Tag archives: Poetry

Black History Month 2024: The Obsidian Scholars Poetry Jam
By Joanne A Calitri   |   February 20, 2024

Black History Month is dedicated to African Americans and the Arts. In Week Two we give it up for the young Obsidian Scholars at the Gateway Educational Services Goleta, who presented their original poetry in fond memory of Santa Barbara poet laureate, activist, and local institution Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. The event was held at Soul […]

Write On
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 30, 2023

The Mission Poetry Series closes out its current season, which was curated by 2022-23 Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emma Trelles, with an event simply titled “Three Poets in Spring.” The free event offers readings and a meet and greet with the poets Catherine Esposito Prescott, Gabriel Ibarra, and Florencia Milito at 1 pm on Saturday, […]

Kenneth Rexroth: A Poet of Montecito
By Anthony Wall   |   May 16, 2023

If I had to pick a favorite park in the world, it would have to be the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Not just for its rolling green lawns, ornamental fountains, and sycamore-lined promenades, but for its marvelous statues and busts. Instead of honoring the typical senators and soldiers, the Jardin du Luxembourg also features memorials […]

Book to Action
By Kim Crail   |   April 11, 2023

Each year, Santa Barbara Public Library chooses a social topic of interest or challenge that the community is facing and develops a series of programs to explore potential solutions. Through selected readings, presentations, and community engagement, the library hopes to inspire action in the community to improve lives and invest in a more sustainable future. […]

The Poetic Art and Life of Susan Read Cronin
By Zach Rosen   |   April 4, 2023

Life may imitate art but for many of the artists I know, the two are pretty melded and hardly an imitation – they are their art, and the art is them – and this seems true for Susan Read Cronin and her collective body of work as well, including her newest book of poetry, What’s […]

New Storytime on Thursdays
By Kim Crail   |   February 14, 2023

Children between the ages of three and five (and their grownups) are invited to the Montecito Library for a weekly Preschool Storytime starting in February. We will be meeting every Thursday from 10-10:30 am. Come by to meet new friends, read stories, sing songs, and make crafts.  This is a great opportunity to introduce little […]

2022: In Brief
By Kim Crail   |   January 10, 2023

As we welcome the start of a new year, we would like to share some pictures from the Montecito Library from the past year. We are notoriously bad at asking for people to pose (privacy is bedrock for library folks), but are trying to make more of an effort to document some of the joy […]

Martin Luther King Jr. Committee
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 13, 2022

The Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday is still a month away, but the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara is already ramping up for its annual Holiday Celebration of the famed civil rights leader. That’s because the 2023 event – the organization’s 16th, which takes place on January 16 – will mark […]

Museum Moments
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 13, 2022

Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Parallel Stories investigates the concept that while something gets lost in translation, maybe also there’s something to be gained in the process, at least in relation to poetry, serving to build bridges across borders and between cultures via introducing new syntactic strategies, rhythms, and image repertoires. Poet, translator, and literary […]

MLKSB Presents Its Virtual Juneteenth Celebration
By Montecito Journal   |   June 21, 2022

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Santa Barbara Committee (MLKSB) presents its all-new virtual celebratory program during this Juneteenth weekend, June 17 through June 20. This year’s theme is based on Dr. King’s words from Birmingham, Alabama on April 14, 1963: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of […]

Top Students Earn Leadership Awards
By Scott Craig   |   April 26, 2022

Two Westmont students won David K. Winter Servant Leadership Awards for showing vision, courage, humility, integrity, and competence as leaders. Angela D’Amour, dean of student engagement, introduced the 22nd annual awardees, Ebun Kalejaiye (’23) of Rancho Palos Verdes and Eden Lawson (’24) of Redlands, on April 1 in chapel.  Kalejaiye serves as co-leader of the […]

Chaucer’s Choices
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 26, 2022

This week, Chaucer’s Books’ event schedule includes a rare paid event, an outdoor one at that, featuring Max Brallier, the multiple New York Times bestselling author and Netflix series creator. Ever so clever, Chaucer’s is calling the event “Last Kids on Earth, Day” in honor, not only of Brallier’s epic, eight-book adventure series that was […]

Finding Focus and Fun on the ‘Fringe’
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 26, 2022

The pandemic pushed Westmont’s Fringe Festival into the virtual world in 2021 after forcing the festival to furlough completely the year before. So the 2022 version of the entirely student-created fest, which takes place all over the Christian college’s Montecito campus this weekend, April 21-24, is a brand new experience for all except seniors. Maybe […]

Talk to Explore Photography, Poetry
By Scott Craig   |   February 15, 2022

Randall VanderMey, Westmont professor of English, says that after four decades of resisting photography, he now uses this art form to write and share poetry with a completely new audience. He describes his approach at a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Photography and Poetry: Against My Will,” on Thursday, February 17, at 5:30 pm at the Community […]

Romance in the Library
By Kim Crail   |   February 8, 2022

In the mood for a steamy read or just a happily ever after? We could all use some healthy distraction these days and Montecito Library staff are preparing for one of our favorite displays: “Blind Date with a Book.” Rather than judging a book by its cover, author, or genre, let us surprise you with […]

Loving Your ‘Lurps’: New Book Offers Breakthrough
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 7, 2021

Radhule Weininger’s new book, Heart Medicine: How to Stop Painful Patterns and Find Peace and Freedom — at Last, features a brief forward by the Dalai Lama and another longer, more personal one from colleague Joanna Macy, the prolific author, environmental activist, and half-century-plus scholar of Buddhism. Additional pre-publication praise has come from locally beloved […]

Book Offers Inspiration to Teachers
By Scott Craig   |   October 5, 2021

Beloved local educator Michelle Hughes has co-edited a new book that offers ways to reframe obstacles to teaching as opportunities for personal and professional growth. Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, a collaborative effort with Hughes’ colleague and friend, Ken Badley, is available for pre-order through Routledge at routledge.com/9780367644192. A 20% discount […]

Embracing Experimental
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 28, 2021

As the inaugural collaboration between UCSB’s much-lauded Launch Pad artist residency and performance program with Local Theater Company, the Boulder-based leader in new play development, Yellowstone will have a lot of voices shaping its first-ever fully staged reading on Friday, September 24. But for playwright Jennifer Barclay, the process has been playing out for more […]

New Montecito Library: Hours Start on August 10
By Kim Crail   |   August 12, 2021

Expanding public library access is important to our entire community. Visitors or folks new to the area often come here first to get a sense of what Montecito is all about and to connect with a helpful person face-to-face. The Montecito Library hours are: • Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am – 5 pm • Wednesday […]

Willis’ Poetry Offers ‘Somewhere to Follow’
By Scott Craig   |   July 29, 2021

In a new book of poetry, Paul J. Willis takes his readers on a path through California’s coastal redwoods and giant sequoias in the Sierra, weaving in adolescent practical jokes and sharing unexpected epiphanies. Slant Books published the latest book by the Westmont professor of English and former Santa Barbara poet laureate.  Willis’ seventh volume […]