Bob Booker, Sharon Coleman, Kim Shuck + Jose Luis Gutierrez

Bob Booker, Sharon Coleman, Kim Shuck, and Jose Luis Gutierrez will read at 7 pm on Friday, April 14th, at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Avenue, a little north of Hearst, in Berkeley, as part of the Last Word Reading Series. Cafe phone is 510-841-6374. There is also an open reading.

This reading is also a celebration of the latest issue of Ambush Review.

Sharon Coleman’s a fifth-generation Northern Californian with a penchant for languages and their entangled word roots. She writes for Poetry Flash, co-curates the reading series Lyrics & Dirges and co-directs the Berkeley Poetry Festival. She’s the author of a chapbook of poetry, Half Circle, and a book of micro-fiction, Paris Blinks, that came out from Paper Press in 2016. Her most recent publications appear in Your Impossible Voice, White Stag, and Ambush Review.

Kim Shuck is a poet, regalia maker and educator. Shuck is author of four solo books, many works that have appeared in anthologies and literary journals, and thousands of irritable postings on social media. She holds an MFA in Fine Art /textiles from San Francisco State University, has won awards including a bay area Local Hero Award and a first book award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and she is fascinated by shiny objects. Kim’s latest book is Clouds Running In which was published by Taurean Horn Press.

José Luis Gutiérrez is a San Francisco-based poet. His work has appeared in Eratio, Scythe, Margie, Poemeleon, DMQ, The Cortland Review, Jetfuel, Caliban and the anthologies Mutanabbi Street Starts Here and 99 Poems for the 99 Percent and is forthcoming in Metonym, Xavier Review and Kestrel, among others. His first poetry collection, A World Less Away, was published in 2016.

Bob Booker is a longtime contributor to the San Francisco-Bay Area poetry scene as a poet, editor, teacher, performer and promoter: Co-editor of Tunnel Road, Leanfrog, A North American Haiku Publication, Awaa-te Publications, and Ambush Review; Co-Producer of “The Alchemy of the Word – Live at Venue 9”, and Founder/Producer of the Poet’s Stage for the North Beach Festival, 1996-2000. He is also the author of several collections of poetry, including “First Poems & Other Things,” “Moonlight on Paper, Selected Haiku,” “A Congenial Ear,” “Sketching the Void” and “Fragments of a Dream,” from No Press Publications. He presently conducts a poetry workshop for the elderly in Oakland and is the Event Coordinator for The Beat Museum, North Beach, SF. In his own words: “My whole approach to poetry is to transcend the words and get closer to the music.”

The Last Word Reading Series is presented by Nefeli Caffe, a cafe/restaurant that serves dinners, tapas, coffee drinks, beer, wine, and more in a beautiful and colorful atmosphere. Dinner here is wonderful and should not be missed. Admission is free.