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 County.
 

Poetry Santa Cruz Events
Thursday May 17 6:30 PM Gather, 7:00 Reading	The 19th Annual Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition Reading, Awards Ceremony and Celebration of the Publication of the Annual Anthology.  Festivities begin from 6:30 to 7:00 PM as the poets sign in and we gather and see the visual art by local high school students on the walls.  Admission is Free.  Contributing poets will receive a free copy of the competition anthology.  Additional copies will be available for purchase at $5 each. Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 400 Encinal St., Santa Cruz.  [ map ]  Free.  Presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.
Sunday May 20 2:00–4:00 PM	Poet/Speak Open Reading with featured reader Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Poets Patricia Machmiller, Beverly Acuff Momoi, Carol Steele, and Alison Woolpert featured.  Signup at 2:00 sharp, 5-minute limit.  Hosted by Joyce Keller. Main Library upstairs Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz.  [ map ]  Free.
Tuesday June 12 7:30 PM	Favorite Poem Project Reading. Corralitos Cultural Center, 127 Hames Road, Corralitos, CA 95076  [ map ] [ Read more about this event ]

Poetry Santa Cruz events are supported, in part, by a grant from the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County.  Some readings are supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.  Poetry Santa Cruz is also grateful for the support of its members and donors, In Celebration of the Muse, and those who donated in memory of Maude Meehan, Kathleen Flowers and Hermie Medley.  The William James Association acted as our fiscal sponsor for our first four years.  Our readings are sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Café, Watsonville Public Library, Santa Cruz Public Library, Cabrillo College, UCSC Division of Humanities and Creative Writing Program, Scotts Valley Arts Commission, KUSP, Casablanca Inn and the National Writers Union Chapter 7.  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.  A voluntary donation of $3 may be requested at venues where collection of donations is permitted.

Gary Young Is County Artist of the Year

Gary Young was selected to be the Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year for 2012 by the County Arts Commission. He served as the first Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate in 2010–2011 and is the author of seven books of poetry and is also a printer, book artist and educator. His awards include the Shelley Memorial Award and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. A Profile Performance celebrating the 2012 Artist of the Year will be held at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History on Friday, May 25 at 7:00 pm.
• See the County Department of Public Works announcement.
• Learn more about Gary Young on Wikipedia and his own website.

Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich died in her home on Tuesday, March 27 at age 82 from complications of rheumatoid arthritis. She had lived in Santa Cruz County since the 1980s.
• See the article in the March 29 Santa Cruz Sentinel, including quotes from local friends.
• See the Santa Cruz Patch article with a video of Adrienne Rich reading her poem “What Kind of Times Are These.”
• Bookshop Santa Cruz has a memorial display as you come in the Pacific Avenue entrance with a poster and a great selection of her books. And right next to it is the National Poetry Month display with a poster, a poem and more books, among books by a variety of poets.
• Duing the month of April Poetry Box, the 30-minute poetry program on Community TV channels 27 (Comcast) and 73 (Watsonville), will air Adrienne Rich’s last reading in Santa Cruz, January 27, 2010 with James Scully at Capitola Book Café (Recorded by Rick Kleffel). Community TV has also for your convenience posted the reading on Youtube.
• On The Poetry Show on KUSP on Sunday April 1, Susan Freeman, Lesley-Anne Taylor and Len Anderson read poems and prose by Adrienne Rich and and played recordings of her reading. On the April 8 Poetry Show, Dennis Morton plays more recorded readings by Adrienne Rich from the CD The Voice of the Poet: Adrienne Rich. You can listen to or download the shows on The Poetry Show Blog.
• You can listen to a 1989 interview of Adrienne Rich by Terry Gross on the NPR website.
• Read “The Heart of All Resistance,” Roz Spafford’s memoriam to Adrienne Rich in Good Times.
• See Eve Ensler’s article in article in the Guardian
• Call for Submissions for an anthology edited by Katharyn Howd Machan. Poems inspired by Adrienne Rich or written about her. To be published by Split Oak Press, P.O. Box 700, Vestal, NY,13851.
• A Change of World: In Celebration of Adrienne Rich. The San Francisco Main Library Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 PM, San Francisco Public Library Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, California 94102. For more info, contact Karen Sundheim.
• A Tribute to Adrienne Rich will be held Wednesday, April 25, 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Kresge Town Hall, UCSC. Selections from the work of Adrienne Rich will be read by Karen Tei Yamashita, David Swanger, Anna Tsing, Maria Frangos, Vickie Nam, Andrea Quaid, Carla Freccero, Farnaz Fatemi, Helene Moglen, Bettina Aptheker, Ellen Bass, Micah Perks, Juliana Leslie, Gary Young, Aliyah Khan, Dennis Morton, Kelly Ireland,Tilly Shaw. (There will be an “open microphone” for additional three-minute readings, time permitting)

Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate Activities

• David Swanger read with Gary Young in An Evening of Poems about Places, followed by a discussion moderated by Dennis Morton. Tuesday April 17 in the Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
• David Swanger is reading poems for the following meetings in April: Santa Cruz County Board of of Supervisors, and the city councils of Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Capitola, and Watsonville.
• David Swanger will host and read in the annual San Lorenzo Valley Poetry Reading. See the event details on Poetry Santa Cruz website Events page.
• See the interview with David Swanger on the City on a Hill website.
• See the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate page on the Cultural Council website.
• David Swanger is one of three judges for the 19th annual Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition. The Awards Ceremony and Reading will be held Thursday, May 17 at 7 PM in the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 400 Encinal St., Santa Cruz.
• David Swanger is reading in the A Tribute to Adrienne Rich on Wednesday, April 25, 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Kresge Town Hall, UCSC.
• See an article in Santa Cruz Patch.

Santa Cruz Writes

Santa Cruz Writes, a non-profit organization, was recently founded by Karen Ackland, Julia Chiapella, and Jory Post. Its mission is to enhance literary opportunities for Santa Cruz County writers in the schools, through publications, and in expanding live and online writing communities. Learn more at santacruzwrites.org.
• phren—Z is its quarterly online literary magazine dedicated to the writers of Santa Cruz County. The first issue launched on February 14, Valentine’s Day, featuring local writers Wallace Baine, Don Rothman, Carolyn Burke, Gary Young, Farnaz Fatemi, Clifford Henderson, Micah Perks, Paul Skenazy, Karen Ackland, and an interview with Karen Tei Yamashita by Julia Chiapella. phren—Z held a Live Launch at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History on First Friday, March 2, where most of its contributors read from their work.
• Submissions for future issues of phren—Z may be made on its website.
• phren—Z announces its first Floodlight Feature, offering a glimpse into the life and work of Morton Marcus.
• phren—Z announces The Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Contest with full details and submissions via the website.
• phren—Z and Poetry Santa Cruz announce the Poetry Month Floodlight Feature of 17 Santa Cruz County poets for the 17th annual National Poetry Month. The 17 featured poets are Shirley Ancheta, Charles Atkinson, Lauren Crux, J.P. Dancing Bear, Susan Freeman, Bert Glick, Alta Ifland, Neli Moody, Ekua Omosupe, Doren Robbins, Patti Sirens, Debra Spencer, David Sullivan, Amber Coverdale Sumrall, Jeff Tagami, Maria Garcia Teutsch, and Ken Weisner.

Calls for Submissions

• Yuki Teikei Haiku Society sponsors the annual Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest. .
Submissions must be received by May 31, 2012. Prizes: $100, $50, $25.
Contest Rules: Haiku in English of 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern. Each haiku must use one kigo, and only one kigo, taken from the contest list: New Year: first reading, year of the dragon. Spring: swallows return, lengthening days. Summer: ants, summer’s end. Autumn: harvest moon, autumn sea. Winter: frost, bean soup.
Entry fee $7.00 per page of three haiku. No limit on entries. Entries will not be returned. Submit 4 copies of each page, with your name and address on only one copy, typed on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Make checks or money orders payable to “Yuki Teikei Haiku Society”. Overseas entrants please use International Postal Money Order, in U.S. currency only. For results send an SASE marked “Contest Winners.” Entries must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. No previous winning haiku are eligible. This contest is open to anyone, except for the YT President and Contest Chair. Final selection will be made by a distinguished haiku poet. The Society may print winning poems and commentary in its newsletter, annual anthology, and current brochures.
Send entries to: Deborah P Kolodji — Contest Chair / 10529 Olive Street / Temple City, CA 91780 / Attn: Tokutomi Contest

• The Santa Cruz literary magazine phren—Z Submissions page provides details on submissions for future issues and for the The Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Contest.

• Felton Library Friends invites San Lorenzo Valley residents to submit poems on the theme of “Taking a Stand” for the 8th Annual San Lorenzo Valley Poetry Reading. Entries must be submitted on or before Thursday, April 5 by email to feltonlibraryfriends@gmail.com or by mail to Felton Library Friends, PO Box 1245, Felton, CA 95018. One poem per poet may be submitted, and must include poet’s name, age category, and phone number. The four age categories are: 4-8 (dictation OK), 9-12, 13-17, and adult. Poems, selected from all age categories by Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate David Swanger, will be read at the SLV Poetry Reading at 7:00 pm on Thursday, April 26 at the Felton Community Hall. For more information, contact Felton Library Friends, a chapter of Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, at 335-9553, feltonlibraryfriends@gmail.com or visit www.feltonlibraryfriends.org.

• IF and the Resource Center for Nonviolence will be launching an ongoing storytelling theater production beginning in the spring of 2012, in an attempt to connect and network with the diverse community we inhabit. Given the use of the new 200 seat theater on Ocean St., we plan to present 4-6 shows annually that express social interrelationships and connectedness through human experience. With the common thread of storytelling we attempt to find common ground and dissolve the misconceptions about our neighbors. This, in a sense, will be experimental theater, a Works in Progress, that can grow in vision and purpose as it develops. Any artform can be utilized: poetry, dance, oration, art works that the artist displays and tells about, Vaudeville, comedy, mime, signing, song, etc. The idea is have a theme for each show. Based upon submissions we receive, some themes may create themselves. Original works are preferred, but stories, plays, music and readings relevant to the theme will be considered. The demographic will be family oriented. We are particularly interested in autobiographical stories of diverse cultures that live in the Bay area, have become citizens or recently immigrated, or stories of how our ancestors came to be here. The variety show will feature several acts that must fit into a 5-15 minute time slot, with some exceptions. With permission, submissions will be kept for future shows. Professionals and amateurs will both be considered. Each performer will have a bio and an opportunity to speak about themselves. Submissions will be chosen for relevance to theme, content and form of expression. Performers must have experience in front of a live audience. Our first show is projected for April 7th. It will be called FACES, as in faces of our community.
Please send submissions to Stephanie Means

On The Poetry Show

The Poetry Show airs each Sunday 9-10 PM on KUSP 88.9 FM.

Past shows on The Poetry Show Blog and podcast on kusp.org:
• April 8: Dennis Morton plays recordings of Adrienne Rich during the first half and reads poems by Troy Jollimore, Len Anderson and Dennis J. Bernstein in the second half.
• April 1: Susan Freeman, Lesley-Anne Taylor and Len Anderson read poems and prose by Adrienne Rich and and play recordings of her reading. They also encourage donations for the KUSP Pledge Drive.
• March 25: In recordings from the University of Leicester, UK, Gwynne Harries hosts poets Vicki Feaver and Daljit Nagra.
• March 18: In a recording from the University of Leicester, UK, Gwynne Harries hosts poet Rory Waterman. Then Dennis Morton reads poems by Nick Flynn and talks about the film Being Flynn, currently playing at the Nickelodeon and based on his memoir.
• March 11: Dennis Morton hosts Ken Weisner, editor of Red Wheelbarrow, with Len Anderson, Farnaz Fatemi, Rosie King, Tilly Washburn Shaw, Paul Skenazy, and David Sullivan, who have work in the 2011 issue.
• March 4: Susan Freeman hosts Adela Najarro, Rosie King, Lisa Simon and Laura Young in a preview of Saturday’s In Celebration of the Muse.
• February 26: Dennis Morton hosts Kevin Simmonds.
• February 19: Dennis Morton hosts David Swanger, recently selected 2012–2013 Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County.
• February 12: Dennis Morton hosts Lorna Dee Cervantes. Her latest book is CIENTO: 100 100-Word Love Poems.
• February 5: Dennis Morton hosts Ellen Bass and Toi Derricotte.

Poetry in Local Media

The Good Times prints a monthly poetry column and the Santa Cruz Weekly includes the weekly “Local Poets, Local Inspiration” column in its online edition, SantaCruz.com and in the print edition on the first Wednesday of the month.  Articles about poetry events, authors and books also appear in Good Times, Santa Cruz Weekly and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.  Copies of Redwood Coast Review are distributed in the Library Main Branch lobby and in Bookshop Santa Cruz and regularly feature poetry, book reviews and other articles of literary interest.  Recent columns:

• Two poems by Martina Evans in the May 10 Good Times (3 poems online).
• Three poems by Patricia Zylius on the Poetry Page in the April issue of Comic News.
• An article in the March 29 Santa Cruz Sentinel on the death of Adrienne Rich.
• Three poems by Kevin Simmonds appear in the March 15 Good Times.
• Three poems by Elaine Schwartz on the Poetry Page in the March issue of Comic News.
• A review of Poetry Festival Santa Cruz in the February 13 Santa Cruz Sentinel.
• An article about David Swanger, our new Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate, and a poem in the February 16 Santa Cruz Sentinel.
• Three poems by Kirk Walter Allen on the Poetry Page in the February issue of Comic News.
• A poem and a Personal Statement from David Swanger, our new Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate, in the February 9 Good Times.
• Three poems by Len Anderson and two poems by Casey FitzSymons in a new column in the December issue of Comic News.
• Articles about Robert Sward and his New and Selected Poems: 1957-2011 appear in the November 30 Santa Cruz Weekly and December 1 Good Times .
• Two poems by Len Anderson in the November 17 Good Times (3 poems online).
• Three poems by Rob Sean Wilson in the October 27 Good Times.
• Three poems by Robert Sward in the October 13 Good Times.
• A poem by Rosie King in the October 5 Santa Cruz Weekly.

Breaking into Print
 
• J.P. Dancing Bear’s latest book, Family of Marsupial Centaurs and other birthday poems (Iris Press, April 6, 2012) is available now online from B&N and Amazon. Book description: Family of Marsupial Centaurs and other birthday poems is a collection of 80 poems written as part of the 1408 pieces that comprised J.P. Dancing Bear’s Birthday Poems Project on Facebook. The works are an homage, partially ekphrastic and often time using quotes and other facts found on the honoree’s Facebook wall. Common themes in the book are cycles, renewal, retrospection, and outlook, thus moving beyond being poems merely written to individuals but poems written to everyone with a birthday.
• David Sullivan’s book of poems in multiple voices about the Iraq war is Every Seed of the Pomegranate, to be published by Tebot Bach, spring 2012.
• Ingrid Moody’s chapbook collection of poems Learning about Fire won the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize and is being published in February by Texas Review Press. Ingrid Moody read for Poetry Santa Cruz on March 13 at Bookshop Santa Cruz with Travis Mossotti.
• Middlearth Editions proudly announces the publication of Two Answers–Told in Tribute to Lew Welch on the 40th Anniversary of His Occultation, a chapbook in Limited Edition with contributions by: Charles Upton, Kush, Casey Sonnabend and Sam Amico. Published in 86 copies, 43 signed ($125), 43 unsigned ($50). Available at Logos Books & Records and Middlearth Editions, PO Box 1894, Soquel, CA 95073.
• The latest book of poems from Patricia Hernan Grube is Layer by Layer, with drawings by Donald Leo Grube, is available from her website www.patriciagrube.com.
• The latest book of prose poems from Alta Ifland is The Snail’s Song, available from Spuyten Duyvil Press.  It includes drawings by the author. Alta Ifland read with Terry Ehret on March 17 at Felix Kulpa Gallery.
• Rob Sean Wilson’s latest book is Beat Attitudes: On the Roads to Beatitude for Post-Beat Writers, Dharma Bums, and Cultural-Political Activists, to be published by New Pacific Press.
• Len Anderson’s second full-length collection of poems is Invented by the Night, published by Hummingbird Press.  He will read for Poetry Santa Cruz with Troy Jollimore on April 10, 7:30 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
• Theodore Berhanu Levine’s Recovery & Perfect Bliss, Inc. is available from Troy Book Makers.
• The 2011 issue of Ping Pong features an interview with Ruth Stone, and international collections from French-Canadian poet Guy Jean as well as translations from Japanese. Ping–Pong offers the finest in American writers including Brian Henry, Eleni Sikelianos, Katie Farris, Bruce Covey, and Sesshu Foster, among many other luminaries. The Ping Pong West Coast Launch Party will take place at the Beat Museum on Saturday, October 22nd at 7:30. The magazine is published annually at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur.
• Copies of Robert Sward’;s New and Selected Poems 1957-2011 are available in Bookshop Santa Cruz and Capitola Book Café and may also be ordered now from Red Hen Press.  Robert Sward celebrated release of his book December 6 at Capitola Book Café.
• Stephen Kessler’s The Tolstoy of the Zulus: on culture, arts and letters is his latest collection of essays on a wide variety of subjects including poets. El Léon Literary Arts, 2011.
• Kevin Opstedal’s new book is California Redemption Value, published by University of New Orleans Press, 2011.
• Maggie Paul’s first full-length collection of poems is Borrowed World, published by Hummingbird Press.  She celebrated the release of her book on Saturday, March 19 at the Cabrillo Horticulture Center.
• Kate Aver Avraham has been awarded the In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award 2011 for Perhaps the Truth is Also Blue, published by Poetry Santa Cruz.
• Jo-Ann Birch’s new collection of poems is A Place To Fall Into, available on Amazon.
• Doren Robbins’ latest collection of poems is Amnesty Muse, due in February from Lost Horse Press.  Doren Robbins read for Poetry Santa Cruz on Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 PM at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz CA 95060.
• Adrienne Rich’s latest collection of poems is Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007–2010, published by W. W. Norton. She has had to cancel her February 1 Bookshop Santa Cruz reading.
• Lisa Allen Ortiz’s chapbook collection of poems Turns Out, 40 pages, published by Main Street Rag.

National Poetry News

For national poetry news, check out Poetry Daily’s news Poets and Writers Poetry Flash and the Poetry Hut Blog.

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