Poetry Readings Tailored to the Unstuffy : Verse: Poets Reading Inc. hosts a popular series of poetry and prose readings. Group’s co-founder says today’s poetry is very accessible.

Even in the enlightened ‘90s, for many of us the mention of poetry readings summons mental images of stiff-backed chairs and starchy verse, or the bongo-beating beatniks of the ‘50s.

Not so, says Michael Logue, co-founder of Poets Reading Inc. The nonprofit group, which hosts a popular series of poetry and prose readings at the Fullerton Museum Center, will add a second program beginning tonight at Tustin’s LP Repertory Theatre.

“A lot of the esoteric poets still rely on the illusions of the ancients,” said Logue, “and that can be over the general person’s head. But poetry is changing. Much of today’s poetry uses today’s symbolism, today’s language . . . which makes it very accessible to anybody who doesn’t have a steady diet of ‘Three’s Company.’ ”

Titled “Live Anthology,” tonight’s program will feature 11 Southern California writers and musicians who were featured last year at the Fullerton series. Each writer will read for about 10 minutes, then move to an offstage area to meet with audience members.

“As a society, I think we lost a tremendous treasure when we lost touch with personal communications,” Logue said. “Through the readings, we’re trying to bring back the oral tradition as it existed before the advent of TV and film. In a way, we’re reviving a really basal form of communication.”

Tonight’s panel will include Los Angeles writer-musician Linda Albertano, Willie Simms of San Fernando, Fountain Valley musician Joel Easton, Laguna’s Gene Galluna, Kathi Georges of Costa Mesa and Lee Mallory of Huntington Beach. Also on the program are Thomas Rush, an Anaheim truck driver who spends his time on the road composing what Logue describes as “very dark and deep free verse,” and Costa Mesa’s Monica Lamy, whose works sometimes recall her childhood in the British Isles.

“Not everybody may like every writer,” Logue said, “so we try to program contrasting but complementary artists. We try to offer something for everyone.

“A poetry reading is a personal, one-on-one kind of experience. Each person in the audience forms a different picture from the words being spoken. It stirs the creative juices.”

Poets Reading Inc. was launched in the winter of 1988 when Logue, a musician and writer, and Tina Rinaldi, an art history student at Cal State Fullerton, began to hold informal readings at a Fullerton bookstore. The series moved to the Fullerton Museum Center that summer, where it has continued on alternate Saturday evenings and has been drawing about 80 people at each program, Logue said.

The programs generally include presentations by two featured writers, followed by an hour of open readings, with a half-hour break between to allow the artists and audience to mingle.

Local notables have included Robert Peters of Huntington Beach, a UC Irvine instructor known for his epic poems based on such colorful figures as King Ludwig of Bavaria and the Countess of Bathory, a bloodthirsty noblewoman of the 16th Century. Out-of-state guests have included New York writer Lyn Lifshin, who will return in March.

With an established following in the North County, Logue and Rinaldi decided to reach farther south and worked out an agreement with the 150-seat LPR Dinner Theatre (also known as the Brobdingnag Theatre).

By booking such well-known writers as Ray Bradbury and Indian poet Joy Harjo, along with local writers, Logue hopes to attract a broader audience to the LPR series. (Bradbury is scheduled to appear in October; Harjo in June.)

To cover administrative costs and to fund an ambitious scholarship program for area creative writing students, Logue and Rinaldi are seeking grants from area foundations and corporations. Funds also come from a modest subscription program: for $15 a year, audience members receive a ticket discount and a quarterly newsletter.

“Historically, poetry readings have been kind of a hit-or-miss thing in Orange County,” Logue said. “Through grant writing and other income-producing efforts, we’re working to produce a stable organization.”

Poets Reading Inc. presents “Live Anthology,” an evening of poetry, prose and music, tonight at 8 p.m. at the LP Repertory Theatre, 15732 Tustin Village Way, Tustin. Tickets: $5 to $7. For information, call (714) 441-1820.