The Laureate Fountain

Celebrating an Unsung, Pioneering Poet Leader, Pauline Dutton

Thelma T. Reyna

In the thriving, bustling poetry mecca of Southern California, particularly the greater Los Angeles area, there is no shortage of poet leaders, those poets of substantial influence and followers whose renown transcends the boundaries of maps:  L.A. Poets Laureate Luis Javier Rodriguez and Lynne Thompson, for example. Today I celebrate an unsung leader, a small-town head librarian whose pioneering vision of integrating poetry into the fabric of her community helped transform it into a little mecca of its own.

Pauli and Michael Sedano

This poet leader is Pauline (Pauli) Dutton, and the small town she tilled, seeded, and nurtured into a poetic gem is Altadena, a picturesque home to writers, artists, and musicians nestled in the foothills adjacent to Pasadena. Devastated by the calamitous wildfires of January 2025, stalwart Altadena still stands, rebirthing. Predictably, the town turned to poetry to document and mourn its devastation by flames.  This collective catharsis of anger, grief, and resilience became another annual anthology, another byproduct of Pauli Dutton’s early cultivation. 

The Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2026 continues 21 years of Altadena poetry anthologies first started under Pauli’s leadership: the first 10 under her tenure as founder and Altadena Library District Director; and 11 years under my editorship and/or publication of it via Golden Foothills Press. Collectively, all these anthologies represent the depth and breadth of Pauli’s commitment to nurture and expand access to poetry, and visibility of its power and beauty.  She blazed new trails by engaging like-minded community members as follows:

• In 2003, Pauli established the now-renowned “Poetry & Cookies Reading Event,” an annual gathering of diverse poets from throughout SoCal reading their poems to packed audiences.  This event has run continuously since 2003, including via Zoom during Covid.

• In 2004, Pauli established the first local anthology, Poetry & Cookies, and produced it unfailingly for 10 years until she retired. (It was replaced by the Altadena Poetry Review in 2014.)

• In 2006, she founded the Poet Laureate Program, which continues unabated to this day, with some Altadena Laureates distinguishing themselves on the national stage of poet leadership. Fourteen diverse poets, to date, have held this distinction.

When Pauli retired in 2014, she could have “rested on her laurels,” as the old saying goes, since these programs she created were well-received and firmly established. Instead, she remained in her role as leader of the Poet Laureate Selection Committee, insuring that Laureateships continue. She remained devotedly engaged in the readings, workshops, committees, festivals that were and are hallmarks of Altadena’s loving embrace of poetry writ large. Pauli Dutton’s  influence and legacy continue to inspire us, and may these continue to flourish unabatedly. (For more details, visit https://www.altadenalibrary.org/poetry)

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ABOUT THE Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2026

Lester Graves Lennon holds his editorial magnum opus

This collection, edited by Lester Graves Lennon, showcases 180 poems of varying styles, themes, lengths, and formats by 158 culturally-diverse poets primarily from Southern California, but also from across the United States and internationally.  Authors include past and present Poets Laureate of local, regional, and state levels, including two Los Angeles (CA) Poets Laureate, Luis J. Rodriguez and Lynne Thompson. Some poets are at the beginning of their careers, but most are experienced authors with publication experience and name recognition. Many are award winners at local, regional, and higher levels; others are affiliated with colleges and universities; and others are mentors and poetry leaders in their communities.  Overall, the poets published in this anthology are distinguished and markedly skilled in their art.

Advance praise of this anthology, edited by Lester Graves Lennon,  underscores the depth of sentiments expressed in the poems, especially compassion, humanity, strength, and resilience regarding the "fire poems" in the book: poetry bearing witness to the devastation caused by the horrific wildfires that swept through Altadena, CA, on January 7, 2025, one of the most destructive fires in California history. This anthology attests to the human will to overcome, to be reborn, and it does so with poetry that is lyrical, solemn, thought-provoking, insightful, and full of heart and soul.