Poetry @ MCASD, IMWA Poetry Winners, SDPA Book Launch 4-13-26, Kowit Ceremony 4-21-26

SDPA 2024-25 cover photography by Fernando Phillipi.

OCTOBER 15: SUBMISSIONS CLOSED for 2025-26 edition, REVIEWING PERIOD FOR EDITORS. Poets will be notified by email up until March 15, 2026.

November 7, 2025 at 6:00 pm, Ensnaring the Moment: Book Reading with Leah Ollman & Rae Armantrout @ MCASD:

Dear San Diego Poetry Annual Community,

Join us for a book reading and signing with local author Leah Ollman to celebrate her new publication, Ensnaring the Moment: On the Intersection of Poetry and Photography. Ollman will be in conversation with renowned poet Rae Armantrout, professor emerita at UC San Diego. This event is FREE with RSVP—click here.

This program is presented in conjunction with the Museum of Contemporary Art’s special exhibition, Alex Katz: Theatre and Dance. Like Katz’s paintings, the poems collected in Ensnaring the Moment explore transitory moments captured in word and image.

5:45 PM: Doors Open
6 PM: Introductions
6:05 PM: Book Reading & Conversation with Leah Ollman and Rae Armantrout
6:45 PM: Book Signing

November 14, 7pm, Memoir Showcase Poetry at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theater in University City:

Congratulations to the Winners of the San Diego Memoir Showcase Poetry Division!

Winners: Elegy for Patty Frank on Manzanita Reservation by Jennifer Karp and It’s Dinner at My House Tonight by Janell Strube. Jennifer and Janell will be featured poets on November 14, 2025 at the Memoir Showcase!

Runners Up:
Flipping the Switch by Jennifer Karp
Not Just a Minivan by Saadia Esmail

Honorable Mentions:

Dedications by Roxzana Sudo
Famous First Words by Adam Greenfield
Moonstones: Mistastin Lake Impact Crater by Shannon Kernaghan
The Rabbit Burrow by Anna Abraham Gasaway
Trash Cans by Claire Hsu Accomando
Upload by Jennifer Karp
Where is Home? by Robbi Nester

Apr. 13, 2026, 6:30-8:30pm, CELEBRATING 20 YEARS! San Diego Poetry Annual 2025-26 Book Launch at Point Loma Library hosted by Michael Klam and Jane Muschenetz. Featured anthology readers and open to the public. Sign up to read and get details at sdpoetryannual@gmail.com or SDPA Instagram: @sdpoetryannual.

April 21, 2026, 6pm-8:30pm: Steve Kowit Poetry Prize at Central Library hosted by Bill Harding, Valarie Hastings and Michael Klam. Sign up to volunteer and get details at sdpoetryannual@gmail.com or SDPA Instagram: @sdpoetryannual.

*Ash pin by Anya Klam

——————Past Events—————–

Sept. 23, 7pm-8:30pm, SDPA Bilingual Edition Zoom: All anthologized poets are invited to participate in reading your poem and translation published in Cantos, San Diego/Tijuana Poetry Annual 2024-25. Hosts: Editors Olga García and Michael Klam.
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83687397418?pwd=LHypMQomXKhW0ooAbsbKma6RwmOSPg.1

Meeting ID: 836 8739 7418
Passcode: 848632

Sept 14, 3pm, San Diego Poetry Annual @ Spacebar with host Jim Moreno in person and on Zoom. (Sign up or get involved by email: sdpoetryannual@gmail.com) Instagram: @sdpoetryannual

SDPA 2024-25 cover photography by Fernando Phillipi.

Aug 23, 10am-4pm, @KPBS San Diego Book Festival sponsored by the University of San Diego. We are Booth #12. We will have space on our tables for local authors to share their books and projects. Associate Publisher Michael Klam will be there to answer any questions. Stop by and say Aloha! 

We’re proud to partner with @KPBS for the inaugural San Diego Book Festival happening August 23! 

This FREE family-friendly event at @UofSanDiego is dedicated to celebrating books, community and storytelling in all its forms.

Join us and RSVP at kpbs.org/sdbookfestival

#KPBSBookFestival

@sdpoetryannual, #SanDiegoPoetryAnnual

#SwinkBoutique

Special thanks to Jason Magabo Perez for all the love and support!

*Ash pin by Anya Klam