In Community & Poetry
A brief hello today to start the last week of February. I want to begin this newsletter by acknowledging the death of Len Anderson, someone who has been such an important figure in our poetry worlds over many decades in Santa Cruz. There are many people who knew him better than I did who will do better talking about everything he has meant to this place, but I want to briefly say here that what he meant to me is indelible. I was a wee poet when Len invited me to be a featured reader at the monthly poetry event he coordinated at the downtown SC library. Of course I was thrilled about that honor, but it was one of those invitations that remind you your poems have reached someone, at some point, which is what a young poet wants to feel. A poet friend said it in another way, when I let her know of Len’s passing: “he held the door open for us.” I bend my head here with you all to honor Len’s work with Poetry Santa Cruz, in his poetry groups, as a friend to poets from elsewhere, and as a model in all these ways.
Writing Opportunities for Teens
Four upcoming free poetry workshops are taking place in the next few weeks as part of my project Our Place—writing about place, community, and the natural world (made possible by a grant from the Academy of American Poets). These workshops will be taught by various and stellar local poets. Spread the word!
There are three drop-in Writing About the Ville sessions in Watsonville with Victoria Bañales and myself. During these programs, you will have the opportunity to write a poem in English or Spanish. Explore writing about place, home, and community. No poetry writing experience is required. Come to one, two, or three sessions.
✏️ Friday, March 1 from 4:30-6:00pm at Watsonville Youth Center
✏️ Wednesday, March 6 from 4:30pm-6:00pm at Watsonville Public Library
✏️ Friday, March 15 from 4:30-6:00pm at Watsonville Youth Center
And next Saturday at the Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz, poet Emilie Lygren will lead a different event. Our Places, Our Perspectives: How can writing and reading poems help us navigate climate change and its impact on our mental health? In this workshop, we’ll read and write poetry about place, our environment, and our community. To spark ideas for poems, we’ll observe our surroundings, reflect on our identities, and call on our memories. We’ll also discuss how writing can connect us to our communities and ourselves.
✏️ Saturday, March 2 from 11-1:30 at the SC Natural History Museum (requires signup here)
Other poetry workshops in this project have taken place in recent weeks—Lisa Ortiz shared her poet’s mind and love for Bonny Doon with sixth graders at Bonny Doon Elementary, and they wrote poems about the environment, climate change, and their hometown. I have been working with the Young Writers Project at Branciforte Middle School in their Word Lab, and will be back there again this week. Stay tuned for more news about this project in the future.
More Cool Young People
I was lucky to be one of the judges at Poetry Out Loud two weeks ago, and was inspired and awed by each of the high school students who memorized a poem and then recited it, with passion and care, in public (at Bookshop Santa Cruz). Anyone who can do that is a winner, to me, but our official county champion is Valentina Russell, who memorized the poem “Poetry is a Sickness” by Ed Bok Lee because she loved it so much. Valentina goes on to the state competition in March, but you can watch and listen to her on April 10 when she will be a special guest at the celebration for the SC County Youth Poet Laureate program at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
March Dates for Poetry
Inter|Act Spoken Word will continue its winter residency at Satori Arts, 815 Almar Ave, Unit 9, SC (on the west side). These are the first and third Tuesdays of March, at 7pm. Signups and info here.
March 5: Brad Crenshaw
March 19: Deb Gorlin
The Hive Live! Tuesday Mar 12, 7pm. The Hive promises a deeply memorable pair of poets, Sarah Ghazal Ali and sam sax at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Register to save your seat here.
Submissions & Nominations
The Catamaran Poetry Prize, sponsored by the Catamaran Literary Reader is now open for submissions (until June 1). This contest is for a book length collection of poetry only. The prize is only open to West Coast poets living in California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii. More info here.
Call for Nominations for the Spotlight Award: Honoring Local Emerging Artists. Deadline for nomination letters: March 3, 2024. Through the Spotlight Award, the County Arts Commission publicly recognizes individuals who have achieved a high level of excellence and creativity in their work, but who have not received widespread acknowledgment of their talent. This annual award recognizes younger artists as well as those who are discovering their artistic voice later in life. The award will be given to one artist or artist group in each of the following mediums: visual art, performing arts, and literary arts. More info and to nominate an individual here.
New Books Out in Our World
Local teen Madeline Aliah’s debut chapbook This is My Body has just been published by Jamii Publishing. “Madeline Aliah’s debut chapbook tracks her inner journey from boy to woman. In three movements, she shows us the early bewilderment of a boy at odds with his body, the budding consciousness of finding a community, and the bittersweet labor of bringing herself into being. Through poems, at times slight and girlish, at times heavy with social fatigue, she speaks of her experience with unflinching honesty. These poems consider the bodily experience of gender dysphoria and the guilt and grief over accusations of gender abandonment and appropriation. Her poems touch on Queer history as well as the weaponization of identity, but most of all, they sing a young person’s deepest desire to feel free despite the risks and against all odds.”
Please Share Info Here
Do you know of poetry events, calls for submission, news, or a new book out from a county poet? Or do you know someone who does? Please share this newsletter and share news with me to spread the word. And thank you for reading!