KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The fourth event of the Lake County Poet Laureate Reading Series takes place this Friday, Dec. 12, and will feature the poetry of Lake County Poet Laureate Emerita Sandra Wade.
The reading, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will take place at the Riviera Common Grounds Coffee House at 9736 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.
Presented by current Lake County Poet Laureate Casey Carney and Common Grounds proprietor Andrea Williams, the series is held on the second Friday of each month through April and is designed to showcase local poetry by presenting each of Lake County’s eight poet laureates in sequence, along with a guest poet and musician.
Admission is free, with a $5 suggested donation.
The poet laureate is an official appointment by a government or conferring institution for the purpose of promoting poetry in that jurisdiction. These appointments occur from local to national levels.
In Lake County, the two-year position began in 1998 with the appointment of Jim Lyle. In 2006, Sandra Wade was selected as the fourth poet laureate of Lake County.
Wade – who is well known as a driving force in the development and promotion of the Lake County literary and artistic communities – currently lives in Hailsham, England.
Wade’s poetry will be read by her longtime friends Jacqueline Farley and Fran Ransley, both of whom are valuable contributors to the Lake County arts and literary communities.
Born in Hertfordshire, England, Wade came to Lake County in 1970, settling in Lower Lake in 1977.
During her 44 years as a Lake County resident, Wade served as president of the Lake County Writer’s Guild, helped publish the Wildflower Press, Clear Lake Clarion and Lake Currents magazines, and was instrumental in helping to establish the Lake County Arts Council in the early 1980s.
Selected as Lake County’s poet laureate in 2006, Wade encouraged creative writing and open mics throughout the county, spearheaded the Poetry Out Loud program in local high schools, and represented Lake County by attending statewide gatherings of poets laureate, and the convention of United Poets Laureate in Montgomery, Alabama.
Wade was instrumental in the creation and growth of KPFZ 88.1 FM, the county’s first FCC-licensed, listener-supported radio station, serving as a board member and board president, and hosting “Accent on Words,” a weekly literature program.
According to KPFZ founder and Station Manager Andy Weiss, “Sandra was always a great lover of community radio – because community radio is composed of unique sounds and ideas – both of which she embraced. She brought those qualities to the early days and the seeding of KPFZ.”
Wade’s poetry is described as ranging from the elegiac to the political, and from the spiritual to the nuts and bolts of living.
Her poetry has been published in numerous literary journals and magazines, and can be read online at http://lakecountyartscouncil.com and at www.poetslane.net .
Wade currently is participating and promoting poetry in her community. As a committee member for the annual Hailsham Festival of Arts and Culture, she introduced the first ever Poetry Contest for 2014, as she did for the Lake County Fair back in the 1970s.
Wade also continues to pursue her 33-year career as a massage therapist and yoga instructor, and is active the 12-step recovery community, as she was in Lake County.
The Dec. 12 reading also will feature guest poet David Agasi from Middletown and guest musician Herb Gura of Clearlake Oaks.
Casey Carney is the current Lake County poet laureate.