Walkin' with Joaquin

I’m walkin’ with Joaquin this month in Italy, where he spent many months in the mid-1870s after establishing himself in London. As I ride trains from place to place, I’m reading his Complete Poetical Works , which he put together in The Hights in 1897, and pulling out tidbits and advice for writers. Miller not only collected his poems (the ones he would stand by, he wrote; the rest were reactions to his times, ruined by critics), he talks about them—about where he wrote them and what they meant to him. They’re beautiful. With the rhythm of the rails, I sound out the meter in my head, my fingers correcting the paragraph breaks where the archived text has clumped things wrong. Miller's writing is incredibly lyrical, and whatever reputation he had for gaining fame before he fully developed his craft, he certainly mastered it with the help of his masters, whom he sought in libraries and museums in his European travels. Robert Browning invited him to Venice, where Miller wrote some ...

  Oakland’s own Victorian poet was a walking, talking symbol of the Golden West. We remember him for his frontier ethics and bad boy antics, but don’t fully understand his uplifting magnetism. Kristen Caven, the California Writers Club Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park, will paint us a new picture of Joaquin Miller as America’s late romantic by introducing us to the many fascinating women who loved him. From the legendary Paquita, his Indian bride, to the “White Witch of Oakland,” his daughter Juanita, we’ll meet poets, actresses, heiresses, and the nation’s wealthiest female tycoon. Come hear my new Miller lecture! What: Talk, Q&A, champagne and nibbles When: Sunday, September 14th, 4-6pm Where: Pardee Home and Museum Carriage House,  672 11th Street, Oakland, CA 94607  ( directions ) How Much: $25, proceeds go to the museum

They showed Lin Manuel Miranda's brilliant "In The Heights" musical at Woodminster Amphitheater this summer...and I couldn't resist the opportunity to clap back with an invitation to "In the Hights," a curated cabaret of characters who cavorted in creativity some hundred years ago, and created the Cascade. Please share this information in your newsletter! At the turn of the last century, Joaquin Miller held “bandit barbecues” at his artist’s retreat known as “The Hights” — now known as Joaquin Miller Park. Miller and other writers in the 1890s “Oakland gang” called their readings and skits “jinks.” Join us for a community-sourced meal orchestrated by James Farais of Indigenous Edibles and get to know the Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, an organization of dedicated park volunteers. Stay for a short “lojinks festival” featuring local personalities and literary lights speaking California’s founding voices back into life. Writers/artists l-r: Yone Noguchi, Ambro...

On May 5th, I had the great pleasure of celebrating Robert Browning's birthday with Dennis Parks, the president of The San Francisco Browning Society at the Browning Monument in Joaquin Miller Park. Who were the Brownings and Why is there a Monument to them? Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were two very famous Romantic-era English poets who were also husband and wife.  ( Fun fact:  both Robert and Elizabeth were descendants of mixed-race Jamaicans. ) Robert, who survived Elizabeth, formed a genuine personal friendship with Joaquin Miller when Miller found his way into 1870s London literary life. Miller also visited Robert in Italy, where he wrote more books and poems and made more friends. He was likely exposed to the Brownings' poetry all his life. Miners were known to carry their books among their gold-rush supplies! The San Francisco Browning Society The Browning Society was first founded in London in 1880, a year before Robert died. Chapters sprou...

Thursday, April 24 Joaquin Miller Reconsidered: A Closer Look at Oakland’s OG Poet Horse thief or humanist? Poet, playwright and author Joaquin Miller left his mark on the Bay Area, the West, America, and the World. Sliding Scale Donations - Get your ticket today! The "big personality" behind Oakland's largest green space is remembered by Oaklanders as a showman, a rascal, and a humbug, but history has forgotten the light this insightful genius brought to some very dark times in America. Kristen Caven, the California Writers Club Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park, shares new information and revelations about the most iconic poet in the country at the turn of the last century. Learn how Miller shaped Oakland, the West, and the World at this engaging presentation, both through his prolific, progressive writing, his humor, his relationships, and his diverse literary and intentional community. You’ll also meet some fascinating historians and writers, and hear some to...

On Christmas Day, I met my brother for a sunset hike on Sunset Trail, and the view, of course, was spectacular.  On our way back we saw a figure tidying up the trail, who turned out to be none other than John Brega, who I usually see on a small screen in monthly Friends of Joaquin Miller Park board meetings. Somehow we got on the topic of thistles. My brother excused himself at that point, perhaps triggered by memories of our childhood thistle trauma. But I used this opportunity to put mine to use. "How do you get rid of them?" I asked John. "We used to have to walk around our property with a paper bag and clippers." We couldn't come back inside until the bag was full, no matter how cold it was, how bored we were, or how pricked and stabbed our little fingers were. It seemed an insurmountable task, protecting our garden and yard from their invasion. I remembered seeing them in the Park years ago, feeling crestfallen. But where were they now? The sunset-lit slope...