Jorge Argueta
Jorge Argueta of Daly City is San Mateo County’s 2023-2024 Poet Laureate and their first poet laureate of Hispanic descent. He cites his ability to use poetry to create bridges among diverse communities. Argueta’s work reflects his heritage as a native of El Salvador with a number of bilingual books and poems. He teaches creative writing at elementary schools, high schools and colleges and works with young people in homeless shelters, hospitals and other challenging environments.
Argueta’s works include children’s books such as the bilingual “The Fiesta of the Tortillas/La Fiesta De Las Tortillas” and “A Movie in My Pillow/Una Pelicula en mi Almohada,” about a child with two homelands.
Congratulations: Tetl Argueta Pérez Papers Acquired
The Benson Latin American Collection announced the acquisition of the San Mateo County Poet Laureate, Jorge Tetl Argueta Pérez Papers. This collection captures the personal history of Argueta’s work as an award-winning children’s book author, poet, activist, organizer, cultural worker, teacher, and publisher. It includes manuscripts, books, journals, original artwork, correspondence, photographs, posters, and newspapers. Read more
Past Poets Laureate Reading for Hope is a project created by our local Poets Laureate and San Mateo County Libraries.
The Poets Laureate have recorded themselves reading “poems of hope” while we all sheltered in place.
Aileen Cassinetto
Aileen Cassinetto was the 2019-2022 Poet Laureate of San Mateo County. She launched several initiativesthat amplified the role of poetry in the context of larger social movements and mentored many young people who went on to serve as youth poets' laureate and social impact innovators. She was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow in 2021, and a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 awardee in 2023 for her contributions in building regenerative and equitable communities through poetry. the from. She is the author of several books and chapbooks of poetry. Her recently curated community poem is Love in the Time of COVID-19.
Lisa Rosenberg
Poet and recovering engineer Lisa Rosenberg is the author of A Different Physics. She holds degrees in physics and creative writing, and worked for many years in the space program. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she served as the Poet Laureate of San Mateo County from 2017 - 2018, and was recently awarded a MOSAIC Fellowship with Sangam Arts, and a 2020 Djerassi Residency for Scientists and Artists.
Caroline Goodwin
Caroline Goodwin served from 2014 – 2016 as the first Poet Laureate of San Mateo County. Her recent books are Custody of the Eyes (dancing girl press, 2019) and The Paper Tree (Big Yes Press, 2017). She teaches at California College of the Arts and Stanford Continuing Studies.