Poetry Gatherings
Since 1919, the Ina Coolbrith Circle has gathered to keep the history and literature of California alive. Our signature monthly gatherings provide a forum for discussions on Golden State poetry by members and speakers, as well as hosting special programs like poetry salons and seminars.
Signature monthly gatherings
- Purpose: To provide a forum for featured talks and discussions on California poetry and history, while offering an open-mic venue for our members to share their work.
- Format: Each gathering features a guest speaker or historical presentation, followed by an interactive group discussion and an open-mic session for members.
- Schedule: We generally meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 2:00 PM (PT) during our program year, which runs from September through May.
- Who Can Attend: Gatherings are open to all members. Guests are warmly welcomed as invitees of a member or guest speakers. Become a member to join us
- How to Attend: Meetings are currently held online via Zoom. Access details are distributed to members via the Secretary’s monthly email.
Special programs
Beyond our monthly Saturday gatherings, from time to time, the Circle hosts poetry salons and seminars. These curated events are advertised exclusively to our member community via email.
Scheduled gatherings
Sat, Sep 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Contest winners poetry reading
Winners from the Ina Coolbrith Circle’s annual 2026 contest read their winning poems.
Sat, Oct 17, 2026 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is David Alpaugh. An open mic will follow.
Sat, Nov 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is Robert Lavett Smith. An open mic will follow.
Robert Lavett Smith lives in San Francisco. He holds a B.A. in French from Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also studied creative writing with Stuart Friebart and David Young. He received an M.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire, studying with Charles Simic and Mekeel McBride. At the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City, which had been established as a secular cultural, literary and spiritual space for the community, he joined the Master Class and studied with Galway Kinnell. Bob has authored four small-press chapbooks and five full-length works: 1) Everything Moves with a Disfigured Grace, 2) Smoke in Cold Weather: A Gathering of Sonnets, 3) The Widower Considers Candles, 4) Sturgeon Moon, and 5) Collected Early Poems.
We will join Bob on Saturday, Nov. 21, to celebrate his latest publication, This Late in the Season: Poems. Here I paraphrase and add a few words to the insightful comments on Bob’s book by Janet Wildung, author of The Archaeology of Negative Space:
In this latest collection, Robert Lavett Smith deftly revisits themes common in his preceding work: grief, death, anger, injustice, the past. But there is also something new, a profound longing for a world from which—through injury, illness, and age—he has become increasingly exiled. Almost entirely confined for the past six years to a small studio apartment, the room and the bit of space immediately outside his windows serve as the backdrop for many of the poems in this book. His loneliness, frustration, and dread are as keenly expressed as felt.
Despite all this, it’s not relentlessly grim. This tapestry of 93 poems is threaded with Bob’s signature black, or as it’s called lately, serious humor. Lighter moments of whimsey and poems about his beloved cat, Solstice, sparkle brilliantly amid the darkness to create a balanced collection. Spiderwebs receive the same attention as the stars, and something as simple as wind moving through the trees is beautifully exalted.
I want to add that Bob is a member of the Ina Coolbrith Circle and in his presentation, Bob will read some of the poems from his latest book, as well as sharing some of his newer poems.
Robert Lavett Smith lives in San Francisco. He holds a B.A. in French from Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also studied creative writing with Stuart Friebart and David Young. He received an M.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire, studying with Charles Simic and Mekeel McBride. At the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City, which had been established as a secular cultural, literary and spiritual space for the community, he joined the Master Class and studied with Galway Kinnell. Bob has authored four small-press chapbooks and five full-length works: 1) Everything Moves with a Disfigured Grace, 2) Smoke in Cold Weather: A Gathering of Sonnets, 3) The Widower Considers Candles, 4) Sturgeon Moon, and 5) Collected Early Poems.
We will join Bob on Saturday, Nov. 21, to celebrate his latest publication, This Late in the Season: Poems. Here I paraphrase and add a few words to the insightful comments on Bob’s book by Janet Wildung, author of The Archaeology of Negative Space:
In this latest collection, Robert Lavett Smith deftly revisits themes common in his preceding work: grief, death, anger, injustice, the past. But there is also something new, a profound longing for a world from which—through injury, illness, and age—he has become increasingly exiled. Almost entirely confined for the past six years to a small studio apartment, the room and the bit of space immediately outside his windows serve as the backdrop for many of the poems in this book. His loneliness, frustration, and dread are as keenly expressed as felt.
Despite all this, it’s not relentlessly grim. This tapestry of 93 poems is threaded with Bob’s signature black, or as it’s called lately, serious humor. Lighter moments of whimsey and poems about his beloved cat, Solstice, sparkle brilliantly amid the darkness to create a balanced collection. Spiderwebs receive the same attention as the stars, and something as simple as wind moving through the trees is beautifully exalted.
I want to add that Bob is a member of the Ina Coolbrith Circle and in his presentation, Bob will read some of the poems from his latest book, as well as sharing some of his newer poems.
Sat, Jan 16, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is Renée Berland. An open mic will follow.
Sat, Feb 20, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is Angie Minkin. An open mic will follow.
Sat, Mar 20, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is Deborah Schmidt. An open mic will follow.
Sat, Apr 17, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is Evie Groch. An open mic will follow.
Sat, May 22, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Monthly gathering
Our guest speaker is California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick. An open mic will follow.
Sat, Jun 5, 2027 at 2:00 PM (PT)
Ina Coolbrith Contest Awards
Winners from the 2027 Ina Coolbrith Contest will be announced.