Petaluma Poetry Walk 10-Year Anthology, 1996-2005

The idea for the Petaluma Poetry Walk came about when Geri Digiorno, the Sonoma County Poet Laureate from 2006-2008, was having lunch out in Petaluma (California) with Judy Stedman in the '90s.  They got into a conversation with a couple from California, Pennsylvania who told them about a poetry walk in their town.  Geri thought Petaluma would be perfect for a walk.  "Everyone said, 'Why don't you do it, Geri?'  So, I did it with the help of my friend, Judy.  We walked around town looking for possible venues and made lists of poets we might get to read."  The first walk was in 1996.  Some of the poets who participated then were Diane di Prima, David Bromige, Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, Jack and Adelle Foley, Eugene Ruggles and Joyce Jenkins.  I wasn't there.  I didn't know about it or I would have been there.  I wasn't there the next year either.  I was living in San Francisco at the time.  I moved back to Petaluma in 1998 and then because of lingering ignorance on my part, I was only able to catch a couple readings my first year because I had scheduled myself somewhere else that day. The only reason I have any reason to be mentioned in this paragraph is that Geri asked me, because I had experience with editing an anthology before, to co-edit the Petaluma Poetry Walk 10-Year Anthology and that's mostly what this blog is about.  

For those of you who do not know what a poetry walk is, it's an extended poetry reading, lasting several hours of one day, which moves hourly to a different location.  The audience walks from one location to the next, hence the name.  The Petaluma Poetry Walk usually lasts from noon to 7 PM.  Each reading is at a different venue, usually in the downtown area, be it a cafe, a bakery, a bar, a bookstore, a boutique, a restaurant, an art gallery, a community art center, a jazz club, the back of a toy store, or an old movie theater converted to a music hall.  At least, those are the venues the Petaluma Walk has used so far.  The audience can choose to walk to the next venue or explore the town, have a snack and catch the ongoing reading at a later time and place.  This year, the 14th Annual Petaluma Poetry Walk is scheduled for Sunday, September 20th.  The Walk is always evolving.  Last year, it started at 10 AM ("looks like it will be the same this year") at the Petaluma Arts Center, which had just opened, which is a long (about 3 city blocks) walk from the downtown shops where most of the readings are held, and ended at the Aqus Cafe, again a bit longer walk (about 6 blocks, most drove or hitched a ride).  If you are thinking about coming, please check Geri Digiorno's blog in petaluma360.com for schedule in September.

The Petaluma Poetry Walk 10-Year Anthology will again be available at the Walk this year.  One hundred percent of the money goes directly to support the Petaluma Poetry Walk.  The book is 134 pages.  Each of the 300 copies of the first edition has been signed and numbered by Geri Digiorno.  It sells for $20.00.  There is one poem by each of the following poets who read at the Walk during its first ten years:  Kim Addonizio, Avotcja, Ellen Bass, Michelle Baynes, Francesca Bell, Dan Bellm, Richard Benbrook, Maria M. Bennett, Camincha, Chana Bloch, Brian Boldt, Kate Braverman, Summer Brenner, David Bromige, Gail Kelley Calvello, Lynn Camhi, Thomas Centolella, Cydney Chadwick, Chaudia Chapline, J. P. DancingBear, Trane Devore, Rachel Guido deVries, Geri Digiorno, Andy Dinsmoor, Chani Di Prima, Diane di Prima,  Sharon Doubiago,  Terry Ehret, Don Emblen, Ann Erickson, Bob Ernst, Ella Eytan, Randy Fingland, Gerald Fleming, Adelle Foley, Jack Foley, CB Follett, Marko Fong, Lee Francis, Kate Gale, Frank X Gaspar, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Bert Glick, Judy Grahn, Forrest Hamer, q. r. hand jr., Elizabeth Carothers Herron, Martin Hickel, Brenda Hillman, Jane Hirshfield, Robin Leslie Jacobson, Joyce Jenkins, Margaret Kaufman, Nancy Keane, Carolyn Kizer, Dorianne Laux, Priscilla Lee, Amy MacLennan, Adrianne Marcus, David Meltzer, Stephanie Mendel, Joseph Millar, Adam David Miller, Carolyn Miller, Gail Mitchell, Diana O'Hehir, Jennie Orvino, Kate Peper, D. A. Powell, Jonah Raskin, Eugene Ruggles, Kay Ryan, Ron Salisbury, Gini Savage, GP Skratz, Richard Speakes, Judy Stedman, Chris Stroffolino, Susan Terris, Truong Tran, Patti Trimble, Lynn Lymon Trombetta, Jackson Wheeler, Al Young and me.  Unfortunately, that's not all the poets who read in the first ten years, but that's all the poets we could find before our deadlines.  Our apologies to those we did not find.  

Those wanting to purchase a copy of the Petaluma Poetry Walk 10-Year Anthology, 1996 to 2005, can write to Geri Digiorno, Petaluma Poetry Walk, P. O. Box 13, Petaluma, CA 94952.  There are also some copies available at Copperfield's Books in Petaluma, http://www.copperfields.net/ or Bird & Beckett Books & Records in San Francisco, http://www.bird-beckett.com/.