Chaucer’s Books will celebrate a melding of food and poetry with readings from “A Feast for Santa Barbara,” 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 at 3321 State St., Santa Barbara.
The event will feature readings by Cie Gumucio, Rebecca Horrigan, Simon Kiefer, Lillian Kurosaka, Monica Mody, Juliana Moore, Enid Osborn, Elizabeth Pérez, Ariel Phoenix, and Valerie Zell.
Edited by Santa Barbara Poet Laureate George Yatchisin (2025-27), “‘A Feast for Santa Barbara’ contains literary morsels from over 100 Santa Barbara area poets, celebrating the diverse farming, dining, and drinking in our community,” organizers said.
Contributors to “A Feast for Santa Barbara” include:
Randy Arnowitz – Alison M. Bailey – Lisa Bass – Emily Bernhardt – Kit Bonson – Laure-Anne Bosselaar – Gudrun Bortman – Alison Brysk – M. L. Brown – Christopher Buckley – Nic Caldwell – Jose María Carpizo – Carolyn Chilton Casas – Quyen Casey – Susan Chiavelli – Clayton E. Clark – Evelyn Cox – Sharon Cox – Kimberly Ferris Crocker.
Susan Read Cronin – Ruben Lee Dalton – Fran Davis – Pamela Davis – Marsha de la O- Julie Dillemuth – Alex Eleazar – Mary Elliott – Kimbrough Ernest – Awe Experiencer – Judy Farris – Mary Freericks – Nora Frei – Kerin Friden – Mary Frink – Jane Gillett.
Danny Gonzalez – Cie Gumucio – Viviana Hall – Stephanie Barbé Hammer – Cece Harris – Krista Harris – Alison Height – Jan Hersh – Sam Hersh – Trish Holden – Justin Graham Hoops – Rebecca Horrigan – Carolyn Jabs – Greg Janée – Mila Johnson – Peggy Kelly.
Simon Kiefer – Gabriella Klein – Audrey Kosek – Lillian Kurosaka – Austen Lamacraft – Margaret Lange – Elizabeth Long – Perie Longo – Michaela McGinnis – Patrick McHugh – Amy Michelson – Kathee Miller – Monica Mody – Pilar Montes – Delia Moon.
Juliana Moore – Laura Mullen – Phoebe Mullen – Gale Naylor – Anne Neubauer – Zilia Thien Nguyen – Enid Osborn – Melinda Palacio – Tara Patrick – Christine Penko – Elizabeth Pérez – Kristiana Phillips – Ariel A. Phoenix – Peg Quinn – Diana Raab.
Jaque Reed – C.M. Rivers – Utah Roth – Linda Saccoccio – Eddi Oliveira Salado – Ibrahim Ibn Salma – Rick Sawyer – Charlie Schultz – Kate Schwab – Jason Scrymgeour – Jasmine Guerrero Sevilla – Susan Shields – Melissa Sorongon – Jacob Herrera Spears.
Suzanne Spillman – David Starkey – Kevin Patrick Sullivan – Patti Sullivan – Caitlin Swalec – Deborah Sykes – Jennifer Moe Taylor – Daniel Thomas – Emma Trelles – Jace Ryan Turner – Joseph Sandy Warren – Leslie Andrea Westbrook – Paul Willis.
Dot Winslow – Misty Wycoff – Raven Wylde – Shifra Wylder – George Yatchisin – Madelyn Yee – Kerri Gordon Yim – Chryss Yost – Valerie Zell.
Yatchisin is the author of the chapbook “Feast Days” (Flutter Press, 2016) and the full-length “The First Night We Thought the World Would End” (Brandenburg Press, 2019).
His poems have been published in numerous journals including Antioch Review, Boston Review, Spillway, and Zocalo Public Square.
He co-edited the online anthology “Big Enough for Words: “Poems and vintage photographs from California’s Central Coast” (Gunpowder Press, 2021) with David Starkey and Chryss Yost; and the anthology “Rare Feathers: Poems on Birds & Art”(Gunpowder Press, 2015) with Nancy Gifford and Yost.
His poetry appears in numerous anthologies including “Fantastic Imaginary Creatures: An Anthology of Contemporary Prose Poems” (Madville Publishing, 2024); and “California Fire & Water: A Climate Anthology” (Story Street Press, 2020).
Yatchisin retired from his position as the director of communications for UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education in 2023.
.