Fresno's First Latinx Poet Laureate: Marisol Baca

I N T E R V I E W :

MARISOL BACA

FRESNO POET LAUREATE

On May 2, 2019, Fresno City Hall was abuzz with the announcement of the new City of Fresno Poet Laureate, the first Latinx and female poet to be appointed by the Mayor, with support by the Fresno Arts Council, since the program's inauguration in 2013.

Fresno has been central to shaping Baca's identity as a writer who is also a woman of color, from her youthful forays in performance poetry in the Tower District to earning her MFA in Creative Writing (2007) from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Today, Baca is the founder of local peer writing group, Women Writers of Color (WWOC), and reads regularly across the United States from new work and her first book, Tremor (Three Mile Harbor Press, 2018).

Marisol Baca, Fresno Poet Laureate (2019-2021)

photo: LeeAnn DiCicco

"I see myself as part of Fresno poetry--a changing and growing community of writers who come to this city, or stay in this city, to connect, work, and learn. How am I connected to outside poetry? From teaching for the California Center for the Book, Poets & Writers, The Rural Libraries Tour, [and] touring the backbone of the southwest and speaking about [b]order issues with Las Peregrinas in 2018 . . . I have been part of a national conversation about poetry, creativity, and social justice issues."

B I O

Marisol Baca is the author of Tremor. She received an MFA from Cornell, was the recipient of the Robert Chasen poetry award, and is a professor at Fresno City College. She teaches in the Resources for American Indian Needs learning community and founded Women Writers of Color in the Central Valley.