The Academy of American Poets recently named Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emma Trelles as one of the 22 awarded 2022 Poet Laureate Fellows, which includes a $50,000 award to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects.
Trelles — the ninth poet laureate of Santa Barbara and the first Latina appointed to this post — is understandably excited about the award. “I’m just deeply honored and thrilled and humbled that they would invest in my creative and community work,” she said of the honor, which she will use to further develop the Mission Poetry Series and have the series poets conduct four, free, seasonal community poetry classes in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Public Library.
One poem written by each class participant will be selected to be published and publicly displayed in an outdoor poetry walk at the library’s branches and local schools.