Benicia Poet Laureate Johanna Ely (Left) converses with first-place winner Joanne Jagoda at last year’s Love Poetry Contest. (Photo courtesy of Peter Bray)

It’s February, and love is in the air. Come Feb. 19, it will also be in poetic verse and rhythm at the Benicia Historical Museum for the annual Benicia Love Poetry Contest.

The Love Poetry Contest was founded by Benicia’s first Poet Laureate Joel Fallon in 2004, before the city had a poet laureate program. The event was one of many of Fallon’s steps toward establishing Benicia as a poetry city, which he continued to promote until his death last August.

“His dream was that this contest would put Benicia on the map, and that every year thousands of people would descend upon our town to hear love poetry,” current Poet Laureate Johanna Ely said.

The contest was inspired by the legendary California romance between Nikolai Rezanov and Maria de la Concepcion Arguello. Rezanov was a 42-year-old Russian fur trader who promoted Russia’s colonization of Alaska and California, and Arguello was the 15-year-old daughter of Jose Arguello, the governor of the Spanish colony of Alta California. The two met while Rezanov was on a business expedition in Yerba Buena— what is now San Francisco— and fell in love. They eventually became engaged, which caused some fury over the pair being of different nationalities and religions, but Rezanov was able to use his talent of diplomacy to win over the clergy. In 1807, after going to Russia on horseback to obtain permission from the Tsar to marry Arguello, he fell from his horse, became sick and died. Arguello never married and instead became a nun. She became a member of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, which moved to Benicia in the 1850s where Arguello remained until she died in 1857. Her remains are interred at St. Dominic’s Cemetery.

The romance has inspired short stories, novels and even a Soviet rock opera. Given Arguello’s presence in Benicia, it gives poets an opportunity to explore the concept of love during the month of love. The contest is announced in September with submissions accepted through the end of November.

“The love poetry does not have to address only romantic love, or be about Nikolai and Concepcion, though some wonderful poems have been written for them,” Ely said.

The winning entries are decided by out-of-town judges, with awards going to first, second and third place with up to five to seven honorable mentions. All the winners will receive cash awards, which have doubled this year. The winner will receive $100 and have their name inscribed on the contest’s “Loving Cup,” which features the names of all the first-place winners since 2004.

The participants do not have to live in Benicia. In fact, last year’s winner, Joanne Jagoda, came from Oakland, and other past winners have come from places like Napa and Lafayette. Ely said the submissions have very diverse ways of expressing and interpreting the topic of love.

“As the contest chairperson, my favorite thing about this contest is that I am the first person to read all the submitted love poems,” she said. “Some of the poems are tender, some are passionate, some are funny, and some are sad, but they all speak from the heart. Those who attend this event usually leave feeling joyful, as if they have taken some of that love with them.”

The awards ceremony will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 19 in the Benicia Historical Museum’s Stone Hall, located at 2060 Camel Road. Ely will serve as the emcee, and light refreshments will be served during a break after the winners read their poems. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ely at jelyabc13@yahoo.com.

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