Monthly Archives: July 2011

A nice piece introducing the Poet Laureate including cool photos and a poem. Once you click on the image below and get to the issue, hover on the cover, click “view fullscreen,” then proceed to pages 48-53. Better yet, subscribe to this very hip, new, San Jose cultural scene zine!

Coming soon to this blog: Announcing the first Santa Clara County’s Favorite Poems public reading!

Sally Ashton
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate

After three and a half remarkable weeks in Portugal and Spain, first teaching a poetry workshop in the Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon for two weeks, then traveling a bit with my husband and son, I am at last back home in the county and look forward to begin the process of posting the nearly 100 Favorite Poems that have been submitted.

I plan to post the poems in alphabetical order according to the poem’s author’s last name, and much as U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky did in his national project, I will list all comments in one post for a single poem in the case of multiple submissions. I’ll let you know when the posting will begin. Look for a blog update soon.

Then stay tuned for the second part of the Favorite Poem Project as planned, which is a series of readings around the county given by YOU, the contributors of Favorite Poems. Not to worry if you did not manage to submit a poem in time for inclusion on the blog(submissions now closed). Any resident will be given the opportunity to read a Favorite Poem at these events.

In the meantime, I’m including this newsworthy item, below. During my time with the literary program in Lisbon, I was struck by the value placed on all the arts in Portuguese culture and how well they were integrated into daily life. This seems far more common in Europe than here in the U.S. Well, we’re doing our part!

French Coach Relies on Poetry (click on link)
By Jeré Longman
The New York Times

Sally Ashton
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate

Happy 4th of July and beyond! Here are my final 3 posts from Lisbon on the Best American Poetry blog. As noted, at the close of the Disquiet literary conference, I’ve traveled on to Sevilla, Spain and met up with my husband and son.

I’ll return home July 12th, and look forward to getting the Favorite Poem posts underway. In the meantime, it’s not too late to send your own Favorite Poem with comment, or to encourage your friends and co-workers to do the same.

I hope you enjoy these words, music, and poems from Lisbon.

Hasta la vista,

Sally Ashton
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate

June 29

July 2nd

July 3rd