VIRTUAL EVENT: Zoom Forward!: In Celebration of the Muse, Part 1, featuring women writers of the Monterey Bay area.
Founded by Jory Post, Zoom Forward! is an ongoing reading series to showcase writers, keep our cultural spirits high, and support Bookshop Santa Cruz. Presented by phren-Z, Catamaran, and Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Live on Zoom (link and instructions provided upon signup). Register here.
Featuring:
DENA TAYLOR
Dena Taylor’s most recent book is Exclamation Points: Collected Poems. She is also the co-author, with her daughter Becky Taylor, of Tell Me the Number before Infinity: The story of a girl with a quirky mind, an eccentric family, and oh yes, a disability. She is currently working on an anthology of writings by women over 80.
DEBORAH BRYANT
Deborah seeks to engage a diverse audience with original written works and is supported by colleagues in 36º North, a playwrights’ collective located in Santa Cruz, California. Her play The Mooring won the 2013 Bay Area Full-Length Play contest.
CLAUDIA STERNBACH
Claudia has lived in Santa Cruz County for four decades. She is the author of three memoirs, Now Breathe, Whitaker Press, Reading Lips, Unbridled Books and most recently Dear Goldie Hawn, Dear Leonard Cohen published by Paper Angel Press. She has written for several news publications, was a regular columnist for the Santa Cruz Sentinel and served as Editor in Chief for the literary journal, Memoir. She now enjoys writing for Lookout Local Santa Cruz.
ARFAH DAUD
Arfah Daud was born in Malaysia but has made her home in the U.S. for many years. She received her MFA from Antioch University, Los Angeles, and has work published in Sin Fronteras, Spillway, New Plains Review and many other journals. She now lives in Santa Cruz and is a high school teacher.
JULIA CHIAPELLA
Julia’s poetry has appeared in Avatar Review, Edison Literary Review, I-70 Review, Midwest Quarterly, OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters, The Opiate Magazine, Pirene’s Fountain, Catamaran Literary Magazine, and West Branch among others. She co-founded Santa Cruz Writes and is the retired director of the Young Writers Program, which she established in 2012. She received the Gail Rich Award for creative contributions to Santa Cruz County and has taught as both a classroom teacher and a writing teacher. She is a member of The Hive Poetry Collective (hivepoetry.org) which hosts a Sunday evening poetry show on KSQD FM 90.66 as well as bi-monthly poetry readings at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
SAROJANI ROHAN
Sarojani Rohan is a poet, musician and artist, who thrills to the place where she can creatively engage with the Muse. A vegan and student of Surat Shabd Yoga, she lives with her husband in the Santa Cruz Mountains where she counts the redwoods as part of her extended family. Sarojani has been published in many journals and anthologies including Sisters Singing, Landscape of The Soul, and the latest, Second Wind: Poems of Resilience and Hope published in 2020.
SAMANTHA ELFIQHI
Samantha is a second-year student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is working towards a degree in Literature with a concentration on Creative Writing. Samantha has been writing stories since she was young and has been able to transfer that passion into her academic career. She is looking at a future in editing or education and is excited to be a part of new writing communities.
JOAN PREBILICH
Joan is a Berkeley-educated author and retired language teacher who spent part of her childhood in Germany and later taught in Viet-nam era Japan. Her passion for other cultures and languages is reflected in her deeply researched and historically accurate fiction. Since retiring in 2010 she has published short stories, nine novels, and is currently working on her tenth.
PAOLA BRUNI
Born to immigrant Italians, Paola Bruni attributes her odd mind to having grown up with fresh noodles drying on clothing racks in her bedroom. Paola’s poetry has been published in a variety of national and international literary journals, and she has won prizes for her work. Her debut book of poetry, an epistolary collection co-authored by the late Jory Post, is titled how do you spell the sound of crickets.
JULIE MURPHY
Julie Murphy’s poems appear or are forthcoming in Chicago Quarterly Review, Atlanta Review, Massachusetts Review, CALYX, Catamaran, SWWIM, Common Ground Review, The Red Wheelbarrow, The Louisville Review, and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, among other books and journals. A licensed psychotherapist, Julie developed Embodied Writing™ and teaches poetry at Salinas Valley State Prison. As a member of the Hive Poetry Collective, she hosts poetry programs on KSQD. Julie is a member of the Right to Write Press and the Community of Writers. She lives in Santa Cruz County, California.