We are constantly amazed by the many talents and resources to be found in and around Santa Barbara.

This happened once again recently when we were grazing through our (phenomenal) Public Library and discovered, prominently displayed  amongst the “Staff Picks” shelves, the latest p0etry collection of Westmont English professor, Paul J. Willis, entitled “Rosing from the Dead.”  It turns out you don’t have to sail alone around the room or to the moon to find great poetry.  It is here, being conjured in our own backyard, by Paul Willis, along with many others such as Perie Longo and David Starkey.  You can get a good flavor for the local talent here and can catch up on the Santa Barbara Poet Laureate effort here.

The poems and writings of Paul Willis have been featured, amongst other places, on Verse Daily and Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac, and in The Best American Poetry 1996, Image, Poetry, and The Best American Spiritual Writing 2004 (Houghton Mifflin) .

In “Rosing from the Dead,” Willis uses the platforms of his family life, work at Westmont, hiking adventures and faith as subject matter from which to leap into the poetic realm.  There is abundant humor, darkness, beauty and wonder strewn throughout these fine poems.  We highly recommend you seek out “Rosing from the Dead.”

Below are two poems from this worthy collection (used by kind permission of the author).