Dear Friends,
Having run a bimonthly poetry series in town for the last 19 years, I find that one of my favorite events does not include impressive UC Davis faculty, East Coast traveling poets, or Bay Area poetry superstars. Instead, it features junior high students talking about climate change.
Because of the inspiring work of Julia Levine, the fifth poet laureate of the City of Davis (I was the third), on the first Thursday in December the John Natsoulas Gallery is filled with more than a dozen first-time performers. Supported by a grant provided by The Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship, Julia works with Da Vinci Junior High students to help them understand, reflect upon, and write about climate change, and the earth that we older citizens of the world are leaving them.
Encouraged by parents, family friends, and Poetry Night regulars, the young poets are introduced by Julia before taking the microphone to share their best poem. Sometimes confident speakers will also read the poem of a classmate who couldn’t attend the event, or who was too shy to speak before the crowd.
The poetry is authentic, surprising, and poignant. Often the peers will cheer the loudest after one of their classmates finishes performing a poem.
Below find an excerpt from the press release for this special event. I hope you will consider joining us to cheer, to reflect, and to buy a copy of the new anthology To the Human Race. I also encourage you to join us every first and third Thursday at 7 for The Poetry Night Reading Series at the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis.
Dear Friends of Poetry,
The Poetry Night Reading Series will feature Davis junior high poets and their new book, To the Human Race. We will meet at 7 PM on Thursday, December 4th, 2025, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.
Our December 4th night of poetry will feature young poets who have worked with Davis poet laureate emerita Julia B. Levine to write poems about resilience and climate change. The poems have been collected in a 16 Rivers Press book titled To the Human Race. Most of the authors whose work has been anthologized in this special collection will read their individual poems. Courtesy of Julia B. Levine and others, food and drink will contribute to the festive atmosphere.
December 4th is also the 95th birthday of Allegra Silberstein, the poet laureate of our hearts. We hope she will join us for this special event and to be appropriately feted.
An open mic will follow the young featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to four minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. As Robert Southey says, “Be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams – the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”
The open mic list typically fills by 6:35 PM, so please arrive early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour. Attendees who request to be added to the list after 7 PM will be invited to try again at a subsequent event.
The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Lacee and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis.
Find out more about the Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting https://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list.
Readers scheduled to perform in 2026 include Gabrielle Myers, Pamela Pan, Grant Faulkner, Susan Wolbarst, Matt Mitchell, Connie Johnstone, Bob Stanley, Mercedes Ibanez, Wolf Fox, Molly Fisk, and Bill O’Daly.
The Poetry Night Reading Series has been committed to serving the literary and arts community in the city of Davis since 2006. Happening every 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at the Natsoulas Gallery, each reading contains two featured poets followed by an open mic. Poetry in Davis was voted “Best Open Mic” in The California Aggie’s “Best of Davis″ edition and has been featured in Davis Life Magazine. The more than 400 featured poets have included UC Davis faculty Francisco X. Alarcón, John Boe, Zinzi Clemmons, Joshua Clover, Luci Corin, Iris Jamahl Dunkle, Jack Forbes, Lynn Freed, Sandra Gilbert, Laurie Glover, Rae Gouirand, Brad Henderson, Pamela Houston, Andy Jones, Clarence Major, Sandra McPherson, Maceo Montoya, André Naffis-Sahely, Cindy Ok, Katie Peterson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Margaret Ronda, Gary Snyder, Joe Wenderoth, and Alan Williamson, as well as many regional and traveling poets, including Molly Peacock, Jane Hirshfield, Dana Gioia, and James Ragan.
It will be unseasonably warm this evening (for December), but there will be a breeze. I hope you will join me outside. Perhaps bring an extra layer to warm your lap. I invite you to join the regulars and irregulars for the social event of the week featuring 31 questions on a variety of topics you should know something about. Bring some friends! Today’s pub quiz is 912 words long, if we include the answers.
In addition to topics raised above and below, expect questions tonight on the following: rappers, time travel, tax avoidance, federal-style homes, produce in California, hopping puns, VeggieTales, climbing, GenAI, minor characters, drummers, the gaits of bears, black comedies, U.S. presidents, kings, disasters, domestic witches, buddies, hills, shy words, postwar greats, clubs, runs, trail hikes, the planet Venus, holiday favorites, itinerant teams, hilarious landlords, important jobs, African heroes, gold markets, rampant anger, viral marketing, protecting children, borders, film villains, sunshine, world capitals, U.S. states, geography, current events, and Shakespeare.
For more Pub Quiz fun, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 80 Patreon members now, including the new paid subscribers Esther, James, Damian, Jim, and Meebles! Thanks also to new subscribers Prescott, Bill and Diane, Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. Maybe next week it will be you! I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, whose players or substitutes keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the cost of the aforementioned avocado. I appreciate the Mavens’ kind words to me in the newspaper. Thanks in particular to my paid subscribers on Substack. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. Also, I sometimes remember to add an extra hint on Patreon. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
I also want to recognize those who visit my Substack the most often, including Luna, Jean, Ron, Myrna, and Maria, to whom I send sustained compassion. My newest subscriber on Substack is Darca! I’m almost to 300!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week:
- Mottos and Slogans. What company used to promise us that they are “The Best Part of Wakin’ Up”?
- Internet Culture. What company is facing an FAA probe after its delivery drone snapped an internet cable in Waco, Texas?
- Newspaper Headlines. According to today’s New York Times, the gastronomic guide Michelin has singled out three restaurants that serve Cheesesteak, setting off a loud local debate about tradition and innovation. Name the city.