Poet Laureate
Introduction
The City of Lodi Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department (PRCS) and Lodi Arts Commission (LAC) are proud to offer Lodi's first Poet Laureate Program. The Poet Laureate will serve as a liaison, advocate, and leader for poetry, spoken word, and the literary arts.
Funding for the Poet Laureate is provided by the Library & Literacy Foundation for San Joaquin (Foundation) Grant. The Poet Laureate Program supports Lodi's literacy programs and fosters appreciation for poetry and its benefits. The program seeks to engage diverse voices and perspectives in shaping and furthering the literary arts, culture, and creative expression.
The City of Lodi boosts an active public art program including visual arts, public art murals and statues, cultural arts events, music, dance and art classes, and literacy programs. The Poet Laureate Program has been established to support Lodi’s literacy programs and foster appreciation for poetry and its benefits through reading poetry at civic events, developing commemorative poems that expresses Lodi life, and by providing poetry workshops to the community.
Lodi Poet Laureate - Nancy Gonzalez St. Clair
Nancy Gonzalez St. Clair is an educator and poet. Nancy believes that poetry is a mirror of human existence. It reflects our personal lives, memories, dreams, and imagination. Her poetry is impacted by culture, environment, past, present, and contemplations. She believes poetry is both healing and transformative. Nancy González St. Clair’s poetry has appeared in Huizache: The Magazine of Latino Literature, La Tolteca, Mujeres De Maiz Zine, Hinchas de Poesía, Fifth Wednesday Journal, and several other literary journals. Her work is featured in the Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice, Sacramento Voices: Foam at the Mouth Anthology, Lowriting: Shots, Rides, and Stories from the Chicano Soul, and Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. Nancy served on the Sacramento Poetry Center Board for several years. She hosts a monthly poetry series called “Mosaic of Voices.”
Further, Nancy has lived in San Joaquin Country for most of her life. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in History at California State University, Sacramento, in 2000. She received her master’s degree in education with an emphasis in school administration at California State University, Stanislaus, in 2009. Further, she is in the doctoral educational leadership program at the University of the Pacific. Nancy has been a public educator for 22 years. She works as a teacher at an elementary school in the Lodi Unified School District.