Featured Poet at Bell Arts Factory, Ventura

I had a great time at the “Friday On Saturday” reading at the Bell Arts Factory tonight. The open mic was one strong poem after another. I read about a dozen poems, mostly newer work including poems from my application to Pacific. I felt well received and appreciated the opportunity to read as a featured poet again (I have been on hiatus for over four years). People hung around long after the evening officially ended, enjoying the coffee and cookies.

The series will take a break in December and January, so I will looking forward to more great evenings of poetry starting up again in February. Thanks to Friday Lubina for another great event, and also to my sister Lisa Peake for putting up fliers in Ventura and Ojai to let people know about the reading. I met some new poets and poetry fans tonight, and appreciate the community support.

Possibly Related Posts:

  1. Doris Vernon at the Bell Arts Factory
  2. Jackson Wheeler at the Bell Arts Factory, Ventura
  3. Cathryn Andresen at the Bell Arts Factory

6 Comments

  1. Posted November 26, 2006 at 7:31 pm | Permalink

    No chance of a sound recording having been done?

    Great to hear it went smoothly with a lot of good work read out. Your sis helping promote it, how cool is that

  2. Robert
    Posted November 27, 2006 at 9:23 am | Permalink

    Hi Pearl,

    I didn’t record the evening. But I opened with an old favorite, “Accosted In O’Brien’s Pub”, which you can hear here:

    http://www.robertpeake.com/mp3/accosted.mp3

    And ended with another old favorite, “Neruda’s Grammar School Crush”, which you can hear here:

    http://www.robertpeake.com/mp3/neruda.mp3

    My sister was awesome – fliering everywhere she could. So great to have family support. I know it isn’t always that common, and am truly grateful for it.

    Cheers,
    Robert

  3. Posted November 27, 2006 at 11:00 am | Permalink

    Sounds like a great reading. I’ll be back out in California in April for some readings. Maybe I’ll see you.

    Collin

  4. Robert
    Posted November 27, 2006 at 12:02 pm | Permalink

    Hey Collin, would be fun to see you down here on our nation’s cruelest month. If you care to stick around a bit longer, the Ojai Poetry Festival happens in mid-May:

    http://www.ovlff.com/poetryfestival/poetryfestival.htm

  5. Posted November 28, 2006 at 10:13 pm | Permalink

    Robert – Thanks for visiting my blog and your comments. So exciting to hear from a local poet and cat fan. I’ve perused your blog and related links and will add you, the Ojai Post, and the Bell to my blogroll. As a newcomer to the Ventura County area (recently from SF Bay, like you) I appreciate the community poetry/art/welcome wagon. If you are interested, check the poetry index on my blog: http://fragileindustries.typepad.com/fragile_industries/poetry/index.html

    Thanks again, Robert. You seem to have contributed greatly to the Ojai/Ventura ambiance.

  6. Robert
    Posted November 29, 2006 at 8:19 am | Permalink

    Hey, thanks Lisa. Good to meet you.

    I likewise received a great welcome from people like Phil Taggart and Gwendolyn Alley when I moved to this area (also not long ago). Poets gotta stick together.

    I hope to see you around at some future event. Come up and say hi. I currently only know what the back of your head looks like. :)

    Cheers,
    Robert

Post a Comment

Your email is never shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*


Popular Tags

Academia Academy Of American Poets Accessible Poetry Adam Zagajewski Aliso Street Bear Andrew Philip Anna Akhmatova Arroyo Arts Collective Artists' Union Gallery Art Therapy Avant Garde B.H. Fairchild Bart's Books Bell Arts Factory Blogging Code Poet Conservation Czesław Miłosz David Allen Day Fire Denise Levertov Dorianne Laux Facebook First Books Friday Lubina Galway Kinnell George Wallace Gerard Manley Hopkins Gregory Orr GTD Gwendolyn Alley Heart And Mind Henri Cole Hope Jackson Wheeler James Valentine Peake Japan Jawanza Dumisani John Ashbery John Keats Joseph Millar Kathleen Tyler Li-Young Lee London Los Angeles Louise Glück Low-Residency MFA Mark Doty Marriage Marvin Bell Mary Oliver Merlin Mann MFA Residency 1 MFA Residency 2 MFA Residency 3 MFA Residency 4 MFA Residency 5 Michael Wells Michelle Bitting Miranda Nature Negative Capability Ojai Ojai Poetry Festival Pacific University Passings Performance Poetry Phil Taggart Poetry In The Windows Polish Poetry Post-Postmodernism Ralph Waldo Emerson Rattle Read Write Poem Robert Hass Robert Pinsky Sandford Lyne Sandra Alcosser Sarah Maclay Seamus Heaney Social Networking Sonnets Spirituality Stanley Kunitz Stephen Booth Stephen Dunn Suzanne Lummis The Economy The Phoenix The World Stage Tree Bernstein Twitter Umberto Saba Wallace Stevens Why Poetry Zbigniew Herbert ZCE Zen Zoey's Cafe