Let's let poetry mark the way

It's been a bumpy start in the world for 2025, I think it’s fair to say. What hasn't been disrupted here in our corner of the world, though, is the current of poets doing their work, and the community-created spaces in which to share that work with each other. As my time as poet laureate will end in just a couple of weeks, I’m grateful. More on that to come.

Readings & Events

Tuesday Jan 14, 7pm The Hive Poetry Collective hosts Bay Area Poets Rick Barot and Cintia Santana. Both are extraordinarily talented and generous poets. Detailed information here.

Saturday Jan 18, 4pm Celebrate Traces of Pilgrimage by Tom McKoy and Deep Travel — At Home in the [Burning] World by Dane Cervine at a book launch with the two authors. London Nelson Center, Room Three, 301 Center Street, Santa Cruz.

Saturday Jan 18, 1-3pm Magdalena Montagne leads a Community Poetry Circle at the Felton Library. No registration required; come write poems under Magdalena’s guidance.

Tuesday Jan 21, 7pm Inter|Act Spoken Word Open Mic At Satori an artist space, 815 Almar, Unit 9, Santa Cruz. Featured reader will be Jessica Cohn, reading from her new book, Gratitude Diary. More information about Jessica can be found here.

See below for a special announcement about Inter|Act.

Every Monday: Santa Cruz Poetry Project welcomes anyone who would like to establish a writing practice in a safe and encouraging environment. No registration required. Takes place every Monday, 4:00 – 5:30 pm at the Life Literacies Center, Downtown Santa Cruz Library, 224 Church St.

Of Interest

• The Muse returns for another year of poetry by women, women-identified and non-binary poets. Feb 1st is the deadline to submit an application to participate. This year’s Muse will take place March 21, 6:30-8:30 pm at the Resource Center for Non-Violence, 612 Ocean St. in Santa Cruz. Submit here.

• News from Inter|Act: “Inter|Act started as a wild idea of Kimberley Bermender’s, as she dreamed of a place where spoken word work could be shared in Santa Cruz. That was two years ago coming out of the pandemic, and her dream was realized with our first open mic at Abbott Square in Jan. 2023. Then Jace Rowe joined her and we’ve been growing in the best possible ways, including finding a wonderful home at Satori Arts in 2024!
  
  We’d like to expand our vision to transform the Inter|Act team into a collective. We’re looking for a few volunteers who are committed to supporting and expanding spoken word work in our community. We’ll be meeting at the beginning of the year to brainstorm ideas and envision where we want to go as a collective moving forward. Please reach out to kimberley@maginei.com if you’re interested in joining our spoken word collective.”

On the Horizon

On January 31, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, in partnership with Arts Council Santa Cruz County and Santa Cruz County Parks. will announce the next Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate, whose two-year tenure will commence Feb 1. Watch this space for that news and for news about the future of For Better or Verse.

Saturday, Feb 1, 1-3pm. Community Reads: Barbara Kingsolver's "Flight Behavior." Magdalena Montagne leads. “We'll write poems inspired by one of the many themes of the novel: Identity, belonging, climate activism, social justice and more. This free workshop is open to teens and up. Come out and write with me. It's not necessary to have read the book to participate.” At the Scotts Valley Library's Fireside Room.

Santa Cruz Poetry Project has announced that “Satori Arts (Tom Brady) will be hosting an event in March 2025 where student poems from the Poetry in the Jails program will be read by local poets and volunteers, while the students zoom in and observe. This event will be open to the public. Our own Spoken Word festival!” More information here.

The Hive Live! on Tuesday March 11 at 7pm will feature poets Ellen Bass, Jan Beatty & Luke Johnson.