Marin Poetry Center

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Marin Poetry Center

Marin Poetry Center Our Mission is to nurture poetry in the Bay Area.

We believe in the power of poetry to bear witness, reach hearts and souls, teach compassion, empathy and justice, and create a common language towards positive social change. We will continue ongoing efforts to diversify our programming, reach out to underrepresented communities for new members and audience, and support local charitable organizations. Additionally, starting now we intend to apply

the lens of anti-racism to our internal practices, policies and programming with a goal towards increasing diversity and inclusivity in all areas.

04/08/2026

We invite you to celebrate the inauguration of Marin’s 2026-2027 Youth Poet Laureate and Poet Laureate Ambassadors!

Enjoy readings of original work by past and present Youth Poet Laureates, youth poets representing high schools throughout the Bay Area, and special guests.

Registration required: https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/16353390 (link in bio)

The Youth Poet Laureate Program is a 1-year stipend-funded position for candidates ages 13 to 19 who currently reside in Marin County and demonstrate a passion for poetry, community, and social change. Youth Poet Laureates represent and celebrate the richly diverse communities of Marin County telling their stories and shaping the future narratives of communities to which they belong.

This program is made possible by CaliforniaPoetsintheSchools in conjunction with Marin County Free Library, Marin Charitable, Marin Poetry Center, The Mill Valley Library and Urban Word.

03/13/2026

Join us for a day of writing and inspiration.
Event Title: Creative Writing Retreat
Date: Saturday, March 21
Time: 10:00am- 4:30pm
Location: In-person at Dominican University of CA
Join us for our Spring Creative Writing Retreat. Dominican MFA writing mentors will lead workshops in fiction, essay, memoir, and poetry. This retreat has a new format that offers extended time in small group workshops in both the morning and the afternoon as well as group journal writing, a nature walk, and a keynote lecture with Savala Nolan, author of Good Woman, A Reckoning.

Registration
The registration fee is $160 and includes lunch. Scholarships are available if the registration fee is a barrier to your participation. Special pricing is also available for MFA students and alumni. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
Advanced registration is required. Cancellations with a full refund can be made until two days prior to the event.
For information about the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at Dominican, visitdominican.edu/mfa

MPC Members receive a 20% with code: MPCDISCOUNT
Students/low-income individuals receive free registration with code: MFASTUDENT

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-writing-retreat-in-person-at-dominican-march-21-2026-tickets-1983895162837?aff=oddtdtcreator

02/27/2026

Thursday, March 5th, 2026, | 6:30- 8:00 pm | Location: Mill Valley Public Library (Creekside Room) | 375 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Join us for our monthly Poetry Reading Series featuring John Fox & Meredith Heller.

Registration Required - https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/14980385

John Fox, is the author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem Making and Finding What You Didn’t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity Through Poem-Making. His work is featured in the PBS documentary, Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine. John is President of The Institute for Poetic Medicine (IPM), a nonprofit he founded in 2005. IPM offers monthly poetry-as-healer poetry circles, facilitator training programs, and poetry projects that serve a variety of groups throughout the United States and internationally. John lives in Mountain View, California.

Meredith Heller is a poet, author, singer-songwriter, nature devotee, and educator with degrees in writing and education. She leads dynamic workshops in schools, women’s prisons, the Institute for Poetic Medicine, the Kennedy Center for the Arts, wellness & creativity retreats, and online for a global community of writers. Her passion is empowering people to trust their creative instincts, awaken their wild wisdom, speak their truth, and ignite their hearts. She is the author of Writing By Heart, Write a Poem, Save Your Life, and four poetry collections, Yuba Witch, River Spells, Songlines, and Caterpillar Girl. Meredith’s workshops help you express the wild beauty of your heart. www.meredithheller.com

02/23/2026

Introducing Marin’s current Youth Poet Laureate, Anaya Ertz, who will be in discussion with Richie Hofmann for MPC’s Distinguished Visiting Poet Series 2026 on Wednesday, March 11 at 3-5pm at the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley).

Anaya Ertz (Senior, Marin Academy) is driven by deep curiosity and a passion for learning. She began writing poetry in the 6th grade, and the art form became a means for her to process her emotions during the pandemic. She hopes her poetry will inspire change, whether that be on an institutional or personal level. Anaya believes in writing as a form of community engagement and finds inspiration in the people and places around her. She is editor-in-chief of her school’s literary arts magazine, Echoes, and works with KQED as a student journalist. Outside of reading and writing, her diverse array of interests includes world history, Formula 1, and neuroscience.

As part of Marin’s Youth Poet Laureate program, Anaya has shared her work at Quiet Lightning’s Poetry in the Parks and the Petaluma Poetry Walk, has guest-taught poetry at Mill Valley Middle School, and is currently partnering with Marin County Free Library on expanding their poetry programs to reach youth and underserved populations.

02/16/2026

Introducing our feature poet, Richie Hofmann, for MPC’s Distinguished Visiting Poet Series 2026 on Wednesday, March 11 at 3-5pm at the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley).

Richie Hofmann is the author of three books of poetry, The Bronze Arms (2026), A Hundred Lovers (2022), and Second Empire (2015). His poetry appears in The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, and The New Republic, and he has been honored with fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, he has taught recently at Stanford University and the University of Chicago.

Hofmann’s new collection The Bronze Arms (Alfred A. Knopf 2026) is a q***r coming-of-age, tinged with myth: poems that bring us into a fever dream of antiquity and desire at its limits. Recognizing the fragility of the body and soul in a world of threat, these startling poems stem from a central boyhood memory—the author’s near-drowning in a swimming pool on Crete. The observant child was troubled that none of the statues he saw had arms—and then it was his father’s arms lifting him from the water, saving his life.

Register here (link in bio): https://tinyurl.com/2tzaj82v

02/11/2026

Teen Poetry Reading
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
6 - 7pm
Fairfax Library
(2097 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Fairfax CA 94930)

Join us for a night of original poetry written and read by local middle and high school students!

To sign up for the reading, email Emily Strempek at [email protected]

This program is being run by Marin’s Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador, Walt Novosardian. Walt is a junior at San Marin High School and he uses poetry to shed light on mental health and social justice issues, using his voice to spark conversation.

This program is supported by California Poets in the Schools in conjunction with Marin Free Library, Marin Charitable Foundation, Marin Poetry Center, and Urban Word NYC.

02/06/2026

SharedCanvas is an intergenerational arts program that connects student artists and senior citizens through visual art and poetry. Student artwork will serve as the starting point for poetry workshops where seniors can reflect, respond, and share their voices. Founded to bridge generational divides, SharedCanvas encourages creative expression while addressing ageism, current social issues, and the growing problem of isolation across all ages.

Student artists welcome to submit here (deadline February 15, 2026): marincounty.jotform.com/260105093738051 (link in bio)

This program is led by Marin Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador in collaboration with .library, with support from in conjunction with , , and .

02/03/2026

MPC’s Distinguished Visiting Poet Series 2026
Wednesday, March 11 at 3-5pm
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts
616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley

Richie Hofmann in conversation with Marin Youth Poet Laureate Anaya Ertz, hosted by Marin Poet Laureate Emeritus Prartho Sereno

Richie will be reading from his new collection The Bronze Arms (Alfred A. Knopf 2025), in conversation with Anaya regarding his new book and writing processes; followed by a generative workshop and book signing

Registration required (link in bio):
https://tinyurl.com/2tzaj82v

01/30/2026

Thursday, February 5th, 2026 | 6:30- 8:00 pm | Location: Mill Valley Public Library (Creekside Room) | 375 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941

MPC Reading Series: Kim Shuck & Bruce Isaacson February 2026

Registration Required: https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/14980384

Join us for our monthly Poetry Reading Series featuring Kim Shuck & Bruce Isaacson
—

Kim Shuck, poet and weaver from San Francisco, writes with themes of Indigenous identity, humor, resilience, and everyday sacredness. Her work blends sharp social observation with a tactile, earth-rooted lyricism that honors community, ancestry, and survival. Shuck is the author of over 10 poetry collections, including Deer Trails (City Lights Books), Clouds Running In (Taurean Horn Press), and Smuggling Cherokee (Greenfield Review Press). In 2019, Shuck, as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, was named San Francisco’s Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2021. Her new book, Pick a Garnet to Sleep, is available from Scapegoat Press, 2024
—

Bruce Isaacson’s poetry books include the new Porpoisefully Wrong, Red Dawn, as well as Anthems of the Doomed and Ghosts Among the Neon. He was the first poet laureate of Clark County, Nevada, and publisher of Zeitgeist Press, with over 150 titles. He studied/worked with key Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Diane di Prima. In New York, he was a finalist in the inaugural Nuyorican Bowery Slam. In SF, he was a coordinator of the Cafe Babar reading, part of the 1980s Spoken Word resurgence. He writes “waving poetry like a flag, in a wind that burns as it blows.”

01/21/2026

The Marin Poetry Season is underway, running now through May 2026! Immerse yourself in our series of poetic events, showcasing diverse voices and unique perspectives. We can’t wait to see you there!

See all events: https://marinpoetrycenter.org/events/

01/17/2026

2026-2027 Marin Youth Poet Laureate & Ambassador Program ✨

The Marin County Youth Poet Laureate Program seeks to support arts leadership in younger generations of poets by providing them with platforms that allow them to use their art to actively build social change in their community.

The Youth Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Ambassadors (runner-ups) serve for one year (April 2026 - April 2027), during which they participate in ceremonial, educational, and cultural activities that encourage community members to develop their own voices within the county.

Candidates for Youth Poet Laureate should be between 13 and 19 (including incoming high school, college, or gap year), currently reside in Marin County, and demonstrate a commitment to poetry, community, and social change. Candidates for YPL Ambassador may reside within the 9 Bay Area counties, as long as they can occasionally travel to and from Marin County for public events. Please see the application for details.

Application here (link in bio!): https://forms.gle/9UZ6WdPSSoA3qxoU7

Deadline: February 20, 2026 at 11:59pm Pacific Time

Judge: Marin’s Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate, Mira Sridharan

This program is made possible by , .library, , , , and .

Questions? Contact Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş, YPL Coordinator at [email protected]

Address

Mill Valley, CA

Website

http://www.marinpoetrycenter.org/

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