Be Benicia’s Poet Laureate

Share your love of poetry by becoming Benicia’s Poet Laureate.

The laureate brings poetry into community life, inspires others to share their voices and promotes creative expression.

The honorary two-year term begins January 1, 2026, and ends December 31, 2027.  Duties include organizing and conducting poetry readings and other events as well as finding innovative ways to bring poetry into Benicians’ everyday lives.

You will find the application here, and the deadline to apply is November 6, 2025.  Benicia residency and other requirements are detailed on the application. Fill it out and then email it to hbowles@ci.benicia.ca.us. NOTE--if you have difficulty downloading this Word doc, please try a different browser. If you still cannot download the file, email Helaine at the previous email and request to be send a copy directly. Alternatively, you may download the PDF file here.

A selection committee appointed by the Benicia Public Library Board of Trustees will interview applicants and recommend a candidate for board approval.

The successful candidate will become Benicia’s tenth Poet Laureate, succeeding Kathy Monroe.

Guidelines for Submitting to Poetry Anthology X,

“The Everyday As Extraordinary” 

 Your poems 

• Submit up to 4 poems that you have written. Up to 3 of your submitted poems will be published depending on formatting. 

• Each poem should be no more than 35 total lines (spaces between stanzas count toward the total).  Your name does not need to be on each poem.

• Poems should be in 11-point type, single-spaced. 

• Poems may have been published elsewhere previously, as long as you retain all rights to those poems. Submit any necessary crediting for previously published poems. 

• Poems do not need to reflect the theme of the title “The Everyday As Extraordinary.” However, as in the work of Mary Oliver and others, much of our poetry does elevate our common everyday circumstances into something worthy of observation and discussion.

 Sending your poems 

• Send poems as email attachments in MSWord (or similar format). Each poem should be a separate attachment. 

• Email submissions to poetlaureatebenicia@gmail.com with subject line: ANTHOLOGY X. Cover letter should list titles of poems submitted, your postal address, and phone number.

• Along with your poems, please send a short bio, 100-150 words, written in the third person. 

• The submission period is from October 6 to December 8.

 The Anthology 

• There is a submission fee of $30 to help defray the costs of printing and which earns each poet 3 copies of the book at a 40% discount. There is no fee for those with student or hardship status.

• Additional copies of the book will be available at the reduced cost of $10 per book to those who submitted. 

• Please pay the fee at the time of submission in one of two ways:  online at Benicialiteraryarts.org go to store, go to Anthology X submission button, OR send a check made out to Benicia Literary Arts at PO Box 1903, Benicia CA 94510.  IF you qualify for student or hardship status, please let us know at time of submission.

   

• There will be a celebration (hopefully in person and online) when the Anthology is launched!  All poets invited!

Katrina “Kathy” Monroe is the new Benicia Poet Laureate.

Kathy Monroe, who will serve a two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2024, is a published poet and active in the First Tuesday Poets program of the Benicia Public Library. Since moving to Benicia seven years ago, she has mentored teens at Liberty High School and worked with youth at the Kyle Hyland Teen Center, which offers teens emotional support and mental health services. She is a founder of the Benicia Poetry Salon.

She has been active in Carquinez Village, a virtual village that helps older adults connect, contribute to their community and support each other. As membership committee chair of the Benicia Yacht Club, she brought in 175 new members.

She sums up her volunteer activities with this: “It’s a pleasure to share.” In the first poem she would like to share with the community, “What Keeps You Going”, she reminds us that in midst of this season of giving and thanksgiving, it is in remembering and honoring others that we will find what we truly need.

What Keeps You Going

In this “me-centered” world
it can be hard to start
your motor if connected 
to a shriveling heart.

Your energy levels
are waxing and waning
as your to-do lists seem 
to always be gaining.

The cure can be found
away from the “me” 
in dedicating time 
to your community.

Thinking of others
in trouble or pain,
helping someone else
with no thought of gain,

Giving what you can 
to neighbors in need,
remembering the lonely 
in word or in deed

Brings benefits back,
good vibes overflowing.
You’re sure to discover
WHAT keeps you going!

Monroe follows Benicia’s eighth poet laureate, Mary Susan Gast, who served from 2020 to 2023. To find out more about the First Tuesday Poets and other arts activities at the Benicia Public Library, go to benicialibrary.org

The Benicia Public Library Board of Trustees approved the Poet Laureate Selection Committee’s recommendation of Monroe at its November board meeting. The selection committee, headed by board member Lois Kazakoff, included Allison Angell, Barbara Duvall, Mary Eichbauer and Becky Bishop White.