The Horizontal Poet

Blog of Lambda-Literary-Award-winning Author Jan Steckel

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Come join members of California Writers Club - Berkeley on Saturday, June 15, 2-4 PM, for a group book launch at Books on B, 1014 B Street, Hayward, CA 94541. Authors will read Every Man, Woman and Child + Every Living Soul by Kristen Caven; Pirates of Sausalito by John Byrne Barry; The Cosmos is Alive by Keith Gaboury; The Bridge on Beer River by Terry Tierney; Diminished, Resolving to Major by Bob Haus; and Ghosts and Oceans by Jan Steckel.

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I'm reading in TWO Zeitgeist Press readings for Poetry Flash at the Art House Gallery and Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA, USA. One is Thursday, 5/2/24, 7 PM, and the other is Sunday, 5/5/24, 3 PM. Both are free!

The first is a new book release party with my three good friends Bruce Isaacson, Andrew Romanelli and James Norman. The second is a memorial reading where each of six local authors reads a poem by a Zeitgeist Press author who is no longer with us and a work of their own.

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Can't wait to read with fellow Zeitgeist authors living and dead at the Beat Museum, 340 Broadway, SF, CA 94133 on Friday, May 3 at 7 PM. I'll read work by Julia Vinograd and by me. See you in North Beach!

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Can't wait to read at the Hayward Lit Hop on Saturday, April 22, from 5 pm to 5:45 pm:

"Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Tales & Poems About the Passing of Time. " Kin Cafe - 1019 B Street (Main & Foothill)/ Hayward, CA, USA

CA Writers Club-Berkeley returns with a reading from our members that focuses on the elastic concept of time.

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Honored to read with my dear friends for Poetry Flash on Thursday, May 2, 2024, 7 PM, at the Art House Gallery and Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA, hosted by Poetry Flash editor Joyce Jenkins. Featured are my publisher Bruce Isaacson, my editor James Norman, fellow Zeitgeist author and buddy Andrew Romanelli, and me.

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Monday, March 25, 2024 : Jan Steckel" "Indivisible"

Indivisible Separating myself from my parents is an impossibility. The imprint of my mother’s hands will always be on my skin. Her voice alw

Thanks to editor Marie Lecrivain for publishing my poem "Indivisible." Trigger warning for child abuse.

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I'm featured by Sacred Grounds at Faithful Fools, 234 Hyde St., San Francisco, CA, USA, Wed. 3/13/24 at 6:45 PM, with open mic. Venue not wheelchair accessible but reading is hybrid. (There's a motorized chair lift on the stairs to the second floor). Your host is Dan Brady. You can email him at creative1 at creativeideasforyou dot com for the Zoom link with your name as it appears on your Zoom account, and tell him Jan Steckel sent you.

I'll read from my new short story collection Ghosts and Oceans (Zeitgeist Press), and Oakland poet and singer Avotcja will do a mini-feature. The open mic theme (optional) is "Overlap."

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Book Reading by Jan Steckel - a Bi+ Community Event | Brooklyn Community P

Join us for a Bi+ community event and book reading by Lambda Literary Award winning poet and author, Jan Steckel.

Sunday night, Feb, 25, 6-8 PM Eastern time in person, plus livestreaming to the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1070491060892140/

Singer/Songwriter Robin Renée will play a few songs for you, and Dennis Slade will be your MC. I'll read a couple stories from my new book Ghosts and Oceans (Zeitgeist Press, 2023). Refreshments will be served!

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A queer vampire with a historical fiction backstory falls hard for a middle-aged woman-- what’s not to like? Throw in ethically sourced blood, and you’ve got me hook, line and sinker. This delightful paranormal and partly historical sapphic romance reminds me of some of my favorites authors (Anne Rice, Pamela Rosenfeld and Tamsyn Muir), but it’s an original. Stella Fosse’s craft is top-notch; I didn’t put the book down until I finished it. Excellent world-building, sensual language, and a feminist, anti-ageist slant made this novel a first-rate read. Sequel, please!

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Men scooped through the rubble, unroofeda mess of mashed strawberry and bone.A woman screamed. She’d glimpseda shred of cloth, recognized her

As a retired pediatrician, my way into disasters and wars is often to imagine what’s going in the hospital. Thank you to Ami Prasad, editor of Topical Poetry, for publishing my poem “Sabbath Night in Al-Zaytun.”

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Honored to have five poems in this online anthology of California poets edited by David Yaryan.

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Missed my backyard book launch party on Sunday? Come to the Zoom launch for my debut fiction collection GHOSTS AND OCEANS (Zeitgeist Press), hosted by Jimmy Pappas, with an open mic for poetry or prose. Saturday, October 14, 2 PM Pacific Time. Email jpappas235 at gmail dot com for Zoom link and open mic signup. One poem or piece of prose under three minutes.

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LAUNCH for my debut fiction collection GHOSTS AND OCEANS, edited by James Norman for Zeitgeist Press, this Sunday, 10/1/23, 1:30 pm, with open mic hosted by Paul Corman-Roberts. Wine, cheese, beer, soda, chips and guac. 3627 Mangels Ave., Oakland, CA. Fruitvale BART, 54 bus up 35th Ave. Dollar off a book if you wear a mask, another dollar off if you rapid-test before you come over.

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Proof copy of my debut fiction collection Ghosts and Oceans arrived today. Thanks James Norman, Vivian Martin, Walker Rose, Bruce Isaacson and Zeitgeist Press.

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Friday, June 24, 2023: Jan Steckel's "Voyage"

Take a little trip to the 15th century in my poem published in Dashboard Horus today.

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Save Debbie Vinograd's Paintings!, organized by Deborah Fruchey

We are trying to save Debbie Vinograd's wonderful paintings and put them in storage… Deborah Fruchey needs your support for Save Debbie Vin

Please share widely: We are trying to save Debbie Vinograd's wonderful paintings and put them in storage till we can find homes for them. Debbie is losing her home due to some horrible circumstances. The man that she took into her home to love became abusive and put her in the hospital. It is no longer safe for her to go home, and she has gone into a long-term care facility due to cognitive decline. She is losing her apartment, where the paintings have been stored. Government funds will pay for her care but will not do anything to save the amazing paintings she spent her lifetime creating. We need to spend about $500 a month to store them in a clean, safe space for 18 months, which should give us time to find homes for the hundreds of pieces of art, and to take photos of all of them for posterity and make them into a beautiful book for Debbie and those who want to remember her work. Funds will go only to this storage and the making of the book.