Events and Readings
Proposed Year 2 Activities
MY FAVORITE POEMS CROSS-COUNTY MATCH UP Aventura, Florida October 21, 2023
Organizing and reading as part of a twenty-person panel “favorite poems” reading in collaboration with the Office of Poet in the Miami-Dade County office of Mayor Daniela Levine Cava.
THE NORTH REGIONAL BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY Coconut Creek, Florida February 28, 2024
Featured poetry instructor, “Tell Your Story” Conference at the North Regional Broward County Library
PROPOSED POSSIBLE YEAR-TWO ACTIVITIES
2023
October: Quarterly poem.
November 11: Poem at Veterans Day
December: Poem at Jazz Under the Stars
2024
January: Quarterly poem.
February: Poem at MSD Memorial
April: recognize/celebrate National Poetry Month. Events/promotions TBD.
April: Quarterly poem.
May 27: Poem at Memorial Day
June: Juneteenth – Laura will secure students to read poems at event.
July: Quarterly poem.
August: End of term of celebration
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Work with the Mayor on establishing more occasions for citizens to learn more about how to read a poem, opportunities to write their own poems, and promote better transparency and communication lines between the position of poet laureate, the commission, and the citizens of Coconut Creek, so the commission is able to grow and institutionalize this program as part of the fabric of the city.
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Work with the Vice Mayor on bringing more poetry opportunities into the Coconut Creek schools.
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Coordinate and lead a “Poetry in the Park” series in collaboration with the Parks and Recreation Department.
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Design and teach another National Poetry Month writing workshop series at the North Regional Broward County Library
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Host a community poetry reading at the new coffee shop opening in District A.
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Host a community poetry discussion and lecture for residents in District B.
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Look after the Winston Park Nature Center free library that is readily accessible to District C and District D
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Host another community poetry reading at a pastry shop in District E.
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Suggested calendar by Yvonne Lopez that reflect last year’s activities:
Year One Publications
CREEKU August 1-31,2023
Wrote a haiku a day about the city of Coconut Creek throughout the month of August, published on social media. #Creeku2023
CHAMELEON CHIMER A:AN ANTHOLOGY OF FLORIDA POETS July 15, 2023
“Half February: Classroom 1216, 9th Grade Language Arts”
CITY OF COCONUT CREEK’S POET LAUREATE PAGE July 2023
Coconut Creek, Florida Quarterly poem entitled “Within,” written about the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
CREEKU April 1-30,2023
Wrote a haiku a day about the city of Coconut Creek throughout the month of April, published on social media. #Creeku2023
CITY OF COCONUT CREEK’S POET LAUREATE PAGE November 2023
Coconut Creek, Florida Quarterly poem entitled ““The Season’s First Golden Trumpet,” written about the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
CREE- KU January 1-31,2023 Wrote a haiku a day about the city of Coconut Creek throughout the month of January, published on social media. #Creeku2023
CITY OF COCONUT CREEK’S POET LAUREATE PAGE January 2023
Quarterly poem entitled “Butterfly Poem,” written about the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
CREE- KU December 1-31, 2022 Wrote a haiku a day about the city of Coconut Creek throughout the month of December, published on social media. #Creeku2022
CITY OF COCONUT CREEK’S POET LAUREATE PAGE November 2023
Poem entitled “Our Baggage: a Creekside Collaborative Poem,” written in collaboration with military veterans who live in the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
CREE- KU September 1-30, 2022 Wrote a haiku a day about the city of Coconut Creek throughout the month of September, published on social media. #Creeku2022
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Past Events
June 16, 2023 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Mentor to student-poets who will recite original poetry at the Juneteenth Celebration sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
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May 29, 2023 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the Memorial Day Ceremony sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
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May 11, 2023 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the Student Recognition Ceremony sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
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April 2023 – NORTH REGIONAL COUNTY LIBRARY – Coconut Creek, Florida
“Poems about Family and Its Utterly Unique Bonds” – a poetry writing workshop
The word “family” conjures images and emotions. Many times, we look at family with feelings of warmth, love, happiness, and safety. Many times, however, family can bring pain and frustration and flat-out trauma. Families are as complicated as the individuals that make them up. We’ll explore this through example poems and our writings.
April 2023 – NORTH REGIONAL COUNTY LIBRARY – Coconut Creek, Florida
“Poems of Place” – a poetry writing workshop
Poets often pay tribute to specific locations in their poetry, writing praise or criticism to landscapes, bustling cities, or areas of historical or personal significance. Whether it’s your location or your current state of inner being, we’ll explore through our writings poems about various places that map our lives.
April 2023 – NORTH REGIONAL COUNTY LIBRARY – Coconut Creek, Florida
“Poems that Bear Witness” – a poetry writing workshop
Poetry of witness argues that poets are perennial participants in human history. Poets bear witness to historical events and their impact. In this session, we’ll explore how poetry archives historic experiences and develop writing strategies to clarify our own truths about history.
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April 2023 – NORTH REGIONAL COUNTY LIBRARY – Coconut Creek, Florida
“Write What You Know” – a poetry writing workshop
Putting words on paper helps you make sense of the world around you, express your deepest emotions, create healthy coping strategies for your deep personal needs, or articulate an overwhelming sense of joy. This session will help you become a more active observer of your life, less a bystander, taking note of everything that comes into your peripheral vision.
February 9, 2023 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Memorial event sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
January 19, 2023 – THE SENIOR CENTER – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poetry lecturer on the art of poetry sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
December 9, 2022 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the “Jazz Under the Stars” event sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
November 11, 2022 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the Veterans Day Ceremony sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
August 25, 2022 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Appointed as the First Poet Laureate of the City of Coconut Creek, Florida
May 30, 2022 – CITY OF COCONUT CREEK – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the Memorial Day Ceremony sponsored by the City of Coconut Creek, Florida.
February 13, 2020 – BROWARD COLLEGE – Coconut Creek, Florida
Poetry event host and featured poet who organized an event in remembrance of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Highschool school shooting tragedy entitled “If I Don’t Make it, I Love You,” a reading sponsored by Orange Island Arts Foundation.
November 14, 2019 – NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERISTY – Davie, Florida
Featured poet at the event “The Humane Experience – Poet and Art in Healthcare,” sponsored by Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library at NSU.
October 27, 2019 – SWIRL WINE BISTRO – Coconut Creek, Florida
Featured poet at the event “Sunday Salon South Florida,” a reading sponsored by Orange Island Arts Foundation.
February 13, 2018 – BROWARD COLLEGE – Coconut Creek, Florida
Poetry event host and featured poet who organize an event in remembrance of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Highschool school shooting tragedy entitled “Poems for Parkland: Poetry of Peace,” a reading sponsored by Orange Island Arts Foundation.
March 13, 2018 – BROWARD COLLEGE – Coconut Creek, Florida
Poetry event host and featured poet who organize an event in remembrance of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Highschool school shooting tragedy entitled “Poems for Parkland: Poetry of Peace,” a reading sponsored by Orange Island Arts Foundation.
November 1-3, 2017 – ASSOCIATION OF FLORIDA COLLEGES – Palm Harbor, Florida
Led an Educational Concurrent Session entitled “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Using the Charrette Design Process to Create and Integrate Contextualized Gen Ed Learning Activities with Career-themed Material” at the 68th AFC Annual Meeting and Conference. Discussed the charrette design process – a collaborative exercise – how contextualized activities help students see the relevance in content they may not find inherently interesting, and shared information collected from its use.
November 21, 2016 – ORANGE ISLAND REVIEW, vol.1 no.2 – Beating Windward Press
Publication release date of a collection of poetry and artwork from high school students throughout the U.S. and edited entirely by a high school editorial staff, where I served as managing editor.
June 25, 2016 – GIRLS’ CLUB – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Read poetry at part of the event “Flip Out,” an exhibit of sketchbooks by local artists and the release of the catalog Self-Proliferation.
June 14, 2016 – THE GALERY AT THE AVALON – Orlando, Florida
Featured poet at the event “There will be Words #46.”
June 2, 2016 – LUNA STAR CAFE – North Miami, Florida
Featured poet at the event “Return of the Native Son.”
May 26, 2016 – BLACK DOG ON THE SQUARE – Tallahassee, Florida
Featured poet at the event “Literary Night.”
May 10, 2016 – INKWOOD BOOKS – Tampa, Florida
Featured poet at the monthly reading series.
November 22, 2015 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
November 18, 2015 – ORANGE ISLAND REVIEW, vol.1 no.2 – Beating Windward Press
Publication release date of a collection of poetry and artwork from high school students throughout the U.S. and edited entirely by a high school editorial staff, where I served as managing editor.
September 26, 2015 – GIRLS’ CLUB – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Read newly released book of poems at launch party celebration.
September 13, 2015 – BOOKS AND BOOKS – Coral Gables, Florida
Guest poet for the Writer’s on the Bay Reading Series.
August 29, 2015 – VISIONS ON ALLIGATOR ALLEY – Lominy Books
Published an ekphrastic story in verse inspired by the 2015 Girls’ Club Fort Lauderdale gallery exhibit “The Moment. The Backdrop. The Persona.” Poems inspired by artwork from the exhibit depict a story through verse as well as by visual landscape by tracing the journey of a Florida woman who struggles with the overwhelmingly masculine world she lives in, and with feelings of desire, longing, and deep mourning.
June 15, 2015 – BROWARD COLLEGE – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Taught a leadership workshop for the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning entitled, “From Soldier to Successful Student.”
May 21 and 30, 2015 – GIRLS’ CLUB – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Led a poetry writing workshop entitle “The Persona: The Fitting Room” that examined the persona poem from the point of view of a speaker— the voice that sings or cries or whispers in the reader’s ear – as a means to find closure in a situation or to understand human nature
April 16 and 25, 2015 – GIRLS’ CLUB – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Led a poetry writing workshop entitled “The Backdrop: The Language of Landscape” that examined how the description of scene and place can reveal so much about characters and the relationships they build by discussing poems which use the page as its canvas.
April 22, 2015 – ORANGE ISLAND REVIEW, vol.1 no.2 – Beating Windward Press
Publication release date of a collection of poetry and artwork from high school students throughout the U.S. and edited entirely by a high school editorial staff, where I served as managing editor.
March 19 and 28, 2015 – GIRLS’ CLUB – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Led a poetry writing workshop entitled “The Moment: Decoding Instances” that examined characters and the relationships they build from the perspective of one episode in life.
February 22, 2015 –– BROWARD COLLEGE– Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Taught a leadership workshop for the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning entitled “Intro to the Online Student Veteran Sensitivity”
November 22, 2014 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
January 20-25, 2014 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
November 23, 2013 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
October 24, 2013 – PALM SPRINGS NORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – Palm Springs North, Florida
Honored guest poet at the school’s Author’s Tea.
January 21-26, 2013 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
November 24, 2012 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
January 16-21, 2012 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
November 19, 2011– MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
January 17-22, 2011 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
November 20, 2010 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida Featured poet as part of a panel event.
January 18-23, 2010 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
November 15, 2009 – MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL – Miami, Florida
Member of a Miami Poetry Collective’s paneled poetry reading entitle “Eventually We Noticed the Smoke: A Poeme-Fleuve.”
March 20, 2009 – HIALEAH GARDENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – Hialeah Gardens, Florida
Honored guest poet at the school’s Author’s Tea.
January 19-24, 2009 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
April 28, 2008 – DADA RESTAURANT – Delray Beach, Florida
Guest judge of a slam poetry contest for the National Poetry Slam (NPS) district finals.
April 21, 2008 – BROWARD COLLEGE – Pembroke Pines, Florida
Guest poetry instructor for Barbra Nightingale’s undergraduate literature class.
January 21-26, 2008 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
September 23, 2007 – BOOKS AND BOOKS – Coral Gables, Florida
Guest poet for the Writer’s on the Bay Reading Series.
January 15-20, 2007 – The PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
December 7, 2006 – NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY – Davie, Florida
Guest workshop leader of “Award Winning Poets” for the Lifelong Learning Institute.
March 28, 2006 – FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY– Miami, Florida
Organized a discussion panel to read at Florida International University’s Women Studies Conference, and presented a research project entitled, “A Creative Partnership: The Consciousness of Plath and Hughes.”
January 16-21, 2006 – THE PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL – Delray Beach, Florida
Poetry event host and speaker who introduced featured poets for every event associated with the position of Festival Coordinator.
October 6, 2005– PALM SPRINGS NORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – Palm Springs North, Florida
Honored guest poet at the school’s Author’s Tea.
September 16, 2005 – NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY – Davie, Florida
Honored guest reader of poetry in conjunction with the Hannah Kahn Poetry Foundation.
November 29, 2005 – FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY– Miami, Florida
Guest judge of a slam poetry contest for Professor Denise Duhamel’s undergraduate poetry class.
November 3, 2005 – – FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY– Miami, Florida
Guest poetry instructor for Professor Scott Kass’ undergraduate Introduction to Creative Writing class.
March 29, 2005 – FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY– Miami, Florida
Featured poet at Florida International University’s Women Studies Conference.
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