Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna to Speak at Wenatchee High School

Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna is scheduled to speak to Wenatchee High School AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and mariachi classes on Friday, October 25 at 11:35 a.m - 12:55 p.m. and 1:40- 3:00 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction Room (LGI).  

Castro Luna is Washington’s fifth Washington State Poet Laureate, a position appointed by Governor Jay Inslee. She is also the first immigrant and woman of color to assume the role. 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 a master's degree 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, a project that landed her an interview on PBS NewsHour. She is also the author of the poetry chapbook This City and the collection Killing Marías.
 
The Washington State Poet Laureate program is jointly sponsored by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA. Poets laureate work to build awareness and appreciation of poetry—including the state’s legacy of poetry—through public readings, workshops, lectures, and presentations in communities throughout the state.