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
	The Flor y Canto / Flower and Song Open Mic Reading planned for July 11 is POSTPONED until AUGUST.  The Watsonville Library will be closed on Saturdays due to budget cuts, so we will need to find another venue.
Sunday July 12 10 AM to 4 PM	Poetry Workshop with Lorna Dee Cervantes. at a private residence in Live Oak near Capitola.  The workshop will include writing new work and response to a poem brought in by each participant.  Cost: $50.  Limited to 13 participants.  Advance registration and payment required.  To reserve a place, call Adela Najarro at (831) 600-7319.  Email: adelanajarro@comcast.net.  [ Read more about this event ]
Tuesday July 14 7:30 PM	Francisco X. Alarcón and Lorna Dee Cervantes.  Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz.  [ map ]  Suggested donation $3.  [ Read more about this event ]
Sunday July 26 2:00 PM	Poet/Speak Open Reading with featured reader John Laue.  Main Library upstairs Meeting Room, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz.  [ map ]  Free.  Presented by Poetry Santa Cruz and hosted by Joyce Keller.

These events are supported, in part, by a grant from the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County.  Some events are supported by matching grants to our readers from Poets & Writers, Inc.  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.  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, Casablanca Inn, The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Cabrillo College, KUSP 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.

Greg Hall, 1946–2009

Poet Greg Hall, who lived in Santa Cruz in the 1970's, died Tuesday, June 23 in his San Jose cottage.  You can read a rememberance by Stephen Kessler in the July 1 Santa Cruz Weekly and Metro San Jose.  You can read the post by Greg’s friend Bea Garth on her blog Eos: The Creative Context and find poems there.  F.A. Nettlebeck also has a post on his blog Sewing Memory incuding a poem.  Liz Henry has posted a tribute, some poems and links to three audio recordings (mp3).  There will be a Memorial Celebration of Greg Hall’s life and poetry at 6 PM on Sunday, July 19 at WORKS Gallery in downtown San Jose, 451 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113.

A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society 1997-2008 by Adrienne Rich

Dennis Morton gives a personal response to Adrienne Rich’s new book of essays, A Human Eye (W.W. Norton, 2009) in his article on page 26 of the June 18 issue of Good Times.  Chris Watson reviews the book and includes a short interview in her article in the June 18 Santa Cruz Sentinel.  Adrienne Rich will read from A Human Eye Monday, June 22 at 7:30 in Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Poem by David Sullivan on The Writer’s Almanac Friday, June 5

On Friday, June 5 Garrison Keillor read “Dragonflies at Dawn” by David Allen Sullivan from his collection Strong-Armed Angels, published by Hummingbird Press in 2008.  This is the second poem Keillor has read from Strong-Armed Angels.  On October 13, 2008 he read “Warnings.”  You can hear The Writer’s Almanac daily at 9:01 AM and 8:01 PM on KAZU 90.3 FM.

Poem by David Lau on Poem-A-Day Email

On Friday, June 5 David Lau’s poem “Jellyfish” was emailed to subscribers to the Poem-A-Day from the Academy of American Poets on May 23.  The poem appears in his collection Virgil and the Mountain Cat, published by The University of California Press in 2009.  You can subscribe to the email Newsletters on the Academy of American Poets website.

High School Anthology and Muse Chapbooks Available

The following chapbooks are available at Poetry Santa Cruz events and through mail order:
• The 2009 Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition Anthology, Pocketing the Dawn, $5 ($7 by mail order).
• The 2009 In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award winner, Trainsong by Bernice Rendrick, $10 ($12 by mail order).
• The 2008 In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award winner, Call It Gladness by Kathleen Flowers, $10 ($12 by mail order).
Mail orders should be made payable to Poetry Santa Cruz and mailed to: Poetry Santa Cruz / PO Box 259 / Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0259.

Doug McClellan Wins Ode to Santa Cruz Contest

On Wednesday, May 13 Garrison Keillor read the prize-winning ode to Santa Cruz to a near-capacity crowd at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.  You can read the poem and the article about the event in the Sentinel article.

On The Poetry Show

The May 31 show featured a conversation with Lisa Starr and Coleman Barks, hosted by Dennis Morton.  The May 24 show was hosted by Dennis Morton and featured Ken Foster and Owen Dell reading the poetry of Kenneth Patchen.  In the May 17 show, host Morton Marcus together with guests Joseph Stroud and Rosie King read poems by Theodore Roethke.  This was the last show with Morton Marcus as host.  The May 10 show featured recitations by Max Hoff from Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.  The Poetry Show airs each Sunday 9-10 PM on KUSP 88.9 FM.  Past shows are podcast on kusp.org.

Search for Poet Craig Arnold

Craig Arnold, poet and assistant professor at the University of Wyoming has been missing since April 27 on the Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu-jima in the country’s northern Ryukyu Islands.  Searchers have now found conclusive evidence that he fell and must have been instantly killed.  You can learn more on the Facebook page, Find Craig Arnold.

Kathleen Flowers Memorial, updated 5/3/09

Kathleen Flowers passed away peacefully on Easter Sunday after a four-year struggle with cancer.  She was the winner of the first Annual In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award in 2008 for her chapbook Call It Gladness, published by Poetry Santa Cruz.  She is greatly beloved in our community.  A memorial was held Sunday, May 3 at the Progressive Baptist Church, 517 Center St., Santa Cruz, at 3:30 pm.  Additional copies of Call It Gladness have been printed and will be available for purchase at Poetry Santa Cruz events.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made payable to any of three organizations:
• WomenCare, mailed to WomenCare, 1001 41st Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
• Poetry Santa Cruz, mailed to Poetry Santa Cruz, PO Box 259, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0259
• DeLaveaga School /Kathleen Flowers Memorial Fund, mailed to DeLaveaga School, 1145 Morrissey Blvd., Santa Cruz, CA 95065

You can read more on the blog www.kathleenflowers.com and read the article by Wallace Baine in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.  Poems by Kathleen Flowers have been posted in the storefront at 913 Cedar St. and are featured in the May 7 issue of Good Times.

Poetry in the Good Times

The Santa Cruz arts and entertainment weekly newspaper Good Times prints a monthly column, Poetry Corner, which features poetry and essays about poetry.  Recent columns:
• Poems by Chi Eun “Gloria” Kim, Kaily Dorfman and Eva Cover, the prize winners in the 2009 Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition in the May 28 issue.
• Poems by Kathleen Flowers and Gregory Orr in the May 7 issue.
• Poems by Rob Wilson in the February 26 issue.
• Poems by Laure-Anne Bosselaar in the February 5 issue.
• Poems by Roz Spafford in the January 14 issue.
• Poems by Donald Lobner in the January 7 issue.

Breaking into Print
 
• Porter Gulch Review 2009 celebrated its 24th annual issue on May 29.  Many student writers and artists are represented, as well as work by Cabrillo faculty, students and professors from UCSC, and a wide array of local talents.  Copies will be available at the Poetry Santa Cruz events in June.
• The 2009 issue of the Homestead Review celebrated its tenth year of publication on May 21 at the Poetic Voices Poetry Festival with readings by Kim Addonizio and Christine Hamm plus the winners of this year’s annual Poetic Voices intercollegiate poetry competition.
• David Lau’s first collection of poems, Virgil and the Mountain Cat, is published by UC Press.  He read April 2 at Capitola Book Cafe.
• George Lober’s second collection of poems is A Bridge to There, published by Hummingbird Press.  He read at Tor House on March 28.
• The first collection of poems by Robin Somers, Backyard Burning, is published by Somersault Studios.  She read at the March 7, 2009 In Celebration of the Muse.
• Trainsong, by Bernice Rendrick has been awarded the In Celebration of the Muse Chapbook Award 2009 and is published by Poetry Santa Cruz.  Bernice Rendrick was the first reader at the 2009 In Celebration of the Muse reading March 7.  Her chapbook is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
• James Maughn’s first collection of poems, Kata, is published by BlazeVOX [books].  It is a series of poems based on traditional Okinawan karate.  He read April 2 at Capitola Book Cafe.
• Joseph Stroud has a new book: Of This World: New and Selected Poems, published by Copper Canyon Press.  He read on December 9 from it for Poetry Santa Cruz.
• The anthology Sisters Singing: Blessings, Prayers, Art, Songs, Poetry and Sacred Stories by Women is published by Wild Girl Publishing. Edited by Carolyn Brigit Flynn. It includes poetry by Deena Metzger, Gail Brenner, Ziggy Rendler-Bregman, Kate Aver Avraham, Linda Holiday, Andrea van de Loo, Patti Sirens, Carolyn Davis Rudolph, Maria Papacostaki, Mary Camille Thomas, Marigold Fine, Connie Batten, Lisa Espenmiller, Gretchen Sentry, Jean Mahoney. They read on November 25.
• Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler have co-translated Eyeseas (Les Ziaux), poems by the French novelist and poet Raymond Queneau (1903-1976).  The book is published by Black Widow Press.
• Stephen Kessler has a new book of essays: Moving Targets: On Poets, Poetry & Translation from El Leon Literary Arts in Berkeley. Pre-publication copies are available directly from the author through October.
• The 2008 issue of Ping•Pong, art and literary journal, featuring work by international writers and artists.  Available for $12 now in area bookstores.  The release party was Saturday, August 9 at Henry Miller Library.
• 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.

Blue’s Cruzio Café Updated

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 Beau Blue himself, Cat Townsend, C.E. Chaffin, Lois P. Jones, & Cheryl Snell, and reprises of videos by Robert Sward, Al Young & Morton Marcus.
New Extended Comic Book format! Animated Poets on the Stage Upstairs—a semi-reality show hosted by Beau Blue! Come check it out—you’ll have a good time.. On Facebook.

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

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