by Portia Choi | Mar 13, 2017 | Events, Featured Poet, Interviews, Pictures, Poems
Shanna O’Brien was the featured performer at the Open Mic on March 3. The Open Mic is held at Dagny Coffee, downtown Bakersfield, every First Friday at 6:00 pm. O’Brien has performed since 1980. A few of the places were the Mandarin Hotel in Singapore and MGM...
by Portia Choi | Feb 8, 2017 | Featured Poet, Features, Pictures
Tony O’Brien was the featured poet at First Friday Open Mic on February 3, 2017. O’Brien is also a photographer and a jazz musician. He melded his talents of being a poet and a photographer for his performance. At the open mic, he had participants hold up...
by Portia Choi | Jan 20, 2017 | Events, Pictures
Story by Portia Choi with Contributions by Martin Chang There was a first time event in poetry for Kern County on January 18, 2017. It was the Poetry Out Loud competition in which high school students recited famous poems by memory. The event took place at the...
by Portia Choi | Jan 11, 2017 | Events, Pictures
by Portia Choi The day was dawning when I arrived at Dagny’s Coffee at 6:55 am. The front door was locked, and there were workers inside with dim lights. When the main lights went on and the door was unlocked, several cars parked and several men got into Dagny’s. ...
by Portia Choi | Jan 11, 2017 | Featured Poet, Pictures, Poems
story by Portia Choi On the First Friday of January 2017, the featured poets at Dagny’s Coffee were Joseph Mosconi, Barry Michael and Maryah Paige Chester. They read from their poetry books which were in themselves a work of art. Each book was unusual and unique in...
by Portia Choi | Jan 5, 2017 | Featured Poet, Interviews, Pictures, Poems
Story by: Martin Chang Photos by: Greg D. Cook and Martin Chang top box photo provided by Chris Fendt Chris Fendt is inspired by different aspects of life. For Fendt, a chance meeting with a stranger, his favorite music, or quiet moments in Bakersfield, can...
by Portia Choi | Dec 21, 2016 | Featured Poet, Pictures
photos by Greg D. Cook story by Portia Choi Ara Shirinyan was the last guest poet of the Bakersfield Fan Forum at California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) Todd Madigan Gallery. He performed at the gallery on November 30, 2016. Shirinyan is a poet,...
by Portia Choi | Dec 14, 2016 | Featured Poet, Pictures
The Open Mic for December 2016 featured Yaritza I. Castro. Castro has been an active member of the poetry community and has performed at the Open Mic several times. She read from her first poetry book “Unfinished Poems for a Lover.” To read more on Castro...
by Portia Choi | Dec 7, 2016 | Events, Featured Poet, Pictures
By Portia Choi, with contributions by Martin Chang Photos by Martin Chang On December 1, 2016 the California Poet Laureate, Dana Gioia, was the presenter at the December Room of the Walter Stiern Library at California State University, Bakersfield. He was...
by Portia Choi | Nov 30, 2016 | Featured Poet, Pictures
Story by Portia Choi Photos by Martin Chang Yaritza I. Castro is another poet who found a place to express her writing at First Friday Open Mic at Dagny’s Coffee. She started attending First Friday Open Mic at Dagny’s Coffee in summer 2015. Castro found out about the...
