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.

Summertime Blues at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference

 Melinda Palacio

 

After more than two years of rebuilding life after the pandemic lockdown, it seems as if covid is not done with us. The virus still lingers and thanks to vaccines and hygiene protocols, the corona virus presents itself as a mild cold at best in most cases. As Poet Laureate, I have had a year of public engagement and have been lucky not to have another bout of covid. Local events didn’t seem as risky for me. Although no event or venue is safe from Covid, I was nervous about going to Disneyland last month and being exposed to people from around the globe. 

 

I imagined the happiest place on earth to also be the most welcoming germ exchange. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the park and handwashing encouraged. I didn’t notice anybody coughing. I had taken the precaution of adding zinc to my regiment of vitamins and supplements. I also didn’t want to jeopardize my upcoming schedule at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference (SBWC), which started the next day. At the SBWC, I had a full week from helping with registration and agents’ day, teaching a marketing workshop with Lida Sideris to appearing on two panels. 

 

The week was off to a wonderful start, greeting old friends, conference regulars and new attendees. The first panel of the conference was an all Poet Laureate Panel that Perie Longo moderated. In my duties as Poet Laureate, I often encounter people who do not realize that Santa Barbara has had ten poets laureate. We’ve lost our first Poet Laureate, Barry Spacks and our most recognized laureate, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. 

 

I hope that the panel was as interesting for folks attending the conference as it was for me. I certainly learned much about our past poets. It’s wonderful to see how we each have brought something different to the honorary position. I learned something new about each of our laureates, but have to say I was super impressed with David Starkey who has retired as a poetry professor at Santa Barbara City College and continues to write poetry and academic books, plays in band, hosts a local television show, writes for the Independent; and he has written his first novel, Poor Ghost, a fictional account of a band that crashes their plane in the backyard of a character who lives in Goleta. The clever novel mines Starkey’s own poetry for song titles and motifs, leaving the reader with the feeling of having followed the band’s music for years. I can almost hear their songs. The novel represents Starkey’s pandemic lockdown project. It also helps that he is an accomplished musician. If you’re looking for a book to take to the beach or if you enjoyed Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, try Poor Ghost by David Starkey.

 

Unfortunately, my SBWC activities were cut short due to Covid reaching my household. Although, I personally never got Covid and kept testing negative, I was exposed to the virus and out of an acute precaution stayed away from the remainder of the conference, Tuesday-Friday. I was sad to miss connecting with so many people, especially after receiving messages from friends who I only know from the conference who were looking for me at the cocktail party and the panels I was scheduled on.  I hope to see some familiar faces at the Goleta Valley Library August 4 at 2pm. I am looking forward to meeting our new youth Poet Laureate, Jasmine Guerrero Sevilla; join us at the Goleta Valley library next month. 

 

If you are in New Orleans this weekend, I will be at the Music & Poetry Summer Fest at the Domino, Sunday July 7, 12-5pm, 3044 St. Claude Ave, New Orleans. 

*An earlier version of this column appeared in the Santa Barbara Independent