LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Newly appointed Lake County Poet Laureate Casey Carney and Riviera Common Grounds Coffee House proprietor Andrea Williams will host a monthly Poet Laureate Reading Series beginning this Friday, Sept. 12.
The readings will take place at the Common Grounds Coffee House at 9736 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the second Friday of each month, and will feature one of each of Lake County’s eight poet laureates in sequence, along with a guest poet and musician.
The poet laureate is an official appointment by a government or conferring institution for the purpose of promoting poetry in that jurisdiction.
The series opens with the work of Lake County’s original poet laureate, Jim Lyle.
Lyle currently resides at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville where he is supported in living with Alzheimer’s.
According to his daughter Gina, through the involvement of his family, Lyle is able to live contentedly, is aware that he is an artist and poet, and often shares his work with others.
“He had a long journey to where he is now,” his daughter said, “and thankfully his essence was preserved in the transition.”
“Things Seen in the Dessert,” Lyle’s book of poems and essays, was published by Earthen Vessel Productions in 2001.
Fellow laureate emeritus and longtime friend, James BlueWolf, will read Lyle’s work at the Sept. 12 event.
Described as a “maverick,” by Calder Lowe, the executive editor of The Montserrat Review, Jim Lyle is known for a gritty poetic voice resonant of his early upbringing in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and subsequent migration to California during the Great Depression.
As well as a dedicated poet, Lyle is known for his mentoring of poets and advocacy of poetry.
When the Lake County Board of Supervisors confirmed him as poet laureate in 1998, it was to be a prestigious lifetime position.
Lyle, however, believed that the office should be rotating, and resigned in 2000, effectively making it a two-year position.
As a result of his foresight, there is now a lineage of eight Lake County poet laureates, many who are currently active in the writing, teaching and publication of poetry and prose in Lake County.
Appointed during National Poetry Month this past April, Carney is developing several forums to promote and connect the poetry, writing, and performing and visual art communities of Lake County.
These include fostering collaboration between art disciplines, co-facilitating a poetry workshop for at-risk youth with emeritus laureate Elaine Watt, representing Lake County in public readings, and accessing social media as a way to centralize communication between poets, writers, and artists.
“In the role of poet laureate, I feel that getting to know and presenting the work of the lineage of Lake County poet laureates is a good place to begin, for both myself and the community,” Carney said.
At the Sept. 12 reading, poet/painter Julie Adams from Middletown will be the guest poet. Writer/singer Barbarajo Bloomquist from Clearlake will be the guest musician.
Those interested in being a guest artist during the series are encouraged to contact Carney at
Anyone interested in connecting through poetry, writing and art events can join the Facebook group, Lake County Poet Laureate.
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