The City of West Hollywood will celebrate National Poetry Month in April with a display of street pole banners honoring poets and the art of poetry, a WeHo Reads event featuring Barack Obama’s inaugural poet Richard Blanco, and a Poetry Scrabble writing workshop from current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng.

National Poetry Month, inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, curators, publishers, and — of course — poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives. 

From Friday, March 28, 2025 to Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the City of West Hollywood will honor more than 50 living poets by featuring selections of their poetry on street pole banners along Santa Monica Boulevard. Each year the West Hollywood City Poet Laureate selects two additional poets to honor. This year’s honorees are KB Brookins and Teresa Mei Chuc.

KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker from Texas. Brookins’ chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut collection Freedom House won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Best First Book of Poetry. Brookins’ memoir Pretty won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award.

Teresa Mei Chuc (also known as Tuệ Mỹ Chúc) was born in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam after the Việt Nam war and grew up in Pasadena and Altadena, California. Mei Chuc was the Altadena Poet Laureate, Editor-in-Chief from 2018 to 2020 and has been the Pasadena Rose Poet since 2016. Mei Chuc is the author of Invisible Light, Keeper of the Winds, and Red Thread. Her most recent poetry chapbook, Incidental Takes, was published in 2023. Mei Chuc is a public-school English teacher, sits on the Beyond Baroque Board of Trustees and is on the Board of Directors for the San Gabriel Valley Community Land Trust.

On Monday, April 7, 2025 at 6 p.m., at the regular meeting of the West Hollywood City Council, the West Hollywood City Poet Laureate will debut a new poem, Eternity, and will receive a commemorative National Poetry Month proclamation. The presentation will be viewable on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube Channel. The text of the poem can be found below.

On Wednesday, April 16, 2025 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., as part of the City’s WeHo Reads series, there will be a virtual event: WeHo Reads: Richard Blanco and Kim Dower. This inspiring National Poetry Month discussion features two celebrated poets whose work explores the intersection of identity, culture, and human connection. offer insights into the transformative power of poetry and its ability to inspire both personal and collective change. West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng will open the event with the reading of a poem. This event is free to attend, and RSVPs are requested at www.weho.org/wehoreads.

Richard Blanco is the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet, selected by President Obama, and a National Humanities Medal recipient. As a poet, memoirist, and advocate, Blanco’s work, including How to Love a Country and Homeland of My Body, reflects on cultural identity, belonging, and the human spirit, earning him widespread acclaim and recognition as a voice for diversity and justice. He was the first Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County.

Kim Dower is a former West Hollywood City Poet Laureate, whose six acclaimed poetry collections, including her newest, What She Wants, Poems on Obsession, Desire, Despair, Euphoria as well as the bestselling I Wore This Dress Today for You, Mom, are known for blending humor and heartache, memory and loss. Dower’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, Rattle, and O Magazine and is included in major anthologies such as Wide Awake: Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond.

On Saturday, April 19, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng will present a poetry writing workshop and interactive poetry art installation called Poetry Scrabble which has been described by some participants as “Dadaesque” and “dynamic.” Attendees are invited to play with the word magnets to discover phrases that inspire new writing. No writing experience needed. All are welcomed to play with this sculpture designed for different physical abilities. Participants are invited to stay after class from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for a light reception. This is a free event; please RSVP at go.weho.org/poet.

Throughout the month of April, with the support of an arts grant from the City of West Hollywood, Greenway Arts Alliance will present the 9th Annual LA Get Down Festival at the Greenway Court Theatre, located at 544 N. Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. Past years’ programming has included open-mics, workshops, poetry slams, performances, and more. More information and links to purchase tickets for the LA Get Down Festival can be found at https://greenwaycourttheatre.org/2025-la-get-down/.

The City of West Hollywood began its City Poet Laureate program in 2014 and has celebrated National Poetry Month since 2015. The West Hollywood City Poet Laureate serves as an ambassador of West Hollywood’s vibrant literary culture and leads the promotion of poetry in the City, including assisting with its annual celebration of National Poetry Month.

For information about the West Hollywood City Poet Laureate program or National Poetry Month activities, please contact Mike Che, the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Coordinator, at mche@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing dial 711 or 1-800-735-2929 (TTY) or 1-800-735-2922 (voice) for California Relay Service (CRS) assistance.

For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at www.weho.org. Receive text updates by texting “WeHo” to (323) 848-5000.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.