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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Derek Wing, Communications Manager
dwing@redmond.gov, 425-556-5844
Ching-In Chen Receives Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship
REDMOND, WA - The City of Redmond’s 2024 poet laureate, Ching-In Chen, was named one of 22 recipients nationwide to be awarded a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets Laureate. This award grants each recipient $50,000 and is given to honor poets of literary merit who are appointed to serve in civic positions. The award supports poets in leading public poetry programs in their communities.
Currently, Chen is connecting poets and local food establishments, to celebrate the spirit of Redmond culture through poetry. This new collaboration, called Read Local Eat Local, starts during the Downtown Redmond Art Walk with a reading on the Buoyant Pavilion in Downtown Park on Thursday, Sept. 19, and continues throughout the fall.
“One of the main goals of the Redmond Poet Laureate program is to broaden the awareness and beauty of poetry and express the spirit of Redmond culture,” said Mayor Angela Birney. “I am excited that Chen is being recognized for this award and I look forward to participating in their upcoming project by visiting our local businesses to collect, and be inspired by, our community-created poetry.”
Residents and visitors can stop by participating Redmond businesses and enjoy poems printed on postcards focusing on the themes of food, harvest, lineage, and the City of Redmond. These poems were submitted during the summer by community members. This project is made possible thanks to a generous Arts Sustained Support grant from 4Culture.
"The support from the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship will allow me to collaborate with other International Cities of Literature and Gastronomy to expand the Read Local Eat Local project to include the voices of international poets in translation,” said Chen. “The Fellowship will also provide support for a community youth poetry gathering, with a focus on transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive poets. I am excited to collaborate with the City of Redmond and Redmond community members to share ways that poetry can support understanding and dialogue, as well as to bring back ideas from attending the National Book Festival and meeting the other poet laureates."
For additional information about the Read Local Eat Local project, visit redmond.gov/2142/.
About Redmond’s Poet Laureate: The City’s eighth poet laureate, Ching-In Chen is a lifelong educator, community organizer, poet, and the author of The Heart's Traffic (Arktoi/Red Hen Press, 2009) and recombinant (Kelsey Street Press, 2017). They are an assistant professor teaching creative writing and performance classes at the University of Washington - Bothell and the current Poet-in-Residence at Hugo House. They are also a community organizer, specifically in Asian American communities, in coalition with other communities of color and LGBTQIA+ communities.
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