MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI
City of Los Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2014
Contact: Communications Office, 213-978-0741
MAYOR GARCETTI SEEKS POET LAUREATE CANDIDATES
Nomination Guidelines and Deadlines Announced for All Interested Angeleno Poets
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced nominations will be accepted for the city’s Poet Laureate Program beginning Wednesday, June 4, 2014. Nominations will be accepted until 4 p.m. July 1, and the Poet Laureate will be announced in July. The Los Angeles Poet Laureate Program is a collaboration between the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL).
“Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world, and we’re eager to find a Poet Laureate to represent our thriving literary community,” said Mayor Garcetti. “We invite all Angelenos to nominate noteworthy poets or themselves to spread their love of poetry throughout our city.”
The City of Los Angeles Poet Laureate will serve as the official ambassador of Los Angeles’ vibrant poetry and literary culture. The Poet Laureate will use the position as a platform to promote the city’s greatest writers, demonstrating the tremendous value of poetry and written word throughout all parts of the community.
Los Angeles’ Poet Laureate will serve for a term of two years, from August 2014 to October 2016, and will receive a $10,000 annual grant from DCA.
Over the course of the appointment, the City of Los Angeles Poet Laureate will provide no fewer than six public classes or workshops at various LAPL libraries as well as six public readings. The readings will consist of either original works created for the events, past work appropriate to the occasion and to the audience, or historic works by past Los Angeles poets in locations across the city.
The appointed Laureate will educate Los Angeles residents, visitors, civic and elected leaders, young people, adults, seniors, and students of all ages about the value of creative expression through verse via self-coordinated or community-partnered events and activities that are reviewed and approved by DCA. He or she will also write one or more commemorative poem(s) about Los Angeles. Toward the same end of nurturing appreciation of poetry among Angelenos, the Poet Laureate will also lead a collaboration between LAPL and DCA for no less than one festival-style event at the Central Library in April in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Candidates must be poets who demonstrate excellence in their artistic work and have received wide recognition in the professional community and have significant ties to the Los Angeles community.
The selection process will be overseen by the Poet Laureate Advisory Committee, appointed by Mayor Garcetti, consisting of a group of five to seven poets and literary experts. The Advisory Committee reviews nominations and makes recommendations for DCA to forward to the Mayor’s Office for consideration.
To review City of Los Angeles Poet Laureate Guidelines and Application/Nomination Instructions,
please go to the DCA website at http://www.culturela.org/brochure/Poet_Laureate_Program_Guidelines_5.23.14.pdf
