In a historic first for the city, Vallejo has filled its poet laureate position with not one, but two poets who will serve the community side-by-side.
Co-poets laureate Jacalyn Yvonne and Kathleen Herrmann will begin their term Jan. 1, bringing the full power of their joint experience and artistic skill to the position.
Yvonne boasts a repertoire that is extensive and boundless, spanning both mediums and decades. In addition to poetry, She has proven herself as a multi-talented visual artist with extensive experience in filmmaking, television production and photography. She edited and published the national magazine “In the Company of Poets” in the 1990s, later transforming it into a television show which featured many spoken word artists.
Over the decades, her poems have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and in the anthologies, “Sistah’s With Ink” (2013) and “Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 3” (Wheelsong, United Kingdom, 2023).
Yvonne is also a prolific author, her published books including “I Am Not An Inconsequential Word” (2022), “Venting to Verse” (2023), with two upcoming poetry collections, “The Unyielding Weight of Words” and “The World in Black and Words”.
Her poem “The Talk” earned her second place at the Jackson Book Festival Poetry competition in Mississippi.
Yvonne currently organizes and hosts the Poetry and Monologues and KidsInFilm film festivals and has an exhibition melding photography and poetry currently on display at the McCune.
Serving alongside Yvonne, Kathleen Herrmann brings her own unique, expansive resume to the role.
As an internationally published poet, Herrmann’s work appears in 14 anthologies worldwide, including “I Can’t Breathe” (Kistrich Poetry, Kenya, 2021), “Friendship” (Pure Slush, Australia, 2021) and “Work & the Anthropocene” (Ice Floe Press, Canada, 2022).
Herrmann’s upcoming work includes a collection entitled “I Was There, Now I’m Here: Crossing Borders,” featuring the stories of refugees.
Having received awards including “Best of Show in Poetry” at the 2022 and 2023 Solano County Fairs and also awards from the Ina Coolbrith Poetry Circle, Herrmann is no stranger to recognition in the community. She has also featured for the Alameda Island Poets, Benicia First Tuesday Poets, and Napa Valley Writers Club.
Like Yvonne, Herrmann’s artistic interests are varied and complementary. Building off her M.A. in Teaching Leadership from St. Mary’s College, Herrmann hopes to hold workshops for the community and organize ekphrastic readings. She is also an experienced musician and singer and hopes to meld the two art forms together to create a community song for Vallejo.
Yvonne and Herrmann are set to take the torch from Vallejo Poet Laureate Jeremy Snyder who served a record four years, beginning in January 2020. During his time as poet laureate, Snyder was an avid performer for multiple organizations. He also demonstrated a staunch commitment to the arts during the pandemic, hosting over 100 weekly open mic sessions for Poetry by the Bay via zoom.
The poet laureate program began in 2015 after the tireless advocacy of Dr. Genea S. Brice, the city’s first poet laureate, laid the foundation for the program and founded the Poetry in Notion poetry circle. Brice was followed by D.L. Lang in 2017 who published the anthology Verses, Voices, & Visions of Vallejo which features local poets.
The Poet Laureate is chosen by a committee of writers and performers. This year the list included Renay Conlin of Vallejo Center for the Arts, Poet Laureate Emerita D.L. Lang, Pamela Herron, Melody Brumdis and Annalissa Quismoro.