Joe Wenderoth and Spencer X. Rico

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature poets Joe Wenderoth and Spencer Rico at 7 PM on Thursday, January 18th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. With the help of named and unnamed supporters, Wenderoth will be reading poems, singing songs, and weaving spells. This will be his last reading in Davis. Parental discretion is advised.

Joe Wenderoth is a writer, performer, musician, professor, and film-maker. He has published six books: four books of poetry, an epistolary novel, and a book of essays.. Joe Wenderoth has been teaching for the Department of English at UC Davis since 2003. This will be his last reading in Davis.

Wenderoth’s work is widely anthologized, and has been published in collections and periodicals such as Best American Poetry 2007, Best American Essays 2008, Poetry 180, The Next American Essay, The Best American Prose Poems: From Poe To Present, The Body Electric, The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology, Harper’s, The Nation, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, and American Poetry: Next Generation. 

Joe Wenderoth has mentored a generation of UC Davis poets. He will be missed.

Spencer X. Rico is a Chicanx poet and graduating senior studying English and Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis. Rico has served as an editor for Open Ceilings Magazine, and a cast member of the UC Davis EOP  “How We Rose” poetry series about first generation student experiences and storytelling. Rico is also in the UC Davis Creative Writing Honors Program. Rico’s work has been featured in Columbia University’s Latino Heritage Month Magazine, Open Ceilings Magazine, Protest Through Poetry, and elsewhere.

This event will take place on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, January 18th, 2024. An open mic will follow the featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to four minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. As Robert Southey says, “Be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams – the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.” The open mic list typically fills by 6:50 PM, so please arrive early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour. Attendees who request to be added to the list after 7 PM will be invited to try again at a subsequent event.

Find the Facebook event for this startling evening of poetry and stories at https://www.facebook.com/events/274585082298786

The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series, with support from Helaina Flores and Cami Rothmuller.

Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com.