Poetry Connection: The Santa Barbara Writers Conference from Attendee to Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara

   Melinda Palacio, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2023-2025

 

Melinda Palacio photo by Nell Campbell

If you’re familiar with my story, you know that I credit much of my poetry success to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. I have been attending the conference for over 25 years, half of the conference’s lifetime. One of the first things I did when I moved to Santa Barbara was attend the writers conference. It holds a special place in my heart. I didn’t know that after winning a prize in poetry all those years ago, I would become the 10^th Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara. I have Perie Longo to thank for my poetry success in Santa Barbara.

Perie Longo began teaching poetry at conference in 1984. Her morning poetry workshop was so popular that, by the third day, they had to move her from one of the small hotel rooms at the old Miramar to the basement, where they could accommodate more than 30 people. Perie is Santa Barbara’s second Poet Laureate and she is entwined with our city and writers conference. It’s wonderful to see that some things do not change, such as Perie’s poetry workshops during a week of transformation for folks who are in love with words. Perie teaches five poetry workshops at next week’s conference, Monday and Tuesday morning from 9-11:30 am and Wednesday through Friday afternoon from 1-3:30pm. I can’t emphasize enough how useful Perie’s poetry workshops are for both poets and prose writers. I started off attending the conference as a prose writer and fell in love with poetry at Perie’s workshop. Poetry is the secret to all good writing. If you take the poetry workshops, you might become a Poet Laureate. There will be eight Santa Barbara Poets Laureate in attendance and we will start the conference with a poetry panel, Sunday at 4pm and daily evening readings. There’s also the opportunity to take workshops from some of the other laureates and to meet them at the conference.

One of the newer events is the open mic component of the conference. Perie says that the open mic has been one of her favorite additions to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference because it draws people and encourages them to read their own poetry just for the joy without any critique or commentary, as is expected in a workshop. The fun thing about the two lunchtime open mics on Wednesday and Thursday of the weeklong conference is that anyone attending can read a poem. If you’re not devoting a day or a week to the poetry workshops but want to share a poem, the open mic is your chance to share your poetry with a joyous and supportive audience. “All writers are poets at heart,” said Longo. “It’s fun to hear writers reading their poetry for the joy of it and getting together for the love of sharing words.”

The Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Come for the poetry, fiction, screenwriting, memoir or any genre and stay for the lifelong friends you will make. You will also be able to find me at registration on the first day, June 21 and co-leading a marketing seminar with Lida Sideris Monday afternoon and on two panels.