SB Poet Laureate Installation, April 11, 2017

ENID OSBORN, POET LAUREATE OF SANTA BARBARA, CA 2017-2019
During her term as Santa Barbara Poet Laureate in 2017-2019, Enid Osborn focused on inclusivity and community-building. With a team of co-hosts, she organized a lively schedule of events to draw dozens of local poets into the limelight.
• OPEN READINGS: Organized and co-hosted a series of themed open readings, (e.g., ars poetica, Summer Solstice, roadkill, aging, transportation, and wild and domestic animals, among others) which enjoyed broad participation by new and established poets.
• EKPHRASTIC POETRY: Organized and co-hosted multiple events in which poets responded with ekphrastic poems to art exhibited at Channing Peake Gallery and Sullivan Goss Gallery; and assisted local artist Patricia Chidlaw to organize a book of her art prints with corresponding poems, titled 'Elsewhere, Paradise.' This project began with a group reading--at the gallery--of poems written in response to Chidlaw’s exhibition 'The Moving Picture Show' at Sullivan Goss Gallery in Spring 2018.
• HONOR SERIES: Hosted “Honor Series” events to recognize elder poets for their many achievements and contributions, including events for Bettina Barrett, John Ridland and Perie Longo. This series continued beyond Enid's term as laureate but was interrupted in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.
• POETRY OUT LOUD: Coached high school students in poetry presentation and oral tradition, in preparation for County-wide Poetry Out Loud competitions, which she also emceed. Enid has continued to mentor individual student poets at high school and college levels.
• TUESDAY POETS AT THE LIBRARY: In tandem with SB Public Library (Outreach Librarian Jace Turner) and a hand-picked committee of poets (Mary Brown, Lois Klein, Peg Quinn and Gabriella Klein), Enid worked to organize the monthly reading series, 'Tuesday Poets at the Library', offering an elegant venue to 27 featured poets.
• FAVORITE POEMS: Served as back-up/administrative host for the long-running monthly reading series, 'Favorite Poems', (fondly called 'FAVES',) which was hosted by Lois Klein in partnership with the SB Public Library.
• WORKSHOPS: Offered a short writing workshop at the Public Library during its “Write SB” program in 2018 + a short workshop on poetry presentation at UCSB's Young Writers Camp in Summer 2017.
• COMMISSIONED POEMS: Wrote original poems and read them at the City’s behest to celebrate events such as the opening of the CAW wrought iron gate design by David Shelton; the Arts Commission anniversary celebration; the OAC Arts Symposium; the installations of new Mayor and City Council Members; and the leaving-office-party of Mayor Helene Schneider in 2018, among others.
• POETRY FORECAST: Established a regular calendar of SB poetry events that was updated and issued at the first of each month via email and Facebook post, with a "forecast" into future months, for planning.
• FIRE AND FLOOD RESPONSE: Worked in 2018-2019 with Santa Barbara poets, Ventura County poets and Malibu poets in response to the devastations of Thomas Fire and the Montecito Mudslide. Co-hosted benefit readings; notably a reading at Parish Hall, co-hosted with fellow SB Laureates David Starkey and Paul Willis, to assist in rebuilding La Casa de Maria Retreat Center; and a fire-themed reading at EP Foster Library in Ventura, co-hosted with Laureates Phil Taggart (VC) and Ricardo Means-Ibarra (Malibu); a poem written and presented for the "Out of Mud & Ashes" multi-arts benefit at Lobero Hall; and a poem written and presented by invitation at the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service (themed this year to offer gratitude to first responders to fire and mudslide disasters) at First United Methodist Church in 2019; and various other poems written, presented at benefit events, and included in themed anthologies following fire and mudslide.
• SPECIAL NOTE OF THANKS: Enid’s husband, Jay Scheidemen, listened to her poems and ideas, drove her to events, schlepped and set up sound equipment, and beamed in the front row at countless readings and honorings before, during and since her term as Poet Laureate. He was so ubiquitous in his support that an honorary title was bestowed--the poets called him “Guy Laureate.”