JAN 12 | stranded and disbanded, busted and disgusted

Many will remember Tim Holt as the editor of The Suttertown News, Sacramento's alternative newspaper long before the News & Review opened up shop. Living in Dunsmuir now, Tim returns for an evening celebrating Woodie Guthrie and the American folksong. His talk and performance will be followed by a folk jam. Folk musicians from beginners to pros are invited to bring their acoustic instruments and join in. It all takes place at 2pm at The McClatchy Library, 2112 22nd Street, Sacramento. It's free, folks.

"The history of the American folksong is a people's history of thiscountry," Holt says.

From the ramblin' songs of Woody Guthrie ("from Oklahoma to CaliforniaI've been stranded and disbanded, busted and disgusted") to the old-time religious songs of a much earlier era, Tim Holt will explore thehistory of the American folksong--its origins in the British Isles andWest Africa, and the social context from which it arose.Along the way he'll sing songs that represent various facets of theAmerican folksong, including the preoccupation with sinfulness and thesinner ("Hard Ain't It Hard"), the old-time gospel ("LonesomeValley"), Guthrie's Depression-era songs ("Ramblin' 'Round"), songs ofthe westward migration ("Cumberland Gap" and "Sweet Betsy From Pike"), and the contributions of Charles Neblett, a courageous champion ofcivil rights in the 1960s ("If You Miss Me On The Back Of The Bus").

Tim Holt is a frequent contributor to the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle and the author of several books, including On Higher Ground and Songs Of The Simple Life (both available at The Book Collector).

JAN 7 | POETRY | Barbara Jane Reyes and Oscar Bermeo

MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 7:30PM
Sacramento Poetry Center presents:
BARBARA JANE REYES, OSCAR BERMEO
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1719 25th Street. 25th & R Streets,Sacramento
(916) 451-5569.www.sacramentopoetrycenter.org
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The Sacramento Poetry Center starts the new year with a reading featuring Barbara Jane Reyes and Oscar Bermeo. Hosted by Arturo Mantecon, count on it to be an exciting night of powerful poetry.
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Barbara Jane Reyes was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in the SF Bay Area. She is the author of Gravities of Center (Arkipelago,2003) and Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish, 2005) which received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her other honors include an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship and numerous Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asian Pacific American Journal, Chain, New American Writing, North American Review, Notre Dame Review, among others. She lives with her husband, poet Oscar Bermeo, in Oakland.
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Born in Ecuador and raised in the Bronx, Oscar Bermeo is a BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) award winning poet, educator & literary events coordinator who now makes his home in Oakland, where he is the poetry editor for Tea Party magazine and lives with his wife, poeta Barbara Jane Reyes.
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Upcoming Readings at the Sacramento Poetry Center
January 14 [T]: Emmanuel Sigauke and Shevonn Blackshire
January 21[R]: Michael Cluff and Michael Garbarini
January 28 [B]: Frank Graham
February 11 [B]: Pat Grizzell and Alice Armstrong
March 3 [T]: Julia Levine and Rick Campbell
March 10 [B]: Edythe Schwartz

Host code: [T] Tim Kahl; [R] Rebecca Morrison; [B] Bob Stanley;
[A] Arturo Mantecon


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