– featuring Richmond poet Steve Arntson.

Doors open at 7 pm & reading at 7:30 pm, with live improv jazz.

Dinner available.

215 Main St., Point Arena.

A lifetime piano player, Steve was born in Massachussetts but moved west with his family in 1951, attending school in the Seattle area before attending the University of Washington and later at Willamette University in Salem, OR.

In 1964, he moved to California and began teaching in the Sonoma State music department. He stayed there for four years, and then began teaching piano privately in Berkeley, where he stumbled upon his first poetry reading. Starting out as a “listener”, he eventually got the courage to write and read, and, following the example of his favorite performance poets, he was drawn to memorizing. In time, he discovered his work concentrated on two themes: the Oregon coast and Burning Man. As a result, his body of work over the last few decades is devoted to the” literature of place.”

In his words, “concentrating on these stories and poems I have found a certain freedom – as the idea of variations on a theme is powerful. Music has served to give a backbone to these writings and strengthens the lines. Rhythm is essential to getting it right, and I treat the word as music essentially.”

His work appears widely in anthologies including the Fresh Hot Bread put out by Waverley Writers of Palo Alto. He has also featured in many of the Bay Area venues where the spoken word is heard. He says, I have read “in virtually every poetry reading there ever was in the Bay Area – almost always performing from memory. If I have a reputation and popularity it is primarily due to the fact – from Cafe Babar in the late 80s to the Art House on Shattuck in Berkeley, I’ve been involved and active as ever.”

At 73, he sees writing and performance as a discipline and makes a point of writing daily. He is currently working to put out a handwritten book that tells of a journey to the Oregon.

Our popular Poets & Writers sponsored events take place in Point Arena, California. Each month’s gathering begins at 7:30 P.M. with an open mic and concludes with a reading by our featured poet. The guest performer generally reads between 20 and 40 minutes.

For more information, email: blake@snakelyone.com

Readings are held at 215 Main, a wine bar/pub in downtown Point Arena. A small jazz combo plays before and after the reading and generally accompanies the local as well as our featured poets (just about all of them elect to read with the band). The usual audience is comprised of regulars (a mix of young and old, and everything in the middle, as well as reflecting our multi-racial community), visitors from points, north and south of Point Arena, plus the smattering of tourists who just happen to stumble upon us. All of our past readers rave about how attentive, responsive, and open our audiences are.