The Century House Reading series will resume on Sunday, Feb. 3, at the Century House, 2401 Santa Rita Road. The event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. and admission is $5.
Pleasanton Poet Laureate Martha Meltzer will host the reading, which will feature accomplished poets Dane Cervine and John Rowe.
Cervine has had more than 100 poems published in various journals including The Sun, the Hudson Review and the Atlanta Review. His poem, “The Jeweled Net of Indra,” won the 2005 National Writers Union competition.
He began writing poetry in high school, but put it aside until his mid-30s when he started a family.
“Poetry was a perfect creative outlet for me as a parent,” Cervine said. “It aroused such a depth of feeling, but the form itself is relatively short, unlike writing a novel.”
Cervine currently resides in Santa Cruz where he works as a therapist and poet. More recently, his new book, “The Jeweled Net of Indra,” was published in 2007. He will be reading selections from the new book during the readings as well as selections from “What a Father Dreams” and the Emerald St. Writers anthology.
Rowe, an East Bay native, is a common figure in the local poetry scene. He serves as the president of the Bay Area Poets Coalition as well as the associate editor of Poetalk magazine.
Rowe began writing poetry in the mid-1980s after becoming intrigued by a college poetry course.
“For me personally, it connects me to my life experience and it deepens and transforms that experience,” Rowe said.
Rowe also said that being a shy young man, it gave him a way to freely express his feelings.
“I love it when I have an experience present itself to me and know instantly that I have to write a poem,” he said.
Many of Rowe’s poems have appeared in numerous publications, such as Bay Area Post Seasonal Review, Brevities and Poetry Depth Quarterly. His biggest accomplishment may be his chapbook, “At My Wit’s Beginning,” which won the grand prize in the 2002 Dancing Poetry Festival contest.
Following the reading there will be an open mic segment. At that time any aspiring or accomplished poets of all ages may read a favorite or original poem of 40 lines or less.
The Century House Readings take place on the first Sunday of even numbered months.
For more information contact Michelle Russo at 931-5361 or mrusso@ci.pleasanton.ca.us or visit civicartsliterary.org.
