Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

Bonnie Weidel comes from the humble variety of poets who write but rarely seek an audience for their ruminations on paper. Not going to quite the lengths of Emily Dickinson, she has submitted her poetry from time-to-time to the Poem of the Day at Listen & Be Heard. That is in fact how I first became familiar with her name. Already well known in the area to others who have resided here much longer, Bonnie has been practicing and teaching art, with a special gift for working with children and produces an annual show of children�s art. Predictably she hesitated when I asked her to be a feature this Friday during the weekly open mic we host at Listen & Be Heard Poetry. She protested that she doesn�t normally read her poetry. But people do things here at Listen & Be Heard that they don�t normally do, so this is your chance to hear Bonnie read her poetry aloud. Following is her more practical description of herself:

A student of Theodore Roethke and Stanley Kunitz at U of Washington, Seattle, Bonnie received a BA in Poetry/Philosophy following completion of an undergraduate thesis on the poetry of Wallace Stevens.

Active as a teacher and community volunteer, she is also practicing mixed-media artist with a studio in Benicia. As director of Art For Kids in Benicia, she curates exhibits and workshops on visual arts education, is current CEO of Benicia Community Arts and coordinator of the annual BCA Festival of Arts in the Park. Past activities include many marches for peace and coordination of the 1981 Solano County Freeze Campaign (protesting the proliferation of nuclear weapons).

Credentialed to teach both secondary Art and Preschool she has 36 years in the field of visual arts education after completing work for an M.A. in Studio Art at U.C. Berkeley, following with an Associate Degree from Solano Community College and an M.A. from Sonoma State Univ. in Early Child Education.

This Friday, February 23, Bonnie Weidel will be our featured poet during the Open Mic at Listen & Be Heard Poetry Caf�. The caf� is located at 818 Marin Street in Downtown Vallejo, CA. The phone number is 707-554-4540.