The San Diego Poetry Annual (SDPA) and Border Voices Poetry Project (BV) present our first combined online reading and open mic. Our features for the evening are the first ever San Diego Poet Laureate Ron Salisbury, Garden Oak Press author Al Zolynas, writers published in SDPA and the upcoming BV anthology, and you! Ron and Al will each read three poems to start. Then we will “pass the mic” to any poet who’d like to share one poem. We will give preference to poets published in SDPA, but we would also like to hear from writers who have not yet worked with us or published in our anthologies. Let’s hear your great work! To sign up early, email Michael Klam at mkklam@gmail.com. Your hosts for the evening are Michael Klam and Ying Wu.

DETAILS:

Day: Friday, June 12

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Zoom info: SDPA Celebration Zoom Meeting

Time: Jun 12, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5095137393

Meeting ID: 509 513 7393

POETS:

Ron Salisbury is San Diego’s inaugural poet laureate: SD’s First Poet Laureate!

Al Zolynas, renowned poet and author of Near and Far by Garden Oak Press, 2019: Al Zolynas publishes new collection, Garden Oak Press!

ORGANIZATIONS:

The San Diego Poetry Annual is now part of the permanent collection of every college and university library in the San Diego region, as well as the San Diego County Library system, the San Diego City Library and the libraries of individual cities, including Carlsbad, Oceanside and Escondido. Copies of each edition of the San Diego Poetry Annual are donated in the name of contributing poets to public and college libraries in San Diego and to select libraries nationally. The annual is published by Garden Oak Press, in association with the San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild (SDEAG), a 501(c)(3) local arts nonprofit: San Diego Entertainment and Arts Guild, Garden Oak Press.

The evening will include opening remarks by SDPA Associate Publisher Anthony Blacksher, Ph.D., known as Ant Black in performance poetry circles. Blacksher serves on the board of directors of the San Diego Entertainment + Arts Guild (SDEAG), the local 501(c)(3) arts nonprofit that sponsors the annual. He is a professor at San Bernardino Valley College.

Border Voices Poetry Project: The name “Border Voices” refers not only to physical borders, but to all borders – physical, cultural and emotional. It is across those borders that whispers of understanding can be heard, frequently wrapped in the creative energies of poetry. MISSION STATEMENT: i) To increase the visibility and appreciation of the literary arts in San Diego, and to make San Diego a nationally recognized showcase for those arts. ii) To encourage literary and academic collaborations across geographic, cultural and intellectual boundaries. iii) To use poetry to cultivate sensitivities of perception that are socially and personally valuable for young people and the community at large, while raising student scores on standardized tests of verbal ability. Border Voices

 

Border Voices Poetry Project Director and Publisher Jack Webb is a retired editor and investigative reporter for the Union-Tribune and other news organizations. In 1993 he started the Border Voices Poetry Project, which has taught the art of poetry to thousands of San Diego kids, boosting test scores and confidence. He’s flown famous writers to the city to appear with the kids on TV and in venues such as Viejas Arena. He’s successfully written many hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant applications in order to do all this.

Broken Anchor Poetry: A collective of hosts and organizations promoting poetry and art in San Diego. Groups include Gelato Poetry, Palabra Open Mic, Poetry & Art Series, Border Voices Poetry Project, Balboa Park Poetry Bench, and San Diego Writers, Ink. Meetup (virtually!): Broken Anchor Poetry

*Special thanks to Verbatim Books, where we had originally planned this event before COVID-19 closures. Please support local bookstores and businesses online and visit as soon as it’s safe to do so.

SDPA cover art: Amaranta Caballero Prado, Pájaro y Mapa — Bird and Map