I’m honored to be reading with two of my favorite poets, Ra Avis and Kelsely Bryan-Zwick, on Wednesday, July 17th, from 8-10 pm, at the Ugly Mug, 261 N. Glassell St. in Orange. $3 cash entry, open mic, and lots of love.
Category: Feature Readings
Poetry Bleeding 2019, #3
I’m excited to have my first feature in almost 6 months. Friday, April 19th at 7 pm.
This is the 3rd night of the 2019 edition of this reading series, which happens (usually) every first Friday of the month at Viento y Agua Coffee House,4007 E. 4th St. in Long Beach. I’ll be joined by Alexandria Espinoza and more TBA. As always, the first 10 minutes will be an Open Mic, and then there will be our featured readers as well as with your host, Alan Passman for a little Q&A.
Ugly Much Feature from 7-25-18
Thanks to Ellen Weber, my entire set from my feature at the Ugly Mug on July 25, 2018 was recorded and compiled into a playlist. Half of which are poems from my last chapbook, Seventeen Poems Not About a Lover, and from my next full-length book, Conversations with Gravel.
Seventeen Poems Not About a Lover Chapbook Release
Arroyo Seco Press presents Seventeen Poems Not About a Lover Chapbook Release party! 17 poems written by Sarah Thursday with lovingly crafted, paper-cut art for each poem by Alyssandra Nighswonger.
Sunday, April 29th from 4 to 6 pm at Viento Y Agua Coffeehouse, 4007 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA. There will be guest poets, art, and books! Details TBA.
More about the collaborators:
Sarah Thursday was born, in part, from inspiration found in her collaborator, Alyssandra Nighswonger. After six years of friendship and artistic crushing, this dream project has come to life. In addition to writing poetry, Sarah founded Sadie Girl Press to help publish local and emerging poets and artists. She ran a poetry website called CadenceCollective.net, co-hosted a monthly reading with G. Murray Thomas, but still wants to find new ways to bring poetry and art into her community. She has been published in many fine journals and anthologies and received a 2017 Best of the Net nomination. Her first full-length poetry collection, All the Tiny Anchors, and her other chapbooks and CDs are available at SadieGirlPress.com. Find and follow her to learn more on SarahThursday.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Alyssandra Nighswonger is a multi-media artist and adventure-lover from Long Beach, CA. This project was a swan dive into the heart and a journey in itself. The thing that Alyssandra admires the most about her friend Sarah is the way she takes her own personal challenges and creates an alchemy of the heart with her raw and fearlessly beautiful poetry. For Alyssandra, who can be a lot more timid with exposing the darker side of her emotions in her music and art and tends to hide meaning behind whimsy on the regular, this collaboration was a thematic challenge. It led to creating deeper layers in the illustrations, opening them up to being cut apart, and exposing that even the cutest wolf has a shadow, which developed this work into a papercut escapade. You can explore several of her musical projects and adventures at talesofalyssandra.com or follow her instagram @alyssssandra.
Poetry Bleeding #3, 2018
I really exicted to be doing ONE MORE last co-feature with my dearest poetry dad, G. Murray Thomas at Poetry Bleeding on Friday, April 6, at 7 pm. This one will have special guest host, Dave Russo, while Alan Passman recovers from a kidney transplant (GO ALAN!!). The divine, Robin Axworthy will also be joining us. The event will be at Viento Y Agua Coffeehouse, 4007 E. 4th St. in Long Beach. Check out the FB page for more details.
Recording from “Women in Poetry Night” at Hellada Gallery on March 2017
Back in March 2017, I was privileged to feature at an event at Hellada Gallery with other phenomenal women in my community to celebrate National Women’s History Month. It was hosted by Tiffany Dawn Hasse and included some of my favorite poets in the Long Beach community: Shy But Flyy,Elmast Kozloyan, Erin Foley, and Tina Lim. What’s even more incredible is that the owner of the gallery, Marek Dzida, recorded the entire event live on this really neat online TV platform called Periscope. If you have time, you can watch the entire event. If you only have a little time, my set begins at 2:01:00.
Women of Wonder at the Wine Bar
Very excited to join all these Women of Wonder on Wednesday, August 23rd, for a night of poetry, music, and art. Each of these women, Rachel Galindo, Tiffany Dawn Hasse, Shy But Flyy, Melissa Lussier, and Yeggi Kaela Watts, is a force in our Long Beach community! The wonder begins at 7 pm at 250 W. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach. Check out the Facebook event page for more details!
Off the Page: The Story Behind the Stanzas
Upcoming Poetry Events for January and February 2017
I have several upcoming events I am hosting or featuring in the next few months. Join me for one or more!
Monday, January 9th from 7-9:30 pm at Fox Coffee House 437 W. Willow St. in Long Beach RSVP on Facebook
Friday, January 13th from 6-9 pm at MADE by Millworks 240 Pine Ave. in Long Beach RSVP on Facebook
Saturday, January 28th from 2-5 pm at MADE by Millworks 240 Pine Ave. in Long Beach RSVP on Facebook
Friday, February 3rd from 7-9 pm at Half-Off Books 6708 Greenleaf Ave in Whittier RSVP on Facebook
Thursday, February 16th from 7-10 at WeLabs 235 E Broadway, Fl 8th in Long Beach RSVP on Facebook
Saturday, March 4th from 3-5 pm at Santa Catalina Branch Library 999 E Washington Blvd in Pasadena RSVP on Facebook
The Definitive Soapbox on December 16th, 2016
 Of all the things I love about Long Beach, community is my favorite. Fox Coffee House has been host to many community events, such as two weekly open mics, various special book releases, and two monthly poetry readings, 2nd Mondays Poetry Party and The Definitive Soapbox. Some poets have been gathering under the banner of Long Beach Renaissance with the goal of furthering poetry in our community. We are attacking this goal on multiple fronts, gathering leaders, exchanging hosts as features, and even having parties together! On Friday, December 16th, G. Murray Thomas and I will be featuring for The Definitive Soapbox. It starts at 7 pm with an open reading list and lots of good vibes!
Fox Coffee House 437 W. Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90806
Sarah Thursday 