Kathleen Herrmann | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | St. Mary's College of California [1] |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Title | Poet laureate of Vallejo, California |
| Term | 2024-2025 |
| Predecessor | Jeremy Snyder |
| Writing career | |
| Genre | poetry |
Kathleen Herrmann is an American poet. She serves concurrently with Jacalyn Eyvonne as poet laureate of Vallejo, California. [2] [1]
Kathleen Herrmann's poetry has been published in anthologies in Africa, Australia, and North America, and in the Benicia Herald newspaper. [1] She has received awards in poetry from the Solano County Fair and Ina Coolbrith Poetry Circle. [1] Herrmann performed for the Flyway Festival, [3] Vallejo Poetry Festival, [4] Napa Valley Writers Club, [5] Alameda Island Poets, [2] the American Association of University Women, [6] Benicia First Tuesday Poets, [2] Poetry by the Bay, and KZCT. [7] Herrmann serves concurrently with Jacalyn Eyvonne as poet laureate of Vallejo, California. [2] Since being appointed Vallejo's poet laureate, Herrmann has performed at the Mad Hatter Holiday Festival, [7] a Martin Luther King Day event, [8] a Black History Month event, [9] Fiestas Primavera in Benicia, [10] Art Walk, [11] Alibi Bookshop, [12] [13] [14] the Earth Daze Festival, [15] a climate change themed art exhibit at Vallejo Art Lofts Gallery, [16] on the Vallejo waterfront, [17] and the Solano County Fair. [18] Eyvonne and Herrmann hosted an event at the Empress Theater encouraging voting. [19]
Like their predecessors, Herrmann and Eyvonne hosted the Poetry in Notion poetry circle at the John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo. [7] Founded in 2015 by Genea Brice Poetry in Notion's in-person meetings were cancelled in 2020 due to restrictions on public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. [8] [7] The two also launched a new poetry open mic series called Tea House Poetry. [17] The co-poets laureate plan to create a youth anthology in cooperation with the Vallejo Unified School District. [20] [8] They held events for youth including a chalk art festival [21] and literacy awareness night. [22] Herrmann is a retired teacher [7] with an M.A. in Teaching Leadership from St. Mary's College of California [1] and a B.A. in English Literature from University of California Berkeley. [3] Herrmann is also a singer, pianist, guitarist, and ukulele player. [23]
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668.
Simon Robert Armitage is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.
Interstate 780 (I-780) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It runs from Curtola Parkway and Lemon Street in Vallejo to I-680 just north of the Benicia–Martinez Bridge in Benicia. It closely parallels the Carquinez Strait for its entire route. Originally, this segment was part of I-680 before that Interstate was extended and rerouted to Fairfield. The city-maintained Curtola Parkway continues west from I-80 to State Route 29 (SR 29) in Vallejo.
Nina Serrano is an American poet, writer, storyteller, and independent media producer who lives in Vallejo, California. She is the author of Heart Songs: The Collected Poems of Nina Serrano (1980) and Pass it on!: How to start your own senior storytelling program in the schools (Stagebridge). Her poems are widely anthologized, including the literary anthology, Under the Fifth Sun: Latino Writers from California, and three anthologies of peace poems edited by Mary Rudge from Estuary Press. She has also translated two chapbooks from Peruvian poet Adrian Arias. She currently leads storytelling workshops at senior centers and elementary schools through Stagebridge.org. She is the former director of the San Francisco Poetry in the Schools program and the Bay Area's Storytellers in the Schools program. A Latina activist for social justice, women's rights, and the arts.
The California Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated in 1865 at San Francisco, California as the California Pacific Rail Road Company. It was renamed the California Pacific Railroad Extension Company in the spring of 1869, then renamed the California Pacific Railroad later that same year. Its main line from Vallejo to Sacramento was completed six months prior to the May 1869 golden spike ceremony of the Central Pacific/Union Pacific Transcontinental Railway.
Dennis Nurkse is a poet from Brooklyn. He is the author of twelve poetry collections. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement (UK), translated into a dozen languages, and featured at the Jaipur International Literary Festival (India) and the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (UK).
Ada Limón is an American poet. On July 12, 2022, she was named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States by the Librarian of Congress. This made her the first Latina to be Poet Laureate of the United States. She is married to Lucas Marquardt.
SolTrans, officially Solano County Transit, is a Joint Powers Authority that provides public transportation service to the southern Solano County cities of Vallejo and Benicia. SolTrans was established in 2011 and is the result of a merger between Vallejo Transit and Benicia Breeze. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 954,200, or about 3,700 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
Diana Lucille Lang, known professionally as D. L. Lang, is an American poet. Her poetry is anthologized in over 60 anthologies. She has published 16 full-length books of poetry, and served as the Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California.
KZCT is a radio station in Vallejo, California founded in 2006 by David Martin and Katie Martinelli. The station broadcasts a variety of community content including rap, reggae, classical, jazz, poetry, religious programming and sports. Notable artists who have appeared on KZCT since its inception include H.E.R., Nef the Pharaoh, Nina Serrano, and D.L. Lang. It has a silent disco party bus it dubs the Twerkulator.
Dr. Genea Brice is an American poet. She was the first Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California.
Joel Fallon was the first Poet laureate of Benicia, California. He is the namesake of the Joel Fallon poetry scholarship awarded annually since 2015 to high school students in Benicia, California. He was a founding member of the Benicia First Tuesday Poets, which meets at the Benicia Library monthly since 2003, and also helped begin the Benicia Love Poetry Contest and the annual Poets’ Picnic. He was named Benicia's first poet laureate in 2005. He helped Genea Brice advocate for a poet laureate program in neighboring Vallejo, California. He also served as a vice president of Arts Benicia. Fallon began writing poetry while serving overseas in the United States Army. He was influenced by Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Charles Bukowski.
Robert M. Shelby was an American poet. He served as the poet laureate of Benicia, California from 2008 to 2010.
Jeremy Snyder is an American poet. He served as poet laureate of Vallejo, California from 2020 through 2023.
The Makar or National Poet for Scotland is the national poet laureate of Scotland. The current Makar is Kathleen Jamie, who was appointed in August 2021. Holders of the post are appointed by the Scottish Government and supported by the Scottish Poetry Library.
Mary Susan Gast is the eighth Poet laureate of Benicia, California. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and Chicago Theological Seminary. She edits a poetry column for the Benicia Herald entitled "Going the Distance."
Quentin Roosevelt Hand, Jr., known professionally as Q.R. Hand, was an African-American poet.
Jacalyn Evone Robinson known professionally as Jacalyn Eyvonne is an African-American poet and filmmaker. She serves concurrently with Kathleen Herrmann as poet laureate of Vallejo, California.
