Poetry Night Reading Series: Susan Flynn and Jemi McDonald

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Susan Flynn and Jemi McDonald at 7 PM on Thursday, July 20th, 2023, on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Susan Flynn is a poet, photographer, and psychoanalyst living in Sacramento and Georgetown, California. She has a private clinical practice in Sacramento, and is assistant clinical professor at UC Davis, where she teaches and supervises psychiatry residents. Her poetry has been published in various journals, including Adirondack Review, Euphony, No Achilles, A War Poetry Anthology, Paragon Press, SLAB, Tule Review, and Voices 2020. Susan is trained as an Amherst Writers and Artists group facilitator, and she has facilitated a series of writing groups for trauma survivors called “The Body Keeps the Score, The Spirit Tells the Story.” Seeing Begins in the Dark (2022) from River Rock Books is her first poetry collection.

Jemi McDonald is the author of the 2022 collection Evening Light: A Retrospect in Stories and Poems, published by Mandorla Books. Jemi is a California native, life-long writer, twenty-two-year Soto Zen Buddhist practitioner, decades-long wife, mother, new grandmother, and enduring friend. Deb Norton, author of Part Wild: A Writer’s Guide to Harnessing the Power of Resistance, says this of Evening Light: “Jemi Reis McDonald’s heart-opening book doesn’t merely discuss the nature of loss and recovery. With her sensorial writing, she immerses us in the journey, allowing us to see, feel, and deeply notice the earned details of her own richly lived experience. The result of this communion is breath and hope and a visceral re-union with ourselves and the world.”

This event will take place on the roof of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, July 20th, 2023. An open mic will follow the featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to three 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.

The Facebook event page for the July 20th, 2023 Poetry Night can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/221669104008322/

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 supported by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series. Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com.