Writing Our Way Out of Our Crises
with
Phyllis Meshulam, Poet Laureate of Sonoma County

Phyllis Meshulam will discuss her history and techniques as a writer, as well as her approach to teaching with California Poets in the Schools for the last 21 years. She will share a few poems and a bit about the projects she is undertaking as Sonoma County Poet Laureate. One of these projects is to create a county-wide anthology. The themes will address our ongoing crises. Listeners will receive information about where to find prompts, and how to submit their work

Phyllis Meshulam is the current Poet Laureate of Sonoma County. She’s the author of five collections of poetry, most recently: Land of My Father’s War, winner of an Artists Embassy International Prize, 2019, published by Cherry Grove Collections. Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate of the United States, said of Meshulam’s book, an “urgency of spirit has emerged eloquently here in these poems of perception and even prophecy….”

Meshulam’s work has appeared in literary magazines from Ars Medica to Teachers & Writers. Meshulam has taught with California Poets in the Schools for more than 20 years and in settings from 2nd-grade classrooms to juvenile hall.

She co-ordinated Sonoma County’s Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide high school recitation program, for 13 years. She also edited CalPoets’ Poetry Crossing, which Poetry Flash called “a joyful collection of lessons and poems.” She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and her BA from Pomona College. She also has her bilingual certificate of competence from the state of California.