This year’s Mendocino Spring Poetry Celebration is particularly special as Devreaux Baker will be “crowned” for a two-year term as the first Poet Laureate of Mendocino County. Her selection was made official at the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 4th, 2024, but now the rest of the community has the opportunity to celebrate Devreaux’s appointment.

This is the 49th anniversary and 19th consecutive revival of the Mendocino Spring Poetry Celebration. This annual Celebration was founded by Sharon Doubiago in 1975 at the Mendocino Art Center. She kept it going until she moved away from Mendocino County. After a hiatus of a few years Gordon Black revived it in 2006 and has kept it going until this past year. This year’s Celebration is dedicated with great thanks to the memory Gordon Black.

Admission is free and all members of our community are invited to come and experience the poetry, and all poets are invited to read their poems.
Details: There’ll be two sessions of poetry. Doors will open at 12:00 noon for signups and community fellowship, and the first reading will start at 1:00pm. There will be an afternoon break and at 5:00pm signups will begin for the evening session at 6:00pm. Poets should prepare up to four minutes of poetry per session (please time your poems before the event as we hate to cut people off, but we will if you run over your allotted time). You can attend one session or both. The poems will be recorded and many of them will eventually be broadcast on Dan Roberts’ Rhythm Running River show on KZYX where they will be played alternating with a dynamic selection of world music and archived on Dan’s website: www.outfarpress.com.

Attendees are also invited to bring snacks, finger food, hors d'oeuvres, and beverages for a community potluck.