April 19, 2012 6:30 pm at the Mifflin Community Library Featuring Reading and Governor Mifflin High School Poetry Out Loud Competitors

Join Berks Bards, Randy Boone and local Poetry Out Loud Competitors for an evening of fun and an open mic.

Readers include Yarlin Chimelis, Myriam Joseph, Aleigha Carter-Croom, Karin Normil, Dennis Moyer, Tye Morales, and Jon Allsop who will recite and Daphnee McMaster, this year's Reading High School's Poetry Out Loud winner.

Poet Randy Boone has served as a Poetry Out Loud Coach in the past.

April 15, 2012 Noon to 3 pm Room 411 at the GoggleWorks in Reading Featuring Gary Fincke

Join Berks Bards at the GoggleWorks

In the Dance Studio, room 411 at noon

For a poetry reading by Gary Fincke

Gary Fincke is the Writers Institute Director and Charles Degenstein Professor of English and Creative Writing at Susquehanna University. Winner of the 2003 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the 2003 Ohio State University/The Journal Poetry Prize, and the 2010 Stephen F. Austin Poetry. He has published 23 books of poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction. Twice awarded Pushcart Prizes for his work, recognized by Best American Stories and the O. Henry Prize series.

A book signing follows the reading.

April 14, 2012 8 pm to midnight at Mi Casa Su Casa 320 Penn St in Reading featuring Rick Kearns

Join Berks Bards at Mi Casa Su Casa for the book launch of Rufino's Secret written by Rick Kearns and printed by Foothills Publishing Company

Rick Kearns, aka Rick Kearns-Morales, is a poet, freelance writer and musician of Puerto Rican (Spanish/Taino) and European background based in Harrisburg, PA. Kearns’ poems have appeared in the following anthologies: I Was Indian (before being Indian was cool) (FootHills Publishing, NY 2009); El Coro/A Chorus of Latino and Latina Poetry (Univ. of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1997); and ALOUD; Voices from the Nuyorican Cafe (Henry Holt & Co., NY, 1994. Winner of the American Book Award.)

An open mic follows the featured reader.

Five dollar cover charge at the door. Food and drinks available.

April 11, 2012 6 pm in the Berks Penn Rooms at Reading Area Community College Featuring Deana Nikaido and Rebecca Gonzalez

The Bruce Stanley Poetry Reading Series, Poetry at Six Presents:

Deanna Nikaido is a graduate from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and the author of two collections of poetry, “Voice Like Water” and “Vibrating With Silence.” She is a recipient of the 2010 summer Bookinaday Writing Fellowship in Tuscany, Italy and the 2012 summer fellowship in Bahia, Brazil. Deanna is currently a poetry/publishing coach and design specialist for Bookinaday, a non-profit, educational services company that fosters literacy skills; a regional coordinator in Maryland for Poetry Out Loud Maryland and sits on the board of Artblocks.

Rebecca Gonzalez believes that writing poetry is closely related to music composition and art in which various elements combine to create a piece that is highly individual, the ultimate goal being that it can breathe beyond its realities. She is a Pushcart nominee and the 2008 R.E. Foundation Award winner for Outstanding Poetry. Her work has been published on-line at The Cerebral Catalyst, Haggard and Halloo and Poetryork and in print in Fledgling Rag, Hanover Sun, the York Daily Record and My Letter to the World. She is the author of Sonata for Rain, published by Iris G. Press. Her upcoming book is tentatively titled, Aerial Descending.

An open mic follows the featured readers.

April 5, 2012 at 6 pm in the Cucina Cafe in the GoggleWorks Reading for FirstThursday Featuring Cortney Bledsoe and Joe Ross

Join Berks Bards in celebrating the second appearance of Cortney Bledsoe at the Cucina Cafe and meet Joseph Ross

Joseph Ross is the author of Meeting Bone Man, coming out in April, 2012. He is a poet, twice-nominated for a Pushcart Prize, whose poems appear in many anthologies including Collective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion & Spirituality, Full Moon on K Street, and Poetic Voices Without Borders 1 and 2. He directs the Writing Center at Carroll High School in Washington, D.C. and writes regularly at www.JosephRoss.net.

CL Bledsoe is the author of the young adult novel, Sunlight, three poetry collections, ____(Want/Need), Anthem, and Leap Year and a short story collection called Naming the Animals. A poetry chapbook, Goodbye to Noise, is available online at www. righthandpointing.com/bledsoe. His story, “Leaving the Garden,” was selected as a Notable Story of 2008 for Story South’s Million Writer’s Award. He’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize 3 times. He blogs at Murder Your Darlings, http://clbledsoe.blogspot.com

An open mic will follow the featured readers.

April 2, 2012 at 6 pm Featuring Jason Schossler at theT.E.A. Factory 580 Willow St. in Reading

Join Berks Bards in our kick off event for BardFest 2012

At the T. E. A. Factory, 580 Willow Street in Reading featuring Jason Schossler

Jason is launching his new book Mud Cakes. There will be a reading, book signing and an open mic.

Jason Schossler is the 2010 winner of the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize. The award is sponsored by Bona Fide Books, and included the publication of his first book of poetry, Mud Cakes. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Schossler is the recipient of the 2009 Edwin Markham Poetry Prize and the 2010 Emerging Writer award from Grist: A Journal for Writers.

BardFest 2012 National Poetry Month in April

Coming soon to a library, art center, college or theater near you, BardFest 2012, a celebration of National Poetry Month in April features poets and writers, playwrights, indie filmmakers and dancers. Sponsored by Berks Bards, most of the events are free and open to the public. We'll post individual events here on the Berks Bards blog. Join us on Facebook at Berks Bards.

Featured poets include Jason Schossler, Cortney Bledsoe, Joe Ross, Rebecca Gonzalez, Deanna Nikaido, Gary Fincke, and Rick Kearns-Morales. Student winners for Poetry Out Loud at Reading High School and Governor Mifflin High School will recite their poems. Holly Landau offers a "Humor Writing Workshop" and indie filmmakers screen a retrospective from the Virginville Film Festival. For more information, send email to berksbards@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @bardsofberks.