By Lauren Sharp 

for the Wildling Museum

The Wildling Museum of Art and Nature is sponsoring an environmental poetry competition with the theme “Why Earth Day Matters,” inviting writers to interpret the importance of Earth Day in a variety of ways. The competition is open to Santa Barbara County residents of all ages, and the deadline to submit is 5 p.m. Monday, March 22.

The competition is a celebration of Earth Day, on April 22, and is intended to highlight the importance of standing up to protect the planet’s dwindling natural resources and working against the threats of climate change.

Poetry entries will be judged by poet Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, 2015-17. The top three poems will be announced and read at the annual Santa Barbara Earth Day virtual celebration organized by the Community Environmental Council (CEC). CEC will focus on climate leadership for its 2021 Earth Day celebration.

For poetry competition guidelines and entry forms, visit www.wildlingmuseum.org/news/2021-poetry-competition-why-earth-day-matters. Direct questions to info@wildlingmuseum.org or call 805-686-8315.

In addition to serving as the city’s poet laureate, Kincaid Rolle was one of the poets-laureate-in-residence at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History during its 2016 Centennial. The museum published “Moving Forward, Looking Back; Poems Celebrating Nature” as a part of that group residency.

In 2017, Kincaid Rolle, also a community activist, was profiled in Holli Harmon’s “Portraits of the Central Coast.” Kincaid Rolle has authored three collections of poetry: “The Mellow Yellow Global Umbrella,” “Common Ancestry,” and “Black Street.” A selection of her poems appears in “What Breathes Us: Santa Barbara Poets Laureate 2005-2015” and “The Geography of Home.”

Her in-progress book, “Where The Hum Begins” is a collection of “place” poems inspired by the California Central Coast and beyond. She has engaged young poets through her Song of Place Poetry Project and the Santa Barbara Public Library, as well as the youth-serving programs City At Peace, Endowment for Youth, and various after-school programs.

Kincaid Rolle has served as chair of the annual MLKSB Essay and Poetry Contest, is a past board member of California Poets-in-the-Schools, and a former associate editor for “Sage Trail Poetry Magazine.” Her environmental activism includes work with Agua Pura, Sierra Club, Community Environmental Council and Watershed Resource Center.

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Local Middle school students who respond to the library’s current Poetry Challenge-to write a poem on the theme of  “Selfies: Pretense, Truth, and Dreams”-will be reading their work at the Solvang Library on Wed., April 25, at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to come enjoy and celebrate with them.

The Poetry Challenge, sponsored by the Solvang Library, is the brainchild of volunteer host and poet Steve Braff.  “With submissions still coming in,” said Braff, “it’s apparent that the “Selfies” theme has engaged student’s imaginations- the poems we’ve received are delightful.”  Library staff notes: “It’s not a contest, but a challenge to respond creatively, and to share what you write”

Joining Braff as discussion moderators for the public reading will be poets Christine Kravetz and Ron Alexander.  Christine is a published poet and Regional Coordinator & Teacher with California Poets in the Schools (CPITS). She also trains poet-teachers and administrates CPITS throughout Santa Barbara County. Ron Alexander is a psychologist and a published poet who is also is a CPITS Teacher.   A short film based on a poem of his has shown at LGBTQ film festivals here in the US, as well as in Asia, South America and Europe.

Steve Braff performs and organizes poetry events throughout Santa Barbara County.  He serves as co-founder of the Santa Ynez Valley Poetry Workgroup, Poetry Chair for the Santa Ynez Valley Arts Association, and is the New Programs Liaison for CPITS of Santa Barbara.

Following the reading, all poems will be available in an online book.

For more information call the library at 805 688-4214<tel:805%20688-4214> or contact solvanglibrary@santabarbaraCA.gov<mailto:solvanglibrary@santabarbaraCA.gov>.

Information about Santa Barbara Public Library System locations, hours, events, and programs is available at SBPLibrary.org<http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/lib/default.asp>.

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