Santa Barbara Festival to Honor 9 Area Poets : Actor/musician Joseph Gallo takes first prize in the second annual contest for his work based on events in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Poetry is a demanding art with few rewards. And yet no matter what the odds against being recognized or published, poets continue to write, read and listen to each other’s work.

Hundreds submitted poems on the theme “Voices Behind the Mask” to the second annual contest sponsored by the Santa Barbara Poetry Festival. This year, nine poets were chosen to be honored during the festival, which begins Friday and runs through May 8.

Actor/musician Joseph Gallo of Santa Barbara was awarded first prize and a cash award for “Snajperisti” (“Sniper”), a work based on events in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Gallo’s poem will be published in the literary journal Cafe Solo.

Second prize went to “Trout Song,” by Ojai resident Bruce Lee Schmidt, an artist whose etchings depict the wildlife of California.

Kathee Miller of Santa Barbara, a psychotherapist and painter, took third prize for “Inside There Is a Place.”

The six poets who received honorable mention awards are Elizabeth Cain of Ojai, Meg Fraser and Paul Willis of Carpinteria, and Bettina Barrett and Valentina Gnup-Kruip of Santa Barbara.

The award winners will read their poems at 2 p.m. May 8 in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Mary Craig Auditorium. For information about other festival events, call 568-3923.

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Max Allan Collins will sign “Carnal Hours,” and Los Angeles Police Detective Paul Bishop will sign his fifth novel, “Kill Me Again,” at 6 p.m. Friday at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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Edwin Richard Rigsbee, author of “The Art of Partnering,” published by Kendall/Hunt, will conduct a seminar on achieving success in business through alliances.

Sponsored by UC Santa Barbara, the class is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Arts Plaza Project Center, 110 S. Conejo School Road, Thousand Oaks. The fee is $95. Call 893-4200 for details.

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Earthquake damage sustained by the Thousand Oaks Library is being healed, due in large measure to the support of a remarkable library-loving community. Meanwhile, the Friends of the Library continue to sponsor events.

The Friendly Book Discussions group, led by Dick Crane, will review John Updike’s “Rabbit Is Rich” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Goebel Senior Center, 1385 E. Janss Road (next to the library).

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The deadline for the 1994 Swackhamer Prizes Student Essay Contest, sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, is June 1. It is open to all high school students. This year’s topic is a letter to U. N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali with proposals for making the United Nations more effective.

Three winners will receive cash awards, and their essays will be published and distributed to key world and national leaders. For details, teachers and students may contact the Peace Foundation, 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 123, Santa Barbara 93108, or call 965-3443.