NSAA and Bob Stanley
2025-10-03 02:00 - 04:00 UTC | John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st St, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
Dear Friends of Poetry,
Our October 2nd, Poetry Night will feature the poets Lawrence Dinkins and Bob Stanley. We meet at 7 PM inside the John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street in Davis, and we hope you can join us!
Our first reader will be Bob Stanley.
Bob Stanley studied poetry at Caltech and UCLA, and taught English and Creative Writing at Solano College, Sac City College, and Sacramento State University before retiring in 2021. President of Sacramento Poetry Center for a record 12 years, Bob has organized hundreds of poetry events, and he served as Sacramento Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2012. He has edited two anthologies: Late Peaches (2013), and Sometimes in the Open (2009). Bob’s poetry collections include Walt Whitman Orders a Cheeseburger (Rattlesnake Press, 2009), Eleven Blue Strings (little m press, 2012), Miracle Shine (CW Books, 2013) and the e-chapbook November Sun (Random Lane Press, 2022). Bob lives in Sacramento with his wife, Joyce Hsiao, and they run online poetry seminars that help support small nonprofits. Bob’s newest collection of poems, Language Barrier, was published by CW Books in June 2024.
Our second reader on October 2 will be Lawrence Dinkins.
Lawrence Dinkins (NSAA) is a Detroit transplant to Sacramento and began writing poetry here a few decades ago. A dynamic performance poet (who describes his style as neo-folk spoken word), he has recorded two CDs: NSAA Live (The Mario Ellis Hill Recordings) and ElectroPoeticCoffee, with guitarist Ross Hammond. He organized and hosted poetry and 3 spoken word events for over twenty years, notably at Luna’s Café and at the Mahogany Urban Poets series. His Open Mic Sketchbook chronicles his hosting events in photographs, art, and poetry. He has also worked for years on the tech end of things as a photographer, videographer and podcaster. His selected poems, Warrior Poet, were published by Random Lane Press in 2019
The Poetry Night open mic starts at 8. Performers will be asked to limit their pieces to two items or four minutes, whichever is shorter. The open mic list is typically full by 6:45. People who show up early to help set up chairs will always earn a spot on the open mic list. We expect Michael Gallowglass, Joe Bacchus, and Allegra Silberstein to perform.
Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Encourage your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, check out his weekly podcast at https://poetrytechnology.buzzsprout.com/. Also, see some of his recent essays on Substack: https://andyjones.substack.com/. One recent post lists the almost 400 poets who have ever featured at the Poetry Night Reading Series.
Later in 2025, we will feature the poets Chris Erickson, Greg Miller, Brad Buchanan, Julia Levine, and more.
Please plan to join us on every first and third Thursday of the month at 7 PM at the John Natsoulas Gallery for the Poetry Night Reading Series.

Art, Poetry, & Jazz Night
2025-11-15 18:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Fine Arts Center, 5330 GIBBONS DR, Carmichael, CA, 95608, United States
November 15, 2025
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

Member tickets are $30 each. General registration is $35. Click ‘Register’ below for tickets.

When: November 15, 2025
