Mayor Julián Castro unveils plans to select City's first Official Poet Laureate

Mayor Julián Castro announced today the City's plans to select San Antonio's first Official Poet Laureate. In doing so, San Antonio will become the first major Texas city to currently appoint a Poet Laureate. The San Antonio Poet Laureate is an honorary position, selected through a nomination process, whose role is to promote the literary arts within the community and create a greater appreciation of the arts through the reading and writing of poetry.

"The life and vibrancy of a city is often best told through poetry," Mayor Castro said. "Through this Poet Laureate competition we can showcase the wonderful literary talent that makes San Antonio a special place."

Nominations must be submitted online at www.sahearts.com beginning today through Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. All nominations will be reviewed by the City's Office of Cultural Affairs to ensure each nomination is complete. Incomplete nominations will not be considered. A selection committee of four accomplished poets will review eligible candidates. The committee, to be overseen by honorary chair Rosemary Catacalos, Executive Director of Gemini Ink, will rank the candidates based on specified eligibility requirements and select the Poet Laureate. Mayor Castro will formally appoint the Poet Laureate in April in keeping with the SA 2020 goal of turning San Antonio into a renowned creative community.

"One of our nation's greatest poets, Maya Angelou, once said 'It takes the human voice to infuse words with deeper meaning.' We hope that through the inaugural San Antonio Poet Laureate selection, a poet is identified whose voice speaks to the depth of our city's rich identity and inspires a greater understanding of our past, present and future," said Felix Padron, director of the City's Office of Cultural Affairs.

The individual selected as San Antonio Poet Laureate will serve a two-year term and will receive an honorarium of $3,000 per year.
For more information about nominations for the San Antonio Poet Laureate, visit www.sahearts.com.