Peter J. Harris & Carla Sameth Chosen New Altadena Co-Poets Laureate
Harris is Altadena Poet Laureate Editor in Chief; Sameth is Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events
Peter J. Harris, twice winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, is the new Altadena Poet Laureate Editor in Chief, and Carla Sameth, founding member of the Pasadena Rose Poets and long-time cultural worker for social justice, is the new Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events. The 2022-2024 poets laureate were announced on April 30 by outgoing co-laureates Khadija Anderson and Jessica Abughattas.
Photo by Tiffany Judkins
Harris is author of “Bless the Ashes” (Tia Chucha Press), winner of the 2015 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and “Hand Me My Griot Clothes: the Autobiography of Junior Baby” (Black Classic Press), winner of the 1993 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award. He also earned the 2015 American Book Award for his book of personal essays, “The Black Man of Happiness: In Pursuit of My ‘Unalienable Right.’”
Photo by Hilary Jones
Sameth is author of the chapbook, “What Is Left,” published in December 2021 (dancing girl press). Her memoir, “One Day on the Gold Line,” was published in July 2019 (Black Rose), and will be reissued in 2022 by Golden Foothills Press, edited by former Altadena Poet Laureate Thelma T. Reyna. Sameth’s essay, “If This Is So, Why Am I,” included in her memoir, was listed as a notable in “Best American Essays 2019.” “Mother’s Day Triptych” was listed as a notable in “Best American Essays 2020.”
Harris and Sameth are currently crafting plans for a robust schedule of in-person and live-streamed editorial and community engagement programs, including the traditional Poetry & Cookies reading at Altadena Library. Once the schedule is confirmed, it will be announced through Altadena Library’s digital channels and social media.
For more information about the new poets laureate, click here.
To support the Altadena Laureate Program with a tax deductible donation, go to the Friends of the Altadena Library page here.