01 August
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One morning, Gerald Zwers stood in his driveway. He took 100 mindful steps and ended up in front of a neighbor’s house. Looking left was “a great wall of green,” the hedge of a neighbor, and to his right, Zwers saw an intersection full of life and his own shadow stretching across it. “My immense, long shadow across the intersection,” he said, “That’s life. We have no idea how far we stretch.” Zwers has been stretching himself as an artist and an organizer of art shows for decades. A prolific painter, Zwers is hoping to augment visual art through collaboration with poets. Ekphrastic poetry isRead More →

08 July
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Covid-19 has long, sticky fingers and leaves none of us untouched. Poets Conor Logan of Newbury Park, Peg Quinn of Santa Barbara, and Johanna Went of Ventura have adapted to the pandemic differently while attempting to thrive creatively within the restraints of Covid-19. Of these three local poets, both Logan, and Went rely on external stimulation to create. “The more I’m around people, the more productive I am,” reports Logan. Went labels herself as straddling the introvert/extrovert line. “Inspiration is always necessary and I enjoy working with people who are spontaneous,” she said. Logan was determined to populate his life from a 6-foot distance, withRead More →

05 May
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  The complexity of home ground. What if the ground of our creativity, of our well-being is the ground itself? And, if the ground where we live is compromised by extractive technology yet still carries life and potential for nurturance, what should we do? For many of us, our understanding of beauty is based in this life and land. What if, as a people, most of us are late-comers, immigrants, and we did not and have not understood the land or cultures already here. What if a careless people came to a land they did not understand? And we are their descendants. What does lifeRead More →

30 March
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Wit, Grit, and Experience – The Women’s Reading by Gabrielle Costanzo On March 7th the Ventura County Poetry Project hosted their annual International Women’s Day reading, which featured inspiring performances by a talented and diverse group of women. Each woman brought their own unique experiences and poetry to the reading. All the women who read put on a powerful performance, showing just how moving and empowering poetry and women can be. I had the honor of attending this reading via zoom, and would like to share some of my thoughts and highlights of the reading. The first woman to read was Zayan Reza. She isRead More →

21 February
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Defining Moments by Lin Rolens As Amanda Gorman read her poem at the presidential inauguration and then read again at the Super Bowl, she vividly reminded us about the transformative power of language and poetry—and this is a moment for poetry. And, as the Ventura County Poetry Project launches its fourth annual poetry contest, we hope to tap into some of that remarkable energy. Last year’s contest was the most successful of our contests to date: we enjoyed many and varied, quality entries from all over our county and well beyond, and, in spite of the fact that our reading ceremony celebrating the winners wasRead More →

05 February
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Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to announce that I will be working as the Ventura County Poetry Projects intern for the next few months. I’m sure you will be seeing me around as I plan to be very involved during my internship, so I would like to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Gabrielle Costanzo. I’m twenty two years old, a junior at Channel Islands, and an English Major. I have two cats that I am obsessed with and if we ever meet over zoom you will probably spot them jumping on my desk and sitting on my laptop. Ever since I wasRead More →

01 February
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Conor Logan’s audio recording of the workshop – https://www.spreaker.com/user/13205062/thousandtalespodcast-vcpp-kindwriters-pu Kind Writers Are Exactly That!     By Marsha de la O Kind Writers, a new publishing company with the goal of building literary community between writers and publishers, held a virtual workshop on Jan. 30th sponsored by the Ventura County Poetry Project. Their editorial staff attended: Sophia Apodaca, founder and jack of all hands, Sam Aleks, art editor and fiction editor, Shayleene MacReynolds, non-fiction editor, Annabelle Bonebrake, poetry editor, and Jacqueline Molina, web design, art direction and blog editor. They spoke out on their guiding beliefs. “Our core value is to put writers and community first,”Read More →

26 January
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Submit poems by April 21st  to vcpoetryproject@gmail.com poems should be no longer than 35 lines.   You name should not appear on the poem   include a cover sheet that includes the name of the poem, your name, address, phone number, email and the name of your favorite local library.   adult category youth category ( 12-18 years of age)Read More →

26 January
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Meet the Publishers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzv5nbN4HQU Sophia Apodaca, Samvel Aleksanyan, and Shayleene McReynolds What do they really do? Why did they become editors? How do you get published with them? How are they coping under lockdown? Donations requested. Reserve your spot in 2 steps: Register with Mary Rummel: mrummel@d.umn.edu Donation via PayPaypal: vcpoetryproject.org https://vcpoetryproject.org/donations/     Ventura County Poetry Project www.vcpoetryproject.org   more poetry here… over 1000 videos www.youtube.com/user/AskewPoetryJournalRead More →

22 November
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Meet the Publisher: Sarah Kosch of Random Sample Magazine – November 21, 2020 We had a wonderful time discussing writing, editing, and publishing with Sarah today. Thanks to all who came! The following are abbreviated notes from the workshop. Sarah Marie Kosch is the prose editor at Random Sample Magazine. She earned her MFA in fiction from Oregon State University. She is a reader for the New England Review and a former editor of Anomalous Press,where she helped launch Anomalous Books and edited a folio of speculative work by women writers. Her work has appeared in Tiny Essays, Tin House, Grist,Rappahannock Review, Knee-Jerk Magazine, Print-Oriented Bastards, Gemini Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska. Panel:Read More →