Four Laureates Here: Can You Too?

Four Laureates Shine in Altadena Spotlight

Michael Sedano

I saw the poster and patted myself on the back for having the good sense to be living in Altadena, California where in a few days I'd get to hear four Poets Laureate read in a celebration organized by Carla R. Sameth and Peter J. Harris, Altadena's current Co-Poets Laureate, and sponsored by the Altadena Library Foundation, the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation, and supported by Poets&Writers, and Women Who Submit. 

My thrill comes not simply from hearing poets in propria persona--Hazel Clayton Harrison, Teresa Mei Chuc, Elline Lipkin, and Thelma Reyna--but from knowing my community is unique in having an active and long-lived Laureate program.

And it strikes me: Altadena doesn't have to be unique.

Laureate Carla Sameth and Nikki Winslow, Altadena Libraries District Director, concentrated on an important detail a few moments before opening the program. A last-minute rush of people doesn't faze Winslow, whose staff springs into action to accommodate the gratifyingly loud crowd. People come excited at the program. As it happened, the massive California storm abated long enough to let people walk in dry.

The event reflects Altadena Library's unwavering support for literacy, it's raison d'etre que no?, and the Poet Laureate program that reflects the most sublime form of literacy. The reading tonight spotlights Laureates Emerita dating to 2014, when the program launched its annual anthology as The Altadena Literary Review Anthology (link to preorder). The Review's precursor, Poetry and Cookies, is honored as the title of the year-end celebration and publication release of the Review.

Altadena, an unincorporated city at the northwest corner of Los Angeles County's San Gabriel Valley, supports a lively poetry community. Hundreds of poets--not exclusively from the region--submitted to the upcoming 2024 Altadena Literary Review Anthology (link Golden Foothills Press, 2024, Spring).

Sabes que? Your community is not all that much different fron my community.

Altadena has a Laureate program because there are lots of people who write and listen to poetry. Around here, and around your locale, there are lots of people who write poetry.  And you probably have a local library. And your local library employs librarians who love literacy and love poetry and don't have a lot of time to organize readings.

That's where poetry supporters come into the local picture. Altadena's forward-looking library has beauteous media and innovative lending programs like tools and 3-D printers. The "head librarian," Nikki Winslow and her staff support the readings by providing a meeting space, streaming technology (Laureate Harris lives in Florida and attends the reading virtually), and a vivacious welcome from Winslow at the end of a long day.

I am willing to bet--and I don't gamble--that your local library has a Nikki Winslow clone who will support anyone with the energy to bring ideas to fruition. Years ago, in Altadena, the person was Paulie Dutton, a librarian who shephered the modest program from 2003 until 2014 when Dutton envisioned the current iteration of the Altadena Laureate honor.

Being Laureate is a lot of work! The search recently closed for the town's next co-Laureates. Dutton, and former Laureates, comprise the search committee. Sameth and Harris are leaving large shoes. Altadena poets seem to have large feet ready to walk five miles in the shoes of the predecessors. 

It's like that in your town, too.

A Library Community Room Floricanto: Four Altadena Poets Laureate 

Teresa Mei Chuc was born in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam and fled her Vietnamese homeland with her mother and brother shortly after the Việt Nam War, spending three and a half months in a freight boat stranded in the South China Sea before being rescued. Teresa is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, Invisible Light (2018), Keeper of the Winds (2014) and Red Thread (2012). 

Her poetry chapbook, Incidental Takes, was published by Hummingbird Press in 2023. She teaches literature and writing at a public school in Los Angeles. Her poetry chapbook, Incidental Takes, was published by Hummingbird Press in 2023. She teaches literature and writing at a public school in Los Angeles.

IG @tue_my_chuc • FB: Tuệ Mỹ Chúc

Hazel Clayton Harrison is an author, editor, educator and a storyteller. A retiree from corporate America, she is a co-owner of Jahlight Media (jahlightmedia.com), an editing, training, and publishing company. She served as a 2018-2020 poet laureate for the Altadena Library District and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous publications. 

She is the author of a children’s book, The Story of Christmas Tree Lane, a memoir, Crossing the River Ohio, and a book of poetry and prose, Down Freedom Road. As a member of the Pasadena Rose Poets, she recites poetry at local venues. Additionally, she does public speaking and facilitates workshops at writing conferences and seminars. IG/FB @hcharrison11

Elline Lipkin is a poet and academic. Her first book, The Errant Thread, was chosen by Eavan Boland for the Kore Press First Book Award. Her second, Girls’ Studies, was published by Seal Press. Her poetry has been published in many contemporary journals and she has been in residence at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony and Yefe Nof. 

She teaches writing workshops and is currently a Research Scholar with UCLA’s Center for the Study of Women. From 2016-2018, she served as Poet Laureate of Altadena and co-edited the Altadena Poetry Review. Her website is www.ellinelipkin.com

Thelma T. Reyna’s books have collectively won 22 national and international literary awards. She has written 6 books, edited 3 anthologies comprising about 200 authors, and co-edited the anthology, Doctor Poets & Other Healers (2022). Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in literary journals, anthologies, textbooks, blogs, and regional media for over 30 years. 

She was Poet Laureate 2014-2016 in Altadena, CA, and was a Pushcart Prize Nominee in Poetry in 2017. She is the Founder/Chief Editor of the award-winning Golden Foothills Press in Pasadena, Calif. Her Ph.D. is from UCLA. Contact Thelma at www.goldenfoothillspress.com or at Thelma.reyna@ymail.com