Don’t Give Up: Poetic Fame Is Within Grasp

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is coming to town on April 25, and in honor of her visit — and National Poetry Month — the Santa Barbara Independent and UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) are co-presenting a poetry contest.

We have two categories — K-12 students and age 18-plus — and all participants are invited to submit an original unpublished poem about the qualities of leadership and vision inspired by Limón’s poem “Instructions on Not Giving Up.” The contest will be judged by a panel of distinguished poets, including Robert Krut (UCSB Writing Program, College of Creative Studies), Melinda Palacio (author of the novel Ocotillo Dreams and three books of poetry), and Chryss Yost (Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2013-2015).

One winner in each category will have their poem published in the Santa Barbara Independent, and each winner will also receive a copy of Limón’s book The Hurting Kind, a $50 gift certificate to Chaucer’s Books, and a $500 A&L ticket voucher good through 2024.