Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emma Trelles (Photo by Regina Reese)

This is the day that Santa Barbara celebrates poetry by inaugurating our city's 9th Poet Laureate, Emma Trelles!

The newest Santa Barbara Poet Laureate is not only a brilliant writer; she is also an educator, teaching composition and creative writing at Santa Barbara City College. Emma is the author of Tropicalia (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and a finalist for Foreword Indies poetry book of the year. She is working on another book of poems, Courage and the Clock. She is also a CantoMundo fellow and the recipient of an Individual Artist grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and curates the Mission Poetry Series. Beginning April 2021, she will serve as the Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara. For more, visit emmatrelles.com.

Bits of music you might notice: Yo La Tengo, "Georgia Vs. Yo La Tengo;" The Gruntled, "Dollar;" Pavement, "Grounded."

This episode was first broadcast on KCSB-FM 91.9 on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.