Myra Dutton and the Evolutionary Poets will present another Beat Nite at Middle Ridge Winery from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, March 4. Dutton calls it a “curated evening of experimental poetry with improvisational music.” 

“Idyllwild’s legendary musicians, Dr Marshall Hawkins and Paul Carman,” will provide “beatitude.”

“We are fortunate to have Middle Ridge Winery, with its expansive space, beautiful art and award-winning wines as our venue. Chris, Melody and Tamara Johnson have been our angels to allow us to do this for years now,” she said.

Beat Nite, Dutton assures us, is “not an ordinary poetry reading” but “lively, experimental and open, taking you into another landscape that is sensory, humorous, passionate and serious.” Each poet is given a poem to read, and then follows it with one of their own. Poets scheduled for Monday’s event include Rena May, Bo Dagnall, Wyatt Priefer, Susan Hegarty, Andrew Neeson, Mick Lynch, August Picciolo, Bryan Tracy, Bronwyn Jones and Dutton.

Dutton traces the roots of this local “beatitude” to a gathering of friends 20 years ago for “dinner, wine, laughter and camaraderie.” Soon they began performing at Café Aroma, encouraged by then-owner Hubert Halkin.

Research into poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder informed the present format. “During that period, I was always performing the work of Anne Waldman, a second-generation Beat poet, who believed that performance was the fast track to evolution,” said Dutton.

The night’s theme will be love, “but from a Beat perspective.”