Antoine Wilson’s most recent novel Mouth to Mouth was featured on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List and was a finalist for The Scotiabank Giller Prize, the CALIBA Golden Poppy Award, and the Prix Fitzgerald. Antoine is also the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper, and he is a contributing editor of the literary magazine A Public …

Zohreh Ghahremani writes for both adults and children. Her debut picture book, Memory Garden, illustrated by her daughter, Susie, was published by Godwin Books/Macmillan in 2024, with another picture book about Norooz/Persian New Year to follow in 2026. She published her first novel, Sky of Red Poppies, in 2010. Her sophomore novel, The Moon Daught…

The New York-based photographer Lois Conner has been traveling the world with a 7x17” banquet camera for nearly half a century. Through the elongated format of her work she has explored the landscape and the temper of our times; her art is both contemporary and, due to her vision, ‘a long view’ that captures the eternal in the moment, timeless. Con…

In this episode, Rekha and Lindsay are back... again! This time they discuss the pandemic-special Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine that follows the titular TikTok star/comedian/political lipsyncer as she tries to host an out-of-control news program (and meets Winona's character — very briefly — along the way). Your hosts recorded this one on 4-track…

Moderator, Perie Longo, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, 2007-2009, has published 4 books of poetry, the latest Baggage Claim (2014) and poems in numerous literary journals. This June will be her 40th year teaching poetry at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. She’s thrilled and awed to be still poeting and standing. Melinda Palacio, current Santa Ba…

Eugenia Leigh is a Korean American poet and the author of Bianca (Four Way Books, 2023) and Blood, Sparrows and Sparrows (Four Way Books, 2014). Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications including TIME, The Nation, Poetry, Ploughshares,Waxwing, and the Best of the Net anthology. Eugenia serves as a Poetry Editor at The Adroit Jour…

To everyone who has attended the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and are now part of our tribe of scribes, here is the first post of the audio from the 2024 conference. For those of you who have recently discovered the conference and are considering attending, we will be posting the audio periodically so you can get a sense of this amazing week lo…

Mike Sakasegawa is a writer, photographer, book artist, and the host of the arts and literature podcast Keep the Channel Open, and the short fiction podcast LikeWise Fiction. His writing has appeared in Last Exit, Catapult, PetaPixel, and Don’t Take Pictures Magazine. His photographs have been featured on Lenscratch, A Photo Editor, and SD Voyager,…

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Hanif’s newest release, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball a…

Author Matthew Pallamary discussed shamanic practices and ceremonies in the jungle, including the use of psychedelic plant medicines like ayahuasca. He detailed a 10-day program he does in the jungle that involves a cleansing diet and various visionary plants. "Your perception gets more refined. It gets very clear. You start having telepathic exper…

D. A. Powell teaches at University of San Francisco. His books include Repast, Chronic and Useless Landscape or a Guide for Boys, all published by Graywolf Press. He is also the author of chapbooks Atlas T and Low Hanging Fruit. He lives in San Francisco.Oleh Hosted by Rachel Zucker

Books by Rachel Zucker The Poetics of Wrongness (Wave Poetry, 2023) SoundMachine (Wave Poetry, 2019) The Pedestrians (Wave Poetry, 2014) MOTHERs (2014) Museum of Accidents (Wave Poetry, 2009) The Bad Wife Handbook (Wesleyan University Press, 2007) The Last Clear Narrative (2004) Eating in the Underworld (2003) Books by Rachel Zucker and Arielle Gre…

Hafizah Augustus Geter is a Nigerian-American poet, writer, and literary agent born in Zaria, Nigeria, and raised in Akron, Ohio, and Columbia, South Carolina. Her debut memoir, The Black Period: On Personhood, Race & Origin, (Random House, 2022) is winner of the 2023 PEN Open Book Award, winner of a 2023 Lammy Award in LGBTQ+ Nonfiction from Lambd…

Mary Ruefle is the author of many books, including The Book (Wave Books, 2023), Dunce (Wave Books, 2019), which was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize, longlisted for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award, as well as a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. She is also the author of My Private Property (Wave Books, …

Nicole Sealey was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and raised in Apopka, Florida. She received an MFA from New York University and an MLA in Africana studies from the University of South Florida. Sealey is the author of Ordinary Beast (Ecco Press, 2017), which was a finalist for the PEN Open Book and Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards. Her chapbook, T…

Moderator: SBWC faculty member, Marla Miller works with writers on the road to publication, and beyond. Her popular SBWC workshop, Hooking Readers, covers both crafting and marketing tips. Brook Ashley, is the author of Dare Wright and The Lonely Doll, which features more than four hundred of Dare’s own photographs and an array of other illustratio…

Podcasts & Audiobooks with Lois Phillips, Yvette Keller, Claudia Dunn, and Matthew J. Pallamary Audiobooks and podcasts are a fast-growing area of publishing. Join this team for an insightful seminar on how to accomplish the goals of getting your bookOleh Matthew Pallamary

Podcasts & Audiobooks with Lois Phillips, Yvette Keller, Claudia Dunn, and Matthew J. Pallamary Audiobooks and podcasts are a fast-growing area of publishing. Join this team for an insightful seminar on how to accomplish the goals of getting your bookOleh Matthew Pallamary

Be Your Own Best Publicist Melinda Palacio & Lida Sideris This session offers wisdom from the trenches from award-winning authors on promoting your project. You’ll get practical marketing advice on aspects of building an author platform and putting yourself and your book out there.Oleh Matthew Pallamary

Oleh Hosted by Rachel Zucker

Oleh Hosted by Rachel Zucker

Shannon Pufahl is the author of On Swift Horses, her critically acclaimed debut novel which takes place in the mid-century American West. The New York Times Review of Books said this about her novel: “The spaces she creates for her characters — San Diego’s languid Chester Hotel, hiding in plain sight, and Tijuana rendered as an underworld — have th…

Moderator: SBWC faculty member, Trey Dowell, is a novelist and a short story aficionado. His expertise in writing effective query letters has helped numerous writers get their projects reviewed by agents and publishers. Mary Hill-Wagner, is the author of Girlz ‘n the Hood, a memoir of what it was like to grow up on some of the meanest streets in Am…

Books by Eugenia Leigh Eugenia Leigh Bianca (Four Way Books, 2023) Blood, Sparrows and Sparrows (Four Way Books, 2014) Other Relevant Links Mike Sakasegawa LikeWise Fiction Keep the Channel Open on Twitter Keep the Channel Open on Insta Keep the Channel Open on YouTube Bio: Eugenia Leigh (she/her) is a Korean-American poet and the author of two col…

This session focuses on sparking curiosity and building anticipation. Proven query strategies and methods will be discussed. Bring your own in-progress queries—we’ll read them aloud and offer feedback. SBWC faculty member, Trey Dowell, is a novelist and a short story aficionado. His expertise in writing effective query letters has helped numerous w…

Publishing Options Holly Kammier, Patricia Marshall, Chryss Yost, Angela Borda This seminar features 4 publishers, each with a different take on publication. Each provides an overview of their methods. The following discussion will be a deep dive into the subject. Bring your questions.Oleh Matthew Pallamary

Extra Resources Books by Laurel Snyder The Witch of Woodland (Walden Pond Press, 2023) Endlessly Ever After (Chronicle Books, 2022) Charlie & Mouse: Book 1 (Chronicle Books, 2019) Hungry Jim (Chronicle Books, 2019) My Jasper June (Walden Pond Press, 2019) Orphan Island (Walden Pond Press, 2018) Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova (Chronicle Bo…

Hosted by George Noory Guest: Matthew Pallamary Tuesday - November 14, 2023 About the show Author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew Pallamary has been searching the globe for the truth about reality. In the latter half, he spoke about the nature of expanding consciousness, as well as why he believes the veil between the worlds is thinning and …

Thirty years in the making, Judith Turner-Yamamoto’s award-winning novel, Loving the Dead and Gone, is part of a trilogy drawing upon memories of her red-dirt childhood. She was born into a family of storytellers in rural North Carolina. Publishers Weekly called it a bittersweet, fantastical must-read debut. A poet, journalist, art historian and in…

Extra Resources Books and Selected Other Work by Charif Shanahan POETRY Trace Evidence (Tin House, 2023) Into Each Room We Enter Without Knowing (SIU Press, 2017) Books and Selected Other Work by Safia Elhillo POETRY Girls That Never Die (One World/Random House, 2022) The January Children (University of Nebraska Press, 2017) “Indeterminacy” (Poets.…

Panel moderator SBWC faculty member Norm Thoeming (aka August Norman) is author of two literary thrillers and mysteries, Come and Get Me and Sins of the Mother. Barnaby Conrad III, is author of Jacques Villeglé and the Streets of Paris. His other books are Absinthe: History in a Bottle, Ghost Hunting in Montana, and The Martini. He’s also written m…

Links, Bios, & Support Info Bryant Park Reading Series University of Maryland Library of Congress William Meredith Kim Novak BMCC KGB reading series David Lehman Star Black Paul Romero Sonia Sanchez Allen Ginsberg’s “Sunflower Sutra” Phllyis Levin Matt Yeager David Lehman Will Harris’s Brother Poem José Oliverez’s Promises of Gold Martha Graham Cra…

Demystifying Publishing Options Holly Kammier & Associates. This seminar covers pros and cons of publishing options today: traditional publishing, small publishers, self-publishing, vanity press, and hybrid publishing. Understanding of the range of options facilitates reaching your publication goals. Holly Kammier is the international best-selling …

This seminar covers aspects of the traditional publishing process, how it works, how long it takes, dealing with rejections, contracts, publicity, platform building, blurbs, signings, podcasts, nominations, and more.Oleh Matthew Pallamary

Mary Hogan is the author of Two Sisters, and Left, a love story about a woman who slowly retreats into a fantasy world as she loses her once whip-smart husband to dementia. Her historical novel based on the Johnstown Flood of 1889, The Woman in the Photo, tells a resonant story of class and catastrophe. Previous young adult novels include The Serio…

Links, Bios & Support Info Books & Selected Projects by Moheb Soliman HOMES (Coffee House Press, 2021) We’re Back! Also Referenced Lorine Niedecker Gabrielle Octavia Rucker Cecily Nicholson, Wayside Sang David Byrne Walt Whitman Etheridge Knight Moheb Soliman is an interdisciplinary poet from Egypt and the Midwest who's presented work at literary, …

Moderator: Eric Myers has a depth of knowledge of the publishing industry and is an expert who is generous with sharing his advice for both fiction and nonfiction authors. A graduate of UCLA and the Sorbonne, Eric entered publishing as a journalist and author before becoming an agent. He’s a member of both the Authors’ Guild and the Association of …

In this episode, Rekha and Lindsay are back! They're joined by producer Chris to talk about The Plot Against America: a mini-series that was too heavy for most of them to watch during a pandemic and is maybe still too heavy, but they did their duty.Oleh Lindsay Gibb and Rekha Tulsiram

Links, Bios & Support Info Hope Mohr Hope Mohr’s Horizon Stanzas Alyssa Harad Coming to My Senses: A Story of Perfume, Pleasure, and an Unlikely Bridge by Alyssa Harad The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer MOTHERs by Rachel Zucker Alice Notley reading books 1 and 2 of Descen…

Known for her wry social commentary, Elinor Lipman is the author of 14 novels, including her latest, Ms. Demeanor, which has received praise from authors Tom Perrotta, Wally Lamb, and Cathleen Schine. In 2008, her debut novel, Then She Found Me,(1990), was adapted into a film starring Matthew Broderick, Colin Firth, Helen Hunt, and Bette Midler. Sh…

Sojourner Kincade Rolle is a poet/playwright and Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emerita (2015-2017). Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem was released May 2022 to great acclaim, in time for the first national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the USA. It made the New York Public Library’s list for Best Kids’ Books 2022, the School Library Jou…

Moderator: Lorelei Armstrong leads a Pirate Workshop at SBWC. She is a novelist and has an MFA in screenwriting. Deborah Holt Larkin, is author of A Lovely Girl, a true story of intrigue, murder, and eccentricity, set against the backdrop of iconic 1950s small town California life. Filled with dark humor and bumbling killers, this sometimes heartbr…

Links and resources Episode 143 of Keep the Channel Open: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Mike Sakasegawa LikeWise Fiction Keep the Channel Open on Twitter Keep the Channel Open on Insta Keep the Channel Open on YouTube Information and sign u…

Author Websites & Social Media Lisa Angle & Matt Pallamary. This Monday afternoon panel from June 19, 2023 discussed how to deploy an effective book marketing plan and how to design an author website that is integrated social media strategies. Lisa worked as stage crew for Ensemble Theatre, produced a weekly newsletter for the Santa Barbara County …

Santa Barbara Writers Conference Monday morning panel June 19, 2023 - Interviews, Journals, & Reviews with David Starkey, Chryss Yost, and Brian Tanquay discussing approaches to being interviewed, starting a literary journal, both online and in print, how to write a review, and how to get your book reviewed.…

Tonight, Tuesday on FADE to BLACK: Mathew (Mateo) Pallamary is with us to talk about shamanism, visionary experience, entheobotany, plant medicines, consciousness, and altered states of consciousness. Matthew J. (Mateo) Pallamary frequently visits the mountains, deserts, and jungles of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shama…

Listen to Monte Schulz's Santa Barbara Writers Conference opening night keynote talk on June 18th 2023 discussing Metropolis, his sixth novel which is a dystopian narrative of love in a time of war and moral disintegration. Regency College senior Julian Brehm’s uneventful student life is derailed when he falls for Nina Rinaldi, a beautiful young re…

Shamanism & Death Author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew Pallamary has been searching the globe for answers to the truth about reality. In the first half, he discussed his visionary experiences, shamanism, and writing, as well as his work on attitudes about death. His book "Death: A Love Story," was published at the outbreak of the pandemic,…

BOOKS & SELECTED WORK BY GABRIELLE OCTAVIA RUCKER Dereliction (The Song Cave, 2022) “Practice for My Birthday” in The Recluse (2021) ALSO REFERENCED Roosevelt University Auditorium Theater Joffrey Ballet Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Christkindlmarket, Chicago Paper Source National Book Foundation International Center of Photography The Poetry…

Gayle Lynds along with her prolific and talented multi-genre husband Dennis Lynds have been long time supporters and members of the Santa Barabra Writers Conference for many years. Dennis has passed on and is sorely missed, but Gayle continues being an inspiration to the SBWC family. Gayle is an American former journalist, editor and author and is …