Voices at the Table: Music & Poetry

The afternoon will begin with a 30-minute musical program by guest artists, setting the tone for the gathering as sound and silence prepare the room for poetry. Following the music, our community open mic will invite poets to step forward and share their work in an atmosphere of attentive listening, warmth, and creative fellowship.

* Please Note: Guest performers and speakers are subject to change.

Scheduled to appear:

Verna Lim and Guest, Cello & Piano performing original compositions

Valdez Hill, Piano

Our featured guest poet is Stephen Sharpe.

Stephen Sharpe is the current, two-term Poet Laureate for the City of Richmond, CA. He’s a two-time author ("Defining Love" and "No Whiskey, No Tears") and also the owner of Afterword Press, a Richmond-based publishing company. He supports and organizes events, especially in Richmond, which address community needs and concerns such as literacy, gun violence, financial security, and equality. He has partnered with Barnes and Noble for their Local Author Showcase in the Bay Area. He's spoken at events and taught writing workshops organized by the Southside Church of Christ in Richmond, CA, the Richmond chapter of the NAACP, the Maya Angelou Library and Literacy Center, My Brother's Keeper Initiative, Richmond LEAP (Literacy for Every Adult Program), and the Oakland Unified School District to promote literacy and the importance of sharing your story. Stephen also partners with CoBiz to host an open mic at their Richmond location every third Thursday of the month, beginning in 2024.

Verna Lim has been tickling the ivories since the age of four. Under the guidance of Audrey Brown, she performed Carnival of the Animals with the New Mexico Symphony at fourteen, and later continued her studies with Catherine Kautsky at Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music.She went on to found a music learning lab where children composed original works through digital production—an early expression of her belief in creativity as both voice and agency. Now a pre-OT student, mother, and music teacher—with past lives in videography, editing, and digital design—Verna moves fluidly between disciplines, carrying each into the next. She is currently raising a small human who reminds her, daily, of the music and awe woven into everything.

She is open to genre-free, improvisational collaboration with artists who want to create in the room—messy, embodied, and rooted in curiosity, presence, and care.

Let’s see what sparks. Email: verna.lim@gmail.com.

Catherine Jolly is a therapist, composer, and cellist whose work lives at the intersection of social change, mental health, and the arts. She is deeply committed to bringing these three passions into dialogue, guided by her belief that hope is something we actively create—and that creativity and compassion are answers we can return to, again and again.

As a cellist, Catherine has moved fluidly across genres and settings, from Scottish fiddle traditions to improvisation with dancers, and into the rich textures of European chamber music. Each space expands her voice, allowing her to listen, respond, and shape sound in ways that reflect both discipline and openness.

It has been a true honor for her to collaborate with Verna on Round Peg, Square Hole, a work that resonates with the same spirit of exploration, expression, and shared creation that defines her artistic path.

Valdez Hill is a graphic design artists and a classically trained pianist, whose artistic practice unites music and poetry, weaving sound and language into a single expressive voice. He has served nineteen years on the Board of Directors of the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra and twenty years as Founder and Artistic Director of Giving Concerts—an organization that has raised over $800,000 for local charities and music scholarships, supporting a network of more than 400 alumni members across the Bay Area. He currently studies piano with Richard Cionco, composer and professor of music at Sacramento State University.

He is also the host of Voices at the Table, an intimate poetry and music gathering in Vacaville, California, featuring classical and jazz artists alongside local Poet Laureates, creating a listening-centered space where word and sound meet. Since 2025, his poems have appeared in over twenty-five publications. His debut collection, My First Haiku: Winter Collection, was released in 2025. That same year, he was named a finalist for Best Haiku 2025, with three poems published by Haiku Crush. He remains an active performer, juror, and member of various poetry societies.

He is the author of When Truth Is Feared More Than War, a political and historical poetry collection that blends spoken word with imagery—layered as visual art and composed with a musical architecture—as well as Black Voices Inspired by Black Voices, both forthcoming in Summer 2026. His second haiku collection, Second Haiku Spring, is scheduled for publication in May 2026. His poem “What the Keys Remember” was awarded First Place in the international, peer-voted poetry competition hosted by The Diamond Quill. Selected through the votes of 203 fellow poets, the award reflects recognition from within the poetry community itself.

His upcoming work will appear in several anthologies and journals releasing in April and May, including Code Blue Publications, Discretionary Love, Emerald City Ghosts, Jerry Jazz Musician, Like a Blot / Finn Hall, Moonstone Arts Center, Not a Pipe Publishing, Rooted Lit Magazine, The Webs We Weave, and Verseve.

Valdez continues to write commissioned works and perform as a guest poet. He held his first solo poetry reading in 2025, hosted by Irene Johnson for Loves of the Lyrical, and was later featured by Jacalyn Eyvonne and Kathleen Herrmann, co–Poet Laureates of Vallejo, for his debut reading Poems & Conversations at The Exchange in Vallejo, California. He was also invited to teach two poetry classes at Crystal Middle School in Fairfield, California.

His work continues to evolve through experimentation with forms such as Sijo, blackout poetry, and shaped (concrete) poetry, alongside his ongoing exploration of transforming poems into music-scored compositions—where the page becomes both score and stage.

Committed to continual growth, Valdez remains actively engaged in expanding his skill set. He was recently certified in CPR, AED, BLS, and child AED/life support, with additional certifications in EKG and PALS scheduled for completion in May.

Voices at the Table is an intimate, welcoming poetry open mic rooted in listening and shared presence. The intention is to create a space that feels less like a stage and more like a living room—where poets, writers, and listeners gather around language with care and attention.

Voices at the Table exists to strengthen community through poetry by creating a welcoming, intimate space grounded in listening, mutual respect, and shared presence. We host listening-centered gatherings that feature local poets, open-mic readings, and thoughtful collaborations between poetry and music.

Our mission is to build a sustainable literary community where both emerging and established voices are heard, supported, and valued, and where honest expression and meaningful connection are given the time and care they deserve.