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Discover Santa Cruz-area authors. Links to poems and information on books.
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Books by local authors with links to local independent booksellers and publishers.
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In Celebration of the Muse
Learn about the In Celebration of the Muse events, the history of the series, the list of readers, the chapbook series, submissions, and more.
Poetry Santa Cruz
Poetry Santa Cruz is dedicated to nurturing the poetry community and bringing poetry to the larger community in Santa Cruz County. We present poetry readings at Bookshop Santa Cruz and other locations in Santa Cruz County, and the Poet/Speak open reading. We also provide free information on other poetry-related events in the area.

Current Events

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 poetry events in and around Santa Cruz County.
 
Current Poetry Santa Cruz Events
2nd Tuesday,
July 10, 2018
7:30
PM
Doreen Stock and Stephen Kessler
Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. [ map ]
$3 suggested donation to Poetry Santa Cruz.
3rd Sunday,
July 15, 2018
2:00
4:00 PM
Poet/Speak Open Reading
Santa Cruz Main Library, 224 Church St., Santa Cruz 95060. [ map ] Free.  All Open Reading. Signup begins at 1:50. All ages welcome. Read your own or a favorite poem. 3 to 5-minute limit. Hosted by Len Anderson.


Poetry Santa Cruz events have been supported, in part, by grants from Arts Council of Santa Cruz County. Some readings have also been supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.
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, Kathleen Flowers and Hermie Medley.  The William James Association acted as our fiscal sponsor for our first four years.  Events are sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Café, Santa Cruz Public Library, Cabrillo College English Dept., UCSC Division of Humanities and Creative Writing Program, Darling House, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and KUSP.  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.

 

PSC News

Robert Sward is the 2016–2018 Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate

Robert Sward has been selected as the new Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County with a two-year term. Laureate selection is made every two years by Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Poetry Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Santa Cruz Public Libraries.

Read Wallace Baine’s article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Download the announcement by Arts Council Santa Cruz County (docx).
Learn more on Robert Sward’s website.

Watch a video of local actress Ali Eppy reading part of Love Has Made Grief Absurd (22:28 minutes). Video of Ali Eppy by Santa Cruz artist Susana Arias.

Santa Cruz Poet Shauna Gunderson

• Santa Cruz poet Shauna Gunderson has been diagnosed with cancer in lymph nodes near her heart. Learn more at Shauna’s GoFundMe page.

The Young Writers Program

• The Young Writers Program is a nonprofit organization sponsored by Santa Cruz Writes and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education,. It brings volunteer mentors into classrooms to help young students develop their writing skills. It also publishes student writing. Volunteer mentors and donations are needed. The Young Writers Program has announced partial funding and plans for a new after-school program, The Word Lab.

Poetry On The Radio

The Writer’s Almanac airs every day at 9:01 AM and 8:01 PM on KAZU 90.3 FM. Read and listen now.
The Poetry Show hosted by Dennis Morton no longer airs and KUSP is shut down due to the station’s financial problems. You can now listen to new and past shows here on http://poetrysantacruz.org/thepoetryshow.org/
Out Of Our Minds on KKUP 91.5 FM, Wednesdays 8:00 pm. Hosted by Rachelle Linda Escamilla. Live interviews, poems read by the host, taped readings or interviews.
Cover to Cover on KPFA 94.1 FM. Hosted by Jack Foley.

Poetry in Local Media

 Articles about poetry events, authors and books also appear in Good Times and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Local Periodical Poetry Publications

• The Summer 2017 issue of Catamaran Literary Reader is available from the website and at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
• See the News page for more details and news.
• See the Courses page for information on writing classes.
• See the Submissions page for guidelines and to submit your work.

• The Fall 2014 issue of Homestead Review is available.

• The Fall 2017 issue of Monterey Poetry Review is posted on the website with poems by twenty-two poets.

• The Summer 2012 issue, the Santa Cruz issue, of Perihelion is online.

• The 2015 issue of Ping Pong is available. The Ping Pong Release Party plus Poetry Workshops and Exhibit was on Day 2 of the Speech is Not Free event on Saturday, October 17, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PDT) at the Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA.

• The Fall 2016 issue #18 of phren-Z features work by the 12 poets who are members of the Emerald St. Poets writing group: Marcia Adams, Len Anderson, Dane Cervine, Robin Lysne, Joanna Martin, Tom McKoy, Adela Najarro, Maggie Paul, Stuart Presley, Lisa Simon, Janet Trenchard, Phillip Wagner. All available online at the website. Submit your work now for consideration.

• The 2016 issue of Porter Gulch Review is available. The reading was held Tuesday, May 16, 2017 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Cabrillo College Horticulture Center. Submissions for the 2018 issue are due by December 1. Send your best stories, poems, novel excerpts, plays, screenplays, photos and artwork for the Spring 2018 issue. Send up to TWO submissions to PGRsubmissions@gmail.com and include a short playful bio. Send all images as high resolution files, 400 dpi, or upload via Dropbox and provide a link.

• The Red Wheelbarrow 2017 National Edition submission deadline is extended to February 26, 2017. The annual reading from the 2016 magazine was held in the Poetry Center San Jose Well-Red series in Works/San Jose gallery on December 13, 2016.

• The Swan Scythe Press deadline for its 2016 Poetry Chapbook Contest was June 15, 2016. The winner of the 2016 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest is Lisa Dominguez Abraham from Sacramento, California for her manuscript Mata Hari Blows a Kiss.

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society sponsors an annual Haiku Contest and an annual Retreat at Asilomar State Beach and Conference Center, Pacific Grove, CA.

Breaking into Print: Poetry Books by Local Authors

                              2017
Robin Lysne
is the author of Mosaic: New and Selected Poems (Blue Bone Books, 2017), now available.
Marcia Adams is the author of Understory (Blue Bone Books, 2017), now available.
Barbara Bloom is the author of Pulling Down the Heavens, now available from Hummingbird Press.
Keith Emmons is the author of Moondrifter Reverie, published by Red Mountain Press, Santa Fe, also available at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Eliot Ruchowitz-Roberts has a new collection published: White Fire, published by Ping-Pong Free Press.
Charles Atkinson has two new publications: Skeleton, Skin And Joy from Finishing Line Press, now available for purchase, and This Deep In, published by Hummingbird Press. Launch reading is Sunday, June 18 at 4:30 pm in the auditorium at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz.
Kevin Opstedal is the author of Pacific Standard Time from Ugly Ducking Press, now available.
Ann Pelletier is the author of Letter That Never from The Word Works, now available.
Rosie King is the author of Time and Peonies, now available from Hummingbird Press.
Amy MacLennan is the author of The Body, A Tree from MoonPath Press, now available.

                              2016
Wilma Marcus Chandler is the author of The Night Bridge, now available from Hummingbird Press.
Ellen Grace O’Brian is the author of The Moon Reminded Me (Homebound Publications, 2016), a finalist for the Homebound Publications Prize.
Jim Russo has published three new poetry chapbooks: Laura and Make Your Move, and Soldiers for Peace (Sky Bolt Circus Press, 2016).
Marc Zegans is the author of Boys in the Woods, a hand-bound chapbook now available from Crane Maiden Books.
Melinda Rice’s chapbook of poems, Sea Fever, is now available at Bookshop Santa Cruz and from Finishing Line Press.
Lisa Allen Ortiz’s first full-length collection of poems is Guide to the Exhibit, the winner of the 2016 Perugia Press Prize and is now available.
David Allen Sullivan’s new chapbook, take wing, (Casey Shay Press, 2016) is the winner of the 2016 Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize.
Gary Young’s latest is a chapbook, Adversary, (Miramar Editions, 2015).

                              2015
Ziggy Rendler-Bregman has published her first collection, The Gate of Our Coming and Going, which also includes 18 of her full-color monoprints and is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Her launch reading was held December 10 at Holy Cross Parish Hall.
Maria Garcia Teutsch’s new chapbook, The Revolution Will Have Its Sky, (Minerva Rising, 2015) is the winner of the 2015 Minerva Rising Chapbook Prize, judged by Heather McHugh.
Mary Lou Taylor’s new collection is Bringing Home the Moon, (Kelsay Books, 2015).
David Allen Sullivan’s new collection is Black Ice, (Turning Point, 2015).
Tilly Washburn Shaw’s last book of poems, Hanging Out in the Ordinary has been printed posthumously by Hummingbird Press and is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz. A reading was held Sunday, November 8, 2015.
William Minor’s latest collection is Gypsy Wisdom: New and Selected Poems, (Park Place Publications, 2015).
Jim Russo has published three poetry chapbooks: Kids Ruled, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and The Sway of Color, (Sky Bolt Circus Press, 2015).
J.P. Dancing Bear’s very new book is Cephalopodic, (Glass Lyre Press, 2015), 2014 winner of the Kithara Prize. Free shipping from the publisher if you email your NAME, ADDRESS and desired BOOK TITLE to publisher@glasslyrepress.com After the book has been sent out, they email an invoice payable via PayPal or by check for $16. Also available online at Amazon.com.
Stephen Kessler has two new books: Need I Say More?: Portraits, Confessions, Reflections (El Léon Literary Arts, 2015) and Where Was I?, (Greenhouse Review Press, 2014).
Adela Najarro has two new poetry collections published: Split Geography (Mouthfeel Press, 2015) and Twice Told Over, (Unsolicited Press, 2015).

                              2014
Dan Phillips has a new collection published: Places of the Spirit, (Dandasana Press, 2014).
Imaginary Animal by Rachelle Linda Escamilla was the Grand Prize Winner for Poetry of the 2014 Willow Books Literature Awards.
Carolyn Mary Kleefeld’s latest collection is The Divine Kiss, (Cross-Cultural Communications, 2014).
Nils Michals is the author of Come Down to Earth, (Bauhan 2014), which won the May Sarton New Hampshire Prize.
Curt Anderson is the author of The Occasionist, (Hip Pocket Press, 2014).
Rudy Calderón is the author of Mexican-American My Hybrid Blood.
Franco Juárez y Cahue is the author of Palabra Franca, a collection of poems in Spanish.
Carolyn Brigit Flynn’s collection of poems, Communion: In Praise of the Sacred Earth, was published in April, 2014 by White Cloud Press in Ashland, OR. The book launch reading, with accompaniment by Shelley Phillips on harp, was held on May 2, 2014 in the Pacific Cultural Center.
Erica Goss’ latest book is Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets from Pushpen Press, released in April 2014.
Ellen Bass has her latest collection of poems, Like a Beggar, published by Copper Canyon Press, released in February 2014.
Robin Lysne is the author of Poems for the Lost Deer (Blue Bone Books, 2014).

                              2013
J. P. Dancing Bear’s latest books are Love Is a Burning Building, (FutureCycle Press, 2013) and The Abandoned Eye (FutureCycle Press, 2012) is available online at Amazon.com.
Douglas McClellan’s new collection of poems is So Many Chairs (Many Names Press, 2013).
• Poet and Aikido teacher Linda Holiday is the author of Journey to the Heart of Aikido: The Teachings of Motomichi Anno Sensei.
Kyle Shanebeck is the author of Awake the Reflections, available from Amazon.com His website is kyleshanebeck.com/
Charles Atkinson’s latest chapbook is World News, Local Weather from Finishing Line Press, now available for prepublication purchase ordering.
Danusha Laméris’ first collection of poems, The Moons of August, has been selected by Naomi Shihab Nye to receive the 2013 Autumn House Poetry Prize and was published by Autumn House Press in early 2014.
Patricia Zylius is the author of Once a Vibrant Field: Poems about Tom Cuthbertson from Finishing Line Press, now available for prepublication purchase ordering.
Mary Addems Carr is the author of Trajectories: Selected Poems 2007–2012, published via On Demand Books on the Espresso Book Machine at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Pamela O’Shaughnessy has published Figments and Other Poems (Laika Press, 2013), a comprehensive collection of her poetry to date.
John Laue’s latest book is a collection of senryu: Word Gains (Writers and Lovers Studio, 2013). His latest chapbook, Shadows, was published in January by Finishing Line Press. Also, his book Colma (City of the Dead/ Elegy for Skeptics) was reissued in February in a new augmented edition with photos he took of that cemetery city (Futurecycle Press, 2013). His chapbook A Confluence of Voices was published in 2012, by Finishing Line Press. An interview with him and a selection of poems from A Confluence of Voices is featured in the newest issue of
The Seventh Quarry, an international journal out of Swansea, Wales (available by purchasing the issue). His books are available at Bookshop Santa Cruz and Capitola Book Café.
Dahlia Seroussi is the author of What I Know from Finishing Line Press, now available for prepublication purchase ordering.
Lisa Allen Ortiz’s second chapbook is Self Portrait as a Clock from Finishing Line Press, now available for ordering.
Helene Simkin Jara has published her first book, Because I Had To, a collection of award-winning short stories, poems, monologues and plays. Available from Amazon.com.
Joanna Martin’s second book of poetry is Where Stars Begin available from Hummingbird Press, 2013.
Stephen Kessler has two new books out. Scratch Pegasus is the ninth collection of his own poems and is published by Swan Scythe Press. Poems of Consummation is a collection of his translations of poems by the Spanish poet Vicente Aleixandre and is published by Black Widow Press.
Dane Cervine’s new book of poetry is How Therapists Dance from Plain View Press.
Anna Citrino is the author of Saudade from Finishing Line Press and is now available for purchase.
Peggy Heinrich’s seventh book of poetry is Forward Moving Shadows: A Tanka Memoir with photographs by John Bolivar. Available from iUniverse and the author.
Michael Wolfe is the translator for Cut These Words into My Stone: Ancient Greek Epitaphs with a foreword by Richard P. Martin and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. He read at the Gabriella Cafe Monthly Literary Salon on December 4 and brought his surprising tale of the oldest artful writing in the Western world to the annual Northern California Phi Beta Kappa symposium at Asilomar in the opening presentation on Friday, February 15. See reviews in Poetry and The Arts Fuse.
Lynika Cruz is the author of the chapbook If We Never Went Home, being published in December 2012 by Finishing Line Press and may be ordered now. Early orders are encouraged since orders help determine the size of the printing. Her memoir Beggars CAN Be Choosers was published by Global Publishing in August 2012.
C. J. Sage’s latest book is Open House.
Patrice Vecchione’s book The Knot Untied, is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz and through the book’s website www.theknotuntied.net. The website also includes an extensive list of the author events, including a reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz on April 2.
Nick Herbert is the author of Harlot Nature, 2012, Sea Creature Press.
Frances Hatfield is the author of Rudiments of Flight, available now from Wings Press.
Dion Farquhar is the author of Wonderful Terrible, available from Main Street Rag.
Joan Safajek’s collection of poems is In Deep Time, published in 2012. She passed away on November 10, 2012.
James Maughn’s third collection, These Peripheries, is now published in 2012 by Otoliths Books in Australia.
Peter Nash is the winner of the 2011 Off The Grid Press Award for Poets Over 60. His collection Coyote Bush: Poems From the Lost Coast was published in 2012, available from Off The Grid Press. He read on August 18 at 5:30 pm in Felix Kulpa Gallery.
Erica Goss is the winner of the 2011 Many Mountains Moving Poetry Contest. Her chapbook Wild Place was published in 2012, available from Finishing Line Press. She was interviewed by Dennis Morton on The Poetry Show on Sunday, August 5. The show may be heard or downloaded at The Poetry Show Blog. She read with Catherine Barnett at 7:30 pm on August 14 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
David Sullivan’s book of poems in multiple voices about the Iraq war is Every Seed of the Pomegranate, published by Tebot Bach, June 2012. The Publication Celebration Reading was held July 15 in the Cabrillo College Horticulture Center.

National Poetry News

For national poetry news, check out
Poetry Daily’s news
Poets and Writers
Poetry Flash
The Academy of American Poets.

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