The Gate of Memory and Friends of Wadi Foquin present: a virtual reading from A Chronicle of Our Land, intimate stories from the village of Wadi Foquin in the occupied West Bank, featuring the book's author*, alongside Kenji Kuramitsu (writer, priest, clinical soicla worker), Starr Sumie Miyata (poet, photographer, Gate of Memory contributor), and Michael Yoshii (Pastor Emeritus at Buena Vista United Methodist Church & Co-Chair Friends of Wadi Foquin). Hosted by Gate of Memory co-editor, Brandon Shimoda.

Register here.

Read about A Chronicle of Our Land here. It was published by Communities of Memory, the publishing imprint of the Memory and Resistance Laboratory, UC Riverside. Friends of Wadi Foquin is a network of individuals and faith communities seeking to support the survival and thriving of a threatened West Bank village. Wadi Foquin is situated between a growing illegal Israeli settlement, the Apartheid Wall, and an Israeli town on the other side of the Green Line.

*for security reasons / for purposes of this announcement, we’re keeping the author’s name anonymous.

Take a break from the rush of everyday life and join Parkway for a Respite by the River. Bring your picnic dinner, blanket, and lawn chair, and relax at the River Center while you enjoy music provided by talented local musicians. Then you'll enjoy a reading by a Central Valley author. Respite by the River is a free event, but any proceeds or donations made from Respite by the River go towards supporting the Parkway's mission to protect and preserve the San Joaquin River Parkway.

The evening schedule is as follows:

6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Live dinner music, bring your dinner, lawn chair, or blanket

7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Reading by acclaimed author

Rissho Kosei-Kai Buddhist Church presents “We Remember: Poetry Honoring Ancestors” with traci kato-kiriyama, Sesshu Foster, and Brynn Saito. Hosted by Mike Sonksen.

Day of Remembrance with Brynn Saito at Chapman University in Orange, CA

Location: Schools First Federal Credit Union Conference Suite - Argyros Forum 209ABC

Organization: Wilkinson College, English, Department Of, Leatherby Libraries, Peace Studies Program

Open To: General Public

RSVP is Required?: No

Fresno State's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing presents an evening with faculty authors Venita Blackburn, Steven Church, Ra Jarrar, Brynn Saito, and Brenna Womer. The reading, as part of the Fresno Poets' Association series, includes a book signing. Sponsored by the Fresno State MFA program and Fresno Poets' Association donors.

The Poetics of Possibility: Poems are a place for our wildest imaginings, our truest longings. In this workshop, we’ll read poems and engage in simple, generative exercises that invite us to summon other universes while imagining wildly into the past and future. 4:00 — 6:00 pm PST / 7:00—9:00 pm EST / $29.00 / REGISTER HERE Part of Kripalu’s annual Fall Writing Program.

Join Tsuru for Solidarity for our annual community leadership awards celebration and fundraiser. This year’s event will take place virtually via Zoom, with in-person watch parties in the Bay Area and Oregon on August 14th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET

Our ongoing theme, “Voices in Solidarity!”, is more urgent than ever as we confront escalating state violence across communities. The evening will be co-hosted by the incredible Brynn Saito and Brandon Shimoda, editors of the Gate of Memory Anthology, poems by descendants of Nikkei wartime incarceration, as we uplift the resistance and liberation work of our campaigns and national partners.

We’ll also be honoring this year’s recipients of the Tsuru Leadership and Activism Award.

In this limited series limited series (on Sundays in August at 2pm ET) designed by 2025 Poet-in-Residence Traci Brimhall, contemporary poets will guide visitors in a lucid “dream walk” of the Guggenheim, leading participants on a journey not of answers, but of unfolding questions.

Rather than looking to art and poems for wisdom, how can the questions that they inspire be a better lantern in the darkness? Stopping at select artworks chosen by each guiding poet, participants will respond to poetry readings and generative prompts that invite them to ponder, imagine, and open space within themselves. The dream walk becomes a way for visitors to enter their own wonder, deepen curiosity, and step into a dream state where being and making so often happens.

Dream walks will take place on Sundays in August and October, and will be led by poets Traci Brimhall, Nicole Callihan, Tiana Clark, Heid E. Erdrich, Eugenia Leigh, Erika Meitner, Brynn Saito, and Leah Umansky. A schedule can be found below with additional October dates to be announced in July.

$30, $25 members, $19 students. Includes museum admission.

The Gate of Memory Community Gathering: Poetry, Intergenerational Healing and Imagining Nikkei Futures. Details here and RSVP link to come.

Join Mata Ashita in celebrating the launch of The Gate of Memory. RSVP here.

A day-long gathering to celebrate San Joaquin Valley readers and writers. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. Programming begins at 9:00 a.m.

Details at the Sierra Poetry Festival’s website.

Launch event for The Gate of Memory, visit www.thegateofmemory.com for details. RSVP here.

Details at thegateofmemory.com. Please RSVP here.

Join poets Brynn Saito and traci kato-kiriyama for a reading celebrating the forthcoming April 2025 release of The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration. RSVP.

The monthly online series “Words for Palestine” aims to center and highlight Palestinian voices during this devastating time. This month’s readers include A.D. Lauren-Abunassar, Andrea Abi-Karam, Brynn Saito and Sasha Debevec-McKenney.

“Words For Palestine” is co-sponsored by Al Nadwa Freethinking Society, Mizna, Palestine Writes, RAWI and Sukoon, and is free with RSVP. We encourage you to make a donation to support the work of Palestine Legal and Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF). Palestine Legal is an organization dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. who speak out for Palestinian freedom. PCRF is the primary humanitarian organization in Palestine, providing crucial and life-saving relief and humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Join APIDA Amplified and the Humanities Division for an Open Mic and Poetry Reading by award-winning poet, Brynn Saito, on Thursday, November 7th, 2024 in the 2400 building, Room 107 & courtyard. RSVP here.

3:30 PM Open Mic: anyone can perform poetry, prose, & acoustic music
5 PM Brynn Saito reading & Q+A

Drinks, desserts, hot appetizers, and vegetarian options available! Plus, free copies of Brynn's book Under a Future Sky while supplies last!

“I Am Enough: Letting Go of Expectations,” the 2024 Asian Women Mentoring Workshop hosted by the Central Californian Asian Pacific Women. This workshop is for Asian Pacific Islander (API) women professionals, and college and high school students in the Central Valley. Featuring guest speakers Dr. Gitma Sharma, Dr. Dana Riley, and Prof. Brynn Saito.

Come get inspired and connect with other API women in the community and RSVP today!

Clovis Community College, Building AC3, 10309 N Willow Ave, Fresno, CA 93730
Deadline to RSVP: Wednesday, October 23rd @ 11:59 pm PST

Fresno State's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing presents an evening with faculty authors Venita Blackburn, Steven Church, Ra Jarrar, Brynn Saito, Mai Der Vang, and Brenna Womer.

The reading, as part of the Fresno Poets' Association series, includes a book signing. Sponsored by the Fresno State MFA program and Fresno Poets' Association donors.

Time: 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Place: Alice Peters Auditorium (PB 191) inside the University Business Center
Admission: Free

Archeologist Koji Lau-Ozawa and poet Brynn Saito share their journey rediscovering Cactus Blossoms, an anthology of poetry written by high school students who were incarcerated at the Gila River camp during World War II. From striking desert imagery to prayerful longings for freedom, the poems express the complex inner life of those confined in the Arizona desert. Brynn and Koji—both yonsei descendants of grandparents incarcerated at Gila River—embarked on a quest to find and interview the Cactus Blossom poets. They'll screen a short documentary they produced, and discuss the unique intersection of poetry, memory, and history. Register here for both online and in-person attendance.

Left Margin LIT is a creative writing workspace offering classes, camaraderie, and mentorship to East Bay writers of all backgrounds and experience levels. They see storytelling and poetry as vital elements of a healthy city: enriching dialogue, building community, and supporting a culture of creativity. They also have some of the best writing instructors in the biz, three of whom have new books that we’ll celebrate at this event: poet Brynn Saito’s Under A Future Sky, novelist Tomas Moniz’s All Friends Are Necessary, and poet Maw Shein Win’s Percussing the Thinking Jar. Doors at 6:00PM. RSVP.

Poetry for Inner and Outer Transformation: Writing poetry is an invitation to turn inward, to draw our attention to the rhythms of our deepest longings, to get quiet enough to connect with the felt-sense of the body. This workshop with Brynn Saito will offer generative exercises for tapping into the associative, mysterious, lyrical, and playful aspects of poem-making, with the belief that writing and sharing poems together can be heart-strengthening and transformative, especially during difficult times. Part of Kripalu’s Fall Online Writing Series.

Race, Identity, and Incarceration: A Centennial Tribute to Wakako Yamauchi will honor the legendary playwright and author, Wakako Yamauchi (1924-2018). A trail-blazing pioneer of Asian Pacific American theater and literature, Yamauchi penned numerous short stories and plays, including the widely-acclaimed And The Soul Shall Dance.

This intergenerational event gathers poets and writers who will read excerpts of Wakako Yamauchi’s works as well as their original writings reflecting enduring themes explored in her art: familial relationships and tensions; gender roles, identity, and race; and the trauma of the Japanese American wartime incarceration and its lingering effects through generations. Featured readers are Brian Komei Dempster, Lillian Howan, Brynn Saito, Maw Shein Win, and esteemed special guest, Garrett Hongo. RSVP page.

Join us for an unforgettable evening of poetry live in the California Sierra Nevada, and streamed online from the comfort of your home. Our annual Benefit Poetry Reading will feature poems from our 2024 Poetry Staff: Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones, Brynn Saito, and Matthew Zapruder. RSVP and register here.

You are all welcome to our on-campus reading event on Monday, April 22, which will take place from 4 pm - 6 pm (PDT) in the Ahmanson Main Space. We are hosting two poets, Susan Rich and Brynn Saito. Susan Rich has been published in the New England Review, Harvard Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and many more. Including her chapbook to be published in April this year, she is the author of six poetry books. Brynn Saito is now the author of three poetry books with her most recent published last year. She has been a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize and the Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Both authors have an extensive list of publications and awards, all well-deserved, and we are excited to be host such renowned poets. There will be an open mic, as well as refreshments served during the reading.

Join us for the 2nd Willow Poetry Reading Series event at Clovis Community College! This event will feature a reading and discussion with award-winning poets and acclaimed writers Brynn Saito, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Janice Lobo Sapigao. The event is FREE, open to the public, and will take place in the AC1-150 Lecture Hall on the Main Campus. A reception with light refreshments will follow the poetry reading.

On Friday March 22 at 3:30pm CT (1:30pm PT), our Spring Visiting Writers Series gets underway with a reading by poet Brynn Saito. Join us on campus in Union Wildcat Chamber or online at https://tinyurl.com/saitokstate.

A Zoom Reading with David Baker, Ellen Bass, Sophie Cabot Black, Haleh Liza Gafori, Ashley M. Jones, Danusha Laméris, Brynn Saito, & Tess Taylor for the Anthology Leaning toward Light: Poems for Gardens & the Hands That Tend Them (via Zoom). Tickets and RSVP here.

Traveling Mollys Reading Series, featuring Rebecca Morgan Frank and Brynn Saito. Details available here and live stream the event here.