Help us launch!

 

It’s true: we’re turning 100!

Quiet Lightning, California State Parks, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy present:

Poetry in Parks 2016

 

Cushing Memorial-Mountain Theater, site of Quiet Lightning 100

This 3rd installation of Poetry in Parks takes place in the historic Cushing Memorial-Mountain Theater in Mount Tamalpais State Park, on the occasion of Quiet Lightning’s 100th show and as part of the Arts in the Parks initiative celebrating the centennial of the National Parks and the connection between the wilderness experience and the inspiration parks provide to everyone, poets, writers, dancers, and artists of all genres.

The day begins with youth poetry readings curated by Marin County Poet Laureate Prartho Sereno, in collaboration with the Marin County Free Library, California Poets in the Schools, The Marin Poetry Out Loud Project, and the Marin Poetry Center High School Poetry Project. Musical and dance interludes punctuate the poetry readings, with a new choreographed dance by postmodern dance pioneer Anna Halprin and a special performance by Classical Revolution.

The program includes Quiet Lightning’s flagship submission-based literary mixtape, selected through a blind process and published in a book handed out to the first 200 people in attendance, featuring Margaret Spilman, Karen Penley, Heather June Gibbons, Yxta Maya Murray, Bj Dubin, Lisa Piazza, Tara Dorabji, Zack Haber, Rohan DaCosta, Brian DeMarco, and Dean Rader,

followed by an outstanding group of poets that includes Barbara Jane Reyes, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Brynn Saito, Arisa White, Charlie Getter, and Andrew Paul Nelson,

and culminates in this year’s Neighborhood Heroes, featuring readings by CA Poet Laureate Dana Gioia, Pulitzer Prize-winning US Poet Laureate Emeritus Kay Ryan, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets Jane Hirshfield, San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía, sci-fi fount and Environmental Fellow Kim Stanley Robinson, and Editor of the New York Times Magazine poetry column, Matthew Zapruder, with a special performance by Jack Foley and Jovelyn D. Richards.

This free event, which is part of the Litquake festival, is all-ages, with children’s activities provided by Bread & Roses, an interactive art station by ArtSpan, local food by D’Maize Catering and SUP Street Food, beer by Lagunitas Brewing Co., and House Kombucha on tap.

Poetry in Parks 2016 is made possible in part by the California Arts Council, Tamalpais Lands Collaborative, Friends of Mt. Tam, and SOMArts Cultural Center. Parking is available; a shuttle service is free but requires an RSVP.

The first 300 people will receive not one, but two books featuring writing by all of the authors and artwork by Matt Lewandowski and Paula Morales!!

Getting there: Thanks to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy’s programming celebrating the Centennial of the National Parks and Arts in the Parks, and to the San Francisco Public Library, we are offering a free shuttle service from San Francisco. It will meet at 9:30am on Sunday, Oct 9 and depart at 9:45 sharp. If you’d like to reserve a ride, make sure to RSVP on Brown Paper Tickets—meeting place is the library entrance on Fulton, between Larkin & Hyde; the shuttle will return from Mt. Tam, leaving at the drop-off point at 5:15pm.

 There will also be nearby parking for about 300 vehicles. From Highway 101 take Highway 1 to the Stinson Beach exit and follow signs up the mountain. There is also public transportation—here’s the map, simply enter your starting address.

Volunteering: We could use some extra hands! Modest but delectable compensation 🙂 If you’re interested, send a short note to evan [at] quietlightning [dot] org.

Sunday, Oct 9 2016

RSVP now!

 Poetry in Parks 2016 made possible in part thanks to: