Pasckie Pascua reads from his book in a show at The Crow and Quill in Asheville, August 9, and talks about his journey at City Lights in Sylva, August 20

ASHEVILLE-based poet Pasckie Pascua will read from his new book of poems and prose, “Red is the Color of my Night,” at The Crow and Quill in downtown Asheville on August 9, Sunday. The Crow and Quill is located at 106 N Lexington Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 (www.thecrowandquill.com), (828) 505-2866. Show starts at 7 PM.

       Special guests are poet Caleb Beissert, singer songwriter Darien Crossley, and jazz singer Katie Kasben. The event is a free but donations are very much appreciated.

       Poet/musician Caleb Beissert spearheads a number of local Asheville poetry events, including the monthly Altamont Poetry Series at North Carolina Stage Company as producer and the weekly Poetry Open Mic at Noble Kava as host. He is also the longtime drummer with The Zealots. His first book, a selection of English-language adaptations of the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca, “Beautiful: Translations from the Spanish,” was published by New Native Press in 2013. Katie Kasben has been in numerous community theatre productions and was the director and producer of “Hair.” She was the VIP coordinator for the HATCH mentoring festival, and helped bring the “48 Hour Film Project” to Asheville. Darien Crossley is a promising young singer-songwriter who's been building a solid following in Asheville's cafe and club scene.

       Published by Loved by the Buffalo Publications, the poems and prose in “Red is the Color of my Night” reflect the often ragged but mostly warm wisdom of a journeyman who witnessed and experienced a life that defies his reserved demeanor and soft-spoken tact. This book is written in blood and delivered with a language that crosses creed and culture, without hesitation or reserve. The poet traverses the rough terrains of his past with piercing honesty and visionary glare. His work bothers and comforts at the same time; it also provokes while it reassures.

       Pascua will also be featured at City Lights Bookstore's “Coffee with the Poet” gathering on August 20, Thursday, 11 AM. City Lights is located at 3 East Jackson Street, Sylva, NC 28779 (828-586-9499), citylightsnc.com

       Pascua is a veteran journalist and poet who survived a dictatorial regime in his home-country of the Philippines. He went to the University of the Philippines' Institute of Mass Communication, and attended undergrad Film programs at Tisch School of Arts, New York University. He was a journeyman writer even before he reached the age of 30—having worked for print, radio, and TV in various capacities, as well as a community organizer/media specialist in coastal villages and farming barrios in the countrysides since he was 15 years old. He served as member of the media liaison staff for the late president Corazon Aquino’s “good government” commission in early `90s, and consulting team for Philippine presidential candidate Senator (deceased) Raul Roco in the 1990s.

       In the US, Pasckie edited the Manhattan NY-based Headline Philippines from 1998 to 2001; and headed the Southern California/Los Angeles bureau of Philippine News, the oldest nationally-distributed Filipino/Asian-American newspaper in the US and Canada.

       In Asheville, Pasckie published (and edited) the community paper, The Indie, from 2001 to 2011. He is also the founding executive director of the Traveling Bonfires, a non-profit “people’s culture” organization that advocates family wisdom and community connectedness. The TBonfires organizes the summertime downtown music convergence, “Bonfires for Peace at Pritchard Park.”

       For more info: www.pasckie.com or http://pasckiepascuawords.blogspot.com/ (or find Pasckie Pascua in Facebook)