2024-2026 Orange County Poet Laureate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2nd Orange County Poet Laureate Appointed
Santa Ana's Gustavo Hernandez recognized
by LibroMobile Arts Cooperative and across Orange County
[January 30, 2024]
[Santa Ana, CA] On January 1st, LMAC announced the 2nd Orange County Poet Laureate (OC-PL) for 2024-2026 — on New Year’s Day! The OC-PL Program is meant to celebrate a culturally-based literary role-model, social change, and is to be enjoyed by audiences across the county supporting a civic and literary leader for generations to come. We are grateful to have gained critical insight and a triumphant two years with our inaugural OC Poet Laureate Dr. Natalie J. Graham.
Over the last year, we have restructured our OC Poet Laureate programs in order to better serve our region. On January 27, 2024 we hosted our Biennial Inauguration to celebrate our 2nd ever OC Poet Laureate Gustavo Hernandez. It was standing room only at the Bristol Swap Mall food court plaza. We surprised our poet laureate with an open mic presentation filled with praise from family, teachers and community — something he holds close to his heart and offers us in his daily practice as a writer. Watch the celebratory day on our IG TV!
Since then, Gustavo Hernandez has been hosting monthly OC Poet Laureate office hours at LibroMobile! On scheduled Sundays from 12-2pm, you can find our poet laureate in the community office ready to take your questions, offer inspiration and reading his favorite books — he even hosts a poet laureate shelf in the room for your leisure reading! Follow LibroMobile on IG to learn more about his programming and the upcoming OC Poet Laureate anthology he has in the works!
“Write, live and build community with truth at your center,” says Gustavo Hernandez. “Without the truth, we are diminished versions of ourselves.”
It is with much honor that all of us at LibroMobile Arts Cooperative
announce our 2024-2026 OC Poet Laureate!
Gustavo Hernandez is the author of the acclaimed poetry collection Flower Grand First (Moon Tide Press) and the micro-chapbooks Form His Arms and Little Fleece (Ghost City Press). His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Harvard Review, The Slowdown Podcast, and The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. Hernandez holds an associate’s degree in English from Santiago Canyon College and a bachelor’s degree in English-Creative Writing from California State University Long Beach. He was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and raised in Santa Ana, California, where he still resides.
What about the Youth Poet Laureate?
Due to unforeseen circumstances in funding and partnerships, the OC Youth Poet Laureate Program is in hiatus until 2025. If we are able to secure funding and a part-time youth poet laureate coordinator, applications will reopen April 2025.
We apologize for the disappointment this may cause our youth in Orange County. Should you be interested in donating funds or assisting with the development of this program, please email LMAC's founder Sarah Rafael Garcia at libromobile @ gmail.com.
More about our Community Partners:
Next applications open April 2025!
