Velvet Revolution Gives Voice to SF State Poets

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- The Poetry Center on the fifth floor on the Humanities Building transforms Monday nights from a quiet sanctuary of thoughts into an animated community of friends and aspiring writers called The Velvet Revolution Reading Series. Since 2004, poets and writers, students and professors, have met on Monday nights to read their work and enjoy the work of colleagues. According to series curator Jenny Alton, the series usually features two to three writers per evening, each of whom is allotted 15 minutes. Alton added that there are five-minute open-mike sections interspersed, during which anyone can jump up and contribute. The gathering brings together many talented writers from SF State and the community, Alton said. Even so, writers like Austin Messick never thought his writing would turn into anything but a hobby. “I started writing when I was 11 or 12,” Messick said. “I didn’t think I could do it seriously until I was 19 or 20.”