Lake County Poet Laureate promotes creative expression

Left to right: Janet Riehl, Sandra Wade and Fran Ransley. Photo by Xian Yeagan

Lake County Poet Laureate Sandra Wade was introduced among her peers at a reading held Saturday, April 1 at the Lake County Arts Council’s Main Street Gallery. She commenced her two-year term a short while later with the adoption of an official proclamation by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

Then-incumbent Carolyn Wing Greenlee organized the April 1 gathering, assisted by past poets laurate Jim Lyle and James BlueWolf. It was an opportunity to hear readings by these poets laureate, as well as by entrants and finalists in the competition to choose Greenlee’s successor.

The announcement of Wade as poet laureate was an emotionally rewarding moment that she shared with finalists Janet Riehl and Fran Ransley. Look for Riehl and Ransley to offer their continued support in the promotion of written art.

The function of the Lake County Poet Laureate is to encourage poetry and writing among Lake County residents by stimulating literacy and creativity in spoken and written form. Wade notes that in some communities her equivalent office holder is “literary laureate,” and she correspondingly plans to nurturer prose as well as poetry.

This writer has had the pleasure of attending readings by several of our local poets, especially in the supportive venue that is provided through open mic. In my opinion, Lake County is blessed with many talented poets and the selection of Wade as poet laureate puts their nurturing in good hands.

From the Summer 2006 ArtNotes,
quarterly members’ newsletter of the Lake County Arts Council