Call it the lure of the West. For generations, people have been relocating to California, whether it was through the Gold Rush in 1848 or to take advantage of the nice weather, careers in technology or desire to become a film star. Whether one moved to California during their lifetimes or had ancestors who moved there, everybody has a story of why they chose to relocate to the Golden State. This is something that Benicia Literary Arts and the Benicia First Tuesday Poetry Group aims to celebrate in its upcoming poetry reading at The Rellik Tavern titled “California Dreaming.”

BLA board member and former Poet Laureate Lois Requist said the idea came from current Poet Laureate Johanna Ely, who wanted to do a reading with a California western theme. They chose to do it at the Rellik because of past successful poetry events.

“They’ve been very supportive of the arts and poetry,” Requist said.

In addition to Requist and Ely, the event will feature readings from several top poets in Benicia, including Tom Stanton, Gina Guzzo, Peter Bray, Bobby Richardson, Dan Ryken, Mary Susan Gast, Roger Straw and Bruce Moody, who will all be sharing poems and stories about the concept of moving to California.

Requist has her own story of moving to California. She has relatives of Scottish and English heritage who settled in the U.S. in places like Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Iowa.
Requist herself was born in Idaho but moved to California after getting married.

“The whole trajectory of that family has been west,” she said.

A focus of Requist’s reading will be California’s open spaces, which were a favorite topic of writer Wallace Stegner.

“It’s a more open space deal than you have in the East even though I like the East,” Requist said.

During the reading, Rellik staff will be providing buffalo sliders and buffalo chips to eat and sarsaparilla to drink. After the featured readers are done, there will be a short intermission followed by an open mic, where attendees will be given the opportunity to take the stage and share their stories of moving to California.

Requist hopes the event will be a good time for all.

“I hope they have fun, a good time hearing the stories and maybe some new thoughts about moving west,” she said.

“California Dreaming” will be held 4 to 6 p.m., Sunday, April 9 at the Rellik Tavern, located at 726 First St. For more information, call Requist at 280-0588.

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