Marin County’s Shayna Maci Warner Named California Poetry Out Loud Champion
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Category: Free Posts
Channeling the Duende: George Kalamaras’s “A History of Green”
From the snowy Midwest, a fellow poet laureate (albeit at the State level in Indiana) has written a lovely poem about green, based on a poem about yellow. What a gift for us, in California, on this gray rainy day.
George Kalamaras’s poem draws inspiration from Charles Wright’s “Yellow,” a sonnet-length catalogue replete with images of that color. But Kalamaras’s “A History of Green,” three times longer than Wright’s, evokes an even greater abundance. It careens from Fort Wayne to Greece to India, Burma to Spain, to encompass poets and shrines, plants and animals and insects, in lines thick with rhyme and sound repetitions. The color green suggests a poetics of the duende, which the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca called “the spirit of the earth,” invoking death and desire in a single whirling moment.
Kalamaras, who began his term as Indiana’s fourth poet laureate, on January 1, 2014, is currently teaching a course on the poetics of place at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, his academic home for many years. Poets mean different things when discussing “place.” For some, it means an allegiance to region in the narrowest sense…
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Poet Laureate Launch Event / Saturday, March 15 / 3-4:30pm
David Perez will be feted into his Laureateship on March 15. Be there or be a poetry party-pooper.
You are invited to the Poet Laureate Launch Event and Reception for newly appointed Laureate, David Perez, on Saturday, March 15.
Free to the public, the reception opens with music from a live jazz trio and hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Cafe Stritch. Mike McGee hosts. Former Poet Laureate, Sally Ashton, and Director of the School of Arts and Culture, Tamara Alvarado, offer remarks on the role of Poet Laureate and David’s contributions to South Bay arts communities. David comments on his vision for the next two years and gives a reading consisting of poems from his book and some newer works. Guests are welcome to stay for a meet and greet after David’s reading.
Date / Time: Saturday, March 15 / 3 to 4:30pm
Location: Campbell Library, Community Room: 77 Harrison Ave| Campbell, CA 95008
Facebook users, please RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/486894711430629/
Twitter users, you can receive updates for all of David’s projects by following him
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This just in: New Poet Laureate!
The news is finally out! David Perez will be the third Poet Laureate in Santa Clara County. Welcome David!
David Perez Named Santa Clara County Poet Laureate
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.—Today, the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors appointed David Perez to the honorary post of Santa Clara County Poet Laureate for a two year term (January 14, 2014 – December 21, 2015). Perez was recommended to the Board following the call for applications, and a two step review process organized by the County and Silicon Valley Creates.
“David Perez brings a wealth of creative experience to the post of PoetLaureate,” said County Executive Jeffrey V. Smith. “He will do a fine job in helping to make poetry accessible to the community.”
Perez is a poet, writer and educator. He is a professor of English at Ohlone College and has toured throughout the United States and Canada to give readings and book signings. He is the author of Love in a Time of Robot Apocalypse under…
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“Honoring Ourselves Through Our Writing” — Japanese American Poetry
Three generations of Japanese Americans reading their poetry in San Jose this month. Put it on your calendar — something to look forward to during the dark days of January.
There’s an open microphone to follow, so take your poems and be part of the experience. 
Code Poetry Slam at Stanford
Of course, at the intersection of Silicon Valley and Poetry there will be magic. This is a great story. I am only sad I didn’t know ahead of time so I could have attended!!
Update (January 9,2014) For those who want more information, you can see examples of code poetry and a full description at this website. Click on the Resources Tab.
And, for the most intrepid among you, read Meika’s blog post here about how to tell when what you’ve got is a code poem or not. Amazing. I can barely understand this, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. And there is even something being discussed here called Compositional Poetry. And here.
Compositional Poetry is a form of read-together poetry written in a number of voices and is performed much like a musical score, where the voices speak their lines according to their responsibilities, not in chorus, not in soliloquy, not taking turns, but all of these and none. Each voice is thus not a character as a role in a play or opera, though characters may appear of their own volition. Stories may emerge of their own inclination.
Some of these websites are delightful. Do not be afraid.
And then there are: Pears
Previous Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County, our very own Sally Ashton, is part of this interesting program. I hope I’ll see you there.
Here’s something for your 2014 calendar. Check out the Montalvo Arts Center website for full event details, but I’ll be reading with this fabulous lineup and would love to see you there:
AND THEN THERE ARE PEARS…
An Evening of Music and Poetry
Tuesday, January 21, 2014, 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Enjoy a night of music and poetry in the historic Villa!
The evening will include a performance by newly formed Ensemble San Francisco, poetry readings by Jeffrey Levine, poet and founder of Tupelo Press, and Sally Ashton, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate (2011-2013) and Lucas Artists Literary Fellow. Books and CDs will be available for sale. The evening begins with a small reception and cash bar.
TICKET PRICES : General: $15 | Students w/ID: $7*
Sally Ashton
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate
(2011-2013)
In Honor of Libraries
Click the image to find many more beautiful American Library Association posters.
Getting Started
Still learning how to use this site. Stay tuned. Whew. 
Cupertino Poet Laureate 