
Iranian American writer and poet Farnaz Fatemi, a member of the popular The Hive Poetry Collective at KSQD-FM and who most recently published a collection of her poems titled “Sister Tongue” in September 2022, takes over as Santa Cruz County’s poet laureate from David Sullivan.
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Santa Cruz writer and poet Farnaz Fatemi has been named Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate for 2023-24, continuing a rich tradition of local laureates that includes Gary Young, Ellen Bass, Robert Sward, Danusha Lameris and others. Fatemi takes over for the 2021-22 laureate, David Sullivan.
The county’s poet laureate serves a two-year term in which he or she will promote poetry and other literary activities across the county and devise and implement a signature program.
Fatemi is an Iranian American writer and poet who most recently published a collection of her poems titled “Sister Tongue” in September 2022. She is a member of the popular The Hive Poetry Collective at KSQD-FM and taught writing at UC Santa Cruz for a decade.
We’ll check in with the new poet laureate to see what’s on her mind for her creative project to promote poetry. In the meantime, you can get to know her and her work a bit better here.