Dear Friends,

It’s an exciting moment for SPT! The board and hiring committee have been working tirelessly this spring and summer to find Small Press Traffic’s next director. After receiving an impressive 40 applications, they held initial conversations with 12 candidates, and invited six for full interviews. Two finalists were given the opportunity to meet with me, the rest of the staff, and all board members, and the next director will be announced in August. Big gratitude to Sue Landers, committee chair, and Matt Sussman, board president, for leading such a thoughtful and comprehensive process.

As my time as director winds down over the next six weeks, I can confidently say that SPT is in great hands. I’ve seen the board, staff, and contractors demonstrate a level of integrity, honesty, and care for the health and success of this organization that makes me so proud to have been a part of it.

What a thrilling, joyful, chaotic ride it has been! I suppose it’s fitting that just before sitting down to write this, I came across the very first letter I sent as director, in November 2019. I’m reminded that I wrote it just five months after the passing of Kevin Killian. Now, I’m writing five months after the passing of Lyn Hejinian. It’s a coincidence, of course, but also meaningful, as these two people have contributed so much to the Bay Area poetry landscape that SPT represents.

Kevin and Lyn each had an unparalleled spirit of generosity (perhaps paralleled only by each other?) that has permeated so many communities, here and beyond. Not only are we lucky to have their vast bodies of work, but we can look to them as models on how to be, as poets and people, among poets and people. I’m thinking of these two guiding lights as I look to the future, continuing on as a community member beside you.

Looking back, I feel proud of having collaborated with my team, our partners, and whatever alchemical swirl of the universe contributes to the coalescing of any event, season, and organizational era. I believe that while the director is an important piece of the puzzle, the picture comes into being with everyone else.

And so, I’d like to close this note with the names of the readers, introducers, performers, writers, board members, staff members, contractors, advisors, partnering venues, publishers, institutions, and other collaborators of SPT over the past five years. (My apologies if I missed anyone!) In some cases, people played a role behind the scenes. In others, the projects didn’t happen but we worked on planning efforts. The rest, you’ll find in Bay Area Shorts, Traffic Report, The Back Room, public programs, and the forthcoming archive & oral history project.

These people make up the SPT orbit of the past five years — a beautiful blip in its 50-years-and-running history.

To our generous funders, beloved audiences, and all of you, thank you.

arc, Jose Abad, Bahaar Ahsan, Kimberly Alidio, Indira Allegra, Alexis Almeida, Grace Ambrose, Artists’ Television Access, Sholeh Asgary, Asian Art Museum, Simon Asencio, Azad Ashim Sharma, Lorca Ballard, Ari Banias, Sharmi Basu/Beast Nest, Chantel Beam, Wendy Bear, Dena Beard, Beau Beausoleil, Beauty Supply, Roberto Bedoya, Caleb Beckwith, Kate Robinson Beckwith, reek bell, Belladonna* Collaborative, Dodie Bellamy, Jen Benka, Steve Benson, Amy Berkowitz, Anselm Berrigan, Edmund Berrigan, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Hakim Bishara, Amal Bisharat, Fran Blau, Chani Bockwinkel, Lindsey Boldt, Rebeca Bollinger, Bruce Boone, Mariah Bosch, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Samuel Breslin, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Andrew Brooks, Brandon Brown, Tisa Bryant, Holly Bun, Lisa Burger, Mary Burger, Harmon Burstyn, Alexandra Buschman-Román, David Buuck, Diana Cage, California College of the Arts, 2727 California Street, Turner Canty, Canyon Cinema, Garrett Caples, Justin Carder, Sarah Cargill, Catalina Cariaga, soledad con carne, Faye Carol, Catharine Clark Gallery, Climate Control, Mary Ann Caws, Center for New Music, Deena Chalabi, Patty Chang, Emily Chao, MK Chavez, .CHISARAOKWU., Lindsay Choi, Heman Chong, City Lights, Gabrielle Civil, Meilani Clay, Anthony Cody, Norma Cole, Charity Coleman, Companion-Platform, E Conner, Gillian Connoly, Sofía Córdova, Roco Córdova, Elwin Cotman, Drew Cushing, Misha Crafts, Maxe Crandall, Creative Growth Art Center, alex cruse, Naz Cuguoğlu, Mathilda Cullen, Torreya Cummings, Liam Curley, Eliot D'Silva, Priyanka D'Souza, Sophia Dahlin, River Dandelion, Gabrielle Daniels, Jean Day, Ryanaustin Dennis, Steve Dickison, Dogpark Collective, Angel Dominguez, Keith Donnell, Drought Spa, Patrick James Dunagan, Aja Couchois Duncan, Leo Dunsker, Anaïs Duplan, Lara Durback, Patrick Durgin, Paul Ebenkamp, Julie Enszer, Zachary Epcar, Et al. gallery & bookstore, Eoagh Books, J. Gordon Faylor, Elise Ficarra, Noa Michaela Fields, Lourdes Figueroa, C. Francis Fisher, Norman Fisher, Jameson Fitzpatrick, Floss Editions, Anja Weiser Flower, Layla Forrest-White, Tonya Foster, Meg Fransee, Benjamin Friedlander, Gloria Frym, Kay Gabriel, Gallery Wendi Norris. Fanciulla Gentile/The Creatrix, Lynell George, Willow Germs, Susan Gevirtz, Jo Giardini, Samantha Giles, Gladys Wangeci Gitau-Damaskos, Renee Gladman, Robert Glück, Ariel Goldberg, Judith Goldman, Aaron Gonzalez, Gia Gonzalez, Good Hot, Good Mother Gallery, Brett Goodroad, Judy Grahn, Jamison Green, Phillip Greenlief, Jane Gregory, Joel Gregory, Tracy Grinnell, Elena Gross, Claire Grossman, Miguel Gutierrez, Zach Haber, Jessica Hairston, Rob Halpern, Aaron Harbour, Katharine Harrar, Gin Hart, Emily Harter, Headlands Center for the Arts, Aáron Heard, Hector son of Hector, Lyn Hejinian, Cliff Hengst, Keith Hennessy, S*an D. Henry-Smith, Hermelinda Hernandez, JJ Hernandez, Madeline Rose Hernandez, Juan Felipe Herrera, Thad Higa, Owen Hill, Ava Hofmann, Harmony Holiday, Eddie Hopely, Sarah Hotchkiss, Javier O. Huerta, Sara Gaston Huey, Angela Hume, Carrie Hunter, Stan Hutton, Jackie Im, Independent Arts & Media, Stephen Ira, Colter Jacobsen, Joyce Jenkins, Aisha Sasha John, Ivy Johnson, Alie Jones, Michal MJ Jones, Leena Joshi, Jacob Kahn, Summi Kapia, Dorian Katz, Vincent Katz, erica kaufman, Avren Keating, Kelsey Street Press, Evan Kennedy, Andrew Kenower, Grant Kerber, Kenning Editions, Mihee Kim, Aristilde Kirby, Kkiri Kkiri, Aidan Koch, Niko Komodore, Ava Koobhor, Shiv Kotecha, Krupskaya Books, Benjamin Krusling, Brian Kwon, Paula Ky Santos, Claudia La Rocco, The Lab, Danielle LaFrance, Hannah Lamb-Vines, Sue Landers, Krystal Languell, Sara Larsen, Stephon Lawrence, Janice Lee, Eric Leigh, Raina J. León, ZH Leonard, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Muriel Leung, Lauren Levin, erica lewis, Dong Li, Litmus Press, Kevin Lo, Brandon Logans, Dana Teen Lomax, Marlo Longley, Alan Pelaez Lopez, Javier Lopez, Angie Sijun Lou, Trisha Low, Joan Lubin, Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, Lorraine Lupo, La Macacoa, Melissa Mack, Nich Malone, Sara Shelton Mann, Hugo García Manríquez, Ellis Martin, Pam Martin, Kohei Masuda, Madison McCartha, Melinda McDowell, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, Erin McFarland, Anne McGuire, Medicine for Nightmares, Margot Melcon, Aline Mello, Madalyn Merkey, Bianca Messinger, Brent Miller, Jeffrey Miller, Susan Miller, Mills College Place for Writers, Moments Cooperative, Lara Mimosa Montes, Poupeh Missaghi, James Mitchell, Hope Mohr, Emilie Moorhouse, Saretta Morgan, Laura Moriarty, Jason Morris, Sally Morris, Rusty Morrison, Yedda Morrison, Ghazal Mosadeq, Anna Moschovakis, Stephen Motika, Jennifer Moxley, Vi Khi Nao, Angela Neff, Laura Nelson, Aki Neumann, New York Review of Books, Denise Newman, Alison Mills Newman, Janae Newsom, Brian Ng, Hoa Nguyen, Sara Nicholson, Elisabeth Nicula, Nightboat Books, Nomadic Press, Tausif Noor, Never Angeline North, Alice Notley, Amanda Nudelman, Lor O'Connor, Vanessa O'Neill, G. Ojeda-Sagué, Chika Okoye, Scott Ortega-Nanos, Steve Orth, Ron Palmer, Pamenar Press, Lyn Patterson, Bob Perelman, Grace Rosario Perkins, Philip Perkins, Tim Perkis, Trace Peterson, Frances Phillips, London Pinkney, Mayakov+sky Platform, Poetics Program and University of Buffalo, The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, Mara Poliak, Steve Polta, Damon Potter, Aay Preston-Myint, Renny Pritikin, Pro Arts, Ted Rees, Ariel Resnikoff, Yosimar Reyes, Right Window, Lawrence Rinder, Danishta Rivero, Kit Robinson, Calvin Rocchio, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, Sarah Rosenthal, Rena Rosenwasser, Noah Ross, Camille Roy, Anthony Russell, Lynne Sachs, Jocelyn Saidenberg, Trish Salah, San Francisco Cinematheque, Paul Sanchez, Yesenia Sanchez, Crismerly Santibañez, Gail Scott, Anne Lesley Selcer, Jericha Senyak, SF Camerawork, Francie Shaw, Maw Shein Win, Brandon Shimoda, Aaron Shurin, Cedar Sigo, Eleni Sikelianos, Darius Simpson, Sinister Wisdom, Maria Sledmere, Willa Smart, Frank Smigiel, Andrew Smith, Wayne Smith, Eric Sneathen, Stanislav Snytko, Ivan Sokolov, Cole Solinger, Jennifer Soong, Lise Soskolne, J. Soto, Juliana Spahr, SpeCt, Emji Saint Spero, Violet Spurlock, Brian Kim Stefans, Rosie Stockton, David Levi Strauss, Susan Stryker, Anton Stuebner, Oakland Summer School, Subset, Matt Sussman, Kaori Suzuki, Stacy Szymaszek, Eileen Tabios, Kaori Miyashita Takatsuji, Tamarack, Jennifer JT Tamayo, Margaret Tedesco, Mimi Tempestt, Charles Theonia, Sunnylyn Thibodeaux, Michelle Sindha Thomas, Jerry Thompson, Travis Thompson, Amy Tobin, Topazu, Gerry Torn, Jamie Townsend, Allison Tracy-Taylor, Amy Trachtenberg, Truong Tran, Peggy Tran-Le, Elsa Trash, Elizabeth Treadwell, Nora Treatbaby, Robin Tremblay-McGaw, Nicole Trigg, Tripwire, Valerie Troutt, Hung Q. Tu, Zoe Tuck, José Vadi, Tony Vang, Alexandra Velasco, Stephen Vincent, Lexi Visco, Deirdre Visser, Anna Vitale, Marc Vogl, Anne Walsh, Theadora Walsh, Diane Ward, Alli Warren, Zachary James Watkins, Leila Weefur, Marvin K. White, Erin Wilson, Percy Wise, Yoriko Yamamoto, Gaoyang YangVang, Joey Yearous-Algozin, Stephanie Young, Javier Zamora, Denise Kastan Zetterbaum, Connie Zheng, Thomas Ziemer, Rachel Zucker

Yours,
Syd