By Khalida Sarwari
Santa Clara County is asking poets to apply for the county’s poet laureate position.
The county is offering the job in partnership with the Arts Council Silicon Valley to an individual who can engage the community and create a poetic identity for the county.
Some of the poet laureate’s duties include doing poetry-related outreach, undertaking a project to make poetry more available and accessible to people in their everyday lives, and participating in National Poetry Month events and activities.
The poet laureate is required to serve from April 2011 to March 2013. The term for the county’s current poet laureate, Nils Peterson, expires in March 2011.
Peterson has undertaken two main projects during the past two years.
The first was a countywide poetry writing exercise that culminated in a 100-line poem about Santa Clara County, titled “A Family Album, Santa Clara County, 2009.”
The second project, called “Thirty Poems in 30 Days,” asked residents to write poems that celebrate what they observe in day-to-day life.
Out of 275 submissions, Peterson chose 30 to be featured in honor of National Poetry Month.
Applicants for the poet laureate position must have lived in Santa Clara County for at least five years and have published work. Application guidelines are available at www.sccgov.org/poetlaureate and at www.artscouncil.org.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. on Nov. 22.
The Board of Supervisors will announce their choice at a meeting in March 2011.