Fiesta Means… Poetry? And More Spoken Word Happenings
For more than a century, Fiesta, the celebration of Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara, has drawn hundreds of thousands of celebrants. Fiesta’s seemingly nonstop high-energy events range from almost endless Flamenco dancing and mariachi music, to performances, parades, and a partying plethora that spills from a besotted State Street into surrounding neighborhoods. The traditional events have remained pretty much the same and largely confined to the first week of August. Now, Fiesta’s El Presidente 2026, Colin Hayward, has added two new events to the expanded calendar; a dog parade (see my entertainment column) and a Poetry Contest that’s accepting entries through the month of May.
The competition is open to all residents of Santa Barbara County, and submitted poems must be inspired by “how Old Spanish Days celebrates Santa Barbara’s heritage and traditions of colorful displays of dance and music, delicious food, moving song, and the spirit of friendliness and hospitality.” Prizes include monetary awards in three age categories – 11-and-under, ages 12-18, and 19-plus – as well as the opportunity for winners to read their work during Old Spanish Days events this summer.
The inaugural Fiesta Poetry Contest will be judged by current Santa Barbara Poet Laureate George Yatchisin and former holders of the post Perie Longo, David Starkey, and Melinda Palacio, plus Father Larry Gosselin, an enthusiastic poet and long-time member of the clergy at Santa Barbara’s Old Mission.
“Santa Barbara has a rich and varied literary history, from Richard Henry Dana Jr. to Gabriela Mistral to Kenneth Rexroth to Island of the Blue Dolphins to Sue Grafton to Sojourner Kincaid Rolle to T. C. Boyle,” said Yatchisin, who has shepherded poetry events for years before taking on the laureate role. “It is only fitting that a poetry component has become a part of Santa Barbara’s resonant self-mythologizing and creative spirit. To that I say, ¡Viva la Poesía!”
Details and submission form at www.sbfiesta.org/poetry-contest
Poets Pop up A-plenty
National and local Poetry Month may have come to a close at the end of April, but events with verse just keep rolling on. Santa Barbara’s Central Library has booked Vermont-based poets and husbands James Crews and Brad Peacock to share selections from their book Love Is for All of Us: Poems of Tenderness & Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community & Friends in the Fireplace Room as part of the “Guess Who’s in Town” poetry reading series at 5:30 pm on Friday, May 8. Crews is also the author of Turning Toward Grief: Reflections on Life, Loss & Appreciation and Breathing Room: Poems for Rest & Retreat and five other poetry collections. He has also edited several bestselling anthologies.
The seemingly ubiquitous Yatchisin, making the most of the second year as laureate, heads to Rubenstein Chan Contemporary Art in Carpinteria on Thursday, May 14, for a special event in conjunction with the Textual Integration exhibit, which focuses on 14 artists who find creative ways to employ text as a constituent part of their art – essential forms within the composition rather than an added element. Yatchisin will lead an evening reading of ekphrastic poetry (yes, I had to Google it) by local poets responding to the work.
Visit www.rubensteinchan.com
Chaucer’s Books chimes in on May 20 with readings from the just-published collection A Feast for Santa Barbara. Edited by, yes, George Yatchisin, the collection features literary morsels from more than 100 Santa Barbara area poets celebrating in verse the farming, dining, and drinking that color and energize our community. Ten contributors (Cie Gumucio, Rebecca Horrigan, Simon Kiefer, Lillian Kurosaka, Monica Mody, Juliana Moore, Enid Osborne, Elizabeth Pérez, Ariel Phoenix,
and Valerie Zell) will read their featured poems at the 6 pm event on Wednesday, May 20.
Tecolote Treasure
More from the memory department: retired part-time Carpinteria resident Michael Bond Smith has penned Reg’s Bait Shop. Smith’s tale is based on time spent over many redolent weekends and summers at the Carpinteria spot – which closed in faraway 1972 – whose extensive candy counter, claque of layabout cats, and compelling ink landscapes intermingled with fishing supplies, bait, and intractable memories. Set in the fictional quaint coastal village of Sandyland Cove, the tale is of a group of friends who gather after the local shop’s demise, uncovering artifacts and fostering friendships. Smith signs and talks about the book at Tecolote in the Upper Village on Saturday afternoon, May 16, 3–4 pm.
Campbell Hall Conversation
UCSB Arts & Lectures inches toward closure of the 2025-26 year with a final entry in the all-important Speaking with Pico series as Terry Tempest Williams and Pico Iyer explore the role of imagination in environmental stewardship and social change on Wednesday, May 13. Williams has been called “a citizen writer” in reference to her role as a writer who speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. A naturalist and fierce advocate for freedom of speech, she has consistently explored how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice. In her new book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, she offers a testament to the power of witness and extends an invitation to engage more deeply with one another and the living world.
Musings at the Museum
Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Parallel Stories series pairs art and artists with award-winning authors and performers. Why? The conjoined creatives function as a multidisciplinary lens through which to view the museum’s collections and special exhibitions. Parallel Stories has two events slated for this month. Author Eleni Sikelianos will read from her latest book, Memory Rehearsal, a genre-busting encounter between a poet and her ancestral past. Sikelianos’ book documents the startling intersection of queer history, ancient theater, utopian vision, and modern poetry, her reading coincident with and tacitly commenting on the closing of the SBMA Elliott Hundley exhibit By Achilles’ Tomb on Thursday, May 21. One week later, on May 28, Montecito’s prolific master of prose T. C. Boyle returns for one of his annual appearances, this time reading from his latest novel, No Way Home, which has been described as a love triangle intensified by the desert sun where obsession, jealousy, and revenge come together in a tale that could be described as “David Lynch meets Fight Club.” The boisterous Boyle will also welcome questions from the audience, often the best part of the night.
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