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
Sunday May 8 2:00 PM	Poet/Speak Open Reading with featured reader Nancy Gauquier.  Main Library upstairs Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz.  Free.  Presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and hosted by Joyce Keller.
Tuesday May 13 7:30 PM	Bear Flag Republic: Prose Poems and Poetics from California with Christopher Buckley, Gary Young, Morton Marcus, Robert Sward, Stephen Kessler, Alta Ifland, Doren Robbins, Diane Franks, Ana Delgadillo and Eliot Schain. Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz.  Suggested $3 donation to Poetry Santa Cruz.  [Read more about this event.]
Tuesday May 20 7:00 PM	15th Annual High School Poetry Competition Reading, Awards Ceremony and Celebration of the Anthology.  Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 809-H Bay Avenue, Capitola.  Free.  Presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.  [Read more about this event.]
Events Co-sponsored by Poetry Santa Cruz
Wednesday May 28 7:30 PM	Jennifer Firestone and Dana Teen Lomax. Felix Kulpa Gallery, 107 Elm Street, Santa Cruz.  Free.  Presented by A New Cadence Poetry Series. [Read more on the A New Cadence blog.]

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

The reading by Dan Gerber on April 8 is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.

Good Times Story on the Women and Food 2008 Reading

The April 17 Good Times has a story by John Malkin on the Women and Food 2008 reading to be held Friday, April 25 at 7 PM in the Koppes Community Room in the Cabrillo College Horticulture Center, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.  The article features poets Kate Aver Avraham, Danusha Lameris and Sese Geddes, as well as Christine Woodard, development director for Second Harvest Food Bank, which is the beneficiary of this benefit reading.

Poem by Barbara Bloom on The Writer’s Almanac

Garrison Keillor read “Her Legacy” by Barbara Bloom Monday, April 28 on his daily show The Writer’s Almanac.  This is the third poem from Barbara Bloom’s collection On the Water Meridian (Hummingbird Press, 2007) featured by Mr. Keillor.  The Writer’s Almanac can be heard locally each day at 9:01 AM and 8:01 PM on KAZU 90.3 FM.

April Is National Poetry Month

Here are some ways to celebrate National Poetry Month:
• Attend some of the readings above or on our Events page.
• Participate in the Poet/Speak Open Reading listed above or any of the open readings listed on our Events page.
• Listen to The Poetry Show on KUSP, every Sunday 8 to 9 PM, 88.9 FM.
• Check the Poem of the Day and the poetry book display at Bookshop Santa Cruz near the Pacific Avenue entrance.  Poetry books are 20% off in April.  Look for the list of poetry books recommended by staff and books by our local poets in the Poetry section.  Capitola Book Café and Logos also have excellent selections.  Bookworks and Gateways have poetry sections as well.
• Consult our Breaking into Print news item below for recent books by local authors.  Our Books page has an extensive list of books by our local poets and a Featured Books page of our visiting poets.
• Check out poetry books from the Library.  The Main Santa Cruz Library has an extensive selection.
• Check the Poem of the Day on Poetry Daily or Verse Daily  Sign up for the Poem of the Day on The Academy of American Poets website (April only).  Sign up for Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac email, which includes a poem every day.
• Hear and see poetry on YouTube.
• Write a poem, or even write a poem every day.  Sign up for a poetry workshop.
• Become a contributing member of Poetry Santa Cruz.

Charles Atkinson Profiled by Chris Watson

A brief profile and a poem by Santa Cruz poet Charles Atkinson appeared in Chris Watson’s column “Book Briefs” in the Sunday, March 16 Santa Cruz Sentinel.

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 Good Times Poetry Corner for April 24 features an essay by Nin Andrews entitled “How Does Anyone Become A Poet?”  Four poems by Ken Weisner appear in the April 10 issue.  The March 27 Poetry Corner brings poems by Ric Masten and an article about David Allen Sullivan.

Breaking into Print

• 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 will be featured in the May 13 Poetry Santa Cruz reading at 7:30 PM 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 Maucus’s literary memoir, Striking-Through the Masks, 590 pp., is being published by Capitola Book Company and will be available in stores March 14  The launch reading will be Thursday, March 13 at 7 PM in the Holy Cross Parish Hall, 170 High St., Santa Cruz. Readers and performers will include 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.

Cool Poetry Santa Cruz T-shirts!

You can now own a cool Poetry Santa Cruz T-shirt, understated and very hip for those who know. All you have to do is become a member of Poetry Santa Cruz at the $50 level. You can get books, too.

Wishlist

Lend us a hand!  We are in need of volunteer effort. Please see our Wishlist Page to see how you can help. 

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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