Gaucho Creators & Authors

Poetry, No Waiting

Poetry publisher Gunpowder Press, co-edited by Chryss Yost ’97, MA ’18, Ph.D. ’18, and publisher David Starkey, recently launched While You Wait, an anthology edited by former College of Creative Studies lecturer Laure-Anne Bosselaar. Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara 2019-2021, Bosselaar envisioned a poetry book people could read in doctor’s office waiting rooms. Submissions were accepted from 80 poets in the community, but then COVID hit — and office waiting rooms sat empty.

Undeterred, Yost and Starkey created an online anthology designed to be read on phones. The hugely successful project has Santa Barbara Sansum Clinic posting QR codes in their waiting rooms, Santa Barbara MTD placing posters inside buses, and more medical facilities becoming involved.

Don’t get them wrong — Gunpowder Press still loves print books and has copies available. Current Gauchos and alums featured in the collection include faculty and staff, professors emerita, students and trustees.

To Be Discovered

Thomas Moran ’19, was a student programmer at KCSB, then served as music director and news director. Now he and co-host Maddy McPherson ’20, present TBD, airing Tuesdays, 8-10 p.m. on KCSB-FM 91.9. Their innovative show provides on-air space for a wide range of DIY musicians, those who write, record and produce their own work, usually at home. The show has continued to feature live performances and interviews, even during the pandemic. But in true DIY style, it’s all done safely from home.

Mad Mama

In her new memoir due to hit the shelves in November, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur ’05, brings together the personal and the professional. In Rough Draft: Motherhood & Media in a World Gone Mad, she opens up about everything from childhood to journalism to becoming a parent. Tur, daughter of journalists Zoey Tur and Marika Gerrard, is married to “CBS This Morning” co-host Tony Dokoupil, and in May 2021 she gave birth to their second child.