On Tuesday October 28 th, 4 p.m. to 6 :00 p.m., the English Department*, supported by the Dickson Emeriti Professor Award, will host Dana Gioia, internationally recognized poet, critic, and former Poet Laureate of California. His presentation, “Words & Music: A Poet’s Perspective on Song,” draws on his years of collaboration with composers and musicians as well as his new book, Weep, Shudder, Die: On Opera and Poetry. The event in South Hall 2635, free and open to all UCSB students, faculty, and staff, and the public, will be followed by a reception from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Gioia is the author of six collections of verse, including Interrogations at Noon (2001), winner of the American Book Award, and 99 Poems: New & Selected (2016), awarded the Poets’ Prize. His most recent collection is Meet Me at the Lighthouse (2023). His poems have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Gioia’s seven critical collections include Can Poetry Matter? (1992), a finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Gioia has also written six opera libretti and edited over twenty
anthologies.

Gioia has had an unusual poetic career. He has collaborated with dozens of classical, jazz and pop composers, including James Macmillan, Paul Salerni, Morten Lauridsen, Lori Laitman, Alva Henderson, Ned Rorem, Tom Cipullo, Helen Sung, Paul Kelly, and Dave Brubeck. He has also written six opera libretti, including Nosferatu (2004) with Alva Henderson, Tony Caruso’s
Final Broadcast (2010) and Haunted (2019) with Paul Salerni, and The Three Feathers (2014) and Maya and the Magic Ring (2025) with Lori Laitman.

Gioia’s presentation on poetry and songwriting will be moderated by Professor Maurizia Boscagli, herself a polymath and opera lover.
*The event is sponsored by the Virgil Cordano OFM Endowed Chair in Catholic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, UCSB.