Poetry Connection: The Alta California Poetry Prize, a Collaborative Feat

On Wednesday, August 19, the Santa Barbara Public Library will host this year’s winner of the Alta California Chapbook Prize. Santa Barbara’s ninth Poet Laureate, Emma Trelles, dreamed up the prize and helped sponsor the publication of the bilingual poetry chapbook and cash prize through a prestigious award that she received as an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. As part of her Academy Fellowship year, Trelles promoted and funded the poetry of Latinx writers through the Alta California award, which now includes a $1,000 honorarium for the winning chapbook, along with publication and travel accommodations for a reading in Santa Barbara.  

The Alta California Prize is now a collaborative effort involving Emma Trelles; Santa Barbara’s Gunpowder Press; Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame; its founder, Francisco Aragón; the Santa Barbara Public Library; and the prize’s translation team: series translator Alexandra Lytton Regalado and Spanish style editor Josué Andrés Moz. The translation team is vital to the Alta California Prize because the winning chapbook is published in a bilingual edition. Based in El Salvador, Alexandra Lytton Regalado has presented her own poetry at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and led poetry workshops at Santa Barbara City College. 

Raina León was this year’s final prize judge. She chose Carlos Andrés Gómez for his manuscript, Patrilineation, which captured her heart and attention from the first poem: “These poems engage questions, guide us into reflection, and agitate us towards action, change, and love.” From New York City, Carlos Andrés Gómez is a Colombian American poet and no stranger to winning awards. His poetry collection Fractures (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020) was selected by Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. He is also a winner of the Foreword Indies Gold Medal and the International Book Award. In addition to being an accomplished poet, he is a film actor. 

Gómez will read alongside Brent Ameneyro, also a decorated poet and author of the collection A Face Out of Clay (The Center for Literary Publishing, 2024) and winner of the 2025 NIEA Juror’s Choice Award. He is the poetry editor of the Los Angeles Review and a musical artist who has scored several short films and composed more than five albums of avant-garde music with his brother, Kent. The upcoming reading, featuring the two poets, will take place at the Santa Barbara Public Library on August 19 at 5:30 p.m. and is free.

The Alta California contest opens again in September. Poets may check Gunpowder Press for more details. This year’s judge will be acclaimed poet Blas Falconer. 

Our Poetry Connection poem comes from Gómez and appears in his award-winning chapbook, Patrilineation (Gunpowder Press, 2026). 

Sunshowers
By Carlos Andrés Gómez

Only in Georgia
does midday in
June make a ritual
of color forged
through rain,
transform our
backyard into a
lagoon whose crown
splinters
mosaic. Somehow
the sun remains
steadfast, while my kids
sing and splash in their
sun-
colored rain boots as
though today could not
exist without this
communion
of water and light.

Upcoming Poetry Events

Sunday, August 16

Poetry Club. The Goleta Valley Poetry Club is a welcoming space to share your poetry or your favorite poems. Presented by the Goleta Valley Library and hosted at the Goleta Community Center, 5679 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, 2-3 p.m. 

Sunday, August 16

Let’s Chat About Poetry with Laure-Anne Bosselaar. Bring a favorite poem, a single page, and 12 copies for participants to read and discuss. 4-5 p.m. at the Domecil Studio, 1223 State Street, Santa Barbara. 

Sunday, August 16

Entwined Histories. A Conversation with Carmen Giménez and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cristina Rivera Garza, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State Street, 2-3 p.m.

Wednesday, August 19

Poetry Reading. The Santa Barbara Library presents Carlos Andrés Gómez and Brent Ameneyro, Santa Barbara Public Library, Central Library, 40 E. Anapamu, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Sunday, August 30

Serena Chopra. Chaucer’s Books presents a poetry reading and conversation with Monica Mody of Chopra’s book A Catalog of Future Mercies, 4-5:00 p.m.