September 19, 2019 | Poetry Café Bellas Artes

Poetry Café Begins 2019–2020 Season

By Maia Williams

Three accomplished poets will kick off the 2019–2020 Poetry Café season at Bellas Artes on September 19.

George Kalmar was born in Slovakia, but spent most of his life in the U.S., first in Philadelphia, then Bloomington, Indiana, and 32 years in Los Angeles. He completed his undergraduate degree in English at Temple University and a master’s in the Creative Writing Program at Indiana University. He was assistant editor of Scriblerian, a scholarly literary magazine; founder and CEO of International Education Services; and past president of Artcore Union Center for the Arts in Los Angeles. He has published his poems in Indra, Matters, Indiana Review, Journeys, and other publications, with a recent printing of his collaborative readings with Adolfo Guzman Lopez. Kalmar has been a frequent reader at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, California, and at Valley Contemporary Poets and Avenue. He currently works as a sculptor in San Miguel where he has lived with his wife Julie and son Jonah for the past five years.

Catherine Marenghi, a Massachusetts native happily transplanted in San Miguel, is an award-winning poet and memoirist. She was twice winner of the Crossroads Flash Writing Contest; this year Jennifer Clement selected her poem “A Letter to My Son in Brooklyn,” and last year Richard Blanco selected her poem “Long-Awaited Man.” She was also twice winner of the Academy of American Poets University and College Poetry Prize at Tufts University. Her poetry has appeared in journals such as Crossroads, Solamente en San Miguel, Italian Americana, Sisyphus, Mobius, Conclave, Phi Kappa Phi Forum, and Peregrine Journal. Her upcoming poetry book Breaking Bread will be published by Finishing Line Press in January 2020. Catherine is also author of Glad Farm: A Memoir, an acclaimed story of poverty, resilience, and the power of a house to shape our destiny. She earned a combined M.A., B.A. summa cum laude from Tufts University, where she studied poetry under Denise Levertov and X.J. Kennedy.

Mary Katherine Wainwright is a retired professor of American literature currently living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She is the author of A Taste of Salt,her first published collection of poetry. She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies at Purdue University and taught literature for over 30 years at major U.S. colleges and universities. She currently teaches classes in poetry and literature at the Lifelong Learning Program at the Centro Cultural / Instituto Allende and the San Miguel Writers’ Conference. Mary Katherine has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the McKnight Foundation for Education, among others, and her poetry has been published in literary journals including Kalliope, Phoebe, Florida English, and Sarasota Review. Her collection of personal essays, En Route, will be published by the end of the year.

Founded in January 2016, Poetry Café Bellas Artes is an all-volunteer organization that presents monthly poetry readings September through April. Local and visiting poets share original work in a casual setting.

Please arrive a few minutes early. Seating is limited.