Art, Poetry, & Jazz Night

We love to bring together the visual, literary, and performing arts for this wonderful event. This year our poets will write poems based on selected artwork from the exhibit, Abstract Intentions. Jazz musicians will base their music on written poems. Join us as these elements come together for a stellar night of performances.

Bios for Art, Jazz, and Poetry 2025

Rick Rayburn worked for California coastal protection and parkland preservation for years, and he started studying and writing poetry after he retired from a career with California State Parks. Rick has worked with Bethanie Humphreys, Joshua McKinney, and Susan Kelly-Dewitt, and he’s an active member of PCG, the monthly critique group. He has published two books with Random Lane Press, Under the Overstory (2020), Slack Tide (2022). Rick’s third book, Pink Tercets, was published by The Poetry Box in September 2025.

Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas earned her MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a twelve-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a seven-time Best of the Net nominee. In 2021, her poetry collection Alice in Ruby Slippers, was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for Women’s Wisdom Art. Carol Lynn has published numerous books of poetry including Handful of Stallions at Twilight from Finishing Line Press and A Shared and Sacred Space from Kelsay Books.

Stan Zumbiel started writing poems while he was in the Navy. A beloved English teacher for 35 years, Stan taught junior high and high school until his retirement in 2008. Stan served on SPC’s board of directors for more than two decades, and he earned his MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. His books include Standing Watch (Random Lane Press, 2016) and Hat Full of Leaves (Cold River Press, 2021). A new, updated and expanded edition of Standing Watch is forthcoming from Random Lane in 2025. He and his wife Lynn have four children and nine grandkids.

Dr. V.S. Chochezi and Staajabu are a unique mother and daughter poetry team known as Straight Out Scribes. They are widely published, have received many honors and awards, and have published eight books of poetry and two CDs. In addition to their writing and performance accomplishments, this mother/daughter poetic duo has produced and coordinated many consciousness-raising events and fund-raisers. True activist poets, Straight Out Scribes has spent over three decades working on the campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and aid many other political prisoners. Learn more at their website straightoutscribes.shop.

Mary Zeppa has been a mainstay of the Sacramento poetry scene since she helped found the Sacramento Poetry Center in 1979. Her poems have appeared in many journals including Perihelion and The New York Quarterly, and she has two chapbooks, The Battered Bride Overture and Little Ship of Blessing. Her most recent collection is My Body Tells its Own Story, from Cherry Grove Editions. Zeppa is also a singer and lyricist, and she sang in the a cappella quintet Cherry Fizz.

NSAA (Lawrence Dinkins, Jr.) has performed and hosted at poetry events for many years. He’s also created special events such as Poet vs Band and the online poetry series Coffee and Poets. As part of the duo Electropoetic Coffee, with guitarist Ross Hammond, NSAA recorded numerous albums, and they performed at the Crest Theater in 2018. NSAA’s books have been published by Sacramento publishers little m press and Random Lane Press. He’s currently working on new poetry and prose, while working for a community theatre consortium.

Laura Martin has had her poems appear in many publications including Tule Review, Late Peaches: Poems by Sacramento Poets, The Gasconade Review, River Dog Zine, Peregrine, and Poems-For-All. Her new collection is Haiku for the Undead. She has won several awards for her poetry and fronts The Soft Offs—a seven-piece spoken word music ensemble that takes the written word from page to stage.

Bob Stanley (host) retired from teaching at Sac State so that he could focus on poetry, music, and travel. With help from his wife Joyce Hsiao, he has been presenting poetry programs including Bob’s Online Poetry Seminars and Third Tuesday Poetry at Twin Lotus Thai Restaurant. Bob is also working with producer Lawrence Dinkins on the poetry podcast Coffee and Poets. His most recent book, Language Barrier, was published by CW Books in June 2024.

Musician Ryan Clark (band leader) is a composer and vibraphonist who has performed with many award-winning jazz bands. Ryan wrote and performed the compositions for the group that played at the Art, Poetry and Jazz event at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center in 2019, online in 2021, and in person here at SFAC in 2023 and 2024.Our returning band is the Ryan Clark Quartet.

Ryan Clack -Band leader

Alex Reyes- Piano

Tyler Miles- Bass

Austin Kim- Drums

If you are hoping to have your art selected by a poet this year, we highly recommend entering the Abstract Intentions show.

Featured Art:

Anywhere But In Between  by Allyson Gunnell
Brain Waves by Janice Hironaka
Self-Portrait with Guitar and Absinthe by David Vaught
Oh Bananas by Claude Duplat
Scarlett Twilight Canopy by Andrea Morris
Moonscape in Blue and Gold by Charlene Steen
Miami by Natalia Gomez
Morning Fog by Joel Bresolin
Geometry of the Moon by Chanel Mace
Ceiling View, Sagrada Familia by Nancy Garrett
Summer Carnival by Debbie Koerner
If You Don’t See a Pattern, Make One by Brett Billingsley
Common Threads by Patricia Abraham
Half Moon Bay by Nora Goff
Leaving Helsinki by Karen Finley
Untitled by Margo Mullen
Ephemera Madness 2 by Tina Maier