The Poet Laureate initiative was developed by the El Segundo Arts and Culture Advisory Committee and approved by the City Council in June 2021. Funding for the Poet Laureate initiative is provided by the Cultural Development Program Fund—a percent for art fund established in 2019 to increase public access to the arts, encourage civic engagement, contribute towards realizing artistic and cultural equity and inclusion, create opportunities for artists and art organizations in the region, and to transform people, places, and communities.

Accepting Applications for the Next Poet Laureate through July 12, 2024

The City of El Segundo Cultural Development Program is seeking applications from poets, writers, and literary artists for the 2024-2026 El Segundo Poet Laureate.

Click here to apply: Call to Artists - Poet Laureate 2024

El Segundo’s Inaugural Poet Laureate-Hope Anita Smith

Hope Anita Smith is El Segundo’s inaugural Poet Laureate. She is an award-winning author, poet, illustrator, and motivational speaker. She has garnered the Coretta Scott King Award, American Library Association Notable Children’s Book Award, and School Library Journal’s Best Book of 2008. Smith teaches poetry-writing workshops to writers of all ages. She attended La Sierra University, California, where she majored in English. Smith, a native of Akron, Ohio, now resides in Los Angeles, California.

Core Responsibilities
Throughout her tenure, Smith will serve as a liaison, advocate, and leader for poetry, spoken word, and the literary arts. Her hopes are to inspire El Segundo’s diverse residents to foster a greater appreciation of words. She is expected to represent the City and the literary arts through engaging and conceptually driven, original works stimulated by and in response to the local communities, and cultivate critical thinking from and connections to the literary arts through public readings, in-person poetry/writing workshops and programs, and civic events. The Poet Laureate is expected to develop working relationships with City staff and project partners and collaborate with them during the two-year term from January 3, 2022 to December 31, 2023.

 
Poets in Conversation with Jacqueline Woodson and Hope Anita Smith
El Segundo Poet Laureate Hope Anita Smith and Award-Winning Author Jacqueline Woodson discuss the craft of poetry and writing, moderated by Brein Lopez of Children's Book World. Thank you to El Segundo's Cultural Development Program and to the Friends of the El Segundo Public Library for helping to make this happen.