CONGRATULATIONS! West Seattleite Claudia Castro Luna chosen as next Washington State Poet Laureate

West Seattle is clearly a hotbed of poetry! For the second time in four years, a West Seattleite has been appointed to serve as Washington State Poet Laureate. The just-announced 2018-2020 Poet Laureate is Claudia Castro Luna, who made history previously as Seattle’s first Civic Poet. She succeeds Tod Marshall, whose 2016-2018 appointment followed that of West Seattleite Elizabeth Austen (2014-2016). From the full announcement of Castro Luna’s appointment:

Castro Luna fled war-torn El Salvador for the United States at the age of 14 with her family. She went on to earn an MFA in poetry and an MA in urban planning. After working as a K-12 teacher, she became Seattle’s first Civic Poet, a position appointed by the mayor. In that position, Castro Luna won acclaim for her Seattle Poetic Grid, an online interactive map of showcasing poems about different locations around the city. The grid even landed her an interview on PBS NewsHour. She is also the author of the poetry chapbook This City and the collection Killing Marías.

Her appointment officially begins on February 1st. In February of last year, we covered her speaking in West Seattle at Southwest Youth and Family Services (photo above), telling the story of her “long journey.”

1 Reply to "CONGRATULATIONS! West Seattleite Claudia Castro Luna chosen as next Washington State Poet Laureate"

  • bre November 21, 2017 (5:19 pm)

    Congratulations!  The Poetry Grid (click on link above) is amazing!  Great idea–hope it keeps growing!

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