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Discover Santa Cruz-area authors, from the famous to the obscure. Contact local authors and find out how to buy their books.
Interviews
Read fascinating interviews with many of the writers who read in Santa Cruz, both visiting and local. Featured:
Dana Gioia, David Swanger, Gary Young, and more!
Books
Who's publishing in Santa Cruz? Books by local authors with links to purchase from our wonderful local independent booksellers.
Resources
Local poetry groups, poetry websites, poetry-related organizations, Santa Cruz arts organizations. Featured:
Santa Cruz Poetry Bulletin Board
Also featured:
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About PSC
Who are we and how can you contact us?  Featured:
Become a member of Poetry Santa Cruz.
Poetry Santa Cruz is dedicated to nurturing the poetry community and bringing poetry to the larger community in Santa Cruz County. We present poetry readings at Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Café and other locations in Santa Cruz County, and the Poet/Speak open reading. We also provide free information on other poetry-related events in the area.

Current Events

Poetry Santa Cruz events upcoming in the next month in Santa Cruz County. Please see our Events page for future listings and a comprehensive list of literary events in and around Santa Cruz.
 
Poetry Santa Cruz Events
Tuesday
July 8
7:30
PM
Len Anderson, Kathleen Flowers, Bernice Rendrick and David Allen Sullivan.
Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz.  Suggested $3 donation to Poetry Santa Cruz.  [Read more about this event.]
Sunday
July 13
2:00
PM
Poet/Speak Open Reading with featured reader Rudolf Tenenbaum.  Main Library upstairs Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz.  Free.  Presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and hosted by Joyce Keller.

Poetry Santa Cruz events are supported, in part, by a grant from the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County.  

PSC News

Central Coast Writers 2009 Spring Writing Contest

Central Coast Writers, the local branch of the California Writers Club, announces its 2009 Spring Writing Contest for poetry and short stories.  The Submission period is August 15 through November 15, 2008.  Winners receive $500.  See the CCW website for Contest Rules.

Storefront Gallery Poems

Poems are now posted for your reading pleasure at two downtown Santa Cruz locations.  Poems by Yehudi Amichai, Taha Muhammad Ali, Joseph Stroud and Gary Young are posted at 603 Front Street at Soquel Avenue, and poems by Ellen Bass and Dan Gerber are at 1126 Pacific Avenue next to the Del Mar Theatre.  They are printed large so you can’t miss them.  Both addresses are currently empty storefronts.  This project is a collaboration among the Public Arts Program of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Santa Cruz, the County of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency and Poetry Santa Cruz.

Ric Masten Tribute: Call for Submissions

The Summer 2008 issue of Monterey Poetry Review will be a tribute to Ric Masten.  See the following news item on his passing and June 20 memorial.  Editor Nicole Henares says: “As many of you are aware, we have recently lost one of our favorite poets, Ric Masten.  Though I only knew him for the last five years of his life, Ric made a lasting impression on me, as he did to most of those who knew him.  Please send any poems about or in homage to Ric.  We welcome personal recollections and/or reflections of Ric’s relationship with the creative community and/or history of the Central Coast.”
Send your poems to:
Nicole Henares
Editor, Monterey Poetry Review
25495 Canada Valley Drive
Carmel, CA 93923
Or montereypoetryreview@gmail.com

Ric Masten Memorial

The family of Big Sur poet Ric Masten sent the following message on June 1: “We will honor him with a family tribute on June 20th, at 1:00 pm, at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula (one mile up Carmel Valley on the right). Please join us in song and celebration! With love, The Masten Clan” This follows on their message of May 10: “We are hanging the feathers on the wind.  Dad passed peacefully late last night, May 9, 2008, at 11:50 pm, his whole family around him singing ’Let It Be A Dance,’ candlelight illuminating our love.  We are thankful for all your support through this sweet time.”  You can learn more about Ric and hear him sing his song on his website www.ric-masten.net.

Blue’s Cruzio Café

Beau Blue has installed new animated performances on the Main Stage of his Blue’s Cruzio Café website.  High speed internet access is needed.  Featured poets are Al Young, C. O. McCauley, Kim Addonizio, Ashley Walker, Helene Cardona, Teresa White and Ray Succre.
Click on "The Saloon," "The Stage Upstairs," "The Green Room," "Cafe After Hours" and "Beau Blue Presents" for more.

Poetry in the Good Times

The Santa Cruz arts and entertainment weekly newspaper Good Times prints a biweekly column, Poetry Corner, which features poetry and essays about poetry.  Recent columns:
Poems from the 15th annual Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition Anthology in the June 26 issue.
Four poems by John Brandi in the June 19 issue.
• Six poems by Kevin Opstedal in the June 5 issue.
• Six poems by Jay Leeming in the May 22 issue.
• An essay by Nin Andrews entitled “How Does Anyone Become A Poet?” in the April 24 issue.

Breaking into Print

Rick Masten’s last collection poems, Take 3—Not Dead Yet, is available for $33 including postage from SunInk Publications, 37931 Palo Colorado Road, Carmel, CA 93923.
Porter Gulch Review 2008 includes poems by Philip J. Wagner, Manuela Wehrmann, Nancy Hofmann, Adela Najarro, Ken Weisner, Julia Alter, Pam Lemke, Dan Phillips, Jennifer Pittman, Erin Redfern, Aaron Quiggle, Andrew Walsh, Amber Coverdale Sumrall, Lily Dayton, Carol Rodriguez, Jean Walton Wolff, Kathleen Flowers, Sylvia Bortin Patience, Jeff Towle, Martha Clark Scala, Helene Simkin Jara, David Thorn, Joan Safajek, Zoë Cross, Winifred Baer, Kathryn Petruccelli, Marilyn Jean, Pat Zylius, Shirley Ancheta, Robert S. Pesich, Len Anderson, Barbara Bloom, Jo Ann Birch, Marcia Adams, Douglas McClellan, Dane Cervine, Manfred Luedge, Jenny D’Angelo, Megan Bontrager and Joan Zimmerman.  The winner of the 2008 Porter Gulch Review Award is Zoë Cross. Porter Gulch Review is edited by the students of David Sullivan’s English 1B class.  It is available in local bookstores and from the authors represented in it.  It will also be available online as a PDF, along with a PDF of student critiques of some of the poems.
• The next issue of Monterey Poetry Review, edited by Nicole Henares, is in production and will include poems by Peter Neil Carroll, Bernice Rendrick, John Laue. Neal Whitman, Sam Salerno, Jr., Kathleen Flowers, Gene Pare, Jose Torres, Flame, Tad Wojnicki, Jeanne Lupton, Dane Cervine, Rosalie Nelson, Susan Freeman, Isai Ambrosio, Jennifer Lagier, Diana Garcia, Nancie M. Brown, with artwork by Jill Fressinier and photography by Juleen Johnson.
Bear Flag Republic: Prose Poems and Poetics from California, editd by Christopher Buckley and Gary Young (2008, Greenhouse Review Press) includes prose poems by local poets Alta Ifland, Stephen Kessler, Morton Marcus, Doren Robbins, Joseph Stroud, Robert Sward and Gary Young, as well as many other fine prose poets, and essays on poetics.  This anthology was featured in the May 13 Poetry Santa Cruz at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
J.P. Dancing Bear’s fourth collection and second full-size collection of poems, Conflicted Light, is available from Salmon Poetry in Ireland.
Bryant Clifford not only has a book of poems and prose published, The Monarch of Evening Time, it has been made into a film.
David Sullivan’s first collection of poems, Strong-Armed Angels, has been published by Hummingbird Press.  His launch reading was February 24 and books are available in the stores.
Kathleen Flowers received the In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award, including publication of her chapbook Call it Gladness, at the In Celebration of the Muse reading on March 9.
Morton Marcus’s literary memoir, Striking Through the Masks, 590 pp., is being published by Capitola Book Company and is in local bookstores.  The launch reading was March 13 in the Holy Cross Parish Hall. Readers and performers included California poet laureate Al Young, Deng Ming-Dao, Ellen Bass, Geoffrey Dunn, James D. Houston, Jean Wakatsuki Houston, Sandy Lydon, George Ow, Jr., Cheryl Anderson with the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus and Cantiamo singing two of Marcus’s poems from The Peace of Wild Things, which was performed at Carnegie Hall last year.  Articles appeared in the February 20 Metro and the March 6 Good Times.
Kevin Opstedal’s latest books are User’s Manual to the Pacific Coast Highway, (Seven Fingers Press, 2007) and Rare Surf, Vol. 2, New and Used Poems, (Smog Eyes Books, 2006).  Both books can be obtained from Kevin Opstedal’s press, Blue Press, which has published books, chapbooks, magazines and broadsides featuring work by Joanne Kyger, Lewis MacAdams, Duncan McNaughton, Micah Ballard, and others.
Prau by Jean Vengua (formerly Gier) is out from Meritage Press and the winner of the Filamore Tabios, Sr. Memorial Poetry Prize.
Stephen Kessler’s new collection of poems, Burning Daylight, is published by Littoral Press. This book, with letterpress cover by Lisa Rappaport, will be available by subscripton only and may be ordered directly from the author for $20, handling and shipping included, check made out to him and mailed to: Stephen Kessler, 1612 Escalona Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. The release reading will be held January 24, 7 PM at the West End Studio Theatre, Swift and Ingalls Streets, Santa Cruz.
Samuel Salerno has a new chapbook, Spirithouse, published by Lighthouse Press.
• The Summer 2007 issue of Monterey Poetry Review is available in bookstores and its other usual distribution locations.
Adrienne Rich has a new collection of poems, Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth: Poems 2004-2006, published by W. W. Norton.  She will read at Bookshop Santa Cruz, Wednesday, November 14 at 7:30 PM.
Amber Coverdale Sumrall’s second collection of poems, Refuge, is available in stores and may be ordered from Hummingbird Press.  She will read at Bookshop Santa Cruz on February 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM.
Robert Sward reports that his The Collected Poems and God Is in the Cracks are now both in their second printings.
Viz. Inter-Arts, a Trans-Genre Anthology, edited by Roxanne Power Hamilton explores and transgresses the boundaries between the arts. This anthology features the work of over 100 artists.  The book is available and events featuring its authors are taking place arond the greater Bay Area.  Learn more on the website: http://www.viz.ucsc.edu/.
• The anthology Harvest from the Emerald Orchard, poems by The Emerald Street Poets: Julia Alter-Canvin, Len Anderson, Virgil Banks, Dane Cervine, Jenny D’Angelo, Guarionex Delgado, Kathleen Flowers, Robin Lysne, Joanna Martin, Phyllis Mayfield, Maggie Paul, Stuart Presley, Carol Rodriguez, Joan Safajek, Lisa Simon, Robin Straub and Philip Wagner is now available. They read for Poetry Santa Cruz on September 25.
Alta Ifland’s first collection of poems is Voice of Ice, published by Les Figues Press in Los Angeles.  She will read for Poetry Santa Cruz on November 13.
C.J. Sage’s second collection of poems is Oddysea, published by Turning Point.

National Poetry News

For national poetry news, check out Poetry Daily's news and the Poetry Hut Blog.

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Sponsors

Poetry Santa Cruz is funded, in part, by a grant from the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County. The William James Association acted as our fiscal sponsor for our first four years.  Our readings are sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Cafe, The Attic, Casablanca Inn, The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Cabrillo College, KUSP and the National Writers Union Chapter 7.  Some readers receive matching grants from Poets & Writers, Inc., through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.  Membership premiums have been donated by Graywolf Press, the University of Pittsburgh Press, Robert Sward, Coffee House Press, Copper Canyon Press, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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