Michelle Bitting & Marsha de la O Poetry Reading

Thanks to Santa Barbara’s strategic place on California’s Coast, the “Guess Who’s in Town” series, hosted by former SB Poet Laureate Laure-Anne Bosselaar, offers readings by emerging and established poets from out of town who come to visit our beautiful city. Our visitor poet will share the reading with a local poet.

Michelle Bitting was honored on March 8, 2012 with the position of Poet Laureate of Pacific Palisades, California. She is is the author of three collections of poetry: Notes to the Beloved (Winner of the Sacramento Poetry Center Book Award, 2011), Good Friday Kiss (C&R Press, 2008), and Blue Laws (Finishing Line Press, 2007). Good Friday Kiss was chosen by Thomas Lux as the winner of the 2007 DeNovo Prize for 1st Book of Poetry.

Marsha de la O, from Ventura, is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Creature from Pitt Poetry Series, 2024. Her previous book, Every Ravening Thing, also published through the University of Pittsburgh Press, came out in 2019. Antidote for Night, won the 2015 Isabella Gardner Award and was published by BOA Editions as part of their American Poets Continuum Series. Her first book, Black Hope, was awarded the New Issues Press Poetry Prize and was published by New Issues Press, Western Michigan University.