On November 7, 2019, The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz presented the 10th Annual Morton Marcus Poetry reading with Gary Soto. Poet Gary Young, hosted the program, which included an announcement of the winner of the Morton Marcus Poetry Contest (recipient received a $1,000 prize). The winner, Paola Bruni, read from her work. She was followed by a wonderful reading and book signing by Gary Soto.
You can also stay engaged by watching our video of the event or looking through our photos below.
Event photos by Crystal Birns:
Gary Soto has published more than forty books for children, young adults and adults, including Too Many Tamales, Chato’s Kitchen, Baseball in April, Buried Onions and The Elements of San Joaquin. He is the author of In and Out of Shadows, a musical about undocumented youth and, most recently, The Afterlife, a one-act play about teen murder and teen suicide.
About Morton Marcus:
The Annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading honors poet, teacher, and film critic Morton Marcus (1936–2009). Marcus, a nationally acclaimed poet, called Santa Cruz his home for more than fifty years. This annual poetry series continues Mort’s tradition of bringing acclaimed poets to Santa Cruz County, continues to acknowledge the significant role poetry has played in our community’s history, and works to maintain poetry’s influence in our county’s culture. For more information visit www.mortonmarcus.com. You can also view the Morton Marcus Archive in Special Collections at UCSC.
This community event is presented by the The Humanities Institute and co-sponsored by:
Bookshop Santa Cruz
Cabrillo College English Department
Cowell College
Living Writers Series
Ow Family Properties
Poetry Santa Cruz
Porter Hitchcock Modern Poetry Fund
Porter College
Santa Cruz Writes
Special Collections & Archives