Thank you, 2022, for all the lessons and milestones! I’m honored to have been part of this year’s events and programs, and grateful to everyone who helped make them happen:
- Dear Poet 2022
- Skyline College Summer of Poetry & Farewell Party
- Academy of American Poets Fellows at L.A. Public Library
- Pacific Chorale’s Meet Me for Noche Buena World Premiere (first commissioned work as lyricist)
- Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Climate Mosaic
- Poets Crawleate at Lit Crawl
- The Future Is Poetry & San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project
- U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai’s 4th of July official poem & poet
- KALW Public Radio’s 4th of July poem
- IAM’s Fiscal Sponsorship
- Redwood City’s Racial Equity Mural Celebration
- CAA’s 53rd Annual Celebration of Justice
- Metro Film and Arts’ Breaking Down Walls at Fort Mason
- Makerspace Poetry Lab Launch
- National Poetry Month proclamations in San Mateo County + 11 cities
- San Mateo County Health Commemoration official poem & poet
- Equity Through Art in the Filipino/a/x Community
- Women’s Hall of Fame & Women’s Leadership Conference
- KQED Advisory Panel appointment
- Filoli Curatorial Committee
- Commendations from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, California State Senator Josh Becker, Assemblymember Kevin Mullin, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and the Consulate General of the Philippines in San Francisco
- Paloma Press book launches & 6th year as publisher
- First year as Commissioner & final year as poet laureate
- 80 readings/workshops/presentations
- 5 poems published (including first in American Poets) + 2 newspaper articles
I’m looking forward to working on these forthcoming projects in 2023, and especially welcome the friendships they will bring:
- “Step Into the Light” at the Cow Palace on January 12th, to celebrate and build on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic 1964 Cow Palace appearance
- National Masterwork Chorus’ “Wide American Earth” at Carnegie Hall on June 10th, to celebrate the resilient and tenacious stories of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities through song
- Collaborative book
- Launch of Dear Human at the Edge of Time climate change anthology
- Commission on the Status of Women, Office of Arts and Culture, KQED, Filoli, and Paloma Press events and programs
I am so very grateful for these opportunities, but more importantly, I hope for gentler days, and the largest increments of time with everyone that I love. Here’s to 2023, and all its possibilities. May it be lovelier with ease and laughter. A happy and peaceful new year to all!
Aileen Cassinetto 