I started Poetea in June of 2016 as a tiny literary event and a conversation space for writers. The idea arose from decades of going to readings and lit events, and being involved in literary communities around the U.S., from interacting with writing comrades and colleagues but rarely being satisfied with the level and length of conversation in and around such events. Not that I haven’t enjoyed countless conversations, and sure, there were longer ones at workshops and salons and the occasional bar, and of course with closer writing friends, but I’ve always felt the need for more in-depth dialog with, well, more writers. This need struck home in 2016, when I found myself attending 15-20 readings and lit events per month, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area and specifically the East Bay literary community, and those events at that level were nourishing me greatly, but also made me less satisfied with brief chats and the occasional discussion over drinks. Pondering this one day, I found myself wishing there were a literary event for just four people, at which they could just sit around and talk, talk, talk. And then I looked up and around at my comfy Oakland apartment.

So what is Poetea exactly, and what has it become? It’s a literary gathering in which I invite three writers to tea on the first Sunday of each month, as many times a year as I can. Basically it’s four people hanging out for a few hours, talking about all-things-writing (and life, etc., whatever comes up or seems important). I try to keep it gender-balanced, particularly enjoy inviting folks that I don’t know well (though closer friends are invited as well, at least to some) and folks from varied backgrounds, and I avoid inviting people who are partners or close friends. It’s best when my guests know each other just a bit or not at all, and leave with new friends and connections. We have tea and snacks and chat for as long as we like. At some point I raise a specific topic of discussion, and we finish with a read around of new work or work in progress. They’re basically quite lovely, intimate and energizing, which is not to say that we don’t engage in challenging topics and discussion, in fact we often do.

The conversations are absolutely private and not recorded to provide the safest space possible for expressing one’s views. It’s occurred to me to take one selfie-pic of the group at the end of each, but as of this writing (the end of 2017) I haven’t done even that. (Started right after, though!) Somehow the exclusive and transitory nature of the teas allow people to be more inclusive and present, and that’s their value right there. The only record is a brief write-up that I post on Facebook afterward, and for those who might be interested, I’ve included them below.

The only thing that I don’t like about the event is that I’m at every one. I think it’d be perfect if four different writers came together once a month to talk freely for three hours. So, writers, do it! Have your own Poetea! I promise it will nourish you.

I took a break from the festivities in the fall of 2019, not long before we all started hiding from viruses. As of April, 2023 things are still opening up in the Bay Area, and I’m considering starting these up again soon. I could use a good cup of tea at this point!

.

POETEAS

August 4, 2019

Wayne Goodman
Lotus Allen
Kelliane Parker
Elaine Brown a.k.a. Poet E-Spoken

~~~

July 7, 2019

Joyce Jenkins
Ken Saffran
Becca Gomez-Farrell

~~~

June 2, 2019

Kelliane Parker
Zack Haber

~~~

April 7, 2019

Hilary Brown
Elaine C. Brown a.k.a. Poet E Spoken

Had a fantastic Poetea last Sunday with Hilary Brown and Elaine Brown (no relation). Had a long talk, not surprisingly, about queer issues, generally sex and gender, the pros and cons of the queer alphabet, fluid identification and being what and who you are. Hilary suggested, “Be whatever.” None of us seemed to like being categorized, however handy the social tools might be. We discussed the question of whether identity can restrict one’s individuality and perspectives on diversity. Small philosophical points, mostly.  Always a fave topic, where we grew up, lead to a discussion of Brooklyn and the revelation that there really is a place called Sugar City. Good talk about our favorite authors (who can answer that question really), and how reading a range of genres can benefit your own work. Also sci-fi rules. Brief discussion of local artist/activist Sema Dudum and perspectives on Palestine. And a luscious read-around of recent work. Thank you both soooo much for your presence and generosity! I can never have a joyless month with Poetea on the calendar.  

~~~

March 3, 2019

Laura Zink
Gary Turchin

Had an exciting Poetea last weekend with Laura Zink and Gary Turchin, and I think it’s the first time I’ve called a Poetea “exciting”, because it was. We had lots of chat on various topics, as usual – teeth (this comes up more than you would think), augmented reality (this does not), investing in living, housing and gentrification… Turns out we’ve all taught, which comes up a lot as well, Laura currently, I in the aughts, and Gary, interestingly, had poetry show for kids that he did for years in schools and such, called Gary and His Poet Tree. Who’d’a thunk? The excitement came in, though, when our talk turned to writing, and we realized that we’re all working on novels – Gary actually just finished his and is figuring next steps – and we spent an hour or more feverishly discussing strategies, approaches, structures, characters, pitches, and the sheer damn joy of it, then finished up the afternoon reading selections from each. What a lift! Mine’s been on stall for a while and now I’m back to it. Thank you both for your presence and generosity, and for throwing your backs into writing. Cheers!

~~~

February 3, 2019

Joyce Young
Adele Mendelson
Tom Odegard

After a couple months break, dove back into Poetea last week with Joyce E. Young, Adele Mendelson, and Tom Odegard. I didn’t need to bring up any writing-related topics as Adele arrived full of curiosity about everyone’s writing practices (yay!). After some brief chat about music, climate change, and the beauty of the redwoods, Adele asked us about any memorization techniques we might have, how we approach writing, what times of day and how often, our writerly ambitions, and the value of writing from prompts versus no prompts. We also got into discussions of memory and how it works; gender, sexuality, and the progress of the age; and teaching techniques (amazing how many folks to Poetea are or have been teachers!). Adele even capped us off with the big one: WHY do we write? Always a great introspective question, and worth bringing up, even to oneself, again and again. Thanks for that, Adele! And all you writing readers, I’ll let you answer that one for yourselves.

~~~

November 4, 2018

Jane Ormerod
David Lawton
Hugh Behm-Steinberg

Marvelous Poetea on Sunday, as always, it would seem, with visiting authors Jane Ormerod and David Lawton of NYC and great weather for MEDIA press, and local poet, publisher, musician, and mixed-media maven Hugh Behm-Steinberg (not pictured, because he scrammed before I remembered to snap a shot.) Jane and Dave were whupped from their West Coast reading tour, but still jumped right in with great energy. We chatted variously about college teaching and grading (Hugh was in an avalanche of papers), death and bed watches, jazz and the Boy Scouts (not necessarily in the same breath, but wouldn’t that be cool), sexual harassment in literature and literary milieus, and lots of politics – politics of poetry, politics of publishing, politics of reading series, politics of teaching, and occasionally, just plain politics. Hugh spoke fervently about his desire to see more intersectionality of age in the lit community, especially at readings, and Jane noted that older women were much less likely to be offered readings than younger, across the board. It always amazes me that we still have so much to work on as a species, and as writers in a community of writers, and it so heartens me to delineate occasionally things for us to work on, sort of a humanist to-do list. End sexism in literature. End ageism in reading series. Live with each other as humanly as we can. Not quite ready to check off any of those boxes, but I’m got my pen in hand.

~~~

October 7, 2018

Deborah Fruchey
Marvin Hiemstra

Remiss, remiss am I for not having written of the most gracious Poetea I had last week with Marvin R. Hiemstra and Deborah Fruchey. These folks were so relaxed that I might as well have hung hammocks. Seriously, our marvelous conversation included crazy family stuff (always fascinating), where we’d move to if we felt the need to disembark from the Bay Area, energy spots and vortices that we’ve encountered in the world, crazy (and sane) and interesting ways we’ve gotten by, and sociopathic landlords (especially mine). Marvin laid out some really enlightening history, personal and cultural, about gay San Francisco in the late 60’s and early 70’s, which was stunningly different than that of today, or even the 1980’s and yes we have come a great, great way, which lead us into discussion of experiences with gay hating, sexual and gender spectra, and generally growing up freaks (ahem, non-normative). I was very glad to hear that in fact Marvin is doing some writing about that era, feeling a dharma to reveal stories that should be told or are already being forgotten, and we were all glad to report each doing well in their lives and struggles. What a joy to sense a clear, or at least unencumbered, path ahead. Thank you both so much for sharing your persons and outlooks and histories so gladly. I think of that as true community.

~~~

August 5, 2018

Mary Mackey
Casey Gardner
Jeff Chon

Had so much work this week (yay) that I forgot to post (boo) about the splendid and interesting Poetea (yay) that I had last Sunday with Mary Mackey, C Anne Gardner, and Jeff Chon. For a while topics ranged from whimsical to intense – the weirdness and mundanity of meeting famous people, the various values of playing music, teaching versus bureacracy, the power of freedom of speech and the fuckedupedness of freedom of speech full of lies, and the Netflix documentary “Wild, Wild Country” and the phenomenon of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Mary actually knew some of his followers back in the day). Then a really interesting thing happened. At the same moment, Jeff and Mary started their own conversation, just as Casey and I did the same, and for about half an hour the two pairs of us spoke separately, intently, and intensely, totally in parallel mindlock. The room was electric. For our part, Casey and I discussed Julie Taymor’s version of “The Tempest”, particularly Helen Mirren’s Prospera – I hadn’t seen it but Casey was impressed with the representation of gender and power structure, among other things; the effect of information availability and overload on the internet, specifically on young people and her in particular, since she’s in her late 20’s and grew up with it; and teaching gender and race at the high school and college levels, at some length. Then suddenly both conversations stopped, and we all looked at each other bemused. Mary and Jeff couldn’t remember everything they discussed, but did note a lot of talk about writing characters of one’s opposite gender, or another gender, or another background, or, really, anyone whom you aren’t, somewhat (to my understanding) pitting the current sensitivity of representation, appropriation, and presumption against the traditional duty of, say, the novelist, who opts to construct many characters, all of whom they cannot be, as part of their craft. That would be a worthy topic for any long discussion, and might just get added to my selection of potential topics to raise. I had no need to this time, as we finished up the afternoon opening the topic of marginalization in queer and other communities and groups, something that’s on my mind for sure, and finished that more with questions and considerations than any firm conclusions.

~~~

June 3, 2018

Jenee Darden
Rohan DeCosta

Jenee Darden and Rohan DaCosta joined me on Sunday for an energized and engaging Poetea. I love how these events each take on their own life and spirit, no prompting required. In fact I didn’t even have time to bring up a writing-specific topic with these two (though I def wish we’d had another hour!). Some of the topics on our minds on Sunday were corruption in the United States (who knows where that one came from), from what’s left of our government to the ravagement of our cities by gentrification; which cities might be still livable for artists and working folks; the pros and cons of Octavia Butler and Kanye West (not in the same conversation, really at least an hour apart, they were not compared though that might have been interesting); and the proliferation of mental illness, especially in this country, some of the potential causes, and to what extent the mentally ill should be responsible for their actions (which kind of brought us back to our first topic of social and political corruption, and the ways mental illness can be caused by Capitalism). It is so, so good to listen to others’ perspectives on matters as essential as these, especially with a breadth of time to kick ideas around. Thank you both very much for your generosity with your time and thoughts. That kind of sharing is invaluable at any time, and especially so in this fraught era.

~~~

May 6, 2018

Nina Casey
Steve Arntson

It’s very human naturey of me that I have have specific ideas about Poetea, my monthly literary conversation, having no specific agenda or structure behind it. So I couldn’t be happier that this month’s attendees, Nina Casey and Steve Arntson, showed me the hidden rigidity behind my supposed lack of structure. Thank you, you two, for taking this Poetea exactly where you wanted it to go!

Typically Poetea consists of four writers (including myself) who sit around for a few hours teaing and gnoshing and talking about whatever we like. It’s never staid and always energized in one way or another. Sometimes, especially if there’s not a lot of talk about writing and such, I might ask if I should raise a topic in that regard. Then at the end I suggest we read a recent piece or two, so that after getting to know one another, we get to hear how words come out of us. So while it’s not really structure-less, it’s generally somewhat structure-lite.

~~~

March 4, 2018

Mimi Gonzalez
Kimberley Kim
Joel Landmine

Yesterday’s Poetea just took right off on it’s own steady and equitable course, despite the fact that it was three native Michiganders versus one lone Californian.   Kimberly Kim, Mimi Gonzalez, and Joel Landmine all showed up charged for interaction, and that we did, starting with growing up Detroit and Cali and their various music scenes, and moving right on to showing scars and remembering Loma Prieta and other disasters before heading into reedier territory. We discussed at some length the Anthropocene epoch and its ramifications, systemic indifference to power and abuse and the madness it causes on all sides, decoding misogyny and its relation to a variety of human experiences, the nature of objectification, what we can write about and how far we can go challenging ideas/ideologies and pushing buttons, and addressing topics that could cause backlash. And that’s just a glimpse. But believe me, as heavy as some of that sounds, this was energized, engaging, and positive throughout. I didn’t even raise a specific topic, as I often do at some point – didn’t need to as the conversation rolled along like fire. Mimi did raise one herself, however, asking what differences we felt were in pieces written more for page versus stage, and how we each approached, merged, and separated them. All in all another joyful and open-hearted conversation that, I think, left us lifted and facing forward. Thank you all so much!

~~~

January 7, 2018

Norma Smith
Ruth Crossman
James Cagney

Supercharged Poetea on Sunday with Norma Smith, Ruth Crossman, and James Cagney. Started out with a brief discuss by Ruth and Norma about “Her Body and Other Parties” by Carmen Maria Machado, and launched into a series of topics including our places and histories, squatter and punk culture (now and then), music of all kinds, Gertrude Stein and Oakland, challenges, joys, and strategies for teaching writing and ESL, pedagogy in general, and what for the love of everything we need to do next with our work. That breathless list just several points of colloquy over three hours that left us all charged and ready to go on living. Thanks so much, writers three, for being so generous with your selves, your time, and your minds and hearts. Would that we could all share that generosity every day. It’s certainly worth a try.

~~~

December 3, 2017

Jan Steckel
Gina Goldblatt
Zephir O’Meara

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot to write up what a wonderful Poetea I had a week ago with Jan Steckel, Gina Goldblatt, and Zephir O’Meara. This was the sixteenth in the series and it continues to be the light in my month. This conversation focused on our lives at first, on ancestry and background and on making and keeping community well in such a confused America. We discussed ways in which we enter and interact with community – not just the literary community but any and all – and how our backgrounds help and hinder us. We discussed how we interact with our communities and the world in general through our work, our words and performance, the ways in which we make our work public, and what next steps we’d each like to take with our writing. I’m afraid I’m forgetting a topic or two, having been swept away for a week by dumb old life, so Jan, Gina, Zephir, feel free to write stuff in below that you recall being of value discussing. Also: thanks so much! for engaging joyously in conversation. I do this partially because I believe that discourse is a primary glue and impetus for our lives, our cultures, our future. So as this year ends, thanks to everyone who’s come to Poetea since mid-2016, and to everyone who fearlessly seeks to discuss. Let’s talk!

~~~

November 5, 2017

Julian Mithra
Kimi Sugioka
Paul Corman-Roberts

Had another beautiful Poetea on Sunday with Kimi Sugioka, Julian Tirhma, and Paul Corman-Roberts just chatting away with tea and snacks for a few hours. This time the focus seemed to be on bringing poetry into the current world, especially to children as Julian and Kimi are elementary-level teachers. They spoke to the challenges and ways in which they’ve brought poetry to kids who are marginalized, at risk, and special needs. It was like listening to two superheros comparing tactics. We discussed the importance of more intergenerational readings and literary interactions (with thanks to Bay Area Generations). Paul brought up his desire for more intimate and interactive literary platforms and events (e.g. Poetea and Raina Leon‘s series Cleave, which features a relaxed and personal Q&A after the reading). And Kimi made the wonderful admission that she and a group of friends had been adding poems at the end of their emails – which led us to the idea, which I’ll suggest to you all, to do that on a more widespread basis. When you read a poem online (or on page that you love enough to type up), put it in a file so that you can paste it into emails – or just paste in one of your own. Hunt down and collect poems you love, to pass along in any appropriate email. Weaponize Viral Poetry! – or if that’s too triggery for some of you, try: Make Poetry Homeopathic! Give a small dose to as many people as possible as frequently as possible.

~~~

October 8, 2017

Youssef Alaoui-Fdili
Vanessa Lewis

Had four and a half hours of what I can only describe as radical conversation today at Poetea with Vanessa Rochelle Lewis and Youssef Alaoui. And by radical, I mean, as always, radiating from the core. We all dove in with great enthusiasm as to what each other was really about, and ranged through several weather systems of intense topics, from relationships to kink to provocation, aggression, microaggressions, creating strong open cultures, and love, lost love, uncertain love, types of love, serious love, and how to respond to all these and care for each other as human beings in this wild and incredibly fucked up world that’s still full of beautiful human beings. And language and lifting and theater and crafting and the work we do, not writing per se but the everyday work of keeping it together, of caring for ourselves and those around us, of keeping things moving and honest while fending off the acts and ideologies and breath of hatred and intolerance. And pleasure, we talked about pleasure, and what a pivot that can be, about sensing and finding and giving and being, about living. And living on. And so much more that I’m leaving out, or haven’t even started processing yet. Four and a half hours and it was hard to stop. And yes, there was tea, and crackers and cheese and strawberries, and a great, great deal of kindness. Thank you both so much. I feel more myself tonight, more in my skin and grounded than I have in quite some time. I feel lit.

~~~

August 6, 2017

Jan Dederick
Ron Lampi
Nadine Lockhart

Poetea, the tiny literary conversation that I hold once a month for four writers, never ceases to amaze me. Yes, there are some topics that often come up (four writers sittin around talking for three hours, go figure), but each is also very different from the others, sometimes in unexpected ways. For instance, the Poetea last week had three folks who either don’t know each other or not well, they being Jan Dederick, Nadine Lockhart, and Ron Lampi (who drove up from Santa Cruz just for the event!) – thanks so much, writers, for coming by and engaging in discourse with such generosity! The conversation ran quickly and deeply into astrology, mysticism, and their place in writing and the world as we know it. Didn’t see that one coming, and though my own knowledge of astrology is limited, it was sooooo interesting. And of course I find mysticism and spirituality to be key to both personal and literary progress, at least in my life. The same conversation later on went to very worldly matters, including keeping one’s health (of all sorts) in the current toxic environment (of all sorts), and ways in which we keep ourselves going against odds and bad energy (of all sorts). Thank you thank you thank you for helping to make this world more livable.

~~~

July 2, 2017

Brenda Usher-Carpino
John Rowe
Giavanna Ortiz de Candia

Had a really inspiring Poetea on Sunday with Brenda Usher-Carpino, Giavanna Ortiz de Candia, and John Rowe. We really got into the nitty-gritty of how we write, how we compel ourselves to write, how we approach different genres, how we keep ourselves honest, and how we as writers (and human beings) function in and respond to the challenging and egregious sociopolitical roil we find ourselves living through. Thank you so much, friends, for setting aside a few hours to relax and connect. After these conversations I always feel more connected to myself as well, and I hope that you’ve experienced something of the same.

~~~

June 4, 2017

Sharon Coleman
Apollo Papafrangou

Very pleasant Poetea today with Sharon Coleman and Apollo Papafrangou. Thank you both so much for coming and sharing your thoughts on life and writing. Great conversation about the challenges of finding time (and space) to write in this economically driven culture and region, the joys and work of teaching, pedagogy in the real world, where we find inspiration, current writing projects, why everyone should become a publisher, and so much more. (Sharon and Apollo are both working on new books, so keep an eye open for those!) Thank you thank you for setting aside a few hours for long and heartfelt conversation. This is the stuff that keeps my heart beating. Hoping you get a beat or two out of it yourselves.

~~~

May 7, 2017

Nazelah Jamison
Tureeda Mikell
Rohan DeCosta

High energy Poetea today with ToReadah Mikell, Nazelah Jamison, and Rohan DaCosta. Thank you all soooo much for bringing your open hearts and clarion intellects into my home. It was an honor to have you come by and be real and talk real and ask real and see real with each other. We are all trying to move forward through the murk and madness and struggle in the world and culture around us, not just those here today but everyone we know, and they know, and onward, and how valuable it is when we take a little time to share perspectives, and how much lighter that can make the steps we need to take. I am forever more grateful that I started these monthly gatherings, especially grateful today when this has fueled and lifted me after a tough couple of weeks, and I only hope that others in community, both those who have been to these and those who haven’t, and anyone else for that matter, are setting aside time, not just a few minutes but a few hours, here and there, to check in with those around them, friends, acquaintances, and beyond, to sit down and take some time with them, to see and hear them, and be where you’re at together, and freshen steps further and further.

~~~

April 2, 2017

Gabriel Gusman
Alexandra Naughton
Victor Smith

Beautiful Poetea yesterday with Alexandra Naughton, G Macias Gusman, and Victor Smith. We had a long, intense chat about a million things, including the importance and difficulties of keeping up the energy at this time, the plethora of rhetorical landmines in our current culture, the presence and absence of socioeconomic commentary in local literature, facets of welcoming and unwelcoming within the community, the challenges and awesomenesses of relationships, and best next steps for Michael Cera. And, of course, lots of tea and snacks.