June Tunes
Even when it’s not a packed month, there is still plenty going on in poetry-land as we head into summer. New books, beloved voices, and a range of poets, and that’s just in the next two weeks! Hope you get your dose of poetry…
Readings
June 2, 2pm. Marigold Fine at the Capitola Branch Library, an afternoon of poetry and musings with local author and documentary filmmaker Marigold Fine, celebrating Double Rainbow: Collected Poems & Musings.
June 4, 7pm. Book launch for When a Woman Tells The Truth: Writings and Creative Work by Women Over 80, edited by the wonderful Dena Taylor and Wilma Marcus Chandler. Taylor & Chandler solicited submissions worldwide for this anthology, and I just bought my copy yesterday. It’s full of beautiful written and visual work. Some of the local contributors will read at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Lookout is hosting a reception before the reading at their offices. RSVP for the reception here.
June 4, 7pm. Inter|Act Spoken Word Open Mic. Featured Reading by Ken Weisner. At Satori Arts, 815 Almar, Unit 9, Santa Cruz. (And save the date for June 18 Pride Night Featuring AE Hines).
June 7, 6-8pm. Book launch for Nancy Miller Gomez’s debut poetry book, Inconsolable Objects. Celebrate with a reading and conversation with Ellen Bass, introduced by (me) Farnaz Fatemi. At Vino Cruz, register here.
June 7, 8:30-10:30. Satori Open Mic featuring Dwight Bitikofer Poet. Open mic follows. Satori—an artist space, 815 Almar Ave. Unit 9, Santa Cruz. More info and signup here. Featuring Dwight Bitikofer Poet.
June 9, 1:30-3:30pm at Mesa Village Park in Watsonville. Poetry & Music in the Park. Poets: Julia Chiapella, Geneffa Jahan, and two of the County Youth Poet Laureate finalists, Simon Ellefson and Gregory Souza. Musicians: The Santa Cruz Brass Quintet.
June 13, 5:30-7:30pm at Watsonville Public Library. Poets' Circle welcomes Los Gatos poet laureate Jen Siraganian. In addition to her work as poet laureate and as an educator, Siraganian has served as managing director of Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival, been nominated for a Ruth Lilly Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize, earned scholarships from Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and authored a poetry chapbook titled Fracture (Deconstructed Artichoke Press).
Other Events
Magdalena Montagne’s Journal Writing workshop: Saturday, June 1 from 1:00-3:00 at the Boulder Creek Library. "During this two hour workshop we'll look at various ways of keeping a journal -- stepping stones, dreams, dialogues, lists and more -- and we'll do some writing too.” The workshop is free but pre-registration is required. (This workshop will be offered again at the Felton Library on Saturday June 29th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. No pre-registration required for the Felton workshop.)
Save the Date for Saturday, June 29, Poetry in the Garden event at UCSC’s Chadwick Garden. More information in the next issue!
In Case You Missed It
If you’d like to hear the poets from the Youth Poet Laureate celebration at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in April, you’re in luck. The video is here. For more about each of the teens who participated, and our new County Youth Poet Laureate, Dina Lusztig Noyes, check out the Youth Poet Laureate webpage, or follow the program on Instagram.