#Duende Poetry Reading: John Brandi & Renee Gregorio

…Sept16 #NMpoetry event @ Anasazi Fields Winery, HT @ Elaine Schwartz for timely reminder in a ready to blog format.

Announcing Duende Poetry Series Reading John Brandi & Renée Gregorio Sunday, September 16, 3pm Anasazi Fields Winery Village of Placitas, NM Call (505)867-3062 for Information An astounding free poetry event. Welcome! books for sale and signing, wine, snacks, drinks, a meeting of poetry & friends John Brandi, a 40-year resident of New Mexico, is a recipient of an NEA Fellowship for Poetry. In the 1960s, he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer with Andean farmers in their struggle for civil liberties. While living in the Sierra Nevadas of California, he met Gary Snyder, who introduced him to Japanese poet-wanderer, Nanao Sakaki. In 1971, Brandi built a hand-hewn cabin in Mora County, traveled the high desert with Sakaki, and compiled a collection of poetry titled That Back Road In. Further travels to India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, China & Cuba have inspired various books, including A Question of Journey & Water Shining Beyond the Fields. As a visual artist his paintings often integrate words & paint, while his haiga paintings draw on Asian influences. Recent books include: Facing High Water (poems) and Seeding the Cosmos (haiku). John will be reading poems from his forthcoming book from White Pine Press, New York.  Renée Gregorio came to New Mexico in 1985, where she settled in Taos and was one of the founders of The Taos Review & also organized reading series for the Taos Poetry Circus & SOMOS arts. She is one of co-founders of Tres Chicas Books, a publishing collective. Travel often informs her work on individual poems and has inspired collaborative work with John, such as Road to the Cloud's House, prose poems based on observations in Chiapas. Gregorio is also a practitioner of the Japanese martial art of aikido, holds the rank of sandan, and works with individuals as a writing and somatic coach. Her published books include: The Skins of Possible Lives; The Storm That Tames Us; Water Shed: Aikido Tanka; Drenched; and Love & Death: Greatest Hits, with Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan, which was published last year & won the New Mexico Book Award for Poetry. Renée will read new poems as well as a selection of poems from her published work.  The Duende Poetry Series, now in its 8th year, sponsors four readings a year. Anasazi wines, free snacks, & non-alcoholic drinks are available.  Contact Vintner Jim Fish fish@anasazifieldswinery.com, or 867-3062 for more information. To reach the winery, turn onto Camino de los Pueblitos from Highway 165 in the old village of Placitas, across from the Presbyterian Church. Drive past two stop signs, turn left into the winery parking lot. From outside Placitas, take I-25 to Exit 242, drive 6 miles to Placitas & follow Camino de los Pueblitos through two stop signs to the winery.