
Enid Osborn, Poet

Enid Osborn has lived in Santa Barbara, California for 45 years and served as Poet Laureate of that city in 2017-2019.
Her book When the Big Wind Comes (Big Yes Press, 2015) takes place during her childhood in Southeast New Mexico, where her family raised quarter horses for a decade.
Enid's new collection Pedregosa St. is now available from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions and Amazon--see description and links below.
Her poems appear frequently in CA regional and Southwest journals and anthologies, most recently in the Gunpowder Press release, Women in a Golden State. Her poem “The Place of Loss” was nominated by Askew for a Pushcart Prize.
With Yucca Valley poet Cynthia Anderson, she co-edited the anthology A Bird Black as the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens (Green Poet Press, 2011) featuring the work of 80 poets, living and bygone.
In 1999, having been active in poetry for 10 years, Enid founded Green Poet Project, with primary goals to produce poetry events and support small presses in Santa Barbara and neighboring communities.
She is currently active on the West Coast as a featured poet, guest teacher, poetry judge and coordinator of poetry events on Zoom.
In addition to poetry, Enid writes songs, short stories and reviews. She is a visual artist and longtime advocate for organic growing and preservation of bees. She enjoys travel, film and birding with her musician husband, Jay.​​​​​​​​​
Poet Photo by Phil Taggart, Art City, Ventura, CA
P
Coming Soon
NOW AVAILABLE!
Pedregosa St.
(Sheila-Na-Gig, 2025)
Between 1997 and 2025, poet Enid Osborn lived in a 2-story Italianate Victorian boarding house built c. 1902 in Westside Santa Barbara, California, in a cul-de-sac abutting the railroad and freeway. Blending autobiography, magic realism and fiction, Osborn paints a picture of a charmed-if-spartan life. Poems focus mainly on the early years of her tenancy, when the house stood amid a crumbling neighborhood in gang territory—an area which gentrified in later years. Subthemes include trains, insomnia, ghosts, rats, birds, colorful neighbors, surviving cancer, and living long enough in one place to play a bit role in its metamorphosis.
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ORDER FROM SHEILA-NA-GIG EDITIONS:
https://sheilanagigblog.com/shop-sheila-na.../enid_osborn/
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ORDER FROM AMAZON:

Upcoming Appearances
READINGS – PEDREGOSA ST. LAUNCH updated 11/24/25
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Thu 12/04, 4pm PST
Sheila-Na-Gig (Zoom)
Register to attend:
https://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/cbNKR-gWQRSz16xa84-5-A
HOST: Hayley Haugen, Editor
Readers: Enid + various poets in S-N-G Winter Issue
Sat 1/10, 11am PST
Caffeinated Verse
Malibu Library
HOST: Charlotte Ward, Malibu Poet Laureate
Readers: Enid + open mic
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Sat 1/17, 1pm PST
Green Poet Presents (Zoom)
Readers: Enid + Melinda Burns, author of Homecoming
Sun 2/01, 3pm PST
EP Foster Series: Ventura Library + Zoom
HOST: Phil Taggart
Readers: Enid + Mariano Zaro, author of The Weight of Sound + open mic
Mon 2/09, 6pm PST
Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara
HOST: Mike Takeuchi
Readers: Enid + Daniel Thomas, author of River of Light
Tue 3/17, 6pm PST
Ojai Poetry Series: Ojai Library
HOSTS: Judy Oberlander, Crystal Davis
Readers: Enid + open mic
Recent Appearances
Green Poet presents
BLUE AS MUSE
August 10, 2025 at 2:00 pm via Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7357060207
Poets Mary Kay Rummel, Robin Turner and Enid Osborn will each include a few blue-themed poems among their selections. Join us in the blue space to cool off in August!


