On the 4/12/23 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:
Dr. Andy’s first guest is UC Davis arts administrator Michael French, who shares some arts events taking place at UC Davis’s annual Picnic Day. Poet Laureate of Davis Julia B. Levine talks us through her poet laureate work helping teens through climate anxiety, as well as her new poetry collection Ordinary Psalms, then shares a contemplative poem. Later, author Susan Cohen tells us about her new book Democracy of Fire, then shares a poem inspired by one of nature’s strangest creatures. Finally, Hugh Mackenzie gets us excited for Picnic Day happenings at the Encounters UFO Experience museum.
Julia Levine is the author of five poetry collections, including Ordinary Psalms, published in 2022, and Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight, winner of the Northern California Book Award for Poetry. She is also a recipient of the Discovery/The Nation Award and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry from Nimrod. Her work has been widely published in journals such as Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and the Southern Review. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and lives in Davis, California where she serves locals as Davis poet laureate. In 2022, Julia was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, and her poem “The Extra Angels” won the 2022 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize.
Susan Cohen’s third and newest book of poems is Democracy of Fire (Broadstone Books; 2022). A former journalist, award-winning science writer, and contributing writer to the Washington Post Magazine, she received an MFA from Pacific University in 2013. Her poetry has appeared in 32 Poems, Prairie Schooner, Southern Humanities Review, Southern Review, Verse Daily, and she recently won the Red Wheelbarrow Prize judged by Mark Doty and the Annual Poetry Prize from Terrain.org judged by Arthur Sze. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Find out more about the Picnic Day offerings of Encounters UFO Experience at http://www.ufoxperience.com.
Julia Levine and Susan Cohen will read at the Poetry Night Reading Series on Thursday, April 20th, 2023. See http://www.poetryindavis.com.
Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.