September 21, 2017: Poetry Café Bellas Artes

Inaugural Poetry Reading

By Maia Williams

The inaugural reading of the 2017‒2018 season of Poetry Café Bellas Artes will be held on Thursday, September 21, at 5:00 PM when three poets will share their work. There will be a special nod to Rumi (October 7, 1207‒December 24, 1273), the 13^th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet, scholar, theologian, and mystic.

Linda Laino is an artist, writer and teacher who has been making art in one form or another for over 35 years. Holding an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, she enjoys playing with words as much as form and color. Since 2012, she has resided in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where the surreal atmosphere and sensuous colors have wormed their way into her paintings. Finding beautiful things on the ground is a favorite pastime. Her art can be seen at www.lindalaino.com. Her essays and poetry have been published by Elephant Journal, The New Engagement, Sheila-Na-Gig Journal, and Life In 10 Minutes.

Ravi Nathwani, co-editor of Mala of the Heart—108 Sacred Poems and MALA of Love 108 Luminous Poems was born in a business family in East Africa and raised in India in the Vaishnav Hindu tradition. He lectures on a variety of Vedic studies and teaches Yoga Teacher Training workshops across the USA.Ravi created a new course, Hindu Yoga & Buddhist Meditation, and taught it at Tufts University from 1998-2014. He also taught at JFK University in California.

In the United States and Mexico he leads satsangs and meditation groups and teaches the Bhagvad Gita, Yoga Sutras, Law of Karma and Advaita Vedanta.

Ravi has an MBA from Boston University and has lived in Mumbai, London, Boston, San Francisco and Mexico.

Wendy Bichel is a lyricist, librettist and composer with an MFA in Music Theater Writing from NYU. Her works have been produced in New York City and San Miguel. In the last four years she has expanded from lyrics into poetry, but the musicality remains. My Affair with Rumi, her poetry manuscript, is a rich collection of the sacred and the profane. She is married to pianist and composer, Ken Bichel.

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Founded in January of 2016, Poetry Café Bellas Artes meets monthly, September through April. This all-volunteer community organization features local and visiting poets (established and emerging) sharing original work in a casual setting.

Please arrive a few minutes early. Seating is first come, first seated.