Thursday, June 17
The Nevada County Poetry Series presents
Jon Longhi and B.L. Kennedyl
7:30PM, $5 general, seniors and students
$1 for those under 18
Refreshments and open-mic included

The Nevada County Poetry Series is celebrating the absurdities of life, the challenges of living it and the joy of making it through one more day. Board member, Bill Gainer says, “We are privileged to bring two of Northern California's most notorious outsiders, Jon Longhi and B.L. Kennedy to our stage. Longhi lives on the fringe of outrageousness – where the absurdities of what should not be get compressed into the reality of his everyday. Kennedy is in your face with a street wise smart that has been lived – hard." Gainer says, “These guys bring it – all.” 

Jon Longhi of San Francisco is the author of four books of prose, including Wake Up and Smell the Beer (Manic D Press). His writing, which critics have compared to Terry Southern, Charles Bukowski, and Hunter S. Thompson, has also appeared in San Francisco Noir (Akashic Books) and Retaking the Universe: William S. Burroughs in the Age of Globalization (Pluto Press). Most recently, his critical writing on popular culture can be found at www.nbcbayarea.com. The San Francisco Bay Guardian says, “Anyone who’s an admirer of Richard Brautigan’s unclassifiable Trout Fishing in America will be drawn to the eccentric, wandering vision of Longhi’s prose.” Gainer says, “Be ready to laugh, this guy is hilarious!”

B.L. Kennedy has served the Sacramento literary communities by spearheading many poetry reading, fundraisers and major poetry events. Some of these events include the now famous: World's longest Outdoor Poetry Marathon (1986, 1996, and 2006), the annual October in the Railroad Earth – an Annual Tribute to Jack Kerouac (1980-2004) and the establishment of a special collection of books and collectibles from Sacramento writers at the UCD Shields Library. In 2005, Kennedy and Linda Thorell received a grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission to establish the Archives Group, dedicated to preserving the history of Sacramento's poetry scene on videotape.  The product of this collaboration is the documentary film, I Began to Speak.  Kennedy's reviews, interviews, poems and artwork regularly appear in the Rattlesnake Review and on Medusa’s Kitchen (medusaskitchen.blogspot.com). Kennedy recently retired from a ten year stint of co-hosting the nationally renowned Poetry Unplugged at Luna's in Sacramento.  Many consider him the unofficial Poet Laureate of Sacramento.

The reading and open-mic will be videoed for presentation on Nevada County TV, channel 11.

Tickets available at the door for $5 general, seniors and students, and $1 for those under 18, refreshments and open-mic included.  The show will be in the Off Center Stage (the Black Box theater, enter from Richardson Street) at the Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA. For more information call (530) 432-8196 or (530) 274-8384.