Poetry
The Altadena Poets Laureate play an important role in promoting poetry in Altadena through the organization of poetry-centered events at the Altadena Libraries and publication of the online Altadena Literary Review and printed Altadena Literary Review Anthology.
Meet the 2026-2028 Poets Laureate!
Altadena Poet Laureate Editor-in-Chief Shahé Mankerian is the principal and 8th grade English teacher at St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena, California, and serves as Director of Mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). With a rich background in education and the arts, he previously co-directed the Los Angeles Writing Project and received the BRAVO Award from the Los Angeles Music Center for his innovative contributions to arts education.
In 2021, Mankerian’s debut poetry collection, History of Forgetfulness, was published by Fly on the Wall Press in the United Kingdom. History of Forgetfulness (2021) chronicles a childhood in Lebanon during its civil war. Both The Los Angeles Review and The Los Angeles Review of Books have highlighted his work for its blend of innocence and intense brutality. The collection was a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and a finalist for several notable awards, including the Bibby First Book Competition, the Crab Orchard Poetry Open Competition, the Julie Suk Award, the Quercus Review Press Poetry Book Award, and the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals.
Altadena Poet Laureate for Community Events Rhonda Mitchell is a writer rooted in the stories and rhythms of Leimert Park and the Crenshaw District, where she grew up. She writes because she believes literacy is an act of personal and community liberation: that when people have access to language and story, they are better equipped to understand themselves and advocate for their communities.
A 30-year veteran of public service and a member of the Anansi Writers Workshop, she has spent her life at the intersection of literacy, the arts, and community. That commitment continues to shape every page she writes. Her poetry has appeared in Voices of Leimert Park, and her personal story in Essence Magazine. She is now completing a hybrid collection of short stories and poems drawn from her years growing up in South LA. The collection braids together place, memory, language, and belonging, into a portrait of a community that has always known its own worth.
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A Big Thank You to Altadena’s 2024-2026 Poets Laurate!
Sehba Sarwar
Sehba Sarwar is a transnational writer, artist, and community activist tackling gender, displacement, and border issues. A second edition of her novel, Black Wings, was released in 2019 (Veliz Books), while her essays and poems have appeared in Creative Time Reports, Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, Callaloo, Dawn, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Vallum, and elsewhere. Her short stories are anthologized in Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India.
In 2000, while living in Houston, she founded Voices Breaking Boundaries, an alternative arts organization that tackled social justice issues at a local and global level. She also creates site-specific art installations that she has exhibited in Houston, Pasadena, and Claremont. Sarwar is the recipient of multiple awards including the City of Los Angeles’s Independent Master Artist Project (2023-24), the City of Pasadena’s Independent Artist grant (2019), Mid-America Arts Alliance’s Artistic Innovations grant (2015), and more. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan in a home filled with artists and activists, Sarwar offers readings, talks, and workshops at colleges, high schools in and around Los Angeles. Her papers are archived at the University of Houston.
Lester Graves Lennon
Lester Graves Lennon is the poetry editor for Rosebud magazine and an investment banker whose career in public finance exceeds 40 years. His first book of poetry, The Upward Curve of Earth and Heavens (2001), can be found in 70 public and university libraries including the Los Angeles Public Library, Columbia, Yale, Oxford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his B.A. in English. His second book of poetry, My Father Was a Poet, was published in 2013. His third poetry book, Lynchings: Postcards from America, was published in 2022. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021 and 2023.
Lennon sits on the board of directors of the Community of Writers and is a member of the Friends of the Center for Humanities at the University of Wisconsin. He is an emeritus member of the Board of Visitors for the English Department at the University of Wisconsin, and a past member of the board of directors for Red Hen Press. He was the primary mover in the creation of the Poet Laureate positions for both the City of Los Angeles and the City of Oakland, California. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Poet Laureate Task Force and has lived with his family in Altadena since 1992.
Timeline of Altadena Poets Laureate
Ralph Lane | May 2006 — April 2008
Marcia Thompson | May 2008 — April 2010
Alene Terzian | May 2010 — April 2012
Linda Dove | May 2012 — April 2014
Thelma T. Reyna | May 2014 — April 2016
Elline Lipkin | May 2016 — April 2018
Hazel Clayton Harrison & Teresa Mei Chuc | May 2018 — April 2020
Jessica Abughattas & Khadija Anderson | May 2020 — April 2022
Peter J. Harris & Carla R. Sameth | May 2022 — April 2024
Lester Graves Lennon & Sehba Sarwar | May 2024 — April 2026
Shahé Mankerian & Rhonda Mitchell | May 2026 — April 2028
One Saturday afternoon in March 2003, patron and poet Ralph Lane approached me while I was working on the reference desk to ask if the library ever hosted poetry readings. My answer to him was, “Not yet, but what a wonderful idea!” After I told him I would look into it and he had left, I noticed that two other Altadena patron/poets, MB Kalis and Jeffry Jensen, had also entered the premises. We all agreed this was a sign that must be followed. After the necessary approval, I spoke with Ralph Lane‘s daughter who was delighted that the library would be going through with her father‘s proposal. (She came up with the idea to call our event Cookies and Poetry; Director Barbara Pearson later suggested changing it to Poetry and Cookies).
The first year we had 12 poets, photocopies of the readings as a handout, and, of course, luscious cookies. In 2004 we had 15 poets, more cookies, and an attractive compilation of the poems, which we printed and catalogued. Thus, was born the first edition of Cookies and Poetry. We made copies available for both checkout and reference available in the library. The next year we took our publication to Altadena printer Miss Dragon for a more polished look.
In 2004 we chose our first Poet Laureate, Ralph Lane and decided this would be a bi-yearly unpaid position. In future years, poets applied with samples of their work and a bio that included their advancement of poetry in the community. After Lane came Marcia Thompson, Alene Terzian, Linda Dove, and in 2014, Thelma Reyna, each of whom contributed a special library project during their reign. At the 2014 Poetry & Cookies event I announced my retirement at the end of the year and that, because the library no longer would have the staff to take on this project, both the anthology and public readings might come to an end. Several poets voiced their disappointment at this prospect and offered to serve on a committee to keep these alive. Since Thelma Reyna was both a professional editor and publisher as well as the Laureate, she accepted my request that she lead the project, a welcome synchronicity.
Poetry and Cookies has continued every year since. A dedicated committee of poets has grown poetry offerings at our libraries and has expanded the Altadena Poetry Review anthology, now called the Altadena Literary Review, to include a diverse group of over 120 poets and writers!
by Pauli Dutton, Former Altadena Library District Director and Poet
A Brief History of Poetry & Cookies
