Winter in America (Again - Publication Date
2025-01-20 | Online Event
Call for Submissions: Winter in America (Again
This is a call for poems for an anthology of work in response to the 2024 USAmerican presidential election. We are looking for words that come from thoughtful reflection and compassion for the loss we feel for ourselves and this country. (Please no screeds. No name calling. We would prefer not to publish the name of the president-elect.) This to be published by inauguration day, January 20, 2025. We plan a Zoom launch on January 20, 2025, at 1pm PST, 4pm EST.
Deadline for submissions was December 15, 2024. Send up to 3 poems for consideration. Submit all poems in one document in Times New Roman 12-point font, each poem beginning on a new page. If the poem you submit has been previously published, please credit the publisher in your notes. No limitations on poem format and length.
The book title is an homage to Gil Scott-Heron’s Winter in America. This anthology is to be published by Carbonation Press.
Katie Sarah Zale (co-editor) writes: “In 2003, 11,000 poets responded to Sam Hamill’s request for a poem about George W. Bush’s planned attack of Iraq. In the resulting anthology titled Poets Against the War, Sam wrote, ‘These are the voices of our poets; they come from every segment of society … they also celebrate our country by expounding a compassionate view of the universe. A government is a government of words, and when those words are used to mislead, to instill fear or to invite silence, it is the duty of every poet to speak fearlessly and clearly.’ As a poet, and the writer of an upcoming biography of Sam Hamill, I ask you, as I believe Sam would, to write a poem ‘for the conscience of our country,’ in response to the 2024 USAmerican presidential election.”
Submission form on Google docs:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-VmOgkZCr6ITjevHj-OI05G3nP5GQqIQSLNUx1KjSJHVurw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Winter in America (Again - Anthology Launch
2025-01-20 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online Event
Winter in America (Again – Anthology Launch
Poets Respond to the 2024 Election
Launch events and online readings
Join us to mark the publication of the anthology, Winter in America (Again, with readings from many of the contributing poets.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
11 am to 1 pm, Pacific time
Live online Zoom event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2064225002
Contributor Readers: allia abdullah-matta, Brad Buchanan, Carla Stein, Charles Goodrich, Chris Stroffolino, Chyrel J. Jackson, Cynthia Manick, Dane Cervine, Deborah Bacharach, Henry Crawford, Jennifer M Phillips, John Maney, Kit Robinson, Lea Graham, Lorin Medley, Luther Jett, Marc Vincenz, Matt Trease, Petra Kuppers, Robert Lashley, Rodrigo Toscano, Theresa Whitehill, and Zach Charles.
Monday, January 20, 2025
5 pm to 7 pm, Pacific time
Live online Zoom event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2064225002
Contributor Readers: Aby Kaupang, Angelica Recierdo, Bill Lavender, Cassandra Atherton, Cynthia Hogue, Dana Teen Lomax, David Allen Sullivan, David Hellman, Dion O’Reilly, Elizabeth Robinson, Faith Paulsen, Gloria Frym, Hilary Sideris, Jim Dott, Joy Dubé, Judith Hoyer, Katie Sarah Zale, Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Kim D. Brandon, Lise Breakey, Lowell Murphree, M.A. Nicholson, Mark Nowak, Matthew Cooperman, Maxine Chernoff, Monique Soria, Nathalie Anderson, Nina Burokas, Paul E Nelson, Paul Hoover, Roxi Power, Terran Campbell, and Veronica Eldredge.
Readings Produced by the publisher, Carbonation Press
https://gregbem.com/carbonation-press-events/
– February 4, 2025, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington
– February 15, 2025 in Tuscon, Arizona
– March 26-27, 2025 at the AWP in Los Angeles, California
– April 1, 2025, Satori Arts, Santa Cruz, California
– More dates pending for San Francisco, New York, and beyond
Lead Editors:
Katie Sarah Zale
Paul E. Nelson
Editorial Board:
allia abdullah-matta
Gabriella Gutiérrez Y Muhs
Robert Lashley
Roxi Power
CChristy White
Theresa Whitehill
Poets from the United States and beyond respond to the 2024 Presidential election. The poems are rooted in a belief that the incoming administration will not relieve or heal us from our nation’s past: the destruction of the environment, the unbridled use of power, the pervasive narrative that Black lives do not matter, patriarchy, reproductive injustice for women, silent support for the US prison-industrial complex, and the lack of compassion for diverse gender identity, immigrants, the indigenous, and unsheltered populations. The editorial team worked tirelessly for six weeks to publish this anthology before the January 20, 2025 inauguration.
To order your copy of the anthology ($25 each) from Lulu, click here: Order Anthology
link = https://www.lulu.com/shop/jason-wirth-and-jasper-hoffman-and-roberta-hoffman-and-greg-bem/winter-in-america-again/paperback/product-95edezw.html?q=winter+in+america+%28again&page=1&pageSize=4

Spirit of Place: Fundraiser Reading for Anthology
2025-02-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Grace Hudson Museum Community Room, 431 South Main Street, Ukiah, CA, 95482, United States
Join poets Bill Churchill, Georgina Marie Guardado, Linda Noel, Michael Riedell, and Theresa Whitehill in a reading to benefit the anthology Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets
Friday, February 28, 2025
6:30 pm
Grace Hudson Museum
431 South Main Street, Ukiah, CA 95482
$10 Donation (benefits the anthology project)
Produced by Devreaux Baker, Poet Laureate of Mendocino County along with a group of co-editors
For more information: poetryanthology2@gmail.com

Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference Registration 2025
2025-04-01 | Online Event
Registration for MCWC 2025 opens April 1!
MCWC 2025 conference registration and contest submissions will open Tuesday, April 1. The deadline is Monday, June 30.
For more information, visit the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference website here.
KEY DATES
April 1: Conference registration and contest submissions open
May 1: Extended Registration (fee increases to $900)
June 30: Deadline for conference registration and contest submissions
July 31 – August 2: In-person conference

2025 ukiaHaiku Festival
2025-04-27 | Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave, Ukiah, CA, 95482, United States
As the New Year approaches, we hope you might find time to enter the 23rd ukiaHaiku Festival contest. Residents of Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, and Humboldt counties, from kindergarten age through adult, can enter haiku in ten different categories (two for Spanish). There is also one category open to planet Earth, the Jane Reichhold International Award. Writing haiku, one of the simplest and most accessible forms of poetry, gives you a chance to capture and reflect upon being present in a special moment of experience.

There will be a celebration of winning haiku on April 27th, 2025 at the Civic Center Council Chambers where we invite winners to attend and read their haiku. Winners will receive awards, including gift certificates to local bookstores. We will also produce a publication of the winning haiku.

In recognition that the Pomo People are the original inhabitants of Mendocino County and that the name Ukiah itself is from a Pomo language, this year, we are making an open call to our Pomo neighbors to share haiku that are in Pomo languages or express a Pomo perspective. (These can be written in English, Spanish and Pomo Languages, with English translations.)

Haiku submissions can be made on our website: www.ukiahaiku.org

The website also has information on writing haiku including advice from the late Jane Reichhold (a haiku scholar), in her videoed lesson for local teachers (see “resources” at the bottom of the website page). These resources are intended to help show what our judges are looking for in a haiku.

If you have any questions, please contact Colter Jacobsen at Ukiahaikufestival@gmail.com or 415-832-0978.
If you prefer to submit haiku via snail mail, there are entry forms at the Mendocino County Library in Ukiah. Or you can print a pdf from our website and send it to:

ukiaHaiku Festival
Mendocino County Library
105 N Main St
Ukiah, CA 95482

Both online and snail mail submissions must be postmarked by February 8th.

Visit the website for more information and to read more winning haiku from previous festivals.
I hope you will participate with entries and come join the celebration!

Sincerely,
Melissa Eleftherion Carr
Ukiah Poet Laureate Emeritus 2021-2023

The ukiaHaiku Festival Youth Outreach was awarded a grant by the California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities and sponsored by North Coast Opportunities.

instagram: @ukiahaikufestival

2025 Mendocino Spring Poetry Celebration Reading - 50th Annual
2025-05-18 12:00 - 20:00 | JD Center, 208 Dana Street, Fort Bragg, 95437, United States
This year’s Mendocino Spring Poetry Celebration, the 50th anniversary and 20th consecutive revival, will take place on Sunday, May, 2025 at the JD Center, 208 Dana Street, in Fort Bragg, CA. Readings will take place at 1 pm and 6 pm. Sign-ups open one hour before each reading.
There will be a potluck between readings. Please bring a dish to share.
This year’s event will honor Mendocino poets Gordon Black, Sharon Doubiago, Bill Bradd, and Dan Roberts.

Theresa Whitehill, Dancing with La Muerta: poems, publication event
2025-06-08 17:00 - 19:00 | Online Event
Carbonation Press celebrates the June 1, 2025 publication of Dancing with La Muerta: Poems, Theresa Whitehill in a Book Release Virtual Event taking place on Sunday, June 8, 2025 from 5 to 7 pm with Featured Readers Roxi Power, Devreaux Baker, and Theresa Whitehill
Zoom access: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87837329387
Meeting ID: 878 3732 9387
Format: virtual, via Zoom
5:00: join in, socialize, settle in
5:30 to 6:30: readings
6:30: conversation
Dancing with La Muerta is a short cycle of poems by Theresa Whitehill that speak of grief and of the impetuous urge to feel fully alive and awake in the face of the loss of her husband of thirty years. Beginning with an homage to fellow Mendocino coast poet, William “Bill” Bradd, Whitehill touches on memories of coming of age and other rites of passage, along with the passing of family members, while building a slow, sustained homage to La Muerta, giver of the great gift, consummate dance partner.
* * * * *
Roxi Power, Santa Cruz, California; Roxi Power is a poet, performer, educator, and publisher. She teaches at UC Santa Cruz, and has been involved in the Cascadia Poetics Lab and its annual Cascadia Poetry Festival, where she and Theresa first met. They were two of eight co-editors of the January 2025 anthology, Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election. https://www.satoriarts.org/roxi-power
Devreaux Baker: Mendocino, California; Devreaux Baker wrote the introduction to Dancing with La Muerta, and has been a poetry colleague of Theresa Whitehill in Mendocino County from the 1980s. Her awards include the 2024 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Prize and the 2011 PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Poetry Award. She is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Mendocino County. https://devreauxbaker.org/
Theresa Whitehill: Theresa is a California-born poet and letterpress artist from Ukiah and St. Helena, California. She has served as Poet Laureate of Ukiah, and is a co-founder of Watershed Poetry Mendocino. Her poetry and letterpress broadsides are in many fine press collections, including the John Hay Library at Brown University, the Getty Center for the Arts, the British Library, and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in Washington State. https://theresawhitehill.com/
Greg Bem, publisher, Carbonation Press, https://gregbem.com/carbonation-press-catalog/
Cover Art, Paula Gray, “Prescription for Pollination,” medical prescriptions from 1890 collaged on cradled board, 2019
Books will be available from the poet, the publisher, and from Lulu.com on June 1, 2025

Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets Anthology Book Launch
2025-06-28 16:00 - 18:00 | Mendocino Art Center, 45200 Little Lake Street, Mendocino, CA, 95460, United States
Join us at the Mendocino Art Center’s main gallery for book launch celebration of the anthology Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets. There will be a sign-up sheet for poets who want to read their published poem from the book.
Saturday, June 28, 2025
4–6 pm
Mendocino Art Center, Main Gallery
45200 Little Lake Street, Mendocino, CA 95460
Snacks and beverages will be provided. Books will be available for puchase to audience members.
Produced by Devreaux Baker, Poet Laureate of Mendocino County along with a group of co-editors
For more information: poetryanthology2@gmail.com

Winter in America (Again - reading, Sacramento Poetry Center
2025-07-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th Street, Sacramento, CA, 95816, United States
Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election
A Hybrid Reading Featuring Readers from the Anthology
The readers — some of whom are editors and editorial board members for the book as well as contributors — include Greg Bem, Francisco Dominguez, Lara Gularte, Lorin Medley, Paul Nelson, William O’Daly, Roxi Power, Beverly Parayno, Theresa Whitehill, Cathleen Williams, Katie Sarah Zale, and Patrick Grizzell
Monday, July 21, 2025
7:30 to 9:30 pm Pacific Time
Format: in person and via Zoom (Zoom link below)
Sacramento Poetry Center
1719 25th Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
https://www.sacpoetrycenter.org/
admin@sacpoetrycenter.org
(916) 968-0304
Program:
– Introduction by Patrick Grizzell, president, Sacramento Poetry Center
– 12 poets reading, 6 in person and 6 via Zoom
– Event will end with time for questions and discussion
Info to join on Zoom:
Date/Time: Jul 21, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462?pwd=[REDACTED]
Zoom Credentials: Meeting ID: 763 873 3462 / Passcode: [REDACTED]
About the Reading:
The Sacramento Poetry Center is grateful to be able to host a reading featuring contributors to the important anthology, Winter In America (Again — Poets Respond to 2024 Election (Carbonation Press, Spokane, 2025). They will be joined by local poets who will also read selections from the book. As we already see dire consequences to the results of the election, it is imperative that all of us work toward actions that will help mitigate the damage. Poets are often at the forefront of such action — talking back and speaking to the heart of the issues. So it is with this collection. Many thanks to all of the contributors and local participants. Special gratitude is offered to poet and translator (and anthology contributor) William O’Daly for his efforts to make this event possible.
About the Anthology, Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election
Poets from the United States and beyond respond to the 2024 Presidential election. The poems are rooted in a belief that the incoming administration will not relieve or heal us from our nation’s past: the destruction of the environment, the unbridled use of power, the pervasive narrative that Black lives do not matter, patriarchy, reproductive injustice for women, silent support for the US prison-industrial complex, and the lack of compassion for diverse gender identity, immigrants, the indigenous, and unsheltered populations. The editorial team worked tirelessly for six weeks to publish this anthology before the January 20, 2025 inauguration.
– Lead Editors: Katie Sarah Zale, Paul E. Nelson
– Editorial Board: allia abdullah-matta, CChristy White, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Robert Lashley, Roxi Power & Theresa Whitehill

The Last Ecstatic Days: Poetry and Film
2025-08-15 18:30 - 21:30 | Spirit House Center, 16550 Franklin Road, Fort Bragg, 95437, United States
In the underground sanctuary of the Spirit House, welcomed by music and poetry, we will watch the movie, The Last Ecstatic Days, followed by a communion of kirtan, poetry, meditation, and sharing. Join Aditi Sethi, Jay Brown, and Kim Rosen for a life-changing and potentially death changing evening, a portrait of what it means to meet death, and the powerful and poignant journey towards it, undefended and curious.
This event will take place on Friday, August 15, from 6:30–9:30 pm at Spirit House Center, 16550 Franklin Road, Fort Bragg. Cost is $30–$40 (sliding scale).
To register, email ron@spirithousehealing.org.

Kim Rosen: Feast of Losses, Poetry Workshop
2025-08-16 13:00 - 17:00 | Spirit House Center, 16550 Franklin Road, Fort Bragg, 95437, United States
Join poet Kim Rosen at the Spirit House for an immersive alchemy of poetry, music, movement, guided explorations, writing, and sharing, as we open into all that arises as we turn towards aging, death, and letting go.
This event will take place on Saturday, August 16, from 1–5 pm at Spirit House Center, 16550 Franklin Road, Fort Bragg. Cost is $40–$50 (sliding scale), $60 at the door, space permitting.
To register, email ron@spirithousehealing.org.

Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets Anthology, Reading at The Record
2025-10-02 18:00 - 20:00 | The Record, 265 Main Street, Point Arena, CA, 95468, United States
Join us at The Record in Point Arena on Thursday, October 2nd. All poets are invited to come and share their work from Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets Anthology. Open mic to follow.
Reading begins at 6 pm, at The Record, 265 Main Street, Point Arena.

Theresa Whitehill, Carbonation Press Showcase
2025-10-11 14:00 - 17:00 | Rainier Beach Community Club, 6038 South Pilgrim Street, Upper Rainier Beach, WA, 98118, United States
Theresa Whitehill, Carbonation Press Showcase
Cascadia Poetry Festival
A reading from the poets & authors of Carbonation Press (Greg Bem, publisher) with Greg Bem, Zach Charles, Matt Trease, Theresa Whitehill, Paul E Nelson, Lorin Medley, Jim Dott, Sarah Zale, Brenda Cardenas, with Matt Trease, emcee
For more information: https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/2025-cascadia-poetry-festival-9-schedule/

Theresa Whitehill, Cascadia Mono Poem
2025-10-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Rainier Beach Community Club, 6038 South Pilgrim Street, Upper Rainier Beach, WA, 98118, United States
Theresa Whitehill, Cascadia Mono poem
Cascadia Poetry Festival
Theresa Whitehill will be part of a group reading by 20 or more poets, with Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, emcee, creating a Mono poem by each reading one original poem, responding to the theme and tone of each other’s work. The festival celebrates place and commitment to one’s place, which will inform each reader’s choice of material.
For more information: https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/2025-cascadia-poetry-festival-9-schedule/

Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference Pre-Registration 2026
2026-01-31 | Online Event
Pre-Register today and save $75. We’re extending the opportunity to Pre-Register for next year’s conference from now until January 31, 2025. Pre-Registration allows you to hold your spot for $200 in the workshop of your choice and save $75 on the tuition price. You will be contacted in March to confirm participation and your Workshop and make the remainder of your payment. You are eligible for a refund on your deposit until April 1. Full price tuition is $875 and Pre-Registration offers it to you for $800

Heavy Lifting: Theresa Whitehill & Felicia Rice
2026-02-21 18:30 - 20:00 | Mendocino Art Center, 45200 Little Lake Street, Mendocino, CA, 95460, United States
Heavy Lifting Listening Tour—with Soup!
A special event as part of the exhibit, Felicia Rice: Changes, at the Mendocino Art Center
Exhibit Dates: Saturday, February 14 through Sunday March 8, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 14, 2026, as part of Mendocino’s Second Saturday Art Walk
Heavy Lifting Event: Saturday, February 21, 2026, 6:30 to 8 pm, with soup being served!
Book Artist Felicia Rice and poet Theresa Whitehill will host an evening featuring their collaborative project, Heavy Lifting, in an updated Heavy Lifting Listening Tour event. This will take place at the Mendocino Art Center as part of the Felicia’s exhibit, Changes, which will be up for the month of February.
They are planning an updated program focused on their creative work and their community’s experiences since the publication of Heavy Lifting, during a time when the urgency of their original inspiration to document personal and collective crises has continued to intensify. A round-robin discussion will be part of the experience along with an overview of the artists’ book, a reading of one of the project poems, and a showing of the short film, On Heavy Lifting.
The Mendocino Art Center will be providing soup and beverages to the audience. We encourage folks to arrive early to view all the exhibits currently on show at the Art Center, as we will start the program promptly at 6:45.
Heavy Lifting is a limited edition artists’ book designed & handprinted by Felicia with poetry by Theresa. Their Heavy Lifting Listening Tour took place over the course of 18 months from early 2023 to late 2024, and included over a dozen locations from Mendocino County (including 3 venues on the north coast), Berkeley, Chico, Santa Cruz, and as far north as Seattle.
Film trailer: Click below for the trailer for the film On Heavy Lifting, featuring Mendocino Coast dancer, Kara Starkweather.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUHKChLt3ig&t=37s
Arts Council of Mendocino County
https://artsmendocino.org/event/heavy-lifting-listening-tour-with-soup/
Mendocino Art Center
https://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/exhibitions/february-14-march-8-2026-opening-2nd-saturday-feb-14-5-7-pm
Moving Parts Press
https://movingpartspress.com/publications/heavy-lifting/
Theresa Whitehill Poetry
https://theresawhitehill.com/books-broadsides/heavy-lifting/

Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference 2026 Scholarship and Master Class Application Deadline
2026-02-28 | Online Event
February 28 is the deadline to apply for our 2026 conference scholarships and to our juried-in Master Class for MCWC 2026.
We are pleased to offer a range of scholarships to make our conference accessible to writers from diverse backgrounds and to reward writing of outstanding merit.
We are also now accepting applications for our 2026 Master Class. This Year’s Master Class will be led by prolific author, Jeanne Thornton.
For more information, visit the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference website here.

2026 ukiaHaiku Festival
2026-04-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave, Ukiah, CA, 95482, United States
As we enter the New Year, we hope you might find time to enter the 24th ukiaHaiku Festival contest. Residents of Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, and Humboldt counties, from kindergarten age through adult, can enter haiku in ten different categories (two for Spanish). There is also one category open to planet Earth, the Jane Reichhold International Award. Writing haiku, one of the simplest and most accessible forms of poetry, gives you a chance to capture and reflect upon being present in a special moment of experience.

There will be a celebration of winning haiku on April 26th, 2026 at the Civic Center Council Chambers where we invite winners to attend and read their haiku. Winners will receive awards, including gift certificates to local bookstores. We will also produce a publication of the winning haiku.

In recognition that the Pomo People are the original inhabitants of Mendocino County and that the name Ukiah itself is from a Pomo language, this year, we are making an open call to our Pomo neighbors to share haiku that are in Pomo languages or express a Pomo perspective. (These can be written in English, Spanish and Pomo Languages, with English translations.)

Haiku submissions can be made on our website: www.ukiahaiku.org

The website also has information on writing haiku including advice from the late Jane Reichhold (a haiku scholar), in her videoed lesson for local teachers (see “resources” at the bottom of the website page). These resources are intended to help show what our judges are looking for in a haiku.

If you have any questions, please contact Colter Jacobsen at Ukiahaikufestival@gmail.com or 415-832-0978.
If you prefer to submit haiku via snail mail, there are entry forms at the Mendocino County Library in Ukiah. Or you can print a pdf from our website and send it to:

ukiaHaiku Festival
Mendocino County Library
105 N Main St
Ukiah, CA 95482

Both online and snail mail submissions must be postmarked by February 7th.

Visit the website for more information and to read more winning haiku from previous festivals.
I hope you will participate with entries and come join the celebration!

Sincerely,
Melissa Eleftherion Carr
Ukiah Poet Laureate Emeritus 2021-2023

The ukiaHaiku Festival Youth Outreach was awarded a grant by the California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities and sponsored by North Coast Opportunities.

instagram: @ukiahaikufestival

Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference 2026
2026-07-30 - 2026-08-01 | Mendocino, CA, Mendocino, CA, 95460, United States
MCWC 2026 will be held Thursday, July 30 through Saturday, August 1.
We are thrilled to announce our full schedule of faculty, as well as the morning workshops and afternoon events for our 2026 conference taking place July 30–August 1, 2026.
We’re working hard to put together our in-person conference as well as regular online events, but we need your help as we continue our Building the Future of MCWC fundraising campaign! If you have not yet contributed, every gift matters, no matter the size. If you are able to support our work with a donation, please click here to donate now.
For more information, visit the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference website here.
