2nd annual Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Celebration

San Diego Poetry Annual and San Diego Public Library present the 2^nd annual Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, given to deserving poets anywhere in honor of celebrated local poet Steve Kowit, a former teacher at San Diego State University and Southwestern College, who died in 2015. Poems of the Kowit honorees are published in a special section of the San Diego Poetry Annual (SDPA) each year. Registration encouraged. Please scroll down

The program will feature performances by winners and special guests, and an award ceremony honoring this year's winners. Cash awards totaling $1350 and honoraria are provided by the San Diego Entertainment and Arts Guild. San Dego Jazz Musician of the Year, pianist Danny Green will provide the music.

Because The Kowit is an international award, some honorees are unable to attend, including the 2017 winner, Vivian Shipley, distinguished college professor and poet from Connecticut. Some of the finest poets in the region, including Chris Vannoy, Ying Wu, Ted Washington, Adrian Arancibia, Sharon Elise and SDPA Regional Editor Jeff Walt will be on hand to read the poems of absent honorees.  SDPA Regional Editor Robt O'Sullivan Schleith, who served as one of the judges of the 2017 competition, will read the winning poem, Cargo.

Guests of honor expected to attend include Kowit's widow, Mary, and Rob Melton, retired curator of the Archive for New Poetry at UCSD and recipient of the first lifetime achievement award for regional librarians, presented by SDEAG in 2016, now named in his honor.

For more information, please contact SDPA editor Bill Harding sdeag1@gmail.com, (760) 458-2704.