Poet Laureate Dave Denny to Appear at Bitter+Sweet Thursday

, Cupertino’s first Poet Laureate, will be at on Thursday night for a reading of some of his own poems as part of a three-part coffee shop readings called Winter Light.

“The vision behind Winter Light, a series of three coffee shop readings, is to enhance the cultural life of Cupertino by bringing the light of the arts to the shorter winter days,” Denny says.

Local writers Ken Weisner, Ann Muto, Karl Kadie, and Susan Paluzzi join Denny in reading some of their own work, and a limited time to open-mic volunteers who would like to share a poem is also part of Thursday’s line-up, which begins at 7 p.m. , behind on De Anza Boulevard.

“There will also be music, provided by a talented young classical guitarist—all in the cozy coffee shop atmosphere of ,” he says.

“We're hoping the casual venue of the local coffee establishment will be an inviting atmosphere for people to relax and unwind after a busy Thursday at the office, and enjoy a few poems, a little music, some great coffee or tea, and the company of their Cupertino neighbors.”

The next event in the Winter Light coffee shop readings will be March 1 at at 20807 Stevens Creek Blvd. The third reading will be on April 5, but details of that reading are still in the works.

The March 1 reading will be like a poet laureate convention as Denny will be joined by , Santa Clara Valley Poet Laureate, and , Los Gatos Laureate, among others. Ashton also just happens to be the wife of Frank Ashton, owner of at 20333 Stevens Creek Blvd.

Keep your planner open folks, because the Poet Laureates 3, or PL3 as we will call them—that would be Denny, Sally Ashton and Hicks—will also appear on March 31 in a tribute to the Persian poet Rumi at .