Jen Siraganian, known to locals as a former Los Gatos Poet Laureate, has won the Perugia Press Prize, a national contest celebrating a first or second book of poetry by a female author. Her debut collection, Everything Has Been Moved, was released Sept. 15. It explores deep historical and personal themes, sharing her family’s journey through displacement and war during the Armenian genocide and in Palestine.
While the book deals with sweeping geopolitical history, local residents will find plenty of familiar ground within its pages. “Los Gatos is featured prominently,” Siraganian said, noting that the poems address her time living in the Santa Cruz Mountains during the devastating CZU lightning complex fires, as well as her experiences raising her infant and toddler sons at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Siraganian is well-known in the local arts community, having served as the town’s poet laureate from 2021-23. During her tenure, she launched the annual Los Gatos poetry contest, hosted a community poetry book club and brought creative voices to light through the “Poetry in the Pavement” project. Her book has already garnered high praise from major literary figures. Renowned poet Naomi Shihab Nye called it a “searing, stunning collection,” while Major Jackson praised Siraganian for weaving historical narratives with fragments of personal stories that prompt a “tender regard for each other.”
