Announcing Zócalo’s Fifth Annual Poetry Prize Winner

Congratulations to Matt Phillips, the Author of ‘Crossing Coronado Bridge,’ This Year’s Best Poem About Place

Zócalo’s daily ideas journalism and free public events aim to shed light on critical issues that explain our shared human condition and ask questions about how we navigate through the world we’ve made. We’re proud that we publish a new poem each Friday with the same spirit and that we’ve been able to award a prize for the last five years to the poem that best evokes a connection to place.

This year, a record 443 poets submitted 1,016 poems, taking us to streets in South Korea, markets in Ecuador, and …

April 14, 2016

Stay Artsy, San Diego

America’s Finest City Is a Hotbed for Creativity—but It Needs More Media Coverage of the Arts, Financial Support, and a High-Profile International Event

By Joe Mathews | February 22, 2016

San Diego is rich in the arts but, to become richer, it needs to take steps such as knitting together existing arts institutions and advancing arts education, said panelists at …

How Do You Make a City Hungry for Art?

If San Diego's Vibrant Arts Scene Wants to Be World-Class, It Needs to Be More Accessible, More Diverse, and Better Funded

February 19, 2016

In 2011, the San Diego Performing Arts League was in trouble. Once one of the Southern California city’s leading arts organizations, the Performing Arts League, a nonprofit that provides marketing …

If You Want to Make Sense of Obamacare, Go to San Diego

America's Finest City Just Might Offer the Country's Finest Chance at Successful Health Reform

by Joe Mathews | December 11, 2014

Will San Diego have America’s finest Obamacare?

Yes, it’s way too early for any verdicts about the Affordable Care Act and its implementation, even in California, which has embraced this messy …

Is San Diego America’s Biggest Underperforming City?

Call Us ‘Sleepy.’ Mock Our Airport. We’re Just Happy We’re L.A.-Not.

by Michael Grant | May 20, 2014

As a veteran member of the San Diego media, I have been asked by Zócalo editors to write a brief essay which throws light on this question: “Why is San …

L.A. Times’ Tony Perry

The San Diego Bureau Chief Is Middle-Aged and Middle-Class—But Still Frisky

May 24, 2013

Los Angeles Times San Diego bureau chief Tony Perry was embedded with American marine troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Before moderating a panel on how veterans are changing the …

Announcing Zócalo’s Sixth Annual Poetry Prize Winner

Congratulations to Matt Sumpter, the Author of ‘No World,’ This Year’s Best Poem About Place

Poetry and Power

Which Poem Can Give You Language, Defend Your Rights, Or Make it Christmas?

Announcing the 10th Annual Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize

Awarded Annually to the Poem that Best Evokes Connection to Place

Announcing Zócalo’s Fourth Annual Poetry Prize Winner

Congratulations to Gillian Wegener, the Author of ‘The Old Mill Café,’ This Year’s Best Poem About Place

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