Quhat drowsie sleepe doth syle your eyes allace
Ye sacred brethren of Castalian band

Since the earliest days of the store, back in the late 20th century, Jerry Ferraz, peripatetic troubadour & bard, has been the cornerstone of our poetry readings — participating in the first triple bill of poets and hosting our ongoing series since its inception.  Born in Eureka Valley back in the very early 50s, he proves the adage which posits that if you remember the 60s, you weren’t there… he lost a year or two along the way, and will be happy to take them back if you find them somewhere!  Nonetheless, for decades he and his small guitars have been sighted at the bus stops, hovering over PG&E digs, wandering through the parks and bars and cafes…  Now he drives an efficient little car, but he’s still the same wandering seer, mystic & trickster.  And with Jerry at the wheel, the Bird & Beckett poetry bus rolls on in 2013, though the series has moved now to a once-a-month Third-Thursdays schedule, still boasting a featured poet or two at each session followed by an open mic.

Fitting, then, that one of our featured poets this week, Kent Leatham, makes a study of the Scottish poets of the 14th to 16th century and will regale us with some of the translations he’s done from time to time in recent years, as well as original work.  And fitting as well that our other featured poet, Dan Liberthson, writes in the present day, of present day concerns.

Born in Rochester, New York, Dan Liberthson attended Reed College, Northwestern University (BA, history) and SUNY at Buffalo (PhD, English).  His poetry and writing are driven by a few core beliefs: the importance of telling a story, the need to tell it in a disciplined way, and a belief that the sound of the language, too often neglected, is a forceful agent of expression. He’s been published in small magazines, professional reviews, and newsletters.  Dan lives up the canyon from the store, in Miraloma Park.

Kent Leatham grew up on the Monterey Peninsula, but subsequently lived in Seattle, Boston, and Pittsburgh before returning to the Bay Area in 2012. His poems and translations have appeared on buses, broadsides, and, briefly, between the teeth of a taxidermied hippopotamus in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, as well as in more traditional venues such as Fence, Zoland, Poetry Quarterly, Poets & Artists,InTranslation,and The Battered Suitcase. Kent serves as a poetry editor for Black Lawrence Press, and spends his free time translating 14^th-16^th century poetry from Scots to English. He lives in Glen Park.