Poetry in the Gallery: Enid Osborn & Fernando Albert Salinas

Welcome back to another edition of Poetry in the Gallery at Studio Channel Islands!

This month will be featuring Enid Osborn and Fernando Albert Salinas.

As always, there will be an open mic. Poets who would like to perform can sign up on the day and will have a maximum of five minutes (if you have shorter poems, please feel free to do more than one). Tickets are free for all students, members of the gallery and performers. So, if you plan to read on the open mic, please reserve a free ticket, since you will count as a performer. General admission is a suggested $10 donation. If you would like to attend but cannot afford the donation, please contact sean[at]studiochannelislands.org for options of financial support.

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Enid Osborn is a 45-year resident of Santa Barbara, CA, and served as Poet Laureate in 2017-2019. Her first poetry collection, When the Big Wind Comes (Big Yes Press, 2015) takes place during her childhood in SE New Mexico, where her family raised horses for a time. Her second book, Pedregosa St. (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2025) describes her 30-year tenancy in a Victorian house in Westside Santa Barbara. She co-edited the themed anthology A Bird Black as the Sun / California Poets on Crows & Ravens (Green Poet Press, 2011.) In addition to poetry, she writes stories, songs and reviews. She is an avid birder and longtime advocate for organic growing and preservation of bees.

Born in Los Angeles County, Fox Hills, California, Fernando Albert Salinas received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Entertainment from Full Sail University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from California State University, Channel Islands. Fernando Albert Salinas has been associated with California Poets in the Schools as a member of the Board of Directors, a Ventura County Area Coordinator, and as a Master Poet-Teacher for over 20 years. Now, he is the Statewide Program Manager for CalPoets. He is also a Professor of English at Ventura College and the Editor-in-Chief for Spit Shine Publishing. As Literary Arts Program Coordinator for the Ventura County Arts Council, he focused on enhancing the presence and appreciation of poetry and the literary arts, raising awareness of the power of literature, poetry, and the spoken word. In 2012, Salinas initiated the Groundswell Committee: a small collection of local poets, with the support of the Ventura County Arts Council, and created the County’s poet laureate program. In 2018, he implemented a youth poet laureate program for the county. His written poetry has appeared in several publications, including Askew Poetry Journal, Solo Poetry Journal, Miramar, and Lummox Press. His collection of poetry, Toxic Masculinity, was released by Flowersong Press in 2021. He has performed his spoken word internationally.