In October 2013, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors appointed Caroline Goodwin as San Mateo County’s first Poet Laureate for a two-year term commencing January 1, 2014. During her term, Goodwin developed and launched creative initiatives to engage the public in poetry, including the popular “Poetry Is…” contest, which celebrates poetry and encourages people to write and share their poems. In addition, Goodwin gave readings and brought the literary arts to a wide variety of audiences within the County. She worked tirelessly to fulfill a vision of public literary arts that represented San Mateo County.

Goodwin was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She moved to the Bay Area in 1999 after being awarded the Wallace Stegner fellowship in Poetry at Stanford University. Goodwin received her MFA in Poetry from the University of British Columbia in 1994. Long involved in the literary arts and specifically poetry, Ms. Goodwin currently teaches in the MFA Writing and the undergraduate Writing and Literature programs at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, and also at the Stanford Writer’s Studio. She resides with her family in Montara. For more information and to read Goodwin’s work, please visit caroline.goodw.com.

Caroline Goodwin, Poet Laureate from 1/1/2014 – 12/31/2016.
Caroline Goodwin
Poet Laureate from 1/1/2014 – 12/31/2016