As part of San José Poetry Festival 2020, this month’s edition of the Well-RED Reading Series co-sponsored by Works/San José will feature Michelle Lin, Ellery Akers, and Donnelle McGee performing via Zoom.

This is Day One of our six-day festival! Check out this list of all the events that are part of the sixth annual San José Poetry Festival or get a festival pass. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

Michelle Lin is a poet, community arts organizer, and author of A House Made of Water (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017). As NorCal Regional Co-Chair for Kundiman and co-curator of Kearny Street Workshop's reading series, she creates loving spaces centering Asian Pacific American writers and writers of color. She works in fundraising at RYSE, a liberatory safe space created by and for youth of color. Michelle received her MFA from the University of Pittsburgh’s and her BA from UC Riverside's Creative Writing program. Recent work can be found in TAYO Literary Magazine, The Margins, Asian American Literary Review, and more.

Ellery Akers is the author of three poetry books, most recently, Swerve: Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance. She’s won thirteen national writing awards, including an Independent Publisher Book Award and The Poetry International Prize. Her poetry has been featured on National Public Radio and American Life in Poetry and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Poetry, and The American Poetry Review. She’s also the author of a children’s novel, Sarah’s Waterfall. Among her honors are fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Ucross Foundation, and Headlands Center for the Arts. Also an artist and naturalist, Akers lives in Marin County and teaches private poetry workshops.

Donnelle McGee is the author of GHOST MAN, a novel (Sibling Rivalry Press), SHINE, a novella (Sibling Rivalry Press), and NAKED, a collection of poetry (Unbound Content). He earned his MFA from Goddard College. He is a faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara, California. His work has appeared in Controlled Burn, Colere, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Home Planet News, Iodine Poetry Journal, Permafrost, River Oak Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review, and Willard & Maple, among others. He also serves as the Lead Poetry Editor for Clockhouse. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

San José Poetry Festival 2020

Want more poetry? Check out the rest of the San José Poetry Festival 2020 lineup. The sixth annual San José Poetry Festival celebrates our community’s diverse ethnic and cultural heritage with a wide range of topics and literary styles reflected in performances, workshops, and a small press fair. This year, the festival will move online to keep our community safe while keeping us all connected.

San José Poetry Festival 2020 is presented by Poetry Center San José and is sponsored in part by: Festival and Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council; funding from Poets & Writers; and with support from Anne & Mark's Art Party and The Center for Literary Arts. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to our originally booked live venues for this festival: the Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Forager, History/San José, Recycle Bookstore, and Works/San José.

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook and Twitter for announcements about performers and events as we get closer to the festival. Also, hear about other amazing South Bay poetry events!