Michael Sedano
April and early May 2026 brings significant poetry celebrations to the upper reaches of California's San Gabriel Valley with Poetry & Cookies in Altadena and LitFest in the Denas in Pasadena.
In Altadena, a changing of the Laureates is a highlight of Poetry & Cookies (link), along with the impending distribution of the published anthology. In Pasadena, the new Altadena Co-Laureates activate their office by joining eight Laureates-emeriti in a happy reunion at LitFest in the Denas, allowing a rare portrait opportunity. Sadly, the portrait series fails to capture the 2010-2021 Laureate, Alene Terzian.
Alene Terzian | May 2010 — April 2012, Thelma T. Reyna | May 2014 — April 2016, Elline Lipkin | May 2016 — April 2018, Teresa Mei Chuc, Hazel Clayton Harrison | May 2018 — April 2020, Carla R. Sameth | May 2022 — April 2024 (with Peter J. Harris, Presente!), Sehba Sarwar, Lester Graves Lennon | May 2024 — April 2026. Standing, Rhonda Mitchell, Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events, Shahe Mankerian, Altadena Poet Laureate Editor-in-Chief
The Altadena Poet Laureate program owes its ongoing existence to Altadena Library District's commitment to poetry. Initially a gathering of a handful of writers at the behest of librarian Pauline Pauli Dutton, the gathering published first with photocopied sheets, then spiral bound booklets titled Poetry&Cookies. Growing community involvement grows and they name several Laureates, and now as literary opportunities multiply, Co-Laureates. During the Laureateship of Carla R. Sameth and the late Peter J. Harris, Altadena's Laureates were recognized with a $50,000 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship (link). It was the first and now a second. Sarwar and Lennon, too, are recognized with a $50,000 fellowship to support the Co-Laureates' community programs.
Thelma T. Reyna, whose family-owned publishing house Golden Foothills Press, publishes the 2026 edition of Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2026, shares this history of the program's origins and particularly spotlights Pauli Dutton's founder's role. This is from Reyna's Foreward to the collection, about to enter distribution via the publisher, local independent booksellers, and a conglomerate. La Bloga's Michael Sedano has a poem in the anthology as well as the cover photograph. Thelma Reyna shares La Bloga's Friday column with Melinda Palacio.
FOREWORD
By Thelma T. Reyna
Poet Laureate Emerita, Altadena Library District, 2014-2016.
Publisher, Golden Foothills Press
HOW WE GOT HERE
This Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2026 is the eighth edition of an anthology birthed in 2015 as part of my Poet Laureate contribution to Altadena. That seminal year, our book contained 105 poems written by 60 poets. This 2026 anthology showcases 180 poems written by 158 distinguished and emerging poets—a testament not only to our community’s stalwart advocacy of poetry, but also to the depth and breadth of our commitment to nurture and expand access to it, and visibility of its power and beauty.
This is a heavy lift for any anthology. But the fertile ground we now till and inseminate was laid and well-prepared for us by a longtime Altadena librarian and visionary poet: Pauline (Pauli) Dutton, to whom I refer, with much admiration and gratitude, as “The Godmother of Altadena Poetry.” This 2026 anthology stands on her shoulders.
 |
| Pauli Dutton and Michael Sedano |
Pauli brought poetry by, of, and for the people to Altadena during her 29-year tenure as Principal Librarian, then as Acting District Director of the Altadena Library District. She blazed new trails that helped solidify Altadena as a poetry mecca in Southern California by engaging like-minded community members in fulfilling her goals, as follows:
• In 2003, Pauli established the now-renowned “Poetry & Cookies Reading Event”—an annual gathering of poets reading their poems to packed audiences. Now, the participants are specifically poets whose poems were published in that year’s anthology. This event has run continuously since 2003, including via Zoom in 2020 during Covid.
• In 2004, Pauli established the first local anthology, Poetry & Cookies, and produced it unfailingly for 12 years until she retired. (It was replaced by the Altadena Poetry Review.)
• 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 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 by then. But fortunately for our poetry community, she didn’t. She remained in her role as leader of the Poet Laureate Selection Committee, e.g., insuring the rigorous process stayed intact and Laureateships continued. She remained active, energetic, and devotedly engaged in the readings, workshops, committees, festivals that were and are hallmarks of Altadena’s loving embrace of poetry writ large. Her influence and legacy continue to inspire us. (For more details, visit https://www.altadenalibrary.org/poetry)
ABOUT THIS ANTHOLOGY
This collection 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 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.
===
2026 is a great year for poetry and poetry anthologies. Copies for participants are now in distribution, and public sales commence when the poets have been served. Órale, to Altadena Poet Laureate program.
Altadena's Co-Poets Laureate
Shahe Mankerian, Altadena Poet Laureate Editor-in-Chief, 2026 - 2028
Rhonda Mitchell, Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events 2026 - 2028Altadena's Immediate Past-Laureates
Lester Graves Lennon, Altadena Poet Laureate Editor-in-Chief 2024 - 2026
Sehba Sarwar, Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events, 2024 - 2026Readings by Laureates-Emeriti
Carla R. Sameth, Altadena Co-Poet Laureate with Peter J. Harris QEPD, 2022 - 2024
Hazel Clayton Harrison, Altadena Co-Poet Laureate 2018 - 2020 
Teresa Mei Chuc, Altadena Co-Poet Laureate 2018 - 2020
Elline Lipkin, Altadena Poet Laureate 2016 - 2018
Thelma T. Reyna, Altadena Poet Laureate 2014 - 2016
Laureates' Farewells
