Clive Matson’s roots in the beat generation go back to NYC in the early 1960s, and he’s been an important writing guru in the Bay Area for decades. We’re pleased to welcome him back to the shop with his recent collection, Hello Paradise, Paradise Goodbye. He’s a reliable link to the consciousness that bloomed from the cataclysm of World War II, significant as we enter a period of massive doubt that history will not repeat itself as parody or farce, but as a new cataclysm of profound loss and tragedy. The moment is dire. The Beats looked at a devastated world and plumbed its reality with all the creative tools at their disposal. The beat goes on.

Clive is joined tonight by Karen Pierce Gonzalez. Just the titles of her book, Moon kissed, Earth wrought, Vision drunk (Bottlecap Press 2025), and her six chapbooks to include Down River with Li Po (Black Cat Poetry Press 2025), RavenSong (Four Feathers Press 2024) and Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs (Kelsay Books 2023) are indicative of her poetic reach. She co-hosts the North Bay Poetics monthly zoom and hosts this fall’s  #NotJustPretty zoom series, in collaboration with Broken Spine Arts, UK.

Please bring some of your poetry for the open mic that follows. Jerry Ferraz and  Michael Koch host.

Free, but bring a few bucks for the bucket to help us compensate the featured poets, who each receive a very modest stipend from the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project, supported by our kind donor base! You can join that donor base (ask us how!) and pat yourself on the back (and earn our gratitude!) for supporting the lively arts in Glen Park.

Also feel free to bring your own beverage. We have cups!

Just passing the time while waiting for your seat at the counter of La Cygale or your reservation at Manzoni? Bring a fiver for the cause and drop it in the bucket by the register! (Remember what your mother told you, and always carry some cash for an emergency and wear clean underwear in case of a car crash!)