The City of San Diego Poet Laureate, Paola Capó-García, is launching APERTURA 2026, a citywide poetry initiative that will highlight San Diego stories through poetry, visual arts and film. The yearlong project will include a call for poetry from community members, hands-on workshops, and public exhibitions designed for San Diegans of all ages and backgrounds. The project is presented in partnership with the City of San Diego Economic Development Department’s Cultural Affairs Division and expands access to arts programming in neighborhoods throughout San Diego. 

APERTURA 2026 will officially kick off on Feb. 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Burn All Books, located at 3131 Adams Ave. The event will feature opening remarks, project details and poetry readings. 

“APERTURA means opening,” said Paola Capó-García, Poet Laureate for the City of San Diego. “This project creates space for more people to see themselves in poetry and to use art to tell the story of San Diego. Through workshops, collaborations and exhibitions, the project is designed to be welcoming and accessible.” 

As part of the project, Capó-García will produce a three-part zine series in partnership with Burn All Books, a local risograph publisher and zine archive. Zines are short, self-published booklets that combine writing and visual elements and are typically produced and shared outside of traditional publishing channels. The format allows artists and writers to present personal, community-centered stories in an accessible and hands-on way.   

The zine series will document San Diego's poetry while celebrating the city’s diversity and the history of independent publishing. Each issue will feature 10-20 poets and offer perspectives on who and what San Diego is today.  

• Issue One will highlight youth poetry.
• Issue Two will uplift justice-impacted voices, including people who are currently or formerly incarcerated, in partnership with organizations such as Poetic Justice.
• Issue Three will be a multilingual edition featuring local Latine and Filipinx poets, co-edited with former San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez.  

Poets are invited to submit their work for the zine series through Aug. 1, 2026. Publishing decisions will be made by Sept. 1, 2026.  

On Saturdays in May 2026, the project will offer free, bilingual video poetics workshops, designed and led by Capó-García and filmmaker Víctor De La Fuente. Participants will write a poem and then turn it into an experimental short film. The application period for those workshops is now open. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2026.

APETURA 2026 will culminate in November with a free all-ages community showcase at the Athenaeum Art Center at Bread & Salt, located at 1955 Julian Ave. The event will include free zine distribution, live poetry readings by published contributors and film screenings created through the video poetics workshops. 

For more information on the Poet Laureateship and APERTURA 2026, visit the City of San Diego Poet Laureate webpage.