NEVADA COUNTY POET LAUREATE PROGRAM

The Nevada County Poet Laureate Program was inaugurated along with Sierra Poetry Festival in 2017 in the presence of California Poet Laureate, Dana Gioia. Nevada County’s inaugural Poet Laureate was celebrated poet, Molly Fisk, who set a high bar after being awarded an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship, leading to the publication of her important anthology, California Fire and Water: a Climate Crisis Anthology. In 2019 Chris Olander was named the next Nevada County Poet Laureate. Chris navigated the COVID-19 pandemic by writing copiously, and in early 2021 publishing his second collection, Twilight Roses.

Kirsten Casey has been serving as Poet Laureate since May 2021. Well before Sierra Poetry Festival and our Nevada County Poet Laureate Program was inaugurated, she was an active member of California Poets in the Schools and, after sixteen years, she is now regional coordinator. She has annually trained our county judges for Poetry Out Loud in the schools, and was founding coordinator for Nevada County Art Council's international children’s poetry exchange, Dream a Difference, in 2017.

KIRSTEN CASEY

Kirsten Casey is an active member of California Poets in the Schools and, after sixteen years, she is now regional coordinator. She has annually trained our county judges for Poetry Out Loud in the schools, and was founding coordinator for Nevada County Art Council's international children’s poetry exchange, Dream a Difference, in 2017. Her first book of poetry, Ex Viv0: Out of the Living Body, was published by Hip Pocket Press in 2012. Her upcoming collection of poems explores historical and literary characters struggling with the use of social media in the modern world. In 2020, she co-edited Molly Fisk’s "Academy of American Poet's Laureate" project, California Fire and Water: a Climate Crisis Anthology. 

Working in partnership with Kirsten, our Nevada County Arts Council’s Literary Arts Committee and Nevada County Libraries, we look forward to an exciting year of community collaborations. 

https://kirstencasey.com

CHRIS OLANDER 2019 - 2021

On April 27, 2019 - at a passing of the laurels ceremony alongside Molly Fisk at Sierra Poetry Festival - we welcomed Chris Olander as our Nevada County Poet Laureate.

Chris is a poet and bio-educator, and has taught with California Poets in the Schools since 1984. He blends performance techniques with spoken word to create what he calls an ‘Action Art Poetry - musical images phrasing to dramatize relative experiences – a poetry arising from oral and bardic traditions.’ Chris Olander’s debut book of poems is River Light. Kirk Lumpkin says, “What has always impressed me about Chris Olander’s poetry is how present, how kinetically alive the energies of nature are in it and of how the words dance in the breath and sinew of it.” 

MOLLY FISK 2017 - 2019

Our inaugural Poet Laureate was celebrated poet, Molly Fisk. Over the course of her two-year tenure, Molly supported a community-written wall poem, ran daily writing prompts for residents, and led free monthly Poetry Hours across the county, as well as authoring poems of relevance locally. In 2019 Molly was awarded an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship, one of only thirteen inaugural fellowships nationwide. The fellowship supported Molly’s work as a poet, and helped her launch an important new project called Fire and Water to help children write about the fires and floods that are increasingly devastating our state, as a way to help them process trauma and uncertainty. Fire and Water culminated in a collection of poetry and public readings across Northern California.

Fisk was born in San Francisco, educated at Harvard, and holds an MBA from Simmons College Graduate School of Management. She lives in Nevada City, where she teaches poetry and creative writing, and works as a life coach in the Skills for Change tradition. More about Molly and be found at poetrybootcamp.com, at mollyfisk.com, and at mollyfiskunlimited.com.