Chryss Yost (Mouth & Fruit, 2014) is co-editor, with Dana Gioia and Jack Hicks, of California Poetry, from the Gold Rush to the Present. She is also co-editor, with Don Selby and Diane Boller, of Poetry Daily, a Year of Poems from the World’s Most Popular Poetry Web Site. She was the long-time managing editor for the Journal of Haitian Studies. A native of San Diego, she has lived in Santa Barbara since 1990, where she has been a poetic collaborator and organizer for many years. She teaches poetry at the Santa Barbara Music and Arts Conservatory.
In 2013, she was appointed poet laureate of Santa Barbara. She lives with her husband, George Yatchisin, and an assortment of dogs and chickens. Her daughter, Cassidy, lives in Australia.