A brief pause today to note more local events, a few submission opportunities, and a request for support. Please read on…
Events
Today, Nov. 18, 2:30-4pm: Community Writers (on Zoom) welcomes Eike Waltz, artist and poet. Link and more information here.
Today, Nov. 18, 4-6pm: Broadsides: Pairing Artwork with Poetry from the Morton Marcus Community of Poets. Opening reception & Reading. m.k. contemporary art 703 Front St, Santa Cruz.
Nov 30, 7pm. Pajaro Rising Benefit with local poet Claudia Ramirez Flores, and writers Jaime Cortez, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Rebecca Solnit. Event proceeds will benefit Community Bridges, a nonprofit service organization based in Watsonville/Pajaro that has provided financial aid, direct services, and assistance referrals to flood survivors of the Pajaro community. More information here.
Open Mic for poetry at Satori Arts continues on First Friday, December 1, 7-9pm. Walk-ins welcome, but also register at satoriarts.org or call 314-503-8441. 815 Almar Avenue Unit 9, Santa Cruz. More here.
New location for Poetry Nightz, Tuesdays 7-9pm in Freedom: Arte del Corazón, 80 Airport Blvd. Suite 206, Freedom (parking in back). Next events: December 5th & 19th, Jan 9th & 23rd.
Request for support
In addition to the support received from Santa Cruz Public Libraries and their wonderful youth librarians to house the program long term, our new Santa Cruz County Youth Poet Laureate program has also received monetary support from the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County, the County Office of Education, and the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz to help reach more young people as we grow the program over the next few years. Your tax-deductible donation of any amount will add to the program’s sustainability—and will fuel my ever-increasing enthusiasm about this program! Go to the Friends of the SC Public Libraries to contribute (with a comment in the “additional notes” field to contribute to the Youth Poet Laureate program). Please reach out to me if you have questions.
Save the Dates 2024
Hive Live! January 9, 7pm at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Two bay area poets: Susan Cohen and Rebecca Foust.
Poetry Out Loud, the program where young people practice their oral poetry performance with memorized poems (my favorite event of last winter, as you might recall) takes place February 13, 6:30-8pm, at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Submission Opportunities
This call is open “to any Northern California poet with a great manuscript and desire to join our collaborative press for three years: Sixteen Rivers Press. We choose two poets/books annually.” https://sixteenrivers.org/submit-work/
Call for Submissions to Journal X, the social justice literary arts magazine produced at Cabrillo College. “We accept short fiction, short memoir, short plays and screenplays, short essays, poetry, art, and photography. We encourage experimental submissions. Submissions in English, Spanish, or Spanglish are accepted.” 2024 submissions due Monday, January 8, 2024. Previous issues and more info here.
Reminder: California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, and the California Arts Council’s ongoing project, “Our California” is “an inclusive and participatory arts project that invites all Californians to write a poem about their city, town, or state and explore what they love about it, what they find in it, what they would change about it, or what hopes they hold for it.” Again, I hope our county keeps finding ways to participate in this project. I’m working on this during my time with teen writers. Prompts, information and a letter from Herrick can be found here.
Poetry & Music in the Parks
Poetry & Music in the Parks will return in Spring 2024. Until then, a highlight reel. Thank you to the inspiring poets & musicians who were part of this series! And thank you to all who came to enjoy it. It is so fun to help make this happen.