{"id":333,"date":"2026-02-12T15:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/?p=333"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:59:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:59:27","slug":"poetry-month-celebration-stephanie-barbe-hammer-rich-ferguson-kathleen-florence-melinda-palacio-chaucers-april-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/poetry-month-celebration-stephanie-barbe-hammer-rich-ferguson-kathleen-florence-melinda-palacio-chaucers-april-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Month Celebration: Stephanie Barb\u00e9 Hammer, Rich Ferguson, Kathleen Florence, & Melinda Palacio, Chaucer’s, April 9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Thursday, April 9, 2026, 6 pm<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Chaucer’s (3321 State St.Santa Barbara) hosts Poetry Night featuring Stephanie Barb\u00e9 Hammer, Rich Ferguson, Kathleen Florence, and Melinda Palacio\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Barb\u00e9 Hammer, City Slicker<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this mini-collection of city\/country poems in mostly free verse, Stephanie Barb\u00e9 Hammer runs in and out of sprinklers in a Manhattan playground, picks up a slug by accident in the Cascades, reads about sequoia on 5th avenue, make an uncomfortable journey to the H\u00f4pital am\u00e9ricain in Paris, strolls a surprisingly sensual Geneva Switzerland at 2 am, encounters a mountain lion in Anaheim Hills, boards buses and trains In Los Angeles, and attempts repeatedly to make peace with living in rural Washington State, with the spiritual assistance of Eva Gabor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Barb\u00e9 Hammer<\/strong>\u00a0is an award winning poet, novelist, and essayist with published work in\u00a0Hayden’s Ferry Review,<\/em>\u00a0The Chiron Review<\/em>,\u00a0SALT,<\/em>\u00a0Spillway<\/em>, and\u00a0The RavensPerch<\/em>. Her new chapbook of lyric, magical realist flash fiction,\u00a0The Warbler School Chronicles<\/em>\u00a0is out with Bamboo Dart Press. A professor emerita of Comparative Literature at UC Riverside, Stephanie lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, political organizer Larry Behrendt. Learn more about her creative writing classes, and other events at\u00a0http:\/\/stephaniebarbehammer.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rich Ferguson, Somewhere a Playground<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere, a Playground<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a bold and lyrical meditation on grief and survival in modern America. In a landscape scarred by violence and broken promises, the collection turns wounds into song and uplifts voices of resilience, defiance, and hope. Filled with emotional urgency, it stands as a testament to the human spirit\u2019s refusal to break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushcart-nominated poet\u00a0Rich Ferguson<\/strong>\u00a0has shared the stage with Patti Smith, Wanda Coleman, and other esteemed artists.\u00a0He is the author of the poetry collections\u00a08th& Agony<\/em>,\u00a0Everything Is Radiant Between the Hates<\/em>,\u00a0Somewhere, a Playground<\/em>, and the novel\u00a0New Jersey Me<\/em>.\u00a0Ferguson is the lead editor of an anthology of CA poets entitled\u00a0Beat Not Beat<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathleen Florence, Prayers with a Side of Cash<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayers With a Side of Cash<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0follows a filmmaker\u2019s journey from New York to Los Angeles, reframing the classic American road trip with a series of poems that witness a country in flux. The collection asks what it means to travel not only through space but through the shifting stories that shape us. Part personal pilgrimage and part exploration of American identity, the poems are accompanied by a soundtrack that dares to believe there is hope to be found in the sweetness of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathleen Florence<\/strong>\u00a0is a Canadian-born poet, performer, and visual artist whose work moves between page, stage, and screen. Her debut collection\u00a0Prayers With a Side of Cash<\/em>\u00a0was born from a 2024 road trip across America, an odyssey of landscapes, music, and shifting stories. Before moving to Los Angeles, she performed widely in New York, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, and her work has been supported by the Canada Arts Council and an artist residency in Spain. Her live readings are energetic and theatrical, sometimes with musical accompaniment and sometimes featuring surprise guest puppets. More about her at:\u00a0www.kathleenflorencepoet.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melinda Palacio, How Fire Is a Story, Waiting<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melinda Palacio\u2019s poetry collection,\u00a0How Fire Is a Story, Waiting<\/strong><\/em>, creates images that are at once heartbreaking and humorous. She tackles elemental subjects of family and childhood with the same depth and grace as that of myth making and death. As the only child of a mother who died too young, she infuses her words with longing and life, and celebrates the women who came before her. Each poem offers up the truth in a fearless and unsentimental voice. Palacio\u2019s lyrical language punctuates an unexpected pause to subjects such as domestic violence and her childhood in South Central Los Angeles. How Fire Is A Story, Waiting<\/em> is divided into four sections: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. In each section Palacio tempers heartbreak, violence, and disappointment with the antidote of humor, beauty, and an appreciation for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melinda\u00a0Palacio<\/strong>\u00a0is Santa Barbara\u2019s 10th Poet Laureate.\u00a0<\/em>Author of\u00a0Ocotillo Dreams<\/em>, her poetry collection,\u00a0How Fire Is a Story, Waiting<\/em>, won first prize at the 2013 International Latino Book Awards. In 2015, her work was featured by the\u00a0Academy of American Poets<\/a>. Her latest book is\u00a0Bird Forgiveness<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A celebration of Rich’s and Kathleen’s new collections, plus SB Poet Laureate Emerita, Melinda Palacio and Stephanie Hammer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-release","category-national-poetry-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sbpoetry.net\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}