BLA sponsors two Memoir Writing Groups that each meet twice a month. Having a BLA membership is required to attend. To inquire about joining the Memoir Writing Group, please email lois@requist.com
GOING THE DISTANCE—NOT THERE YET brings together writings that offer strength, hope, and solidarity in this time of ongoing viral pandemic, embedded racism, economic hardship, climate crisis, and threats to democracy. This column of poetry and short prose is published weekly in the Benicia Herald and is posted at Going The Distance. Due to space limitations, prose pieces of fewer than 350 words, or poems of fewer than 30 lines, with a maximum of 30 characters per line work best. Send your writing to msgast45@gmail.com
Benicia Literary Arts is now part of Amazon's Smile charities donation program.
Shop at smile.amazon.com and use this link to direct your donation Benicia Literary Arts. Amazon will donate to us 0.5% of your eligible purchases with no fees or extra cost. Choose Benica Literary Arts as your charity.
Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group
We gather at the Library at 6:15 for cookies and conversation and 6:30 for an open mic program.
For more information see:
We are thrilled to announce that Carolyn Plath’s memoir, Glenn’s Sister, published by Benicia Literary Arts, has been selected as a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards competition, the largest not-for-profit book awards for indie authors and publishers. Carolyn, who passed away in December 2022, was a member of one of BLA’s Memoir Groups. With vivid descriptions and wry wit, Plath, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, brings the 50s and 60s alive in this story of a family united by love but torn apart by an unspoken secret. At the book’s center lies the deep bond between Glenn and his sister Carolyn, who uses multiple points of view to tell the tragic story of her brother’s brief life with insight, understanding, and wry humor.
BENICIA READS
Books and Blankets in the Park
April 27th 10-12
Enjoy a brand-new book on a blanket in City Park. Do some literary arts and crafts. Watch some magic! Take home a free book for your library.
The event is Saturday, April 27, from 10 am to noon at City Park. Magician Dante Mancini will be on hand starting at 10:30. Families and children are invited to check out the different activities throughout the park. There will be craft tables, book tables, legos, paper bag puppets and snacks.
"One of the goals of the Benicia Reads initiative is to encourage parents and family members to talk to, sing with, and read with their young children. In a world full of devices and distractions, we easily forget how to engage with each other and especially our young people," said Leslie Beatson, Assistant Superintendent of Benicia Unified School District.
Bookshop Benicia and Benicia Literary Arts Plan Open Mic Event April 24th to Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day
Though Benicia Literary Arts has been active for over a decade, some people don’t know about the organization, so to promote Independent Bookstore Day and encourage people to know more about the literary group, Bookshop Benicia is hosting an Open Mic event on Wednesday, April 24th at 6 p.m. Bookshop Benicia is at 636 First Street in downtown Benicia.
Authors will be selling their books, writers and poets will take turns reading from an Open Microphone. Anyone can sign up and read prose or poetry for under 3 minutes and is appropriate for all ages. Attendees can ask questions and meet representatives from Benicia Literary Arts in an informal setting. Snacks will be available.
Reservations are not required. Just show up and enjoy the literary scene!
