The 2/17/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour:

Patrick Burns (Music Director) is a Sacramento-based composer, music director, and arts administrator whose work spans musical theatre, opera, and interdisciplinary performance. At UC Davis, he previously served as accompanist for The Threepenny Opera. Regional credits include music direction and conducting for theatres and universities throughout California, New York City, and nationwide. Patrick spent five years as Production Manager at Broadway Sacramento, where he oversaw large-scale musical productions and supported the development of emerging artists. He maintains an active creative practice alongside his work in arts leadership and education.

Michael G. French is an arts and theatre events marketing specialist for the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. He promotes performances and events for the departments of Art and Art History, Cinema and Digital Media, Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. French previously held similar positions at Southern Utah University’s College of Performing and Visual Arts, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Pacific Conservatory Theatre and the Walnut Street Theatre. He earned his bachelor’s degree at New Jersey City University.

Susan Wolbarst is a reporter for the weekly Independent Coast Observer in rural Gualala, California. Her work has been published in pioneertownlit.com, The Ledge Poetry and Fiction Magazine, Naugatuck River Review, Poetry Now, Yolo Crow, Valley Voices, Eat This Poem Anthology, and others. She self-published one cookbook. When she’s not writing, Susan enjoys hiking, kayaking and cooking the world’s offerings in her three cast iron pans.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 2/10/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour:

Ted Geier received his PhD. in Critical Theory and Comparative Literature from UC Davis in 2015, followed by a Mellon Postdoctoral post in the Rice University Humanities Research Center as an investigator on the Rice Seminars 2015-16 project, “After Biopolitics.” He recently co-founded and is Associate Editor of the UC Press journal, Animal History: https://online.ucpress.edu/ah His primary philosophical specialties are in moral theories pertaining to animals and environmental studies, while his broader training and expertise include narrative theory, literature and film, economic-cultural analysis, American Studies, the History of Ideas, and Interdisciplinary Humanities. He is especially interested in Disney and eco-apocalyptic themes. Dr. Geier organized an animal studies research group at UC Davis and was formerly Managing Editor of Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and Environment (Oxford UP) and Research Editor in the Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Program. He has published two books, an edited journal issue, and various book chapters and scholarly articles (mostly about animals and culture). Current projects include an edited volume on Cormac McCarthy and environment and a book on Terrence Malick.

Cristina Deptula is a a copy writer, enthusiastic publicist, and social media manager. Will find and hone your core messages, then identify and reach influencers and audiences over traditional and social media to spark worthwhile conversations about complex topics. Deptula’s freelance journalistic writing encompasses topics ranging from autism research to climate change to biophotonics to the Mars rover launch.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 2/4/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

Vaani Tiwari is an IB Diploma student and emerging researcher focused on the psychology of identity, culture, and mental health. Her work explores why people think and cope the way they do, and how storytelling can make behavioral science more accessible. Tiwari's first book, an Amazon #1 bestseller in Asian American Poetry, examined adolescent mental health and identity through a narrative-psychological lens. She has since been published with Novelly, featured in literary magazines, and awarded the Governor’s Medallion in the Arts. Beyond her research, Tiwari creates psychology-centered social content with multiple viral videos and serve as an IB Ambassador at her school.

Grant Faulkner is the co-founder of Memoir Nation, the co-founder of 100 Word Story, and an executive producer on America’s Next Great Author. He has published three books on writing: The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story; Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo; and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 1/28/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

Dr. Mahnaz Badihian is an Is a Poet, painter, and translator whose work has been published in several languages worldwide. Mahnaz runs the Literary magazine MahMag.org to bring the world’s poetry together. She finished translating a book about the uprising in Iran in 2009 called Spalding Arise with Jack Hirschman, published in San Francisco in 2014. She received her MFA in poetry from Pacific University. Her latest poetry collection, Raven of Isfahan was Published in 2019. She edited 300 pages of Covid, Anthology Art, and poetry from around the world in 2020. She is a member of the San Francisco RPB (Revolutionary Poet Brigade). In 2018, Mahnaz had three days of an art exhibition in San Francisco. Her new collection of poems, Ask the Wind was nominated for Pushcart by Vagabond in 2022. Mahnaz traveled to many countries for poetry events, including Kerala, Chile, Cuba, Italy, England, Bolivia, Peru, and more. Mahnaz is a guest poet at the Kathmandu poetry festival in February 2023. Her Novel Gohar was published in 2024.

Lissa Provost is the founder and chaos director of New Alexandria Creative Group. She's the author of a poetry book, chapbook, and a journal/planner for neurodivergent or medically challenged individuals called Maggie's Planner. She's also the Director of the San Francisco Writers Conference.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 1/21/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

Susie Meserve is a poet, essayist, and novelist. She’s been teaching writing for over twenty years. She has a certificate in mind-body coaching from The Embody Lab, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a BA from Tufts University. Susie lives in the Bay Area but is a New England girl at heart. Married to the love of her life and mother to two fantastically wonderful and strange sons, she is the author of the poetry collection Little Prayers and essays and poems that have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and many literary journals and anthologies.

Susan D. is a Sacramento poet and community activist.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 1/14/2026 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

Gabrielle Myers has earned a B.A. from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, an A.O.S. in Culinary Arts from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, an M.A. in English from the University of California at Davis, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Saint Mary’s College of California. She has taught English courses at Saint Mary’s College, UC Davis, Diablo Valley College, Yuba College, Las Positas College, and Sacramento City College. Gabrielle's memoir, Hive-Mind, details her time of love, awakening, and tragic loss on an organic farm. Her poetry books Too Many Seeds (2021), Break Self: Feed (2024) and Points in the Network (2025) are published by Finishing Line Press. Her poetry books Go Forth: Lose Yourself into Life and La Ruta es Clara are forthcoming in 2026. Her poetry has been published in the Atlanta Review, Evergreen Review, Adirondack Review, San Francisco Public Press, Fourteen Hills, pacificREVIEW, Connecticut River Review, Catamaran, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Sand Hills, Sheila-Na-Gig, University of Alabama’s Al Dente, Cathexis Northwest Press, American University’s Folio, Reunion: The Dallas Review, and American Poetry Review. Gabrielle is the Farm-to-Fork columnist for Inside Sacramento magazine

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 1/7/2026 edition of Dr.Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour\

Nina Amir, the Inspiration to Creation Coach, inspires writers and bloggers to create published products and careers as authors. Additionally, she helps her clients and readers achieve their potential, fulfill their purpose and make a positive and meaningful difference with their words. She is the author of How to Blog a Book, The Author Training Manual, and Creative Visualization for Writers, all published by Writer’s Digest Books. As a hybrid author, she also has published 17 books independently. She is a nonfiction book editor and doctor, proposal consultant, and an Author Coach and Trainer as well as a Book and Blog Coach. Some of her clients have sold 320,000+ copies of their books and been published by major publishing houses. Nina also is an award winning blogger and journalist, international speaker and founder of National Nonfiction Writing Month, also known as the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge, and the Nonfiction Writers’ University. Also a Certified High Performance Coach, Nina strives to help creative people Achieve More Inspired Results personally and professionally.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.

The 12/17/2025 edition of Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

Professor Gail Finney received her A. B. degree in German summa cum laude from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in comparative literature from UC Berkeley. She has also studied in Freiburg, Aix-en-Provençe, Tübingen, and Berlin. From 1980-1988 she taught at Harvard University as an Assistant and then Associate Professor of German. She returned to Harvard as a Visiting Professor of German in Spring 1997. Since 1988 she has been teaching at UC Davis as Professor of German and Comparative Literature. From 1997-2000 she held a halftime position as Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Personnel, and in 2007-2008 she worked as Faculty Assistant for Academic Personnel to the Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies.

Ms. Sheila is a midwest native turned west coast lifer and is a work-force development and team-building professional with over 35 years of experience. She creates welcoming art experiences during the holiday season for empty-nesters and the elderly, including her Kwanza inspired Principle Paint Party.

Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.