San Rafael, CA – San Anselmo resident Prartho Sereno has been selected as Marin County’s fourth Poet Laureate and is scheduled to be officially recognized with that esteemed title by the Marin County Board of Supervisors on April 7.
Sereno, who would receive a two-year sponsorship from the Marin County Free Library pending the Supervisors’ approval, has been an active and well-recognized poet, artist and educator for many years. She is the author of three poetry collections over the past eight years and has taught poetry to both children and adults in the Emeritus College at College of Marin.
Sereno also has won awards as a California Poet in the Schools and was the recipient of the prestigious Washington Prize in 2007 for her full-length poetry manuscript, Call from Paris. She is active with poetry readings at events and on radio and podcasts. She has facilitated in-services for Bay Area teachers and led workshops at major poetry conferences as well.
“I want to get as many people in the community involved in poetry as possible —particularly those who think that poetry isn’t for them,” Sereno told an interviewer from the Marin Poetry Center. “My main plan for winning these folks over is to bring poetry to life by mixing up media, inviting all kinds of Marin artists to respond to poems — creating musical and danced responses, performance and painted responses.”
A graduate of both Bowling Green University and Syracuse University, Sereno has worked as a counseling psychologist, college mediation instructor, illustrator, cook, farmer and songwriter. Her watercolor works have appeared as book and CD covers. Her favorite poetry is from Spanish masters and American women.
Albert Flynn DeSilver (2008-2010), Lyn Follett (2010-2013), Joe Zaccardi (2013-2015) are previous Marin County Poet Laureates.